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11th July 2013

Download v2.2.1 | Ubuntu

Ubuntu Versions

OpenFOAM and Paraview are currently available for the following versions of Ubuntu.

Note: only version 12.04LTS is still current (see Ubuntu Releases) and supports installation of the OpenFOAM package with apt using the instructions below.

  • 12.04 LTS, codename precise
  • 12.10, codename quantal
  • 13.04, codename raring

Installation

OpenFOAM and Paraview can be simply installed using the apt package management tool. The user will need to provide superuser password authentication when executing the following commands with sudo

  1. In a terminal window, add OpenFOAM to the list of repository locations for apt to search, by copying and pasting the following in a terminal prompt (Applications → Accessories → Terminal).
    VERS=$(lsb_release -cs)
sudo sh -c "echo deb http://dl.openfoam.org/ubuntu $VERS main > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/openfoam.list"

    Note 1: Line 1 stores the version name of your Ubuntu distribution (e.g. precise) under $VERS, which is used in line 2
    Note 2: This only needs to be done once for a given system

  2. Update the apt package list to account for the new download repository location
    sudo apt-get update
  3. Install OpenFOAM (221 in the name refers to version 2.2.1)
    sudo apt-get install openfoam221
  4. Install Paraview (3120 in the name refers to version 3.12.0)
    sudo apt-get install paraviewopenfoam3120

OpenFOAM-2.2.1 is now installed in the /opt directory (along with and Paraview-3.12.0)

Installation Problems

Networking must be enabled in order to be able to install software packages in Ubuntu. Installation failure due to networking problems usually results in an error message that reports failures in fetching archives and ends with a line like the following:

E: Unable to fetch some archives...

The .deb files for different versions of Ubuntu supplied can be downloaded directly from the OpenFOAM Download Repository.

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/openfoam221/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>-2.2.1 (e.g. chris-2.2.1 for user chris and OpenFOAM version 2.2.1) 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.