Installation/Linux/OpenFOAM-2.3.1/Ubuntu

1 Introduction

This page is dedicated to explaining how to install OpenFOAM in Ubuntu.

If you do not yet feel comfortable using Linux, then perhaps you better first read the page Working with the Shell and train a bit with the shell/terminal environments, so you can have a better perception of the steps shown below.

2 Copy-Paste steps

A few notes before you start copy-pasting:

1. Lines that start with # don't have to be copy-pasted. They are just comments to let you know what's going on.
2. One wrong character is enough for breaking this guide, so make sure you can read the characters properly or that the installed language system does not break the copied characters!

2.1 Ubuntu 12.04

Here you have at least two choices:

• You can install from source, by either:
  • Following the official instructions from here: Download v2.3.1 | Source Pack
  • Or by following the detailed step-by-step instructions below...

Discussion thread where you can ask questions about these steps: Problems installing OpenFOAM 2.3.1 in Ubuntu 12.04

Steps:

1. Switch to root mode (administrator), to install the necessary packages:

   sudo -s

   • If the 'sudo' command tells you're not in the sudoers list, then run:

     su -

2. Update the apt-get cache by running:

   apt-get update

3. Install the necessary packages:

   apt-get install build-essential cmake flex bison zlib1g-dev qt4-dev-tools libqt4-dev gnuplot libreadline-dev \
   libncurses-dev libxt-dev libopenmpi-dev openmpi-bin libboost-system-dev libboost-thread-dev libgmp-dev libmpfr-dev

   Note: It has been reported that the following should also be executed in some cases, so that ParaView and CGAL will build properly:

   apt-get install libglu1-mesa-dev libqt4-opengl-dev

4. Now exit from the root mode:

   exit

5. Download and unpack (here you can copy-paste all in single go):

   #OpenFOAM downloading and installation
   cd ~
   mkdir OpenFOAM
   cd OpenFOAM
   wget "http://downloads.sourceforge.net/foam/OpenFOAM-2.3.1.tgz?use_mirror=mesh" -O OpenFOAM-2.3.1.tgz
   wget "http://downloads.sourceforge.net/foam/ThirdParty-2.3.1.tgz?use_mirror=mesh" -O ThirdParty-2.3.1.tgz
    
   tar -xzf OpenFOAM-2.3.1.tgz 
   tar -xzf ThirdParty-2.3.1.tgz

6. Optional: Let's make a few symbolic links that should ensure that the correct global MPI installation is used by this OpenFOAM installation:

   ln -s /usr/bin/mpicc.openmpi OpenFOAM-2.3.1/bin/mpicc
   ln -s /usr/bin/mpirun.openmpi OpenFOAM-2.3.1/bin/mpirun

   This way we avoid having problems in case there is more than one MPI toolbox installed in your Ubuntu system, for example if MPICH2 is installed and is the default MPI toolbox.

7. For building OpenFOAM itself, it depends on whether you have installed the i686 or x86_64 architecture of Ubuntu. To check this, run:

   uname -m

   Now, accordingly:

   • For i686:

     #here you can change 4 to the number of cores you've got
     source $HOME/OpenFOAM/OpenFOAM-2.3.1/etc/bashrc WM_NCOMPPROCS=4 WM_MPLIB=SYSTEMOPENMPI WM_ARCH_OPTION=32

   • For x86_64:

     #here you can change 4 to the number of cores you've got
     source $HOME/OpenFOAM/OpenFOAM-2.3.1/etc/bashrc WM_NCOMPPROCS=4 WM_MPLIB=SYSTEMOPENMPI

8. Save an alias in the personal .bashrc file, simply by running the following command:

   echo "alias of231='source \$HOME/OpenFOAM/OpenFOAM-2.3.1/etc/bashrc $FOAM_SETTINGS'" >> $HOME/.bashrc

   Note: This last line means that whenever you start a new terminal window or tab, you should run the alias command associated to the OpenFOAM 2.3.1 shell environment. In other words, whenever you start a new terminal, you should run:

   of231
   

   For more information on this topic, read section Using aliases to help manage multiple OpenFOAM versions in the page Installation/Working with the Shell.
9. Now let's build the ThirdParty folder, because we need the shell environment to be updated afterwards, for CGAL to be properly picked up for building OpenFOAM:

   cd $WM_THIRD_PARTY_DIR
    
   # This next command will take a while... somewhere between 5 minutes to 30 minutes.
   ./Allwmake > log.make 2>&1
    
   #update the shell environment
   wmSET $FOAM_SETTINGS

10. Ubuntu 12.04 comes with CMake 2.8.7, but ParaView 4.1.0 needs CMake 2.8.8 or newer series. Therefore, we'll need to do a custom build:

    cd $WM_THIRD_PARTY_DIR
    wget "https://raw.github.com/wyldckat/scripts4OpenFOAM3rdParty/master/getCmake"
    sed -i -e 's=version}\.3=version}.12.1=' getCmake
    chmod +x getCmake
    ./getCmake
    ./makeCmake
    wmSET $FOAM_SETTINGS

11. Now, in order to build ParaView 4.1.0 that comes with OpenFOAM:

    #this will take a while... somewhere between 30 minutes to 2 hours or more
    ./makeParaView4 -qmake $(which qmake-qt4) > log.makePV 2>&1
     
    #update the shell environment
    wmSET $FOAM_SETTINGS

    Once the makeParaView4 scripts is finished running, make sure to check the contents of the file log.makePV and check if there are any errors.
12. Now let's build OpenFOAM:
    (Warning: this may take somewhere from 30 minutes to 6 hours, depending on your machine.)
    

    #Go into OpenFOAM's main source folder
    cd $WM_PROJECT_DIR
     
    # This next command will take a while... somewhere between 30 minutes to 3-6 hours.
    ./Allwmake > log.make 2>&1
     
    #Run it a second time for getting a summary of the installation
    ./Allwmake > log.make 2>&1

13. To check if everything went well:
    1. Check if icoFoam is working, by running this command:

       icoFoam -help

       which should tell you something like this:

       Usage: icoFoam [OPTIONS]
       options:
         -case <dir>       specify alternate case directory, default is the cwd
         -noFunctionObjects
                           do not execute functionObjects
         -parallel         run in parallel
         -roots <(dir1 .. dirN)>
                           slave root directories for distributed running
         -srcDoc           display source code in browser
         -doc              display application documentation in browser
         -help             print the usage

       Note: And keep in mind that you need to be careful with the letter case of the command. It's icoFoam, not icoFOAM.

    2. If the previous command failed to work properly, then edit the file log.make and check if there are any error messages. A few examples on how you can edit this file:
       • By using kwrite:

         kwrite log.make

       • By using gedit:

         gedit log.make

       • By using nano:

         nano log.make

         You can then exit by using the key combination Ctrl+X and following any instructions it gives you.

       Note: It's the first error message that matters.

