How do I install MATLAB, or other MathWorks products, on a client computer for a network license?

I am trying to find instructions on how to install a MATLAB client for a Network-based (concurrent or network named user) license.

Answer 1

[MathWorks Support Team]

There are two different methods of installing MATLAB, or other MathWorks products, on a client computer using a network license: a standard (online) installation or an offline installation. The following will provide information on:

• Obtaining the server license file
• Installing online using the MathWorks Installer
• Installing offline using the File Installation Key

Obtaining the server license file (Required)

To install MATLAB, or other MathWorks products, on a client computer, you will need the server license file, which is typically named "license.dat" or "network.lic." The server license file can be identified by the first line, which will start with the directive "SERVER."

Please note that this is not the same license file as the one you can download from the MathWorks website. If you do not have your server license file, contact your license administrator.

The "network.lic" may be found in the licenses folder of an installation that is already pointed to the license server. The "license.dat" file may be found inside the license manager installation folder:

Open the folder where the license manager is installed:

1. Open the folder "etc."
2. Create a copy of the file "license.dat." Do not remove the file from this directory.

Installing MATLAB, or other MathWorks Products, using the MathWorks Installer

To install MATLAB, or other MathWorks products, using the MathWorks Installer, your MathWorks account must be on the license as a Licensed End User and have download permissions.

After obtaining the server license file, you may refer to the following link for installation instructions:

How do I install MATLAB or other MathWorks Products?

Note: When installing MATLAB, or other MathWorks products, using a network license, there will be an additional step that requests for the path to a license file.  The license file will be the server license file obtained following the instructions above.

Installing offline using the File Installation Key

To install offline, you require the server license file, the installation files, and the File Installation Key. 

After obtaining the server license file, you may refer to the following link for instructions on installing on an offline machine:

How can I install MATLAB or other MathWorks products on an offline machine?

Note: For installations on a client machine, you are not required to activate, as the network license should already be activate to the license server.  You will require the server license file mentioned above to complete the installation.

[Walter Roberson]

Logan Halloran comments

Awful instructions. Put this in one spot so I'm not jumping to 5 different pages for a bog-standard network installation. Also lower your prices.

[Walter Roberson]

Logan Halloran:

I have done network license installations for MATLAB (Mathworks), Mathematica (Wolfram Research), Maple (Maplesoft), and IDL (Research Systems Incorporated, at least at the time.) The only thing "bog-standard" about the installations was that all of them used the FlexLM license manager (currently from Flexera), and that FlexLM is an often- frustrating piece of software that will bog down your entire day, and have you wishing you could throw it in the bog.

It is the same license software used by Adobe, and many other vendors by the way. I have yet to encounter "good" instructions for using it. Some vendors are more active than others in posting license-manager related questions and responses, that make it more obvious how messy license management gets.

[Steve Pellegrino]

Yes, I have the same problem with these klugy instructions that make you jump around all over the place finding activation keys, installation keys, and license files, that are different for license server and the application. Once a year, we have to first learn, then find, and then jump through all these hoops. The one that always trips me up is that yous also have to add a port number to the second line of the license file to allow the agent/daemon to listen through an open port on the firewall. Terrible kludge!

[Walter Roberson]

@Steve Pellegrino

In a situation that involved firewalls, what technical path would you recommend to allow the client to contact the MATLAB license Daemon?

[Steve Pellegrino]

I would think that all situations for setting up licence servers involve a firewall. I'm not sure what you mean by 'technical path' but my biggest frustration with Mathworks is its inabilty to make the bi-anual task of upgrading license servers and downloading software (with toolboxes) easier for admins. it seems to me that if Mathematica, Originlab, Office (via active Directory DC's ), and even small software companies like Desisgn Simulations have Licence Server installations (and more importantly software updates) that self configure, then surely Mathworks could do the same. (Ironically, Ive actually used Wolfram instructions to troubleshoot permision problems with the Matlab Flexlm license server.) The problem at Mathworks is that when you bounce around in the instructions to upgrade, you actually find that many links are for clean installations. There should be a simpler, straightforeward instruction set that says how to upgrade a license server from say, 2020b to 2021a, and how to download all the software onto the same server so that it can be shared for installations. The instructions should include, explicitely, wich installation keys, which activation keys, and which license files are used for each installation.

[Walter Roberson]

Mathematica, Maple, IDL, MATLAB -- none of those self-updated network license files back when I was admin'ing. All of them used flexlm (which then got renamed to flexnet and now to flexera), and all of them had the same problems.

flexlm does not require setting the port number if you allow it to use the default, and the default was different for each of the products. The reason for not using the port was that the block of ports used was "well known" and it was slightly safer to punt to a different port number, forcing attackers to portscan you (which you might hope to be able to detect) instead of going directly to the "well-known" ports. This assumed that the port was publicly available: using a different port is not a consideration if all of your users are inside your firewall boundary, or are using a VPN to be virtually inside the boundary.

[Steve Pellegrino]

No, but the installers all walk you through pertenent settings, plus there is not a mishimash of different intallations keys, activation keys, and license files.

This is what I'm talking about:

As per one of Mathwork’s buried technical questions.

“The port used by the license manager daemon (lmgrd) is used to listen for incoming license requests from the client application. This port is set to 27000 by default during installation. Once lmgrd is contacted by the client application, the vendor daemon (MLM) responds with the name and location of the vendor daemon and a second port number. The second port is used for communication between the client application and MLM. The MLM port is the one that is used for communication of license checkout and status requests. The port used by MLM is not set by default. When it is not set, the port is chosen randomly.”

So the default setting for the MLM port will not work on a server that is firewalled. I would think that all professional organizations have active firewalls on their servers, and for that matter, clients . It seems to me that the default setting should be 27001, which is what I have to manually set it to every time.

This is only one of my beefs about Matlab's upgrade and activation process, the other has to do with the original question posted here.

Answer 2

[Steve Pellegrino]

For clients, the license file is a simple text file with the extension ‘.lic’ or ‘.dat’.

The first line starts with the word SERVER followed by the server's name (usually a DNS FQDN), followed by the server’s MAC address and then the listening port for the FLexLM licensing service (usually 27000). The second line is USE_SERVER. So, for example:

-------------

SERVER myserver.abcd.com EF0123456789A 27000

USE_SERVER

-----------

The license file can be created with a text editor like Notepad, Textedit, Vi, or nano.

Comment lines can be added if started with #