Nov 5, 2025

Dev Log

virengos.com reactivated and website rebuilt with Astro, setup with nginx on my AlmaLinux server

installed and tested Django on a subdomain crm.virengos.com
MariaDB installed on my AlmaLinux server. Now using it with DBeaver on a Fedora client
Django admin page installed on a subdomain and connected to my central db with addresses and more. It’s fully capable of replacing MS Access fo data entry, even whe you’re working with simple, low-level forms

installed and configured Nextcloud with both (german versions) “Kollektive” and “Deck” plugins
some experiments with rsync backup scripts (client <-> server)

virengos.com website updated with dev-log site by using a Markdown file
redmine installed on AlmaLinux server
Fedora and Ubuntu /home partitions moved on my Schenker laptop from slower HDD to a faster SDD by using mount / umount and rsync operations

re-installed Miniconda after breaking the previous setup and switched to the conda-libmamba-solver—dependency resolution, which is now noticeably faster
pulled and configured the local Ollama MML model as the backbone for my upcoming jour-fixe report chatbot with AI
installed the latest NVIDIA driver stack plus CUDA on my Schenker laptop (Fedora 42) to give the GPU a proper workout in future AI experiments

Installed piper inside of miniconda to convert text into audio for my daily French and Spanish practice

re-organized my Schenker XMG Laptop (32 GB RAM, Nvidia Geforce RTX with 8 GB) with both Fedora and Ubuntu installation on a fast SSD and /backup, /software and /share partitions on a slower HDD hard drive
finally installed Ollama MML with CUDA on Ubuntu as well to use in my experimental local AI projects
added functionality to my Django CRM (running on a AlmaLinux server), which is conected to a MariaDB data-base

the last 2 weeks I dared to dive into the past and installed OpenFOAM 13 together with ParaView on Ubuntu 25.04 to run some CFD simulations. Next, I’ll try compiling it from scratch
I added more documentation to my Nextcloud using the Collective app. It works like a charm and provides functionality similar to Confluence

Virtual Machine Manager (libvirt) is installed
- Ubuntu 22.04 LTS is running inside the VM to explore different methods for installing Netgen (though no progress has been made so far).
- Netgen generates excellent STL files (similar to those from Salome), but for some reason, the Netgen algorithm is not included in FreeCAD version 1.0.2.

Resuming and Advancing Virtual Engineering Methods
- Reactivating and expanding existing CFD simulation projects and general virtual engineering approaches to enhance efficiency in product development.
- seel also my GRABCAD portfolio / showcase
Automated 3D Geometry Creation and CFD Optimization
- Developing Python scripts in FreeCAD for parametric generation of 3D geometries—serving as the foundation for fully automated CFD optimization using Dakota.
- Pilot project: Optimizing the performance characteristics of a hydraulic pressure relief valve as the first practical application, demonstrating the integration of geometry generation, simulation, and optimization workflows.

pushed 3D geometry creation with headless FreeCAD by using Snakemake workflow automation
first DOE table created with Calc, processsed with pandas to generate json files
simple steady flow over pressure relief valve simulated with CFD - OpenFOAM 13
more effort will be required to get an appropriate mesh with resolved boundary layers for transient simulations

blog post created “FreeCAD in 2025: A Mature OpenSource Powerhouse for CAD, Automation and more”
for details see my GitLab repos

Virtual machine installed (libvirt) with AlmaLinux 8 to run my Dakota project
Automation of STL geometry creation with Gmsh and visualization with ParaView pvpython
Investigated hot to easily use GNU parallel to run different tools in parallel

next blog post released about “Automation & AI Models in Virtual Engineering – The Open Source Way”
I’ve started optimizing my website, virengos.com, which is built with Astro. I tend to skip Bootstrap, as it’s not really necessary for my lightweight site.

Alma Linux 9 installed on my old Laptop: Lenovo T530i with 2 cores and 16 GiB RAM
Salome 9.15 installed
codes_saturne 8.0 compiled from scratch
finally replaced G. Workspace by Nextcloude

Fully automated workflow for pre-training AI surrogate models in CFD, featuring:
- Geometry and mesh generation via headless Salome scripts
- Mesh optimization using Dakota
- Integrated CFD simulations with Code_Saturne
- End-to-end automation managed by Snakemake (Snakefile)