Help Installing OpenFast

[unistudent2018]

Hello, I have followed https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_-Qe2m7rN0 on how to install OpenFast, but when i come to the Build Solution I get a tonne of errors


Does anyone have any ideas where I went wrong or can help me? I am installing it as a windows instsallation.

[jjonkman]

Dear @unistudent2018,

Can you share what is reported in the "Output" window (just to the right of the "Error List" window)?

Best regards,

[unistudent2018]

Hello,

I have version v2.1.0-3324-g5f3fb6ef from doing the git describe
I have updated the MAP.dll and FAST_Registry, they were both set to 2015 (not installed) they are now 2022 v143

That has given me these errors:

And in the output window it says:
========== Build: 1 succeeded, 3 failed, 0 up-to-date, 1 skipped ==========

Bit of a daft question maybe. Can i move the whole openfast directory to a different location? It is currently in my c drive but i'm running out of space there where I have a tonne of space on my d drive. Can I just copy and paste it?

[jjonkman]

Again, please share the contents of the "Output" window, especially around the first error reported.

[ebranlard]

Yes, you can move the entire OpenFAST folder, and redo the compilation. It could be that you lacked disk space, or you changed the solution configuration somehow.
I would advise the following:

• Make sure you don't change the "Solution Configuration" in between compilations (it seems you are using Debug x64).
• Build > Clean solution
• Right click on FAST_Registry > Build . Make sure this is successful. If not, most likely you need to redo the steps I mentioned above, and update the platform toolset so that it doesn't say "Visual Studio 2015" anymore.
• Right click on MAP_dll > Build . Make sure this is successful.
• Right click on FASTlib > Build. Make sure this is successful
• Right click on FAST > Build. Make sure this is successful
  If that works, in the future, you can probably just do "Build> Build Solution"

[unistudent2018]

Ok I did build clean solution. That was successful.
I then did the FAST_Registry Build. That was successful
then MAP_Dll, that failed. This is the output window

then I tried FASTlib Build. That came up with 4828 errors and 751 warnings. the Output window and error list are really too big to screenshot.
then I tried FAST. That had 3 errors and 13 warnings.

[jjonkman]

Regarding the SDK error, a similar question was asked and answered in the following issue: #787. Does that solve your problem?

[unistudent2018]

Hi, yes that fixed the SDK error.
I now get just 1 error and 171 warnings

[unistudent2018]

I have moved it to my D drive to get some more space.
I went through these steps again

• Build > Clean solution - successful
• FAST_Registry > Build - successful
• MAP_dll > Build - successful
• FASTlib > Build - successful
• FAST > Build - unsuccessful
  
  

[jjonkman]

Regarding the MKL error, a similar question was asked and answered in the following issue: #1249. Does that solve your problem?

[unistudent2018]

I looked at that and think I fixed it from the link, thanks.
I carried out all the builds and got this

Bit confused because it said it failed but there is no warnings and no errors?
Is that it working correctly?

[jjonkman]

My guess is that you didn't fix the MKL error. I would suggest closing Visual Studio, opening it up again and start build from scratch and see if you see an error.

[unistudent2018]

Tried it with a new visual studio and got this message. I just tried it as Build Solution

[jjonkman]

It looks like there is an error in the linking stage. Do you have an error showing up in the Error List? I'm guessing you are still missing a library.

[unistudent2018]

there are no errors showing.

[jjonkman]

Did the file you want (OpenFAST executable) get created?

If not, what is written to the BuildLog.htm?

[unistudent2018]

Tried it again and this was the screen

This is what is written in the BuildLog

Linking...
Link /OUT:"....\build\bin\openfast_x64_Debug.exe" /INCREMENTAL:NO /NOLOGO /MANIFEST:NO /DEBUG /PDB:"D:\Program Files\openfast\build\bin\openfast_x64_Debug.pdb" /SUBSYSTEM:CONSOLE /STACK:9999999 /IMPLIB:"D:\Program Files\openfast\build\bin\openfast_x64_Debug.lib" -qm64 /qoffload-ldopts="-mkl=sequential" "x64\Debug\FAST_Prog.obj" "D:\Program Files\openfast\build\bin\FASTlib_x64_Debug.lib"
FASTlib_x64_Debug.lib(mapapi.obj) : warning LNK4075: ignoring '/EDITANDCONTINUE' due to '/INCREMENTAL:NO' specification
LINK : fatal error LNK1104: cannot open file 'mkl_intel_lp64.lib'

FAST - 0 error(s), 0 warning(s)

Where would I see the OpenFast executable? In the parent folder? If so then no it isnt there.

[jjonkman]

It sounds like you never solved the MKL issue. You'll need to install the MKL library per #1249. Once compiled, the OpenFAST executable should exist in the build/bin directory.

[unistudent2018]

Is that it? Is it now working??? Say it aint so! lol

Is that where the OpenFast executable should be?

[jjonkman]

It looks like you've only compiled the FAST registry and MAP++ DLL, not the OpenFAST executable. The other projects are marked "incompatible". Regarding the "incompatible" projects, see a similar question asked and answered in the following issue: #328 (comment).

[unistudent2018]

Hi, I see the question asked and I see the answer but the answer is a little incomplete for me as they say when they right click on it it should be obvious what one to select, but i dont see anything obvious that I have not tried.

[rafmudaf]

@unistudent2018 Is it required that you compile the code yourself? This is typically needed when you have or will change the source code or you're using uncommon hardware. If you will not be modifying the source code and you are using a common computer, you can avoid the challenges in compiling by downloading a binary file from GitHub Release (see the latest release).

[unistudent2018]

So that is what I initially tried to follow the first time, but i'll be honest, it is (still) quite confusing (to me anyway).
the OpenFAST v3.3.0 doesnt have a zip file, so I am unsure what to actually download? All files under Assets? Do I need the source code zip?
And is that all I need to download? I don't follow any of the other steps?

[rafmudaf]

Ah @unistudent2018 its true that the documentation is inaccurate. Previously, we bundled all the binaries into a zip file, but lately we've been posting them individually to the GitHub page. So now the contents of the zip file described in the documentation exists directly in the Assets list. Does this make it more clear?

[unistudent2018]

A little. So do I just download everything in the assets list? Do i need to keep them in a specific directory? Do I need to do anything else after I have done that?

[jjonkman]

From your work outline, it sounds like you need the OpenFAST_x64.exe (to simulate with OpenFAST), and probably the TurbSim_x64.exe (for generating inflow). You can place these files where you want. To run OpenFAST on Windows, the syntax is described in the following issue: #434 (comment).

[unistudent2018]

If I dont need all the other stuff, do I need to have the Intel oneAPI Base Toolkit, Fortran compiler, etc?

[unistudent2018]

Based on the comments above saying I don't need to compile OpenFast I thought I would give this video another go.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8TP84swWZE&t=123s
And I felt like I could now follow the steps and understand what is happening/what I am doing. However, when I tried to run it like in the steps he shows at the 7min mark (for his it all works) I get this:

I honestly thought I had figured it out but FATAL ERROR does not seem good.

[unistudent2018]

Think I got it. I was using the wrong exe file as I was trying to copy him exactly.

[bjonkman]

Your error when using the executable for v3.0.0 is that you were using input files for version 3.3.0. As long as the input files match the version of the executable, you should be fine.