    3. If you don't understand the output, then please compress the log-file log.make and attach the compressed file to a post in the designated thread.
       If you do not know how to create a compressed file, then try one of the following examples:
       • You can compress the file with gzip by running this command:

         gzip < log.make > log.make.gz

         Then attach the resulting package file named log.make.gz to a post in the designated thread.

       • Or you can compress one or more log-files into a tarball package file, by running this command:

         tar -czf logs.tar.gz log.*

         Then attach the resulting package file named logs.tar.gz to a post in the designated thread.

    4. Instructions on how to further diagnose the issue yourself, have a look at the section Common errors when building OpenFOAM from source code in the page FAQ/Installation and Running.
14. Now you can go read the User Guide, where you may have more than one choice:
    1. Which you can find a local copy of the User Guide by running the following command:

       ls -A1 $WM_PROJECT_DIR/doc/Guides*/*UserGuide*.pdf

       • You should see two available formats: A4 and US-Letter.
       • But if it instead tells you that there is No such file or directory, then the OpenFOAM environment is possibly not properly activated.
    2. You can also find the more recent OpenFOAM Foundation User Guides online at the following page: official OpenFOAM User Guide - but be careful if you use the version that is too much ahead of the version you are currently using, given that some features have changed overtime.

Reminder: Whenever you start a new terminal window or tab, you should run the alias command associated to the OpenFOAM 2.3.1 shell environment. In other words, run the following command whenever you start a new terminal:

of231

For more information on this topic, read section Using aliases to help manage multiple OpenFOAM versions in the page Installation/Working with the Shell.

Discussion thread where you can ask questions about these steps: Problems installing OpenFOAM 2.3.1 in Ubuntu 12.04

2.2 Ubuntu 13.10

Here you have at least two choices:

• You can install from source, by either:
  • Following the official instructions from here: Download v2.3.1 | Source Pack
  • Or by following the detailed step-by-step instructions below...

Discussion thread where you can ask questions about these steps: No thread available. Please a create a new thread in the forum.

Steps:

1. Switch to root mode (administrator), to install the necessary packages:

   sudo -s

   • If the 'sudo' command tells you're not in the sudoers list, then run:

     su -

2. Update the apt-get cache by running:

   apt-get update

3. Install the necessary packages:

   apt-get install build-essential cmake flex bison zlib1g-dev qt4-dev-tools libqt4-dev gnuplot libreadline-dev \
   libncurses-dev libxt-dev libopenmpi-dev openmpi-bin libboost-system-dev libboost-thread-dev libgmp-dev libmpfr-dev

   Note: It has been reported that the following should also be executed in some cases, so that ParaView and CGAL will build properly:

   apt-get install libglu1-mesa-dev libqt4-opengl-dev

4. Now exit from the root mode:

   exit

5. Download and unpack (here you can copy-paste all in single go):

   #OpenFOAM downloading and installation
   cd ~
   mkdir OpenFOAM
   cd OpenFOAM
   wget "http://downloads.sourceforge.net/foam/OpenFOAM-2.3.1.tgz?use_mirror=mesh" -O OpenFOAM-2.3.1.tgz
   wget "http://downloads.sourceforge.net/foam/ThirdParty-2.3.1.tgz?use_mirror=mesh" -O ThirdParty-2.3.1.tgz
    
   tar -xzf OpenFOAM-2.3.1.tgz 
   tar -xzf ThirdParty-2.3.1.tgz

6. Optional: Let's make a few symbolic links that should ensure that the correct global MPI installation is used by this OpenFOAM installation:

   ln -s /usr/bin/mpicc.openmpi OpenFOAM-2.3.1/bin/mpicc
   ln -s /usr/bin/mpirun.openmpi OpenFOAM-2.3.1/bin/mpirun

   This way we avoid having problems in case there is more than one MPI toolbox installed in your Ubuntu system, for example if MPICH2 is installed and is the default MPI toolbox.

7. For building OpenFOAM itself, it depends on whether you have installed the i686 or x86_64 architecture of Ubuntu. To check this, run:

   uname -m

   Now, accordingly:

   • For i686:

     #here you can change 4 to the number of cores you've got
     source $HOME/OpenFOAM/OpenFOAM-2.3.1/etc/bashrc WM_NCOMPPROCS=4 WM_MPLIB=SYSTEMOPENMPI WM_ARCH_OPTION=32

   • For x86_64:

     #here you can change 4 to the number of cores you've got
     source $HOME/OpenFOAM/OpenFOAM-2.3.1/etc/bashrc WM_NCOMPPROCS=4 WM_MPLIB=SYSTEMOPENMPI

8. Save an alias in the personal .bashrc file, simply by running the following command:

   echo "alias of231='source \$HOME/OpenFOAM/OpenFOAM-2.3.1/etc/bashrc $FOAM_SETTINGS'" >> $HOME/.bashrc

   Note: This last line means that whenever you start a new terminal window or tab, you should run the alias command associated to the OpenFOAM 2.3.1 shell environment. In other words, whenever you start a new terminal, you should run:

   of231
   

   For more information on this topic, read section Using aliases to help manage multiple OpenFOAM versions in the page Installation/Working with the Shell.
9. Now let's build the ThirdParty folder, because we need the shell environment to be updated afterwards, for CGAL to be properly picked up for building OpenFOAM:

   cd $WM_THIRD_PARTY_DIR
    
   # This next command will take a while... somewhere between 5 minutes to 30 minutes.
   ./Allwmake > log.make 2>&1
    
   #update the shell environment
   wmSET $FOAM_SETTINGS

10. Now, in order to build ParaView 4.1.0 that comes with OpenFOAM:

    #this will take a while... somewhere between 30 minutes to 2 hours or more
    ./makeParaView4 -qmake $(which qmake-qt4) > log.makePV 2>&1
     
    #update the shell environment
    wmSET $FOAM_SETTINGS

    Once the makeParaView4 scripts is finished running, make sure to check the contents of the file log.makePV and check if there are any errors.
11. Now let's build OpenFOAM:
    (Warning: this may take somewhere from 30 minutes to 6 hours, depending on your machine.)
    

    #Go into OpenFOAM's main source folder
    cd $WM_PROJECT_DIR
     
    # This next command will take a while... somewhere between 30 minutes to 3-6 hours.
    ./Allwmake > log.make 2>&1
     
    #Run it a second time for getting a summary of the installation
    ./Allwmake > log.make 2>&1

12. To check if everything went well:
    1. Check if icoFoam is working, by running this command:

       icoFoam -help

       which should tell you something like this:

       Usage: icoFoam [OPTIONS]
       options:
         -case <dir>       specify alternate case directory, default is the cwd
         -noFunctionObjects
                           do not execute functionObjects
         -parallel         run in parallel
         -roots <(dir1 .. dirN)>
                           slave root directories for distributed running
         -srcDoc           display source code in browser
         -doc              display application documentation in browser
         -help             print the usage

       Note: And keep in mind that you need to be careful with the letter case of the command. It's icoFoam, not icoFOAM.

