For headless operation, a start up script is included. The script will execute as root with the data directory as '/var/lib/boinc_data'. Modify as needed: BOINC_DIR=/var/lib/boinc_data # directory of boinc data files BOINC_USER=root # user that will run boinc process BOINC_OPTIONS="--dir $BOINC_DIR --redirectio" Refer to the boinc manpage for parameters you can add to BOINC_OPTIONS. To run boinc on boot, add the following code to /etc/rc.d/rc.local: if [ -x /etc/rc.d/rc.boinc ]; then /etc/rc.d/rc.boinc start fi and to /etc/rc.d/rc.local_shutdown if [ -x /etc/rc.d/rc.boinc ]; then /etc/rc.d/rc.boinc stop fi Note 1: The default configuration enables boinc control on the running host via boinccmg or boincmgr on the same running host. To truly run headless, you will need to configure boinc to allow RPC access from another host. Note 2: If you use the default data path of /var/lib/boinc_data as a non-root user, before first use, you will need to create that path and set the appropriate user permissions.