Openfoam 8 Installation Error - 'FOAM FATAL ERROR'
 

Hi, apologies for my ignorance this is the first time I am attempting to use openfoam. I am using virtualbox to run ubuntu client and have followed instructions on openfoam website to install openfoam 8.
I had no error with the install directly, after performing updates/upgrades it suggests everything is installed correctly.
I then edit my bashrc file by adding a new line:

"source /opt/openfoam8/etc/bashrc"

Save this and try to run the next command:

"simpleFoam -help"

and receive the following error:

--> FOAM FATAL ERROR :
Could not find mandatory etc entry (mode=ugo)
'controlDict'

I have tried to run tutorial cases also and receive the same error when I attempt to use blockMesh function.

I can open the opt/openfoam8/bashrc file and notice it is read-only.
I made a seperate run directory in documents directory and this made no difference.

Using Ubuntu 20.10 if that helps.

Out of curiosity, why run in a virtualbox (and why openfoam.org instead of openfoam.com)?
The error about etc/controlDict indicates that the environment variable WM_PROJECT_DIR is either not set or set incorrectly. Perhaps the path mapping with virtualbox is messing things up.

Hi, thanks for the reply.

The PC I intend to use is for everyday use, so I have a windows 10 host. It seemed the simplest way was to use virtualbox.

I did not realise the software was different from .org/.com. I will follow instructions on openfoam.com and see if I get a different outcome.

Could you tell me where the $WM_PROJECT_DIR should be pointing? To the \opt\openfoam8 ?

If you have a Windows 10 host you have the choice of three different deployment methods for the openfoam.com version: a docker container, a mingw cross-compiled windows version and an Ubuntu version installed via WSL2.
I can't tell you which one is best for you - this will depend on what you want to do with it. If you are a Windows-only kind of person, then maybe the mingw version. I personally would probably go for the WSL solution with Ubuntu and then install the Ubuntu packages directly there. However this heavily biased since I don't actually have Windows anywhere and this solution would just be me trying to make a windows machine not look like one.

For your last question, yes the WM_PROJECT_DIR should point to the root of the OpenFOAM installation like you thought, but this isn't Windows - the path separators are '/' and not backslashes.