    2. If the previous command failed to work properly, then edit the file log.make and check if there are any error messages. A few examples on how you can edit this file:
       • By using kwrite:

         kwrite log.make

       • By using gedit:

         gedit log.make

       • By using nano:

         nano log.make

         You can then exit by using the key combination Ctrl+X and following any instructions it gives you.

       Note: It's the first error message that matters.

    3. If you don't understand the output, then please compress the log-file log.make and attach the compressed file to a post in the designated thread.
       If you do not know how to create a compressed file, then try one of the following examples:
       • You can compress the file with gzip by running this command:

         gzip < log.make > log.make.gz

         Then attach the resulting package file named log.make.gz to a post in the designated thread.

       • Or you can compress one or more log-files into a tarball package file, by running this command:

         tar -czf logs.tar.gz log.*

         Then attach the resulting package file named logs.tar.gz to a post in the designated thread.

    4. Instructions on how to further diagnose the issue yourself, have a look at the section Common errors when building OpenFOAM from source code in the page FAQ/Installation and Running.
13. Now you can go read the User Guide, where you may have more than one choice:
    1. Which you can find a local copy of the User Guide by running the following command:

       ls -A1 $WM_PROJECT_DIR/doc/Guides*/*UserGuide*.pdf

       • You should see two available formats: A4 and US-Letter.
       • But if it instead tells you that there is No such file or directory, then the OpenFOAM environment is possibly not properly activated.
    2. You can also find the more recent OpenFOAM Foundation User Guides online at the following page: official OpenFOAM User Guide - but be careful if you use the version that is too much ahead of the version you are currently using, given that some features have changed overtime.

Reminder: Whenever you start a new terminal window or tab, you should run the alias command associated to the OpenFOAM 2.3.1 shell environment. In other words, run the following command whenever you start a new terminal:

of231

For more information on this topic, read section Using aliases to help manage multiple OpenFOAM versions in the page Installation/Working with the Shell.

Discussion thread where you can ask questions about these steps: No thread available. Please a create a new thread in the forum.

2.3 Ubuntu 14.04

Here you have the following choices:

• You can install the Deb packages, which provide a quick and easy way for having a working installation of OpenFOAM 2.3.1. This is the quickest solution for beginners and instructions are provided here: Download v2.3.1 | Ubuntu
  • Note: If are getting an error when trying to install the packages for Ubuntu, then check this FAQ: Why am I not able to install the official OpenFOAM Deb packages on Ubuntu ?
• You can install from source, by either:
  • Following the official instructions from here: Download v2.3.1 | Source Pack
  • Or by following the detailed step-by-step instructions below...

Discussion thread where you can ask questions about these steps: Paraview not found when installing OpenFoam to Ubuntu 14.04

Steps:

1. Switch to root mode (administrator), to install the necessary packages:

   sudo -s

   • If the 'sudo' command tells you're not in the sudoers list, then run:

     su -

2. Update the apt-get cache by running:

   apt-get update

3. Install the necessary packages:

   apt-get install build-essential cmake flex bison zlib1g-dev qt4-dev-tools libqt4-dev libqtwebkit-dev gnuplot \
   libreadline-dev libncurses-dev libxt-dev libopenmpi-dev openmpi-bin libboost-system-dev libboost-thread-dev libgmp-dev \
   libmpfr-dev

   Note: It has been reported that the following should also be executed in some cases, so that ParaView and CGAL will build properly:

   apt-get install libglu1-mesa-dev libqt4-opengl-dev

4. Now exit from the root mode:

   exit

5. Download and unpack (here you can copy-paste all in single go):

   #OpenFOAM downloading and installation
   cd ~
   mkdir OpenFOAM
   cd OpenFOAM
   wget "http://downloads.sourceforge.net/foam/OpenFOAM-2.3.1.tgz?use_mirror=mesh" -O OpenFOAM-2.3.1.tgz
   wget "http://downloads.sourceforge.net/foam/ThirdParty-2.3.1.tgz?use_mirror=mesh" -O ThirdParty-2.3.1.tgz
    
   tar -xzf OpenFOAM-2.3.1.tgz 
   tar -xzf ThirdParty-2.3.1.tgz

6. Optional: Let's make a few symbolic links that should ensure that the correct global MPI installation is used by this OpenFOAM installation:

   ln -s /usr/bin/mpicc.openmpi OpenFOAM-2.3.1/bin/mpicc
   ln -s /usr/bin/mpirun.openmpi OpenFOAM-2.3.1/bin/mpirun

   This way we avoid having problems in case there is more than one MPI toolbox installed in your Ubuntu system, for example if MPICH2 is installed and is the default MPI toolbox.

7. For building OpenFOAM itself, it depends on whether you have installed the i686 or x86_64 architecture of Ubuntu. To check this, run:

   uname -m

   Now, accordingly:

   • For i686:

     #here you can change 4 to the number of cores you've got
     source $HOME/OpenFOAM/OpenFOAM-2.3.1/etc/bashrc WM_NCOMPPROCS=4 WM_MPLIB=SYSTEMOPENMPI WM_ARCH_OPTION=32

   • For x86_64:

     #here you can change 4 to the number of cores you've got
     source $HOME/OpenFOAM/OpenFOAM-2.3.1/etc/bashrc WM_NCOMPPROCS=4 WM_MPLIB=SYSTEMOPENMPI

8. Save an alias in the personal .bashrc file, simply by running the following command:

   echo "alias of231='source \$HOME/OpenFOAM/OpenFOAM-2.3.1/etc/bashrc $FOAM_SETTINGS'" >> $HOME/.bashrc

   Note: This last line means that whenever you start a new terminal window or tab, you should run the alias command associated to the OpenFOAM 2.3.1 shell environment. In other words, whenever you start a new terminal, you should run:

   of231
   

   For more information on this topic, read section Using aliases to help manage multiple OpenFOAM versions in the page Installation/Working with the Shell.
9. Now let's build the ThirdParty folder, because we need the shell environment to be updated afterwards, for CGAL to be properly picked up for building OpenFOAM:

   cd $WM_THIRD_PARTY_DIR
    
   #make very certain that the correct Qt version is being used, by running this command:
   export QT_SELECT=qt4
    
   # This next command will take a while... somewhere between 5 minutes to 30 minutes.
   ./Allwmake > log.make 2>&1
    
   #update the shell environment
   wmSET $FOAM_SETTINGS

10. Now, in order to build ParaView 4.1.0 that comes with OpenFOAM:

    #First make very certain that the correct Qt version is being used, by running this command:
    export QT_SELECT=qt4
     
    #this will take a while... somewhere between 30 minutes to 2 hours or more
    ./makeParaView4 > log.makePV 2>&1
     
    #update the shell environment
    wmSET $FOAM_SETTINGS

    Once the makeParaView4 scripts is finished running, make sure to check the contents of the file log.makePV and check if there are any errors.
11. Now let's build OpenFOAM:
    (Warning: this may take somewhere from 30 minutes to 6 hours, depending on your machine.)
    

