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Install Linux

Requirements

  • System requirements are available for Flame Family products.
  • The installation package for the application to install.
  • Root access to the system. The default root account password on an Autodesk workstation is password.
  • An empty USB key (minimum size: 16 GB)

Migrate an existing workstation

If you have an existing workstation and wish to keep your settings, back up the files and directories. You can restore them after installing the new OS.

If you're upgrading from CentOS 7 to Rocky Linux:

  • You must perform a clean install of Rocky Linux.
  • If the workstation also uses an ATTO FC164E or FC164P card, you must update the card's firmware before upgrading to Rocky Linux. This update is required because the older firmware is not compatible with Rocky Linux. For more information, see this support article.

If you're upgrading from Rocky Linux 8.5 to 8.7, you can use an upgrade script. For more information, see Upgrading Rocky Linux.

Prepare the installation media

  1. Download the Rocky Linux ISO and its md5 from the Linux installer images (ISO, AMI) and driver packages (DKU) for Flame Family Products page.

  2. Make a bootable media by writing the ISO to a 16 GB USB key. How to proceed depends on the OS you use to create it:

    • On Windows and macOS: Use a tool such as Rufus(Windows) or balenaEtcher(macOS) to create a bootable USB key from the downloaded ISO. Rufus and balenaEtcher are two solutions known to work on Windows or macOS to create bootable USB keys, but for which Autodesk does not provide support. Note: If you are using Rufus, make sure to select "Write in DD image mode" once you are asked which write mode should be used.

    • On Linux:

      1. Mount a 16 GB USB key and in a console,type:

        df

        If there is a file system on the key, you will probably see the USB key auto mounted

        Filesystem                 1K-blocks   Used               Available         Use%     Mounted on
/dev/sdd1                1467360     1467360           0                     100%      /run/media/user/USBKEY

        In the example above, the key is mounted as /dev/sdd1 since there is a partition. But because we need the path to the device and not the path to the partition, we will use /dev/sdd later with the dd command. This mount might be different on your system.

      2. Unmount the key.

        sudo umount /run/media/user/USBKEY

      3. Create a bootable USB key from the Rocky Linux ISO:

        sudo dd if=<path-to-the-RockyLinux-iso> of=<path-to-device> bs=1M status=progress

      4. Wait for the dd to complete.

  3. Next, follow the instructions in the next section to install Rocky Linux.

Note:

Ideally you want to check the integrity of the USB boot device you've just created. Before using the USB key, you can use the following command on Linux:

sudo head -c `stat -c '%s' <path/to/ISO-file>` /dev/sdd | md5sum

You can then compare the md5sum you get to the md5 value in the md5 file you downloaded earlier.

Install Rocky Linux

  1. Insert the USB drive with the installer, boot the workstation and press F9 (on an HP, or F12 on a Dell) at startup to select the appropriate boot device.

  2. At the Rocky Linux "Welcome" screen, make sure the option "Autodesk Flame Workstation (manual partitioning)" is present and press Enter to select it.

    Note: if this option is not present, it might indicate a potential problem with the USB key (use another one in that case) or the fact that Secure Boot could be enabled in the BIOS of the workstation. Make sure Secure Boot is disabled in the BIOS.

  3. On the next screen, select “Installation Destination” to properly select where you want the OS to be installed.

    1. Local Standard Disks: IMPORTANT! By default, all disks present in the machines will be selected, you need to UNSELECT every destination except the actual disk where you want Rocky Linux to be installed.

    2. Storage Configuration: select Custom

    3. Click Done at the top of the screen, this will bring you to the “Manual Partitioning” page.

    4. Under “New mount points will use the following partitioning scheme”, select Standard Partition

    5. If the destination drives already had previous partitions, remove them first by clicking the minus sign (“-“).

    6. Click + to add the first partition

      1. Select /boot (or /boot/efi if workstation is in UEFI mode) and set desired capacity to 2048 MB.
      2. Click Add mount point

    7. Click + to add the second partition

      1. Select swap and define the desired capacity to 32 GB.
      2. Click Add mount point

    8. Click + to add the third partition.

      1. Select / for mount point and no need to define Desired Capacity since the partition manager will use all the remaining space.
      2. Click Add mount point

    9. Click Done

    10. A summary of changes is shown. If you had existing partitions and removed them, the summary shows the destruction of these partitions and the creation of the new ones.

