Dev Log

2025-W27

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

2025-W28

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

2025-W29

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

2025-W30

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

2025-W30

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

2025-W31

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

2025-W32

working on an extensive alias-engine for markdown docs

2025-W33

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

2025-W34

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

2025-W37

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.

2025-W38

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.

2025-W39

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

2025-W40

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

2025-W41

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

2025-W42

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.

2025-W43

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

2025-W44

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)

2025-W45

Finally succeeded in compiling FreeCAD 1.0.2 from scratch on Alma Linux 9.6
- principally it is running, but will need more investigation
- it helped a lot to compile Open Cascade and test it with Mayo in advance
- check my GitLab repo

2025-W46

Extended the CAE automation workflow to export the CFD simulation data into a SQLite DB
SQLite DB can be easily viewed and modified by using DBeaver, both running stable on Alma Linux
Developed pvpython scripts to automate visualization of individual CFD runs and generate GIFs using ImageMagick and GNU parallel for parallel processing

2025-W47

Alma Linux 9.7 (Moss Jungle Cat) installed in a libvirt VM to continue on my CAE experiments
- Installed Open Modelica and completed initial tutorials on hydraulics
- Code_saturne updated to version 8.3.0
- ParaView updated to version 5.13.3
Began exploring the CFD data stored in SQLite using PyTorch and Yellowbrick for initial data analysis and visualization
- While still several steps away from training a surrogate model for neural network applications, this marks a valuable step (for me) toward data-driven modeling and AI integration in the workflow

2025-W48

Conducted further experiments with pipe meshing in Salome with Netgen algorithms, testing various boundary layer settings. Received valuable tips from the Salome Discourse Community to refine the process.

2025-W49

Installed Rocky Linux 9.7 alongside Alma Linux and set up all my CAE automation workflows. Encountered minor differences during tool installation and compilation compared to Alma Linux, but resolved them after a few extra cups of coffee.
I’m particularly impressed by the active and helpful Rocky Linux community forum. If time permits, I plan to meet the team at FOSDEM 2026 in Brussels.

2025-W50

Set up a VPS server with 16 GB RAM and 8 virtual CPUs to run CAE simulations. Performance comparisons revealed that my laptop still packs four times the computational power. But good to know for future reference.

2025-W51

Successfully installed and tested Hopsan system simulation software on Rocky Linux 9.7 (libvirt VM). For more details, check out my blog post about it.

2025-W52

Created simple hydraulic simulation models in SimulationX and related training material
Published a new blog post about Hopsan and uploaded example models to my GitHub repository.