    #Go into OpenFOAM's main source folder
    cd $WM_PROJECT_DIR
     
    #Still better be certain that the correct Qt version is being used
    export QT_SELECT=qt4
     
    # This next command will take a while... somewhere between 30 minutes to 3-6 hours.
    ./Allwmake > log.make 2>&1
     
    #Run it a second time for getting a summary of the installation
    ./Allwmake > log.make 2>&1

12. To check if everything went well:
    1. Check if icoFoam is working, by running this command:

       icoFoam -help

       which should tell you something like this:

       Usage: icoFoam [OPTIONS]
       options:
         -case <dir>       specify alternate case directory, default is the cwd
         -noFunctionObjects
                           do not execute functionObjects
         -parallel         run in parallel
         -roots <(dir1 .. dirN)>
                           slave root directories for distributed running
         -srcDoc           display source code in browser
         -doc              display application documentation in browser
         -help             print the usage

       Note: And keep in mind that you need to be careful with the letter case of the command. It's icoFoam, not icoFOAM.

    2. If the previous command failed to work properly, then edit the file log.make and check if there are any error messages. A few examples on how you can edit this file:
       • By using kwrite:

         kwrite log.make

       • By using gedit:

         gedit log.make

       • By using nano:

         nano log.make

         You can then exit by using the key combination Ctrl+X and following any instructions it gives you.

       Note: It's the first error message that matters.

    3. If you don't understand the output, then please compress the log-file log.make and attach the compressed file to a post in the designated thread.
       If you do not know how to create a compressed file, then try one of the following examples:
       • You can compress the file with gzip by running this command:

         gzip < log.make > log.make.gz

         Then attach the resulting package file named log.make.gz to a post in the designated thread.

       • Or you can compress one or more log-files into a tarball package file, by running this command:

         tar -czf logs.tar.gz log.*

         Then attach the resulting package file named logs.tar.gz to a post in the designated thread.

    4. Instructions on how to further diagnose the issue yourself, have a look at the section Common errors when building OpenFOAM from source code in the page FAQ/Installation and Running.
13. Now you can go read the User Guide, where you may have more than one choice:
    1. Which you can find a local copy of the User Guide by running the following command:

       ls -A1 $WM_PROJECT_DIR/doc/Guides*/*UserGuide*.pdf

       • You should see two available formats: A4 and US-Letter.
       • But if it instead tells you that there is No such file or directory, then the OpenFOAM environment is possibly not properly activated.
    2. You can also find the more recent OpenFOAM Foundation User Guides online at the following page: official OpenFOAM User Guide - but be careful if you use the version that is too much ahead of the version you are currently using, given that some features have changed overtime.

Reminder: Whenever you start a new terminal window or tab, you should run the alias command associated to the OpenFOAM 2.3.1 shell environment. In other words, run the following command whenever you start a new terminal:

of231

For more information on this topic, read section Using aliases to help manage multiple OpenFOAM versions in the page Installation/Working with the Shell.

Discussion thread where you can ask questions about these steps: Paraview not found when installing OpenFoam to Ubuntu 14.04

2.4 Ubuntu 14.10

Here you have the following choices:

• You can install the Deb packages, which provide a quick and easy way for having a working installation of OpenFOAM 2.3.1. This is the quickest solution for beginners and instructions are provided here: Download v2.3.1 | Ubuntu
  • Note: If are getting an error when trying to install the packages for Ubuntu, then check this FAQ: Why am I not able to install the official OpenFOAM Deb packages on Ubuntu ?
• You can install from source, by either:
  • Following the official instructions from here: Download v2.3.1 | Source Pack
  • Or by following the detailed step-by-step instructions below...

Discussion thread where you can ask questions about these steps: Installing OpenFOAM 2.3.1 on Ubuntu 14.10

Steps:

1. Switch to root mode (administrator), to install the necessary packages:

   sudo -s

   • If the 'sudo' command tells you're not in the sudoers list, then run:

     su -

2. Update the apt-get cache by running:

   apt-get update

3. Install the necessary packages:

   apt-get install build-essential cmake flex bison zlib1g-dev qt4-dev-tools libqt4-dev libqtwebkit-dev gnuplot \
   libreadline-dev libncurses5-dev libxt-dev libopenmpi-dev openmpi-bin libboost-system-dev libboost-thread-dev libgmp-dev \
   libmpfr-dev python python-dev

   Note: It has been reported that the following should also be executed in some cases, so that ParaView and CGAL will build properly:

   apt-get install libglu1-mesa-dev libqt4-opengl-dev

4. Now exit from the root mode:

   exit

5. Download and unpack (here you can copy-paste all in single go):

   #OpenFOAM downloading and installation
   cd ~
   mkdir OpenFOAM
   cd OpenFOAM
   wget "http://downloads.sourceforge.net/foam/OpenFOAM-2.3.1.tgz?use_mirror=mesh" -O OpenFOAM-2.3.1.tgz
   wget "http://downloads.sourceforge.net/foam/ThirdParty-2.3.1.tgz?use_mirror=mesh" -O ThirdParty-2.3.1.tgz
    
   tar -xzf OpenFOAM-2.3.1.tgz 
   tar -xzf ThirdParty-2.3.1.tgz

6. Optional: Let's make a few symbolic links that should ensure that the correct global MPI installation is used by this OpenFOAM installation:

   ln -s /usr/bin/mpicc.openmpi OpenFOAM-2.3.1/bin/mpicc
   ln -s /usr/bin/mpirun.openmpi OpenFOAM-2.3.1/bin/mpirun

   This way we avoid having problems in case there is more than one MPI toolbox installed in your Ubuntu system, for example if MPICH2 is installed and is the default MPI toolbox.

