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OpenFOAM on Windows – WSL Installation Guide

The Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) allows you to run a full Linux environment directly on Windows 10 and 11. This is currently the recommended method to run OpenFOAM reliably on Windows.

  • Official OpenFOAM website: https://www.openfoam.com
  • OpenFOAM v13: https://www.openfoam.com/download
  • OpenFOAM-dev: https://www.openfoam.com/download/dev
  • Running OpenFOAM on Windows (WSL): https://www.openfoam.com/download/windows
  • Running OpenFOAM on macOS: https://www.openfoam.com/download/mac
  • Compile from source: https://www.openfoam.com/download/source
  • Package repository: https://dl.openfoam.org
  • Version history: https://www.openfoam.com/releases

Installing WSL

1. Open Windows Command Prompt as Administrator

  • Click on the Start Menu, type cmd.
  • Right-click on Command Prompt → Run as administrator.
  • Confirm any authorization prompts.

2. Check if WSL is installed

Run the command:

wsl -l -v
````

* If no distributions are installed, proceed to the next step.
* Otherwise, check that Ubuntu is listed with version 2.

### 3. Install WSL with Ubuntu 22.04

Run:

```bash
wsl --install -d Ubuntu-22.04
  • Follow the prompts to set up your Linux username and password.

4. Start WSL

  • Open the Start Menu, search for Ubuntu, and launch it.
  • Or type wsl in the Command Prompt.

Installing OpenFOAM and ParaView

OpenFOAM and ParaView can be installed using the apt package manager. You will need superuser privileges (sudo) to run the following commands.

1. Add the OpenFOAM repository and public key

Run in the terminal:

sudo sh -c "wget -O - https://dl.openfoam.org/gpg.key > /etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/openfoam.asc"
sudo add-apt-repository http://dl.openfoam.org/ubuntu

Note:

  • The public key uses https://.
  • The repository URL uses http:// because https:// may not be supported, but security is ensured by the GPG key.

2. Update your package list

sudo apt update

3. Install OpenFOAM 13

sudo apt -y install openfoam13

OpenFOAM 13 and ParaView will be installed in /opt.

User Configuration

To use OpenFOAM, follow these steps:

  1. Open your .bashrc file in your home directory with an editor, for example:
gedit ~/.bashrc
  1. Add the following line at the end of the file, then save and close:
. /opt/openfoam13/etc/bashrc
  1. Open a new terminal window and test the installation:
foamRun -help
  1. You should see the help message. Installation and configuration are now complete.

Notes

  • If you already have a similar line in .bashrc from a previous OpenFOAM version, comment it out with # or remove it.
  • To apply changes immediately in the same terminal window after modifying .bashrc:
. $HOME/.bashrc

Graphics and LaTeX Dependencies

Install libraries for Gmsh and OpenGL

sudo apt install libglu1-mesa libgl1-mesa-glx libxrender1 libxext6

Install TexLive for LaTeX

1. Base installation

sudo apt-get install texlive-latex-base

To avoid errors when using pdflatex on LaTeX files with multiple fonts:

sudo apt-get install texlive-fonts-recommended
sudo apt-get install texlive-fonts-extra

3. Additional LaTeX packages

sudo apt-get install texlive-latex-extra