Installing Mathematica on Unix and Linux
Installing Mathematica for Network Licenses
Requirements
Mathematica is available for Windows, Unix, Linux, and Mac OS X. For a complete list of platform availability, visit
www.wolfram.com/products/mathematica/platforms.html. Any supported machine can act as a client for running
Mathematica, provided the following two conditions are met:
- The client has access to the Mathematica files, either locally or from a file server on the network.
- The license server running MathLM is available on the TCP/IP network.
A license server can also function as its own client. However, this is not recommended. If the machine has to be rebooted for any reason, the serving of licenses to all other clients on the network may be disrupted.
Before you install
Mathematica as a license server client,
MathLM should already be installed and running on a license server on the network (see
"Installing MathLM on Windows", and
"Installing MathLM on Unix, Linux, and Mac OS X" for details). To complete the
Mathematica installation, you will need to know the name or IP address of the license server running
MathLM.
To install
Mathematica on Unix and Linux, you may need
root privileges.
To Install Mathematica:
1. Mount the CD or DVD. For information on mounting a CD/DVD, see
"Mounting a CD or DVD on Unix and Linux".
Note: This step may not be required on some Linux and Unix platforms, as some operating systems automatically handle mounting.
2. Change directory to
/cdrom/Unix/Installer. Note that the exact location of the CD/DVD mount point might be different for your platform.
cd /
cdrom
/Unix/Installer
--------------------------------------------------------------
Wolfram Mathematica 7 Installer
--------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright (c) 1988-2008 Wolfram Research, Inc. All rights reserved.
WARNING: Wolfram Mathematica is protected by copyright law and international
treaties. Unauthorized reproduction or distribution may result in severe
civil and criminal penalties and will be prosecuted to the maximum extent
possible under law.
4. (Unix only) You are asked to select the platforms for which you are doing the installation. Select one or more of the available options and press
Enter to continue.
For which of the following platforms would you like to install
Mathematica?
Type your selection (multiple choices can be separated with spaces), or press
ENTER to select (1):
5. The installer prompts you to specify the directory in which
Mathematica should be installed. The default location is
/usr/local/Wolfram/Mathematica/7.0. Press
Enter to accept the default, or type in a new location and then press
Enter.
Enter the installation directory, or press ENTER to select
/usr/local/Wolfram/Mathematica/7.0:
Note: If you specify a directory that does not exist, the installer will give you the option of creating the directory. If a copy of
Mathematica already exists in the directory you specify, the installer will inform you before overwriting the files.
Note: If you are installing over a previous version of Mathematica, your existing mathpass file and custom settings will not be deleted.
6. Once you have answered all the questions, the installer begins copying files from the CD/DVD to the directory you specified. The progress is indicated by a progress bar on the screen.
Now installing...
[*************** ]
7. You are asked for the location in which to copy the executable scripts. You should choose a directory that is present on each user's PATH. The scripts are also installed in the
Executables subdirectory of the
Mathematica installation directory. Type a location or accept the default and press
Enter.
Type the directory path in which the Mathematica scripts will be created,
or press ENTER to select /usr/local/bin:
Note: The installer checks to see if any other
Mathematica scripts exist in the specified directory. If they do, you are given the chance to rename the scripts.
8. You are given several options for configuring the password. Type
2 and press
Enter to run
Mathematica using a network license.
Please choose how you want to configure the password for Mathematica 7.0.
(1) Single machine
Install a password specific to this machine. Mathematica will launch
and you can enter your password.
(2) Network license
Obtain a license from a MathLM license server on your network each time
Mathematica is launched.
(3) Enter license information later
Input your password and register when you start Mathematica.
Type your selection, or press ENTER to select (1):2
9. Type the hostname of the server running
MathLM, as given by the
hostname command. In some cases, this includes the domain name. Or, enter the IP address of the
MathLM server. Press
Enter to continue.
Enter the hostname of the machine on which your MathLM license manager
is running:
Note: The installer does not attempt to verify the server name you type. If you prefer, you may type any arbitrary text here and press
Enter. This creates the
mathpass file with an invalid password entry. You may then edit the
mathpass file manually to add a correct password later. More information on the
mathpass file is given in
"Registration and Passwords".
10. The installer creates the
mathpass file and displays its location. The installation is now complete.
Configuring Network Password...
Adding password file entry to /usr/share/Mathematica/Licensing/mathpass...
Installation complete.
The installer also adds an additional menu folder named to the desktop menu. Inside the folder is an item named that points to the most recently installed version of
Mathematica. File associations are also modified such that .nb files are now associated with the most recently installed version of
Mathematica.
Installing Mathematica for Single-Machine Licenses
Follow these instructions to install a standalone copy of
Mathematica that does not get a license from the license server. Depending on your license type, this may require contacting Wolfram Research to purchase additional licenses.
To run
Mathematica, you must register with Wolfram Research and receive a password. See
"Registration and Passwords" for further information.
To install
Mathematica on Unix and Linux, you may need
root privileges.
To Install a Single-Machine Copy of Mathematica on Unix and Linux:
1. Mount the CD or DVD. For information on mounting a CD/DVD, see
"Mounting a CD or DVD on Unix and Linux".
Note: This step may not be required on some Linux and Unix platforms, as some operating systems automatically handle mounting.