7. For building OpenFOAM itself, it depends on whether you have installed the i686 or x86_64 architecture of Ubuntu. To check this, run:

   uname -m

   Now, accordingly:

   • For i686:

     #here you can change 4 to the number of cores you've got
     source $HOME/OpenFOAM/OpenFOAM-2.3.1/etc/bashrc WM_NCOMPPROCS=4 WM_MPLIB=SYSTEMOPENMPI WM_ARCH_OPTION=32

   • For x86_64:

     #here you can change 4 to the number of cores you've got
     source $HOME/OpenFOAM/OpenFOAM-2.3.1/etc/bashrc WM_NCOMPPROCS=4 WM_MPLIB=SYSTEMOPENMPI

8. Save an alias in the personal .bashrc file, simply by running the following command:

   echo "alias of231='source \$HOME/OpenFOAM/OpenFOAM-2.3.1/etc/bashrc $FOAM_SETTINGS'" >> $HOME/.bashrc

   Note: This last line means that whenever you start a new terminal window or tab, you should run the alias command associated to the OpenFOAM 2.3.1 shell environment. In other words, whenever you start a new terminal, you should run:

   of231
   

   For more information on this topic, read section Using aliases to help manage multiple OpenFOAM versions in the page Installation/Working with the Shell.
9. Now let's build the ThirdParty folder, because we need the shell environment to be updated afterwards, for CGAL to be properly picked up for building OpenFOAM:

   cd $WM_THIRD_PARTY_DIR
    
   #make very certain that the correct Qt version is being used, by running this command:
   export QT_SELECT=qt4
    
   # This next command will take a while... somewhere between 5 minutes to 30 minutes.
   ./Allwmake > log.make 2>&1
    
   #update the shell environment
   wmSET $FOAM_SETTINGS

10. Now, in order to build ParaView 4.1.0 that comes with OpenFOAM, including with the ability to use Python and MPI, several steps are needed:
    1. First make very certain that the correct Qt version is being used, by running this command:

       export QT_SELECT=qt4

    2. Need to do several fixes:

       sed -i -e 's=MPI_ARCH_PATH/include=MPI_ARCH_PATH/include;$MPI_INCLUDE=' etc/tools/ParaView4Functions
        
       sed -i -e 's=//#define GLX_GLXEXT_LEGACY=#define GLX_GLXEXT_LEGACY=' \
         ParaView-4.1.0/VTK/Rendering/OpenGL/vtkXOpenGLRenderWindow.cxx
        
       cd $WM_THIRD_PARTY_DIR/ParaView-4.1.0
        
       wget http://www.paraview.org/pipermail/paraview/attachments/20140210/464496cc/attachment.bin -O Fix.patch
       patch -p1 < Fix.patch
        
       cd VTK
       wget https://github.com/gladk/VTK/commit/ef22d3d69421581b33bc0cd94b647da73b61ba96.patch -O Fix2.patch
       patch -p1 < Fix2.patch
        
       cd ../..

    3. For building ParaView with Python and MPI, it depends on whether you have installed the i686 or x86_64 architecture of Ubuntu. To check this, run:

       uname -m

       Now, accordingly:

       • For i686:

         #this will take a while... somewhere between 30 minutes to 2 hours or more
         ./makeParaView4 -python -mpi -python-lib /usr/lib/i386-linux-gnu/libpython2.7.so.1.0 > log.makePV 2>&1

       • For x86_64:

         #this will take a while... somewhere between 30 minutes to 2 hours or more
         ./makeParaView4 -python -mpi -python-lib /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libpython2.7.so.1.0 > log.makePV 2>&1

    4. Once the makeParaView4 script is finished running, make sure to check the contents of the file log.makePV and check if there are any errors.
    5. Finally, update the shell environment:

       wmSET $FOAM_SETTINGS

11. Now let's build OpenFOAM:
    (Warning: this may take somewhere from 30 minutes to 6 hours, depending on your machine.)
    

    #Go into OpenFOAM's main source folder
    cd $WM_PROJECT_DIR
     
    #Still better be certain that the correct Qt version is being used
    export QT_SELECT=qt4
     
    # This next command will take a while... somewhere between 30 minutes to 3-6 hours.
    ./Allwmake > log.make 2>&1
     
    #Run it a second time for getting a summary of the installation
    ./Allwmake > log.make 2>&1

12. To check if everything went well:
    1. Check if icoFoam is working, by running this command:

       icoFoam -help

       which should tell you something like this:

       Usage: icoFoam [OPTIONS]
       options:
         -case <dir>       specify alternate case directory, default is the cwd
         -noFunctionObjects
                           do not execute functionObjects
         -parallel         run in parallel
         -roots <(dir1 .. dirN)>
                           slave root directories for distributed running
         -srcDoc           display source code in browser
         -doc              display application documentation in browser
         -help             print the usage

       Note: And keep in mind that you need to be careful with the letter case of the command. It's icoFoam, not icoFOAM.

    2. If the previous command failed to work properly, then edit the file log.make and check if there are any error messages. A few examples on how you can edit this file:
       • By using kwrite:

         kwrite log.make

       • By using gedit:

         gedit log.make

       • By using nano:

         nano log.make

         You can then exit by using the key combination Ctrl+X and following any instructions it gives you.

       Note: It's the first error message that matters.

    3. If you don't understand the output, then please compress the log-file log.make and attach the compressed file to a post in the designated thread.
       If you do not know how to create a compressed file, then try one of the following examples:
       • You can compress the file with gzip by running this command:

         gzip < log.make > log.make.gz

         Then attach the resulting package file named log.make.gz to a post in the designated thread.

       • Or you can compress one or more log-files into a tarball package file, by running this command:

         tar -czf logs.tar.gz log.*

         Then attach the resulting package file named logs.tar.gz to a post in the designated thread.

    4. Instructions on how to further diagnose the issue yourself, have a look at the section Common errors when building OpenFOAM from source code in the page FAQ/Installation and Running.
13. Now you can go read the User Guide, where you may have more than one choice:
    1. Which you can find a local copy of the User Guide by running the following command:

       ls -A1 $WM_PROJECT_DIR/doc/Guides*/*UserGuide*.pdf

       • You should see two available formats: A4 and US-Letter.
       • But if it instead tells you that there is No such file or directory, then the OpenFOAM environment is possibly not properly activated.
    2. You can also find the more recent OpenFOAM Foundation User Guides online at the following page: official OpenFOAM User Guide - but be careful if you use the version that is too much ahead of the version you are currently using, given that some features have changed overtime.

Reminder: Whenever you start a new terminal window or tab, you should run the alias command associated to the OpenFOAM 2.3.1 shell environment. In other words, run the following command whenever you start a new terminal:

of231

For more information on this topic, read section Using aliases to help manage multiple OpenFOAM versions in the page Installation/Working with the Shell.

Discussion thread where you can ask questions about these steps: Installing OpenFOAM 2.3.1 on Ubuntu 14.10

2.5 Ubuntu 15.04

Here you have the following choices:

• You can install from source, by either:
  • Following the official instructions from here: Download v2.3.1 | Source Pack
  • Or by following the detailed step-by-step instructions given above for Ubuntu 14.10, because those instructions work just fine for Ubuntu 15.04.

2.6 Ubuntu 16.04

Here you have the following choices:

• You can install from source, by either:
  • Following the official instructions from here: Download v2.3.1 | Source Pack
  • Or by following the detailed step-by-step instructions below...

Discussion thread where you can ask questions about these steps: No thread available. Please a create a new thread in the forum.

