Unable to open OpenFOAM case files with paraview in windows file system

ParaView Support
1

I am using OpenFOAM in wsl on windows. I have installed ParaView 5.12.1 for the native windows environment. I get an error when I try to open some types of case files. The error occurs for cases where the mesh in polyMesh is in binary format. Ascii format seems to open fine. This error only occurs for files that are in the windows part of the system, so folder locations such as
/mnt/c/Users//airfoil

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If I put the case file in the root directory (which on windows would be \wsl.localhost\Ubuntu\home<username>) AND I make sure linux has read/write/delete access (which I give using chmod -R +rwx airfoil/) then Paraview is able to open the case just fine.

I have tried navigating to /mnt/c/Users// and then running chmod -R +rwx airfoil/, but this does not help. It is important for me to be able to open the files even though they are in the windows part of the system.

It looks to me like paraview is trying to use vtkPOpenFOAMReader, but that it can’t find the directory it needs, because it tries to access it from the Linux root folder. I don’t know how to remedy this problem.

Any help would be appreciated!

2

his error only occurs for files that are in the windows part of the system, so folder locations such as
/mnt/c/Users//airfoil

Then why using ParaView in WSL ? Just install the binary version of ParaView for Windows.
https://paraview.org/download

As a reminder, using ParaView in WSL is not tested nor officialy supported.

3

Thanks for your reply!
For clarity, I am already using ParaView for windows, downloaded from the exact same page as you linked.

My issue is that Paraview (for windows) cannot open .foam files, unless they lie in the wsl directory (which is \wsl.localhost\Ubuntu\home<username>)

4

So are you saying that ParaView Windows binary release is unabled to open .foam file that lies on the Windows filesystem ?

5

So you’re saying that Paraview on Windows cannot open an OpenFOAM file located in the WSL path /mnt/c/Users//airfoil but it can open the same file name and path if the file is saved in ASCII (text) format?