Controlling the core client via RPC

Steuerung des Core Clienten über RPC

Zuletzt aktualisiert am Sonntag, 27.11.2005 23:12

The BOINC core client provides a set of RPCs (remote procedure calls) for control and state interrogation. This enables the development of GUI (graphical user interface) programs separately from the core client.

BOINC provides a C++ interface to these RPCs. The interface is based on the GUI_RPC class, which provides the following functions (the code is in lib/gui_rpc_client.h, and the program boinc_cmd.C gives a usage example):

function description

init(char* host)
Establish RPC connection to the given host

authorize(char* password)
Do authorization sequence with the peer, using given password

get_state(CC_STATE&)
Get the core client's 'static' state, i.e. its projects, apps, app_versions, workunits and results. This call is relatively slow and should only be done initially, and when needed later (see below).

get_results(RESULTS&)
Get a list of results. Those that are in progress will have information such as CPU time and fraction done. Each result includes a name; use CC_STATE::lookup_result() to find this result in the current static state; if it's not there, call get_state() again.

get_file_transfers(FILE_TRANSFERS&)
Get a list of file transfers in progress. Each is linked by name to a project; use CC_STATE::lookup_project() to find this project in the current state; if it's not there, call get_state() again.

get_project_status(vector<PROJECT>&)
Get a list of projects, with only basic fields filled in.

get_disk_usage(vector<PROJECT>&)
Get a list of projects, with disk usage fields filled in.

show_graphics(char* result_name, bool full_screen)
Request that the application processing the given result create a graphics window

project_op(PROJECT&, char* op)
Perform a control operation on the given project. op is one of "suspend", "resume", "reset", "detach", or "update".

project_attach(char* url, char* account_id)
Attach to the given project

set_run_mode(int mode)
Set the run mode (never/auto/always).

get_run_mode(int& mode)
Get the run mode (never/auto/always).

set_network_mode(int mode)
Set the network mode (never/auto/always).

run_benchmarks()
Run benchmarks

set_proxy_settings(PROXY_INFO&)
Set proxy settings

get_proxy_settings(PROXY_INFO&)
Get proxy settings

get_messages(int seqno, MESSAGES&)
Returns a list of messages to be displayed to the user. Each message has a sequence number (1, 2, ...), a priority (1=informational, 2=error) and a timestamp. The RPC requests the messages with sequence numbers greater than 'seqno', in order of increasing sequence number.

file_transfer_op(FILE_TRANSFER&, char* op)
Perform a control operation on a file transfer. op is one of "abort" or "retry".

result_op(FILE_TRANSFER&, char* op)
Perform a control operation on an active result. op is one of "suspend", "resume", or "abort".

The RPC mechanism uses XML requests and replies. It should be easy fairly easy to generate client interfaces in languages other than C++. GUI programs connect to the core client by opening a TCP socket at port 31416. They can then do repeated RPCs over this connection. Each reply message ends with the character '\003.

Access control for GUI RPC

Since GUI RPCs can control the BOINC client (e.g. attaching/detaching projects) it is important to protect your BOINC client from unauthorized control. There are two levels of protection:

You can associate a password with the client; GUI RPCs must be authenticated with this password.
You can restrict RPCs to a limited set of hosts.

Password protection

If you place a password in a file gui_rpc_auth.cfg in your BOINC directory, GUI RPCs must be authenticated using the password.

Remote host restriction

By default the core client accepts GUI RPCs only from the same host.

You can allow remote hosts to control a core client in two ways:

If you run the client with the -allow_remote_gui_rpc command line option, it will accept connections from any host. This is not recommended unless the host is behind a firewall that blocks the GUI RPC port (1043).
You can create a file remote_hosts.cfg in your BOINC directory containing a list of allowed DNS host names or IP addresses (one per line). Those hosts will be able to connect. The remote_hosts.cfg file can have comment lines that start with either a # or a ; character as well.

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