Steps:

1. Switch to root mode (administrator), to install the necessary packages:

   sudo -s

   • If the 'sudo' command tells you're not in the sudoers list, then run:

     su -

2. Update the apt-get cache by running:

   apt-get update

3. Install the necessary packages:

   apt-get install build-essential cmake flex bison zlib1g-dev qt4-dev-tools libqt4-dev libqtwebkit-dev gnuplot \
   libreadline-dev libncurses5-dev libxt-dev libopenmpi-dev openmpi-bin libboost-system-dev libboost-thread-dev libgmp-dev \
   libmpfr-dev python python-dev libcgal-dev

   Note: It has been reported that the following should also be executed in some cases, so that ParaView and CGAL will build properly:

   apt-get install libglu1-mesa-dev libqt4-opengl-dev

4. Now exit from the root mode:

   exit

5. Download and unpack (here you can copy-paste all in single go):

   #OpenFOAM downloading and installation
   cd ~
   mkdir OpenFOAM
   cd OpenFOAM
   wget "http://downloads.sourceforge.net/foam/OpenFOAM-2.3.1.tgz?use_mirror=mesh" -O OpenFOAM-2.3.1.tgz
   wget "http://downloads.sourceforge.net/foam/ThirdParty-2.3.1.tgz?use_mirror=mesh" -O ThirdParty-2.3.1.tgz
    
   tar -xzf OpenFOAM-2.3.1.tgz 
   tar -xzf ThirdParty-2.3.1.tgz

6. Optional: Let's make a few symbolic links that should ensure that the correct global MPI installation is used by this OpenFOAM installation:

   ln -s /usr/bin/mpicc.openmpi OpenFOAM-2.3.1/bin/mpicc
   ln -s /usr/bin/mpirun.openmpi OpenFOAM-2.3.1/bin/mpirun

   This way we avoid having problems in case there is more than one MPI toolbox installed in your Ubuntu system, for example if MPICH2 is installed and is the default MPI toolbox.

7. A few details need to be fixed, before proceeding, which will change the default Boost and CGAL versions, to then use the ones provided by Ubuntu:

   sed -i -e 's/\(cgal_version=\)CGAL-4.3/\1cgal-system/' OpenFOAM-2.3.1/etc/config/CGAL.sh

8. For building OpenFOAM itself, it depends on whether you have installed the i686 or x86_64 architecture of Ubuntu. To check this, run:

   uname -m

   Now, accordingly:

   • For i686:

     #here you can change 4 to the number of cores you've got
     source $HOME/OpenFOAM/OpenFOAM-2.3.1/etc/bashrc WM_NCOMPPROCS=4 WM_MPLIB=SYSTEMOPENMPI WM_ARCH_OPTION=32

   • For x86_64:

     #here you can change 4 to the number of cores you've got
     source $HOME/OpenFOAM/OpenFOAM-2.3.1/etc/bashrc WM_NCOMPPROCS=4 WM_MPLIB=SYSTEMOPENMPI

9. Save an alias in the personal .bashrc file, simply by running the following command:

   echo "alias of231='source \$HOME/OpenFOAM/OpenFOAM-2.3.1/etc/bashrc $FOAM_SETTINGS'" >> $HOME/.bashrc

   Note: This last line means that whenever you start a new terminal window or tab, you should run the alias command associated to the OpenFOAM 2.3.1 shell environment. In other words, whenever you start a new terminal, you should run:

   of231
   

   For more information on this topic, read section Using aliases to help manage multiple OpenFOAM versions in the page Installation/Working with the Shell.
10. Now let's build the ThirdParty folder, because we need the shell environment to be updated afterwards, for CGAL to be properly picked up for building OpenFOAM:

    cd $WM_THIRD_PARTY_DIR
     
    #make very certain that the correct Qt version is being used, by running this command:
    export QT_SELECT=qt4
     
    # Fix issue regarding not wanting to build CGAL
    sed -i -e 's|\(^if.*CGAL_ARCH_PATH.*\)]|\1 -a "${CGAL_ARCH_PATH##*/}" != "cgal-system" ]|' Allwmake
     
    # This next command will take a while... somewhere between 5 minutes to 30 minutes.
    ./Allwmake > log.make 2>&1
     
    #update the shell environment
    wmSET $FOAM_SETTINGS

11. Now, in order to build ParaView 4.1.0 that comes with OpenFOAM, including with the ability to use Python and MPI, several steps are needed:
    1. First make very certain that the correct Qt version is being used, by running this command:

       export QT_SELECT=qt4

    2. Need to do several fixes:

       cd $WM_THIRD_PARTY_DIR
        
       sed -i -e 's=MPI_ARCH_PATH/include=MPI_ARCH_PATH/include;$MPI_INCLUDE=' etc/tools/ParaView4Functions
        
       sed -i -e 's=//#define GLX_GLXEXT_LEGACY=#define GLX_GLXEXT_LEGACY=' \
         ParaView-4.1.0/VTK/Rendering/OpenGL/vtkXOpenGLRenderWindow.cxx
        
       cd $WM_THIRD_PARTY_DIR/ParaView-4.1.0
        
       wget http://www.paraview.org/pipermail/paraview/attachments/20140210/464496cc/attachment.bin -O Fix.patch
       patch -p1 < Fix.patch
        
       cd VTK
       wget https://github.com/gladk/VTK/commit/ef22d3d69421581b33bc0cd94b647da73b61ba96.patch -O Fix2.patch
       patch -p1 < Fix2.patch
        
       cd ../..

    3. For building ParaView with Python and MPI, it depends on whether you have installed the i686 or x86_64 architecture of Ubuntu. To check this, run:

       uname -m

       Now, accordingly:

       • For i686:

         #this will take a while... somewhere between 30 minutes to 2 hours or more
         ./makeParaView4 -python -mpi -python-lib /usr/lib/i386-linux-gnu/libpython2.7.so.1.0 > log.makePV 2>&1

       • For x86_64:

         #this will take a while... somewhere between 30 minutes to 2 hours or more
         ./makeParaView4 -python -mpi -python-lib /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libpython2.7.so.1.0 > log.makePV 2>&1

    4. Once the makeParaView4 script is finished running, make sure to check the contents of the file log.makePV and check if there are any errors.
    5. Finally, update the shell environment:

       wmSET $FOAM_SETTINGS

12. Now, before we can build OpenFOAM, we need to do a few fixes:

    #Go into OpenFOAM's main source folder
    cd $WM_PROJECT_DIR
     
    #Change how the flex version is checked
    find src applications -name "*.L" -type f | xargs sed -i -e 's=\(YY\_FLEX\_SUBMINOR\_VERSION\)=YY_FLEX_MINOR_VERSION < 6 \&\& \1='

13. Now let's build OpenFOAM:
    (Warning: this may take somewhere from 30 minutes to 6 hours, depending on your machine.)
    