    11. Click Accept Changes. The Installation Summary screen is now visible and you are now ready to start the installation.

    12. Click Begin Installation to start the installation.

    13. When finished (usually from 20 to 40 minutes depending on your type of drive) press Reboot System.

    14. On the first reboot you’ll be asked to agree with the Rocky Linux End User License Agreement (EULA). On the subsequent reboot you’ll land on the Rocky Linux login window.

  4. After installing Rocky Linux, you must install the DKU.

GNOME Customization (Rocky Linux-only)

Settings

  1. Click Activities at the top-left of the desktop.

  2. Click Show Applications and find the Settings icon (or type "settings" in the search bar).

    1. Notifications: Turn OFF Notifications if you want to avoid being notified when you work in Flame Family products.
    2. Power: Turn OFF Blank Screen or set a value that matches your requirements.
    3. Devices, Monitor: Use this menu to define the resolution and screen layout if you have multiple displays.
    4. Devices, Mouse & Trackpad: Disable the "Use as Touchpad" function if you use a Wacom tablet with a stylus.
    5. Devices, Wacom Tablet: In this menu you can map buttons, set sensitivity, etc.

Tweaks

  1. Click Activities at the top-left of the desktop.

  2. Click Show Applications and find the Tweaks icon (or type "tweaks" in the search bar).

    1. Extensions, Applications menu: If you enable this, a new menu will be available to show Applications menu at the right of the Activities option (top left of desktop).
    2. Extensions, Window list: This option is known to cause issues with User Licensing widget in Flame Family products so we recommend you leave it to OFF (which should already be the case).
    3. Keyboard and Mouse, Overview Shortcut: The Windows key (also called Meta or Super key) is set to display the Overview (an easy way to navigate between running applications). If you want to use this key to create custom keyboard shortcut, you could assign the Overview to the right Windows key.
    4. Power: If you use a laptop and want to close the lid, disable "Suspend when laptop lid is closed".
    5. Windows: Here you can set various parameters on how you want Windows to behave.

About GNOME Shortcuts

The following GNOME keyboard shortcuts are changed to avoid key conflicts when a Flame Family product is running:

  • The Overview shortcut (left Meta(Windows) key) is assigned to the right Windows key
  • Switch Application shortcuts are disabled (Shift+Windows+Tab and Windows+Tab)
  • Move windows shortcuts are disabled (Alt-clicking)
  • Alt+Tab and Shift+Alt+Tab remain available and unchanged.

When you exit Flame applications, the original GNOME shortcuts are restored.

Remapping the Overview key Left Meta key

The Overview shortcut, using the left Meta (Windows) key was moved to the right Windows key. This was done to accommodate users with Flame keyboard shortcuts using the Windows key. But if you're using a keyboard with a single Windows key, you lose the Overview shortcut.

To reassign the Overview to the left Windows key:

  1. Open for editing the gnomesetting.py file:

    sudo gedit /opt/Autodesk/<.flamefamily_2024>/bin/res/gnomeEnv_centos8/gnomesetting.py

  2. Locate this line:

    ["org.gnome.desktop.wm.keybindings",                "switch-applications-backward", "as", ["<Shift><Alt>Tab"]],

  3. Change it for:

    ["org.gnome.desktop.wm.keybindings",                "switch-applications-backward","as",["<Shift><Super>Tab","<Shift><Alt>Tab"]],

  4. Locate this line:

    ["org.gnome.desktop.wm.keybindings",                "switch-applications",          "as", ["<Alt>Tab"]],

  5. Change it to:

    ["org.gnome.desktop.wm.keybindings",                "switch-applications",          "as", ["<Super>Tab","<Alt>Tab"]],

  6. Locate this line:

    ["org.gnome.mutter",                                "overlay-key",                  "s",  "Super_R"],

  7. Change it to:

    ["org.gnome.mutter",                                "overlay-key",                  "s",  "Super_L"],

  8. Start Flame Family product and the Overview shortcut will be back on the Left Meta key.

User management

Change the default root password. Log in as root, using the default password password, and in a terminal run the passwd command.

