I'm running Boinc 6.2.14 in Linux (2.6.27 kernel) with three projects ongoing. The big one is a SETI astropulse project with over 200 hours yet to run.

I need to change to another Linux distro for hardware compatibility issues. Is there a reasonable way to transfer the SETI project without losing the work already done.

From which Linux distro to which other Linux distro are you going?
Also, did you use the package manager to install this BOINC and are you planning on using the package manager in the other Linux? Have you checked which version they may be at?

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Thanks for the prompt reply.

Present client is from Mephis repo's. Currently running Mephis 8 (2.6.27 kernel) and moving to Debian stable (Lenny 2.6.26 kernel). Boinc clients are same version (6.2.14-3) in both distros. Mephis is Deb-based so I expect the client was pulled directly from the Deb repos.

Both distros are running on the same box; different HD's. Debian is fresh install because HD with Mephis is becoming suspect.

Well, in theory, it should work. Although Sekerob's third point is valid. I've always run down my cache of work when upgrading my system (Fedora, fwiw). Plus I don't use the package manager, and prefer to manage the install myself.

As to specific steps... Find where the package manager puts the data. I'm not a Debian person, so I can't say for sure.

Back up the data directory. I'd make a tarball out of it and then put it on a thumb drive.

Do your OS install and install BOINC from the repos. Start it up and disable network access. Then shut down BOINC. Put the data directory back, making sure that permissions are OK. Start up BOINC again and see if it all works. If it does, then you can re-enable the network. If not, well, I won't be much help.

Please take this advice with a large grain of salt. I'm fighting a bad cold and my brain is not working as well as it could.

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Kathryn :o)

@Sekerob:
All valid points. Unfortunately they fall into that category of "don't know til we get there." I'm looking for a procedure that has the best chance of success. Yes, we Linux drivers are notorious for "OS flopping." :)
The central issue, though, is that I'm getting an increasing frequency of bad boots on this drive. Its formatted to ext3 so (so far) e2fsck is handling it. My personal stuff has been secured leaving only Boinc projects to consider.

@MSMarksPsyche:
I can relate to the "grain of salt." It's still early here and all I've got on hand is decaf. Sorry about the cold. Around here it's been the flu (and unemployment :)) kicking everyone's butt.

I don't know enough about the Boinc nuts-n-bolts to evaluate outcome. It seems that all the project info locates into /var/lib/boinc-client in Linux. My simplistic approach would be to simply copy the boinc-client folder into the new distro file system, replacing whatever Boinc creates at install. I understand the bit about shutting down Boinc (manually) and disabling network during transition.
Are there other config/status files specific to Boinc client that need to be considered?

Thanks,
Rick

Possibly the ones in the "What the installer does" section.

(I must say, after my last question my knowledge of Linux ended... ;-))

There is a very good chance that your BOINC can't be moved over without it losing your work due to kernel differences.

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[quote]Possibly the ones in the "What the installer does" section.

Yup. Already read through all that. Thanks.

So far I'm not seeing any show-stoppers. I think I'll give this 24 hours in case someone else wants to chime in. I'll give it a go tomorrow morning when I have ample quantities of caffeine on hand.

Thanks guys.
Rick

OK guys, I think I've got this sorted out. My caffeine level was good so I tackled this tonight instead of tomorrow.
I initially just tried to copy all the data/config files from the existing boinc-client folder to the new boinc-client folder. No go. What a surprize. :)
With further digging it turns out that there's a shell script buried in Debian docs that will take care of it handily but it's not referenced anywhere. You've got to find it or, in my case, stumble upon it.

The script is > move-boinc-dir.sh
Located in > /usr/share/doc/boinc-client/examples

So it goes like this (all from CLI as root):

1. In the existing OS, stop boinc to ensure the data files are static:
command > /etc/init.d/boinc-client stop

2. Create a temporary folder somewhere handy to the new OS. Not strictly necessary but I did it to make sure there was no chance of corrupting my good data/config files. In my case I created the directory "boinc" within the new OS in my user folder so:> /home/rick/boinc

3. Move all folders and files from existing OS (located in /var/lib/boinc-client) to the interim file (/home/rick/boinc).

4. Shut down and reboot into the new OS.

5. Enter CLI as root and CD to the directory holding the shell script.
command > cd /usr/share/doc/boinc-client/examples

6. The script as installed is not executable. To make it executable:
command > chmod u+x move-boinc-dir.sh

7. Add the existing OS file location as the argument and execute.
command > move-boinc-dir.sh /home/rick/boinc

The script stops BOINC, moves the files, does a bit of configuration, and restarts BOINC. Shazam! Off and running. Seems okay so far but I haven't had a transfer up or down yet. Will advise.

My guess is that this works across most, if not all, reasonably current Debian and derivative releases. There's probably a similar, if not identical, script on the RPM (Fedora, et. al.) side as well.

Thanks for the hand-holding guys.
Rick

Glad to hear it worked Rick! I'll have to email the Fedora package maintainer to see if he has anything similar in his package.

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Kathryn :o)

Follow-up.

Reported a couple of finished jobs last night and D/L'ed new work. Looks like everything went well.

Again thanks.
Rick