Installing solids4foam with styro

What is styro?

styro is a lightweight package manager for OpenFOAM-related software. It provides a simple way to install and manage pre-built packages without manually compiling from source.

styro currently supports:

  • OpenFOAM.com (OpenCFD/ESI)
  • OpenFOAM.org (Foundation)

Note: styro does not support foam-extend.

Using styro to install solids4foam is an alternative to building from source or using Docker, and is particularly convenient for users who want a quick, repeatable setup.

Prerequisites

Before using styro:

  1. Install and source a supported version of OpenFOAM (OpenFOAM.com or OpenFOAM.org).
  2. Ensure the OpenFOAM environment is active (e.g. FOAM_USER_APPBIN is defined).

styro installs the solids4foam binaries into:

$FOAM_USER_APPBIN

which is the same location used by a standard solids4foam build from source.

The solids4foam source tree managed by styro is placed at:

$FOAM_USER_APPBIN/../styro/pkg/solids4foam

Installing styro

For a full list of available installation options, see github.com/gerlero/styro.

Ubuntu / Debian Linux

Install styro using pip:

pip install styro

macOS

Using Homebrew (recommended):

brew install gerlero/tap/styro

Installing solids4foam

First, source your OpenFOAM installation, for example:

source /lib/openfoam/OpenFOAM-v2512/etc/bashrc   # OpenFOAM.com
# or
source /opt/openfoam9/etc/bashrc                 # OpenFOAM.org

Then install solids4foam using styro:

styro install solids4foam

styro will:

  • Download the latest master branch solids4foam package from the solids4foam GitHub page
  • Compile (if required) against the currently loaded OpenFOAM version
  • Install binaries into $FOAM_USER_APPBIN

Verifying the installation

Check that a solids4foam solver is available:

which solids4Foam

or list installed applications:

ls $FOAM_USER_APPBIN | grep solid

You can then run any solids4foam tutorial in the usual way.

When should I use styro?

styro is particularly useful if you:

  • Want a simple, reproducible installation
  • Prefer not to manually manage builds
  • Regularly switch between OpenFOAM versions

For full control, development work, or unsupported OpenFOAM variants, installing solids4foam from source may still be preferable.