You need Java 1.7. OpenJDK and Oracle are both supported. You also need ant. To create the jar file, simply type ant in the project's root directory.

Usage

Once you have a jar file, you can view the usage by running:

java -jar bin/sheepit-client.jar --help

When you are doing development work, you can use a mirror of the main site specially made for demo/dev. The mirror is located at http://sandbox.sheepit-renderfarm.com, and you can use it by passing -server http://sandbox.sheepit-renderfarm.com to your invocation of the client.

At the command line ui (-ui text / -ui oneLine) you could type in the following commands and press enter to controll the client:

status: to get the current status of the client (paused, stoped, ...)
priority : to set the renderer process priority
block: to block the current project
pause: pause the client to request new jobs after the current frame has finished to render
resume: resume the client after it was paused
stop: stop the client after the current frame has finished
cancel: cancel the stop request
quit: stops the client directly without finishing the current frame