    #Go into OpenFOAM's main source folder
    cd $WM_PROJECT_DIR
     
    #Still better be certain that the correct Qt version is being used
    export QT_SELECT=qt4
     
    # This next command will take a while... somewhere between 30 minutes to 3-6 hours.
    ./Allwmake > log.make 2>&1
     
    #Run it a second time for getting a summary of the installation
    ./Allwmake > log.make 2>&1

14. To check if everything went well:
    1. Check if icoFoam is working, by running this command:

       icoFoam -help

       which should tell you something like this:

       Usage: icoFoam [OPTIONS]
       options:
         -case <dir>       specify alternate case directory, default is the cwd
         -noFunctionObjects
                           do not execute functionObjects
         -parallel         run in parallel
         -roots <(dir1 .. dirN)>
                           slave root directories for distributed running
         -srcDoc           display source code in browser
         -doc              display application documentation in browser
         -help             print the usage

       Note: And keep in mind that you need to be careful with the letter case of the command. It's icoFoam, not icoFOAM.

    2. If the previous command failed to work properly, then edit the file log.make and check if there are any error messages. A few examples on how you can edit this file:
       • By using kwrite:

         kwrite log.make

       • By using gedit:

         gedit log.make

       • By using nano:

         nano log.make

         You can then exit by using the key combination Ctrl+X and following any instructions it gives you.

       Note: It's the first error message that matters.

    3. If you don't understand the output, then please compress the log-file log.make and attach the compressed file to a post in the designated thread.
       If you do not know how to create a compressed file, then try one of the following examples:
       • You can compress the file with gzip by running this command:

         gzip < log.make > log.make.gz

         Then attach the resulting package file named log.make.gz to a post in the designated thread.

       • Or you can compress one or more log-files into a tarball package file, by running this command:

         tar -czf logs.tar.gz log.*

         Then attach the resulting package file named logs.tar.gz to a post in the designated thread.

    4. Instructions on how to further diagnose the issue yourself, have a look at the section Common errors when building OpenFOAM from source code in the page FAQ/Installation and Running.
15. Now you can go read the User Guide, where you may have more than one choice:
    1. Which you can find a local copy of the User Guide by running the following command:

       ls -A1 $WM_PROJECT_DIR/doc/Guides*/*UserGuide*.pdf

       • You should see two available formats: A4 and US-Letter.
       • But if it instead tells you that there is No such file or directory, then the OpenFOAM environment is possibly not properly activated.
    2. You can also find the more recent OpenFOAM Foundation User Guides online at the following page: official OpenFOAM User Guide - but be careful if you use the version that is too much ahead of the version you are currently using, given that some features have changed overtime.

Reminder: Whenever you start a new terminal window or tab, you should run the alias command associated to the OpenFOAM 2.3.1 shell environment. In other words, run the following command whenever you start a new terminal:

of231

For more information on this topic, read section Using aliases to help manage multiple OpenFOAM versions in the page Installation/Working with the Shell.

Discussion thread where you can ask questions about these steps: No thread available. Please a create a new thread in the forum.

2.7 Ubuntu 18.04

Here you have the following choices:

• You can install from source, by either:
  • Following the official instructions from here: Download v2.3.1 | Source Pack
  • Or by following the detailed step-by-step instructions below...

Discussion thread where you can ask questions about these steps: Installing OpenFOAM 2.3 on Ubuntu 18.04

Steps:

1. Switch to root mode (administrator), to install the necessary packages:

   sudo -s

   • If the 'sudo' command tells you're not in the sudoers list, then run:

     su -

2. Update the apt-get cache by running:

   apt-get update

3. Install the necessary packages:

   apt-get install build-essential cmake flex bison zlib1g-dev qt4-dev-tools libqt4-dev libqtwebkit-dev gnuplot \
   libreadline-dev libncurses5-dev libxt-dev libopenmpi-dev openmpi-bin libboost-system-dev libboost-thread-dev libgmp-dev \
   libmpfr-dev python python-dev libcgal-dev gcc-5 g++-5

   Note: It has been reported that the following should also be executed in some cases, so that ParaView and CGAL will build properly:

   apt-get install libglu1-mesa-dev libqt4-opengl-dev

4. Now exit from the root mode:

   exit

5. Download and unpack (here you can copy-paste all in single go):

   #OpenFOAM downloading and installation
   cd ~
   mkdir OpenFOAM
   cd OpenFOAM
   wget "http://downloads.sourceforge.net/foam/OpenFOAM-2.3.1.tgz?use_mirror=mesh" -O OpenFOAM-2.3.1.tgz
   wget "http://downloads.sourceforge.net/foam/ThirdParty-2.3.1.tgz?use_mirror=mesh" -O ThirdParty-2.3.1.tgz
    
   tar -xzf OpenFOAM-2.3.1.tgz 
   tar -xzf ThirdParty-2.3.1.tgz

6. Optional: Let's make a few symbolic links that should ensure that the correct global MPI installation is used by this OpenFOAM installation:

   ln -s /usr/bin/mpicc.openmpi OpenFOAM-2.3.1/bin/mpicc
   ln -s /usr/bin/mpirun.openmpi OpenFOAM-2.3.1/bin/mpirun

   This way we avoid having problems in case there is more than one MPI toolbox installed in your Ubuntu system, for example if MPICH2 is installed and is the default MPI toolbox.

7. A few details need to be fixed, before proceeding, which will change the default Boost and CGAL versions, to then use the ones provided by Ubuntu, along with a few GCC version changes:

   sed -i -e 's/\(cgal_version=\)CGAL-4.3/\1cgal-system/' OpenFOAM-2.3.1/etc/config/CGAL.sh
   sed -i -e 's=\-lmpfr=-lmpfr -lboost_thread=' OpenFOAM-2.3.1/wmake/rules/General/CGAL
    
   sed -i -e 's/gcc/\$(WM_CC)/' OpenFOAM-2.3.1/wmake/rules/linux*Gcc/c
   sed -i -e 's/g++/\$(WM_CXX)/' OpenFOAM-2.3.1/wmake/rules/linux*Gcc/c++

8. For building OpenFOAM itself, it depends on whether you have installed the i686 or x86_64 architecture of Ubuntu. To check this, run:

   uname -m

   Now, accordingly:

   • For i686:

     #here you can change 4 to the number of cores you've got
     source $HOME/OpenFOAM/OpenFOAM-2.3.1/etc/bashrc WM_NCOMPPROCS=4 WM_MPLIB=SYSTEMOPENMPI WM_ARCH_OPTION=32
     export WM_CC='gcc-5'
     export WM_CXX='g++-5'

   • For x86_64:

     #here you can change 4 to the number of cores you've got
     source $HOME/OpenFOAM/OpenFOAM-2.3.1/etc/bashrc WM_NCOMPPROCS=4 WM_MPLIB=SYSTEMOPENMPI
     export WM_CC='gcc-5'
     export WM_CXX='g++-5'

9. Save an alias in the personal .bashrc file, simply by running the following command:

   echo "alias of231='source \$HOME/OpenFOAM/OpenFOAM-2.3.1/etc/bashrc $FOAM_SETTINGS; export WM_CC=gcc-5; export WM_CXX=g++-5'" >> $HOME/.bashrc

