Getting Started¶

Follow these steps to build NeoFOAM:

Clone the NeoFOAM repository:

git clone https://github.com/exasim-project/NeoFOAM.git

Navigate to the NeoFOAM directory:

cd NeoFOAM

NeoFOAM uses CMake for building. The standard CMake procedure works, but we recommend using one of the provided CMake presets (see cmake-presets). From a build directory, execute:

mkdir build
cd build
cmake <DesiredBuildFlags> ..
cmake --build .
cmake --install .

Build NeoFOAM Against NeoN¶

There are four ways to build NeoN in NeoFOAM, the checks follows the list order:

Using the NeoN repository directory

Specify the path to the NeoN repository during CMake configuration:
```
-DNEOFOAM_NEON_DIR=/path/to/NeoN/
```
Specifying version of NeoN to download

Specify the version to the NeoN repository during CMake configuration and CMake will download the corresponding version: .. code-block:: bash

-DNEOFOAM_NEON_VERSION=<desired_version>

<desired_version> can be a branch name, tag, or commit hash.
Using the NeoN submodule

Initialize and update the NeoN submodule in the NeoFOAM repository:
```
git submodule update --init --recursive
```
During CMake configuration, the submodule will be automatically detected.
Using predefined version of NeoN

If neither of the above options is provided, we will try to grab the version from submodule (without initialization). If auto grabbing does not work due to environment, we will use the predefined version, which is main branch for NeoN currently.

Building for GPUs¶

NeoFOAM supports GPUs from multiple vendors via NeoN, which uses Kokkos for performance portability. For detailed instructions, see the Building NeoN for GPUs.

Building with CMake Presets¶

Three CMake presets are provided to simplify building with common configurations:

cmake --list-presets  # List all available presets

For production builds:

cmake --preset production       # Configure with Ninja and common Kokkos flags
cmake --build --preset production  # Compile with Ninja and common Kokkos flags

Each preset uses its own build directory, allowing multiple configurations in parallel.

Prerequisites¶

The following tools are required:

Documentation tools:

sudo apt install doxygen
pip install pre-commit sphinx furo breathe sphinx-sitemap

Compilation tools (Ubuntu 24.04):

sudo apt update
sudo apt install \
    ninja-build \
    clang-16 \
    gcc-10 \
    libomp-16-dev \
    python3 \
    python3-dev \
    build-essential

Running Tutorials¶

Use any of NeoFOAM’s CMake presets to configure and build NeoFOAM. Then navigate to the tutorials directory and run the provided Allrun script in the directory of the chosen test case:

cd tutorials/<test_case>
chmod +x Allrun  # Make sure it is executable
./Allrun