Clemson:Matlab

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Contents

[edit] Introduction

Clemson University has licensed MATLAB Release 14 for campus-wide use and a Linux version is available. The campus installation of MATLAB uses the FlexLM license manager, which means that you will need to be connected to the University network (either physically or through a VPN client) in order to start MATLAB.

[edit] Getting the Installer

The Linux installation files can be downloaded from the Netware S: (share) drive. There are two ways to get to this: by FTP or by mounting the Novell share. Both of these methods are outlined in detail on the Netware page. Here is an example using the FTP method, using login credentials of a student whose name is Xavier Zero. The first command, cd, changes to your home directory.

cd
ftp ftp.netware.clemson.edu 
  User: .xzero.x.students.clemsonu
  Password:
  ftp> cd "//share/share/Software/Licensed/Matlab/Release 14/Mac_Linux"
  ftp> bin
  ftp> get matlab14_mac_linux.zip
  ftp> quit

If you're not sure about your username please read the Netware page for more details.

[edit] Mounting the Image

Inside the zip archive you downloaded in the last step are several files: 1readme.txt, 1icense.dat, and three ISO images. The ISO images can be burned to CD's and used as installation discs, but if you only plan to install Matlab once, it is somewhat pointless to waste blank CD-R's. Instead, we can mount the images on a loopback device and install Matlab from there. Execute the following commands to unzip the Matlab installer images into a temporary directory, enter the directory, become root, make the install directory and copy the license file into it, mount the first image and begin the install.

unzip -d matlab_installer matlab14_mac_linux.zip
cd matlab_installer
su
# mkdir /mnt/iso
# mkdir /usr/local/matlabr14
# cp license.dat /usr/local/matlabr14
# mount -o loop MathWorks_R14_1.iso /mnt/iso
# /mnt/iso/install &

[edit] Configuration

If prompted for Matlab's root, enter /usr/local/matlabr14. After being shown the contents of the license.dat file, you will be given a list of items to install. Scroll to the bottom of this list and remove License Manager. When prompted, select the button that links executables in /usr/local/bin.

[edit] Switching Images

Now, the installation program will take care of all the file copying necessary. When it normally would be time to switch CD's, we simply unmount the first ISO image and then mount the next two in succession: 

Dialog box: Eject CD 1, Insert CD 2, and hit OK
# umount /mnt/iso
# mount -o loop MathWorks_R14_2.iso /mnt/iso 
Dialog box: OK
Dialog box: Eject CD 2, Insert CD 3, and hit OK
# umount /mnt/iso
# mount -o loop MathWorks_R14_3.iso /mnt/iso 
Dialog box: OK
Dialog box: Installation Complete OK

Note: Ignore the message on the last install screen that prompts you to modify your boot scripts. This does not apply to installations on client machines.

[edit] Starting Matlab

As a non-root user, simply type matlab at a prompt.

# exit
matlab &

If you are using nvidia's GLX framework, you may have some issues on starting matlab. The console reveals an error about inconsistent dynamic linking. If you see this, you should run the command that your distribution provides to switch to the X.org X11 opengl implementation until the matlab developers create a release to handle this.

[edit] Finishing Up

After testing your Matlab installation, you can unmount the ISO and remove the temporary directory.

su
# cd /
# umount /mnt/iso
# rmdir /mnt/iso
# exit
cd
rm -R matlab_installer/

Note: You can add Matlab to your KDE or Gnome menu using their respective menu editors.

This page was adapted from a document written by Bill Moss.

Retrieved from "http://learn.clemsonlinux.org/wiki/Clemson:Matlab"
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