Allow user to move/select location of BOINC data

[jamadagni]

BOINC on Windows as well as Linux (I have not seen Mac) puts its data (i.e. data to be crunched, configuration files etc) in a subdirectory of its own running directory. This is highly inconvenient for people who would like to separate applications and data.

For example, on Windows, if ever I have to reinstall Windows due to a crash, then the data, possibly half-processed, is gone. If I have it on a different partition it is not a problem.

So it would be a useful feature to allow the user to move his/her data and/or specify the location of data (for ex after Windows and BOINC is reinstalled).

I see at ​https://boinc.berkeley.edu/dev/forum_thread.php?id=1351 that I can use -dir on the console to point the client elsewhere, but:

1) it would be useful to put this feature in the GUI

2) it also seems that boincmgr does not honour the -dir param w.r.t some data files so that needs to be fixed too

Other points of possible interest:

1) The case of systems where many users run a single BOINC installation (with possibly common or disparate datasets) may also have to be considered while implementing the above request.

2) It would be a good idea to remove dependency on the Windows registry as this is not cross-platform. INI or XML files may be used for configuration. I mention this here because this will help zero-problem relocation of data by just having the data directory safe in one place.

[Didactylos]

This is covered in the roadmap for 6.0.

BOINC has no dependency on the registry. The core client uses its own configuration files, and BOINC Manager uses the wxWidgets configuration architecture, which maps to the registry on Windows, and configuration files on other platforms. Only transient data is stored in the registry.

[jamadagni]

Thanks for responding. Please also ensure that it is easy and seamless to migrate across platforms. That is, I have been using BOINC on Windows and now I want to use it on Linux etc.

[Nicolas]

Replying to jamadagni:

Thanks for responding. Please also ensure that it is easy and seamless to migrate across platforms. That is, I have been using BOINC on Windows and now I want to use it on Linux etc.

You can't (and shouldn't try to) migrate the data directory between platforms.

• The data directory contains not only input files but also executables for the project application. If you change platform, you'd have to delete those files and download the correct ones for your platform manually, and edit client_state.xml to point to the new filenames.
• There is no guarantee that the intermediate files created by the project application are compatible between platforms.
• Changing platform means the server will assign a different host ID to your computer. The server will not allow returning completed work from one host ID if it had sent it to another.

[romw]

The new 6.0 installer will now allow the person installing BOINC to select which directory the data should exist in. It will migrate the data from the old location to the one specified during installation.

[MikeMarsUK]

Replying to romw:

The new 6.0 installer will now allow the person installing BOINC to select which directory the data should exist in. It will migrate the data from the old location to the one specified during installation.

Just trying to think of possible issues...

• What happens if someone goes from V6 to V5? Is there some way to put things back to where they originally come from?

[Nicolas]

Replying to MikeMarsUK:

• What happens if someone goes from V6 to V5? Is there some way to put things back to where they originally come from?

Wiki says: yes there is a way, but you have to do it manually.