Introduction
A reproducible simulation starts with a reproducible software environment.
Before running the starter, confirm that your operating system, OpenFOAM installation, and supporting tools match its documented requirements.
Learning objective
Prepare the required environment and record the software versions needed to reproduce your work.
Key idea
Use the OpenFOAM distribution and version specified by the starter. Different releases can use different commands, configuration formats, and solver implementations.
Understand the idea
The terminal is the interface through which you navigate the case and run its tools.
On Windows, the documented WSL workflow provides a Linux environment. Windows PowerShell and a Linux terminal are different environments: commands written for one may not work in the other.
Starting a Linux terminal also does not necessarily mean that OpenFOAM is ready. Follow the starter’s instructions for loading its environment.
Keep the original downloaded package as a reference and work from a separate copy. This makes it easier to identify your changes and recover from an incorrect edit.
Engineering example
Suppose a command returns “command not found.”
Before reinstalling software, check:
- Are you using the intended terminal?
- Has the required OpenFOAM environment been loaded?
- Are you following instructions for the installed version?
- Are you in the correct working directory?
An environment problem should be resolved before interpreting a failure as a problem with the CFD model.
Practical task
Follow the starter’s installation guide and create a short environment record containing:
- Operating system and, if applicable, WSL distribution.
- OpenFOAM distribution and version.
- ParaView version.
- Starter release version.
- Location of your working case.
Save this information with your simulation notes.
Checkpoint
Why is “I used OpenFOAM” insufficient information for reproducing a simulation?
It does not identify the distribution, version, case files, or execution environment. Those details can affect whether the case runs and how its settings are interpreted.
References
- The installation instructions supplied with your exact starter release.
- OpenFOAM documentation — Command line