Computing : Matlab license servers

The University Hamburg and Max-Planck Groups at DESY have independent Matlab license server! 

If (and only if) you are a member of the University Hamburg or the MPG please use the coresponding license information. 

In case of problems or questions please use the contacts specified below.

# DESY:
SERVER zitlic02.desy.de ANY 
USE_SERVER
# contact: UCO or Frank Schlünzen

# UNI:
SERVER matlab.rrz.uni-hamburg.de INTERNET=134.100.29.138 1704
USE_SERVER
# contact: Admins of UNI HH


# MPG (MPSD):
SERVER flex1.mpsd.mpg.de 005056A50F3D 27005
USE_SERVER
# contact: Admins of MPG/MPSD

Please note: the MPSD license server is only available from the MPSD subnet. 

Determine the license server in use

in Matlab issue the 'ver' command (see below). The license number will most likely be

• DESY: 588885 or 820132 or 871202
• MPG: 40523909
• UNIHH: any other 

The set of toolboxes listed will always be identical. IF the license number is not corresponding to the license server you need to use, please change the license file according to the instructions below.

Setting the license server

If you have administrative rights on your host or own the matlab-installation, you can simply alter the installed license file. The license files are usually located in 

Under Windows:
C:\Program Files\Matlab\<version>\licenses\network.lic 
C:\Program Files\Matlab\<version>\bin\win32\license.dat (Matlab <=R2007)

Under Linux:
<matlab-installation-dir>/licenses/network.lic
<matlab-installation-dir>/etc/license.dat (Matlab <=R2007)

Under MacOsX:
/Application/MATLAB_<version>/licenses/network.lic 
/Application/MATLAB_<version>/etc/license.dat (Matlab <=R2007)

If that's not an option please refer to Mathworks instructions or read on: 

Beginning with MATLAB 6.0 (R12), MLM_LICENSE_FILE can be set to make sure MATLAB is using a specific license file (or server(s) for network licenses). LM_LICENSE_FILE environment variable can also be set to do this, but any FLEXlm application will then use it, so don't use it! MLM_LICENSE_FILE is specific to the MATLAB vendor daemon, MLM, and will not be recognized by other FLEXlm applications.

How you find or set these environment variables depends on your Operating System:

Windows

1. Open the Control Panel in the Windows menu
2. Select "Advanced System Settings"
3. Select "Environment Variables"
4. Set User Variables for "yourself". You can also set a system variable, if several users are using the machine all entitled to use.
5. Next click the Environment Variables button near the bottom. 
6. Select new and set Variable Name:  MLM_LICENSE_FILE  Variable Value:  H:\mymatlab.dat
   1. You have to create the file H:\mymatlab.dat containing the two lines for your specific license server: see above!
   2. Name and location of the license file are arbitrary. Storing it on a network-drive allows however to use the same file on several hosts. 
   3. You have to go through the procedure for every Windows host you are working on. 

Linux/Unix/Mac OS X 10.9 and below

This can be done in the shell using the setenv or export command depending on the shell. You can either type the command in a shell session (which will make it only last for the session) or you can add it to the appropriate file in your home directory (or create that file if it doesn't exist). A simple example for MPG License server:

cat<<eof> $HOME/matlab.mpg.dat
SERVER flex1.mpsd.mpg.de 005056A50F3D 27005
USE_SERVER
eof
export MLM_LICENSE_FILE=$HOME/matlab.mpg.dat  # csh: setenv MLM_LICENSE_FILE $HOME/matlab.mpg.dat

and correspondingly for other license server. 

Mac OS X 10.10 and above

Apple is in the process of depreciating environment variables, so see this article for a workaround if you are on OS X 10.10 "Yosemite" or higher:

http://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/answers/170268-how-do-i-set-environment-variables-on-mac-os-x

Please note: After setting the MLM_LICENSE_FILE you might still end up on the DESY license file; If you are using a DESY Matlab installation and a version currently not supported by MPG resp. UNI, Matlab will always fall back to the license server specified in the installation folder, which would usually be the DESY license server. Get in touch with us (uco@desy.de) or your administrators if that's the case. 

Toolboxes

Please note: available toolboxes slightly vary among licenseservers! DESY installations only contain toolboxes licensed by DESY. To list toolboxes available for an installation, start Matlab and issue the 'ver' command:

>> ver
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MATLAB Version: 9.2.0.556344 (R2017a)
MATLAB License Number: 588885
Operating System: Linux 4.4.0-98-generic #121-Ubuntu SMP Tue Oct 10 14:24:03 UTC 2017 x86_64
Java Version: Java 1.7.0_60-b19 with Oracle Corporation Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM mixed mode
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MATLAB                                                Version 9.2         (R2017a)
Simulink                                              Version 8.9         (R2017a)
Communications System Toolbox                         Version 6.4         (R2017a)
Control System Toolbox                                Version 10.2        (R2017a)
Curve Fitting Toolbox                                 Version 3.5.5       (R2017a)

A brief overview of available toolboxes (might not be 100% up-to-date):