Neutrino is a C++ library that facilitates writing parallel code running on GPU hardware combining the power of the OpenCL computational framework with the OpenGL graphics language (see https://www.neutrino.codes).
Neutrino can be successfully installed and used on Linux by using the VScode editor toolchain or manually from a command shell.
A GPU having the OpenCL-OpenGL interoperability GPU mode is necessary.
This can be verified by installing and using the clinfo command line tool. After its installation, on a command terminal do:
clinfo
In the text output (it can be long!) there should be a section regarding your GPU, similar to this one:
...
Name: GeForce GTX 1060 6GB
Vendor: NVIDIA Corporation
Driver version: 451.67
Profile: FULL_PROFILE
Version: OpenCL 1.2 CUDA
Extensions: cl_khr_global_int32_base_atomics cl_khr_global_int32_extended_atomics cl_khr_local_int32_base_atomics cl_khr_local_int32_extended_atomics cl_khr_fp64 cl_khr_byte_addressable_store cl_khr_icd cl_khr_gl_sharing cl_nv_compiler_options cl_nv_device_attribute_query cl_nv_pragma_unroll cl_nv_d3d10_sharing cl_khr_d3d10_sharing cl_nv_d3d11_sharing cl_nv_copy_opts cl_nv_create_buffer cl_khr_int64_base_atomics cl_khr_int64_extended_atomics
...
Please verify the presence of the cl_khr_gl_sharing extension. Some old GPU models do not have it: those ones would not be compatible with Neutrino.
- OpenCL (runtime/loader + headers), coming along the installation of the graphics drivers.
- OpenGL (library + headers), coming along the installation of the graphics drivers.
- GIT (https://git-scm.com)
- GLAD (https://glad.dav1d.de/) *
- GLFW (https://www.glfw.org/)
- GMSH (https://gmsh.info/)
- VScode (https://code.visualstudio.com/) **
- CMake (https://cmake.org) **
- GraphViz (https://graphviz.org/)
- Doxygen (https://www.doxygen.nl/)
* The GLAD loader should be generated from its webpage using the following settings:
- Language = C/C++
- gl = Version 4.6 (or higher)
- Profile = Core
After having generated it, download the zip file containing the code and extract it in a custom directory (see Installation).
** When using the VScode editor, please follow the instructions (https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/cpp/config-linux) in order to install it and verify the installation of GCC, as well as the instructions (https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/cpp/cmake-linux) to verify the installation of Cmake and to install the Cmake Tools extension for VSCode.
We assume Neutrino is going to be installed in a directory named NeutrinoCodes containing the following subdirectories:
- glad
- glfw
- gmsh
From the command shell (either VScode's or system's), navigate into NeutrinoCodes and create a libnu directory using the command:
mkdir libnu
This will create the libnu directory.
From the command shell (either VScode's or system's), navigate into NeutrinoCodes and clone the Neutrino project using the command:
git clone https://github.com/NeutrinoCodes/neutrino.git
This will create the neutrino directory.
Go to the neutrino directory and create a .vscode hidden directory:
mkdir .vscode
and create a new file settings.json in it, then fill it with the following information:
{
"cmake.configureSettings":
{
"GLAD_PATH": "your_path_to_NeutrinoCodes/glad",
"GLFW_PATH": "your_path_to_NeutrinoCodes/glfw",
"GMSH_PATH": "your_path_to_NeutrinoCodes/gmsh",
"CL_PATH": "your_path_to_OpenCL",
"NEUTRINO_PATH": "your_path_to_NeutrinoCodes/libnu"
}
}
and save it.
At this point, Neutrino is configured for your system.
In VScode, open a folder from the file menu and select NeutrinoCodes. Go to the left bar and locate the CMake button (it comes after the installation of the CMake Tools extension for VScode) and push it: a CMake panel will open, push the Configure All Projects button on it.
Go to the bottom bar and locate:
- the Build variant button: verify it has been selected to [Release].
- the Active kit button: verify it has been selected according to your system's characteristics. e.g. [Visual Studio Community 2019 Release - amd64].
- the Target button: verify it has been selected to [install].
- the Build button: push it in order to build the Neutrino project.
At this point the NeutrinoCodes directory should appear like this:
- glad
- glfw
- gmsh
- libnu
- neutrino
We all like tidy code! For this, we provide an Uncrustify (sources: https://github.com/uncrustify/uncrustify) configuration file specific for Neutrino. In order to use it, please first install Uncrustify according to your operating system (e.g. use Homebrew under Mac), then install the VScode's Uncrustify extension (https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=LaurentTreguier.uncrustify).\
Add the following lines to either the global or project settings.json file:
"uncrustify.executablePath.linux": "your_path_to_uncrustify",
"editor.defaultFormatter": "LaurentTreguier.uncrustify",
"editor.formatOnSave": true
To edit the global settings, on VScode go to the left bar: push the Extensions button and select the Uncrustify extension. Then go to Manage --> Extension Settings (gear-like icon) and edit the settings.json file by clicking one of the links in that section. This will set the Uncrustify code formatter globally in all your VScode projects (but still with per-project custom uncrustify configuration files).
To edit the project settings, open settings.json file in the .vscode you created for Neutrino (the hidden directory inside the Neutrino directory) and put the same lines in it. This will set Uncrustify as code formatter (together with the configuration file we provide) only for the Neutrino project.
Congratulations, you have installed Neutrino on Linux within the VScode toolchain!
From a system command shell, navigate into your favourite directory and clone the Neutrino project using the command git clone https://github.com/NeutrinoCodes/neutrino.git.
Into the Neutrino's project directory, create a configuration script file called configure_linux and edit it by adding the following command lines:
cmake -B"./cmake" -H"./" \
-DGLAD_PATH=your_path_to_glad \
-DGLFW_PATH=your_path_to_glfw \
-DGMSH_PATH=your_path_to_gmsh \
-DCL_PATH=your_path_to_opencl \
-DNEUTRINO_PATH=your_path_to_neutrino
and specify the paths accordingly, where:
GLAD_PATH is the path of the root directory of the Glad library: it contains the src and include subdirectories;
GLFW_PATH is the path of the root directory of the Glfw library: it contains the include subdirectory;
GMSH_PATH is the path of the root directory of the Gmsh library: it contains the include and lib subdirectories;
CL_PATH is the path of the root directory of the OpenCL library: it contains the include and lib subdirectories;
NEUTRINO_PATH is the path of Neutrino's project folder and should be followed by /libnu, where the library will be installed.
Make the configuration script to be executable (chmod a+x configure_linux) and launch it by typing ./configure_linux at the command prompt. The CMake configuration files will be generated.
Enter the cmake directory and type make install (use make clean to remove old build files if necessary).
Congratulations, you have installed Neutrino on Linux within the command shell toolchain!