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21st January 2011

Download v1.7.1 | SuSE

SuSE Versions

OpenFOAM and Paraview are currently available for version 11.3 of SuSE.

Installation

We have generated RPM packs of OpenFOAM and Paraview for SuSE. The packs are dependent on other software, most of which is also available as standard RPM packs for SuSE. The exceptions are:

  • the openmpi library, which requires a version upgrade;
  • the scotch library, which does not exist as a standard pack, so we provide one here as part of the OpenFOAM installation;
  • the libpng12 library.

Before installing OpenFOAM, please ensure that your SuSE installation includes all the software in the Development package group in YaST, including gcc, make, etc. In the case of a Gnome only installation, ensure that the the libqt4 library is installed by executing the following at a terminal prompt:

sudo zypper in libqt4 libQtWebKit4
  1. The OpenFOAM binaries will not work with the default 1.2.8 version of openmpi. An updated (1.3.2) version of openmpi can be installed from the ’science’ repository as follows:
    sudo zypper ar http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/science/openSUSE_11.3 science
sudo zypper in openmpi=1.3.2

    Note: the OpenFOAM binaries were compiled with openmpi v1.4+ but we have run basic tests with v1.3.2 without problems.

  2. Multiple versions of openmpi can be installed on one system so the user should check that the correct version is being used by typing:
    mpirun --version

    Then the user should set the version. For example, if the listing above returns openmpi-1.3.2, the user can set the version by typing:

    mpi-selector --set openmpi-1.3.2

    After selecting, the user must log out and log in to the machine for the changes to take effect. Note the user can list the available versions of openmpi by typing:

    mpi-selector --list
  3. Install libpng12 by typing
    sudo zypper in libpng12-0
  4. EITHER, download and install Scotch, Paraview and OpenFOAM for 32 bit
    sudo rpm -i https://www.openfoam.org/download/suse/11.3/i586/libscotch-5.1-5.1.6.dfsg-4.i386.rpm
sudo rpm -i https://www.openfoam.org/download/suse/11.3/i586/libscotch-dev-5.1.6.dfsg-4.i386.rpm
sudo rpm -i https://www.openfoam.org/download/suse/11.3/i586/paraviewopenfoam381-0-2.i386.rpm
sudo rpm -i --nodeps https://www.openfoam.org/download/suse/11.3/i586/openfoam200-0-2.i386.rpm

    OR, download and install Scotch, Paraview and OpenFOAM for 64 bit.

    sudo rpm -i --badreloc --relocate /usr/lib=/usr/lib64 https://www.openfoam.org/download/suse/11.3/x86_64/libscotch-5.1-5.1.6.dfsg-4.x86_64.rpm
sudo rpm -i --badreloc --relocate /usr/lib=/usr/lib64 https://www.openfoam.org/download/suse/11.3/x86_64/libscotch-dev-5.1.6.dfsg-4.x86_64.rpm
sudo rpm -i https://www.openfoam.org/download/suse/11.3/x86_64/paraviewopenfoam381-0-2.x86_64.rpm
sudo rpm -i --nodeps https://www.openfoam.org/download/suse/11.3/x86_64/openfoam200-0-2.x86_64.rpm

Note: the --nodeps option is used to ignore the dependency on /usr/xpg4/bin/sh; additionally, the user should ignore the warning 'postinst called with unknown argument 1'.

OpenFOAM-1.7.1 and Paraview-3.10.1 are now installed in the /opt directory.

User Configuration

In order to use the installed OpenFOAM package, complete the following

  1. Open the .bashrc file in the user’s home directory in an editor, e.g. by typing in a terminal window (note the dot)
    gedit ~/.bashrc
  2. At the bottom of that file, add the following line (see Note 1) and save the file
    source /opt/OpenFOAM-1.7.1/etc/bashrc
  3. Open a new terminal window (see Note 2) and test that the simpleFoam application, from the OpenFOAM package, is working by typing
    simpleFoam -help
  4. A “Usage” message should appear. Your installation and user configuration is complete.

Note 1: If a similar line has already been added to the user’s .bashrc file, e.g. for a previous version of OpenFOAM, then the line should be deleted or, alternatively, commented out by inserting a # at the beginning of the line.
Note 2: If a user wishes to execute simpleFoam in the same terminal window, they must first register the change to the .bashrc file by typing at the terminal prompt (note the dots): source $HOME/.bashrc

Getting Started

Create a project directory within the $HOME/OpenFOAM directory named <USER>-1.7.1 (e.g. chris-1.7.1 for user chris and OpenFOAM version 1.7.1) and create a directory named run within it, e.g. by typing:

mkdir -p $FOAM_RUN

Copy across the backward facing step example, generate the mesh with blockMesh and run the steady flow, incompressible solver simpleFoam

cd $FOAM_RUN
cp -r $FOAM_TUTORIALS/incompressible/simpleFoam/pitzDaily .
cd pitzDaily
blockMesh
simpleFoam
paraFoam

Refer to the OpenFOAM User Guide to get started.

Reporting Bugs in OpenFOAM

We appreciate that bugs in OpenFOAM are reported so we can fix them. Please refer to the OpenFOAM bugs pages to report bugs.