Consider creating user accounts to manage application access. Directory services like FreeIPA or NIS may also be used for user access control and other services on Linux and Mac. Users and groups can be managed in the GNOME GUI.

See Creating a User Account on Linux.

Enhanced security through OS user permissions

As a multi-user system, Linux includes user permissions to protect users from each other, and to secure data. There are three ownership classes: user, group, and other. For each of these classes, permissions can be applied. They are: read, write, and execute.

The default Flame Family installation includes a Flame user account that can access all files on a system. For sites without security requirements, there is nothing to configure. For facilities requiring a higher level of security, the environment can be configured with custom permissions for users and groups. Security can, for example, be implemented as follows:

  • If a Flame Family application is launched from the Application menu > Autodesk or the desktop icon, by default, content created will have full read and write permissions. A system administrator can change this behaviour with the umask (file mode creation mask) value in /opt/Autodesk/<application>/bin/startApplication. The default value is 000 which makes newly created files and directories accessible to all users and groups. As an example, a umask of 002 would mean that group members could create and modify data files; those outside the group could read, but not write. A umask of 007 would exclude everyone outside the group.
  • Using the OS user account creation tools, a system administrator can create users and groups with defined permissions. When defined, it is then possible to run a Flame Family application and any content created by the applications will respect the permissions of users and groups. However note that if the application is launched with the /opt/Autodesk/<application>/bin/startApplication script, the umask settings in that script will override the user's OS permissions.
  • If the application is run using the binary application from the application's bin directory, content created will follow the umask of the current user.

Umask per user can be set in /etc/bashrc or in the /etc/profile file for all users. It contains three octal values. The first digit sets permissions for the user, the second for the group, and the third for other. Example umask values:

  • 000: allows read, write, and execute permission for all; 666 (rw-rw-rw-) for files and 777 (rwxrwxrwx) for directories.
  • 022: usually the default setting, allows read write and execute for the file's owner, read for everyone else. Gives permissions 644 (rw-r--r-) for files and 755 (rwxr-xr-x) for directories.
  • 077: allows read, write, and execute permission for the file's owner, but prohibits for everyone else; 600 (rw-------) for files and 700 (rwx------) for directories.

Limitation on the use of OS group membership on macOS. In the following, user refers to the operating system user. On Linux, Flame can change a user's effective group ID as need. However macOS does not allow Flame permission to do this. This limitation means:

  • When creating a project, the project's group is set to the effective group of the user that launched Flame. It cannot be set by the user.
  • When opening a project, the effective group ID of the user that launched Flame must match the group of the project.

To work with these projects, or create a project with the appropriate group:

  1. Get the group of the current user with the command id -Gn.
  2. Assign an effective group to the user. This group defines the Group for new projects, or must match an existing project's Group for you to open it.
  3. Enter: newgrp group_name_copy_pasted_from_list_above
  4. Start Flame from the command line: Enter: /opt/Autodesk/flame_2018.1.pr78/bin/startApplication
  5. Now, you can create projects with the group selected by the newgrp command. Or open projects that were previously created using that group.

Lustre interoperability

If your workflow involves sharing files with Lustre, then the Lustre user must have the same umask as the Flame user.

Network configuration

Configuration will depend on the local network, but following are some hints:

  • /etc/hosts: add the hostname and IP address.
  • /etc/sysconfig/network: add values for HOSTNAME, NETWORKING, GATEWAY, and NISDOMAIN
  • /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth0 (if using the device eth0) update values for IPADDR, NETMASK, and ONBOOT
  • The hostnname can be set manually with sudo hostnamectl set-hostname <your hostname>.
Parent page: Linux Setup

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