CFD Online Discussion Forums - [OpenFOAM.com] Issues building Paraview/Parafoam for OpenFOAM 1612+:

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Issues building Paraview/Parafoam for OpenFOAM 1612+:

Hello everyone,

I've been trying to figure out my way around OpenFOAM 1612+ for several days now, (fresh Linux and OpenFOAM user here, so bear with me), so setting up my question will take a while, for which I'd like to apologize in advance.

First things first, this is not a critical issue, though I'm guessing it could come back to bite me in the a** in a few tutorials' time. These are my specs:
- OpenFOAM 1612+
- Ubuntu 16.04 (i686), running out of a Fujitsu Siemens with an intel Pentium Dual-Core

I've followed this installation guide as best as possible:
https://openfoamwiki.net/index.php/I...1612%2B/Ubuntu
The step-by-step description was really helpful, but the problems began as I started to build Paraview (step 9 of the aforementioned guide) [see log in attachment].

Code:

./makeParaView -python -mpi -python-lib /usr/lib/i386-linux-gnu/libpython2.7.so.1.0 > log.makePV 2>&1

The process starts out OK but just freezes after 20-30min and then I have to force shutdown manually. Another occurrence was my system rebooting without warning and without finishing the build.
Pushing on with the guide, I proceeded to build OpenFOAM. After some trial-and-error, I figured that the core number specification in

Code:

./Allwmake -j 4 > log.make 2>&1

was no good for my setup. Having omitted it, I was able to go through with the install, system checks also good.
Now, as far as I can tell, I've successfully built OpenFOAM (both "blockMesh" and "icoFoam" are running smoothly].
At this point in time, this was my output for running "paraFoam" from the command line:

Code:

rui@rui-AMILO-PRO-V3515:~/OpenFOAM/rui-v1612+/run/tutorials/incompressible/icoFoam/cavity/cavity$ paraFoam



ERROR: ParaView reader module library (PVFoamReader) does not exist

Please build the reader module before continuing:



    cd $FOAM_UTILITIES/postProcessing/graphics/PVReaders

    ./Allwclean

    ./Allwmake



Created temporary 'cavity.foam'

And then nothing.
I tried the recommended solution:

Code:

rui@rui-AMILO-PRO-V3515:~/OpenFOAM/OpenFOAM-v1612+/applications/utilities/postProcessing/graphics/PVReaders$     ./Allwclean

wclean libso vtkPVReaders

wclean libso vtkPVblockMesh

wclean libso vtkPVFoam

rui@rui-AMILO-PRO-V3515:~/OpenFOAM/OpenFOAM-v1612+/applications/utilities/postProcessing/graphics/PVReaders$     ./Allwmake

==> skip build of ParaView plugins

    include directory was for paraview major version 'none'

Which I found weird, but couldn't find anyone else having the same issue out here on the forum, so I disregarded it.
Having no luck with the Paraview recommendations, I decided to build Paraview 5.0.1 directly from the site source (which isn't recommended for Ubuntu systems, as I've read). This worked to a limited extent. This is my output now:

Code:

rui@rui-AMILO-PRO-V3515:~/OpenFOAM/rui-v1612+/run/tutorials/incompressible/icoFoam/cavity/cavity$ paraFoam



ERROR: ParaView reader module library (PVFoamReader) does not exist

Please build the reader module before continuing:



    cd $FOAM_UTILITIES/postProcessing/graphics/PVReaders

    ./Allwclean

    ./Allwmake



Using the native VTK/OpenFOAM reader instead

Created temporary 'cavity.foam'

Which then opens Paraview with the correct case "cavity.foam".
Any thoughts on how to make the build better, or at least sidestep this error message?
Also, and I'm not sure if this is relevant, I haven't been able to correctly reboot or shutdown my system since installing the Ubuntu OS!

Your help is greatly appreciated.

Warm regards.

Hi ruisdiogo,

I just reinstall the OpenFOAM v1612+ and I got exactly a same issue with you, all built are fine, as I took post-compilation steps the error occurred, then I tried to access to result folder and paraFoam appeared with same issue in terminal.

Did you solve the problem?

Regards

I have the same problem building openfoam 1706

Me too... v1806 on Linux Mint

Laika,
still orbiting

Yep... v1806 on ubuntu16.04

:mad:
Yep... v1806 on ubuntu16.04

I have the same problem with -v1806 on Ubuntu 18.04.1 LTS.

Can anyone give a piece of advice?

Regards
P.

Greetings to all!

Unfortunately I was not able to answer nor look into this anytime sooner and was not able to give an answer to the first two posts. The quick workaround would have been to install the paraview package that comes with Ubuntu, by running this command:

Code:

sudo apt-get install paraview

Then when using "paraFoam", run it with the option "-builtin", for example, like this:

Code:

paraFoam -builtin

This way it will use the ".foam" extension, instead of the ".OpenFOAM" file extension. There are a few limitations with this, but at least you can somewhat make a better use of it, rather than none.

Worse case scenario, you can export the case to VTK format with this command:

Code:

foamToVTK

and then open the files that are inside the VTK folder, by first starting up ParaView with this command:

Code:

paraFoam

As for the more recent posts, namely those referring to OpenFOAM-v1806, please let us know which installation instructions you have followed. Because that way we are able to give you a better guidance on how to fix the issue in your particular situation.

Best regards,
Bruno

I'm a v1806 user. I followed instructions from this webpage to download OpenFOAM. OpenFOAM itself works fine with no issues, but I can't get paraview to work. I initially tried to run paraview simply by typing 'paraview' and the terminal told me:

Code:

sudo apt-get install paraview

It installed fine, but now when I type paraview it tells:

Code:

paraview: cannot connect to X server

First thing I tried was on this link where I ran

Code:

apt-get install xvfb

xvfb-run paraview

which told me

Code:

xvfb-run: error: Xvfb failed to start

So it doesn't look like a promising option. I then tried typing paraForm which told me

Code:

ERROR: ParaView reader module library (PVFoamReader) does not exist

Please build the reader module before continuing:



    cd $WM_PROJECT_DIR/applications/utilities/postProcessing/graphics/PVReaders

    ./Allwclean

    ./Allwmake



Using the native VTK/OpenFOAM reader instead

Created temporary 'lpjf54.foam'

paraview: cannot connect to X server

The problem then is that after running ./Allwmake I get

Code:

==> skip build of ParaView plugins

    include directory was for paraview major version 'none'

.

I think that's everything. Tbh I'm currently starting to use WRF and may not even use paraview with it, but I'll likely use it in the future if I play with OpenFOAM some more. Hopefully, there is enough info for you to help!

Quick answer:

Quote:

Originally Posted by ProofByColor (Post 714543)

I'm a v1806 user. I followed instructions from this webpage to download OpenFOAM.

They mention on that page the following:

Quote:

For GUI-based processing users are recommended to download and use the ParaView Windows native build.

This means that you should download the ParaView version for Windows and install it on Windows.

So after you've installed ParaView, you should follow the example at the bottom of the page you mentioned and then launch ParaView interactively on Windows. Then from within ParaView, menu File->Open, then browse to the folder where the case is located and open the file that ends with ".foam".

This is because X server communications are not easy to enable from within WSL.

Thank you. Everything works fine now.