   Note: This last line means that whenever you start a new terminal window or tab, you should run the alias command associated to the OpenFOAM 2.3.1 shell environment. In other words, whenever you start a new terminal, you should run:

   of231
   

   For more information on this topic, read section Using aliases to help manage multiple OpenFOAM versions in the page Installation/Working with the Shell.
   • Just in case, also source that file, so that you can use of231 in this terminal if necessary, by running:

     source $HOME/.bashrc

10. Now let's build the ThirdParty folder, because we need the shell environment to be updated afterwards, for CGAL to be properly picked up for building OpenFOAM:

    cd $WM_THIRD_PARTY_DIR
     
    #make very certain that the correct Qt version is being used, by running this command:
    export QT_SELECT=qt4
     
    # Fix issue regarding not wanting to build CGAL
    sed -i -e 's|\(^if.*CGAL_ARCH_PATH.*\)]|\1 -a "${CGAL_ARCH_PATH##*/}" != "cgal-system" ]|' Allwmake
     
    # This next command will take a while... somewhere between 5 minutes to 30 minutes.
    ./Allwmake > log.make 2>&1
     
    #update the shell environment
    of231

11. Now, in order to build ParaView 4.1.0 that comes with OpenFOAM, including with the ability to use Python and MPI, several steps are needed:
    1. First make very certain that the correct Qt version is being used, by running this command:

       export QT_SELECT=qt4

    2. Need to do several fixes:

       cd $WM_THIRD_PARTY_DIR
        
       sed -i -e 's=MPI_ARCH_PATH/include=MPI_ARCH_PATH/include;$MPI_INCLUDE=' etc/tools/ParaView4Functions
        
       sed -i -e 's=//#define GLX_GLXEXT_LEGACY=#define GLX_GLXEXT_LEGACY=' \
         ParaView-4.1.0/VTK/Rendering/OpenGL/vtkXOpenGLRenderWindow.cxx
        
       cd $WM_THIRD_PARTY_DIR/ParaView-4.1.0
        
       wget http://www.paraview.org/pipermail/paraview/attachments/20140210/464496cc/attachment.bin -O Fix.patch
       patch -p1 < Fix.patch
        
       cd VTK
       wget https://github.com/gladk/VTK/commit/ef22d3d69421581b33bc0cd94b647da73b61ba96.patch -O Fix2.patch
       patch -p1 < Fix2.patch
        
       cd ../..

    3. For building ParaView with Python and MPI, it depends on whether you have installed the i686 or x86_64 architecture of Ubuntu. To check this, run:

       uname -m

       Now, accordingly:

       • For i686:

         #this will take a while... somewhere between 30 minutes to 2 hours or more
         ./makeParaView4 -python -mpi -python-lib /usr/lib/i386-linux-gnu/libpython2.7.so.1.0 > log.makePV 2>&1

       • For x86_64:

         #this will take a while... somewhere between 30 minutes to 2 hours or more
         ./makeParaView4 -python -mpi -python-lib /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libpython2.7.so.1.0 > log.makePV 2>&1

    4. Once the makeParaView4 script is finished running, make sure to check the contents of the file log.makePV and check if there are any errors.
    5. Finally, update the shell environment:

       of231

12. Now, before we can build OpenFOAM, we need to do a few fixes:

    #Go into OpenFOAM's main source folder
    cd $WM_PROJECT_DIR
     
    #Change how the flex version is checked
    find src applications -name "*.L" -type f | xargs sed -i -e 's=\(YY\_FLEX\_SUBMINOR\_VERSION\)=YY_FLEX_MINOR_VERSION < 6 \&\& \1='

13. Now let's build OpenFOAM:
    (Warning: this may take somewhere from 30 minutes to 6 hours, depending on your machine.)
    

    #Go into OpenFOAM's main source folder
    cd $WM_PROJECT_DIR
     
    #Still better be certain that the correct Qt version is being used
    export QT_SELECT=qt4
     
    # This next command will take a while... somewhere between 30 minutes to 3-6 hours.
    ./Allwmake > log.make 2>&1
     
    #Run it a second time for getting a summary of the installation
    ./Allwmake > log.make 2>&1

14. To check if everything went well:
    1. Check if icoFoam is working, by running this command:

       icoFoam -help

       which should tell you something like this:

       Usage: icoFoam [OPTIONS]
       options:
         -case <dir>       specify alternate case directory, default is the cwd
         -noFunctionObjects
                           do not execute functionObjects
         -parallel         run in parallel
         -roots <(dir1 .. dirN)>
                           slave root directories for distributed running
         -srcDoc           display source code in browser
         -doc              display application documentation in browser
         -help             print the usage

       Note: And keep in mind that you need to be careful with the letter case of the command. It's icoFoam, not icoFOAM.

    2. If the previous command failed to work properly, then edit the file log.make and check if there are any error messages. A few examples on how you can edit this file:
       • By using kwrite:

         kwrite log.make

       • By using gedit:

         gedit log.make

       • By using nano:

         nano log.make

         You can then exit by using the key combination Ctrl+X and following any instructions it gives you.

       Note: It's the first error message that matters.

    3. If you don't understand the output, then please compress the log-file log.make and attach the compressed file to a post in the designated thread.
       If you do not know how to create a compressed file, then try one of the following examples:
       • You can compress the file with gzip by running this command:

         gzip < log.make > log.make.gz

         Then attach the resulting package file named log.make.gz to a post in the designated thread.

       • Or you can compress one or more log-files into a tarball package file, by running this command:

         tar -czf logs.tar.gz log.*

         Then attach the resulting package file named logs.tar.gz to a post in the designated thread.

    4. Instructions on how to further diagnose the issue yourself, have a look at the section Common errors when building OpenFOAM from source code in the page FAQ/Installation and Running.
15. Now you can go read the User Guide, where you may have more than one choice:
    1. Which you can find a local copy of the User Guide by running the following command:

       ls -A1 $WM_PROJECT_DIR/doc/Guides*/*UserGuide*.pdf

       • You should see two available formats: A4 and US-Letter.
       • But if it instead tells you that there is No such file or directory, then the OpenFOAM environment is possibly not properly activated.
    2. You can also find the more recent OpenFOAM Foundation User Guides online at the following page: official OpenFOAM User Guide - but be careful if you use the version that is too much ahead of the version you are currently using, given that some features have changed overtime.

Reminder: Whenever you start a new terminal window or tab, you should run the alias command associated to the OpenFOAM 2.3.1 shell environment. In other words, run the following command whenever you start a new terminal:

of231

For more information on this topic, read section Using aliases to help manage multiple OpenFOAM versions in the page Installation/Working with the Shell.

Discussion thread where you can ask questions about these steps: Installing OpenFOAM 2.3 on Ubuntu 18.04