HPC/Applications/matlab

Alternatives

MATLAB is vendor-specific, and comparably expensive licensed software and thus not generally available. Consider using an unencumbered alternative solution.

Octave

If you have existing MATLAB code, try running in using GNU Octave instead of MATLAB for all but the most demanding or vendor-specific tasks:

• To start octave:

octave

• GNU Octave Documentation
• Differences between Octave and MATLAB in the WikiBook MATLAB Programming (slightly out of date).
• Why/when should I prefer MATLAB over Octave? – Discussion at stackoverflow.com.

Python or Perl

For more flexibility, use a general-purpose scripting language.

• Most users may want to look at Python with NumPy, available as module "numpy" on Carbon. See also:
  • Numerical python functions written for compatability with MATLAB
  • NumPy for Matlab Users
• Users who like a stonger Unix flavor should look at Perl.

Licensing

MATLAB is available on Carbon on request, and is subject to strictly limited license terms. Running MATLAB is restricted to:

• Argonne employees (including consultants and students),
• on node clogin5 only,
• by one user at a time,
• not remotely, except for a certain number of users per year.

Toolboxes

We have the following toolboxes installed:

• Curve_Fitting_Toolbox
• Image_Toolbox
• Optimization_Toolbox
• Distrib_Computing_Toolbox
• Statistics_Toolbox

Request access

To request access to MATLAB on Carbon, send an email.

Running MATLAB

• To get started, load the "matlab" module as described at HPC/Module Setup.
• Then choose how to run the application:

GUI

matlab

Command line

For basic calculations, you could save some startup time by simply using the text interface.

matlab -nojvm

Troubleshooting

Access

To run MATLAB on Carbon, you must be a member of the "matlab" group. You could still load the "matlab" module if you are not, but it will not enable anything.

• To inspect your current group membership, run:

groups

The word "matlab" must show.

Running on a host that is not licensed

License checkout failed.
License Manager Error -9
The hostid of your computer ("001122334455 001122334466") does not match the hostid of the license file (001122334400).

Solution: log in to clogin5 and retry. If you use the Mega SSH gateway, review the updated instructions for Linux/Mac/Cygwin or PuTTY on Windows on how to configure and use port forwarding to reach a specific login node.

License in use

License checkout failed.
License Manager Error -9
This error may occur when:
-The hostid of this computer does not match the hostid in the license file.
-A Designated Computer installation is in use by another user.
If no other user is currently running MATLAB, you may need to activate.

Solution: Send a support request.