2. Change directory to
/cdrom/Unix/Installer. Note that the exact location of the CD/DVD mount point might be different for your platform.
cd /
cdrom
/Unix/Installer
--------------------------------------------------------------
Wolfram Mathematica 7 Installer
--------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright (c) 1988-2008 Wolfram Research, Inc. All rights reserved.
WARNING: Wolfram Mathematica is protected by copyright law and international
treaties. Unauthorized reproduction or distribution may result in severe
civil and criminal penalties and will be prosecuted to the maximum extent
possible under law.
4. (Unix only) You are asked to select the platform for which you are doing the installation. Select one of the available options and press
Enter to continue.
For which of the following platforms would you like to install
Mathematica?
Type your selection (multiple choices can be separated with spaces), or press
ENTER to select (1):
5. The installer prompts you to specify the directory in which
Mathematica should be installed. The default location is
/usr/local/Wolfram/Mathematica/7.0. Press
Enter to accept the default, or type in a new location and then press
Enter.
Enter the installation directory, or press ENTER to select
/usr/local/Wolfram/Mathematica/7.0:
Note: If you specify a directory that does not exist, the installer will give you the option of creating the directory. If a copy of
Mathematica already exists in the directory you specify, the installer will inform you before overwriting the files.
Note: If you are installing over a previous version of Mathematica, your existing mathpass file and custom settings will not be deleted.
6. Once you have answered all the questions, the installer begins copying files from the CD/DVD to the directory you specified. The progress is indicated by a progress bar on the screen.
Now installing...
[*************** ]
7. You are asked for the location in which to copy the executable scripts. You should choose a directory that is present on each user's PATH. The scripts are also installed in the
Executables subdirectory of the
Mathematica installation directory. Type a location or accept the default and press
Enter.
Type the directory path in which the Mathematica scripts will be created,
or press ENTER to select /usr/local/bin:
Note: The installer checks to see if any other
Mathematica scripts exist in the specified directory. If they do, you are given the chance to rename the scripts.
8. You are given several options for configuring the password. Type
1 and press
Enter to run
Mathematica using a single-machine license.
Please choose how you want to configure the password for Mathematica 7.0.
(1) Single machine
Install a password specific to this machine. Mathematica will launch
and you can enter your password.
(2) Network license
Obtain a license from a MathLM License Server on your network each time
Mathematica is launched.
(3) Enter license information later
Input your password and register when you start Mathematica.
Type your selection, or press ENTER to select (1):1
9. Your machine name and MathID number are displayed. To obtain your password, contact Wolfram Research (see
"Registration and Passwords" for details). You will need to supply your MathID number and the license number located on your electronic or physical copy of the license certificate.
Configuring Single-Machine Password...
Mathematica 7.0 for operating system
Copyright 1988-2008 Wolfram Research, Inc.
You will need to get a password from your
license certificate or from Wolfram Research
(register.wolfram.com).
Machine name: hostname
MathID: xxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx
You will need a valid license ID and password in order
to proceed. Go to http://register.wolfram.com or
http://reference.wolfram.com/singlemachine for more
information.
10. Enter your name, the name of your organization, your license number (located on your electronic or physical copy of the license certificate), and your password, and press
Enter when you are done.
Enter your name:
Enter the name of your organization:
Enter your license ID [format Lxxxx-xxxx]:
Enter your password:
11. The installer creates the
mathpass file and displays its location. The installation is now complete.
Creating password file entry in
/usr/share/Mathematica/Licensing/mathpass.
See http://reference.wolfram.com/password if
Mathematica is installed on multiple machines
and you need to set up a single, sitewide
password file.
The installer also adds an additional menu folder named to the desktop menu. Inside the folder is an item named that points to the most recently installed version of
Mathematica. File associations are also modified such that .nb files are now associated with the most recently installed version of
Mathematica.
Installing Mathematica from a File Server
One convenient way to install
Mathematica on a client is to run the installer remotely from a file server. This is an efficient way of making
Mathematica available to a large number of users without having to supply a CD/DVD to each one. You can install
Mathematica from a file server on a client running any supported Unix or Linux platform. It is not necessary that the client platform be the same as the file server platform.
To install
Mathematica from a file server, you first must make the installer and
Mathematica files available to the clients. You can do this by copying the contents of the CD/DVD to the file server and exporting the directory, or by exporting the CD/DVD mount point on the file server. Then, mount the directory with the
Mathematica distribution on the client and change to this directory, and run
MathInstaller to install
Mathematica on the client machines. (Note that you must run
MathInstaller from the directory in which it is located.) If you are installing
Mathematica in a mixed-platform environment, you may need to use the
MathInstaller option
-platform to ensure that the correct files for your platform are installed.
Installing Mathematica from a Script
If you are installing
Mathematica on multiple machines, it can be time-consuming to respond to all of the installer prompts on each individual machine. By supplying command-line options to the
MathInstaller command, you can customize various features of the installation process or automate it entirely.
| -auto | force the installation to proceed automatically without prompting the user for any information |
| -createdir=value | specify whether or not to create the directories specified by the options -targetdir and -execdir |
| -execdir=dir | specify the path to be used for the symbolic links to the executable scripts |
| -help | display information about the installer options |
| -method=type | define the type of installation you would like to perform |
| -overwrite=value | specify whether the installer should overwrite any files that already exist in the target directory |
| -platforms=value | specify the system ID of the Unix platform or platforms (e.g., Linux, Solaris, and so forth) for which you want to do the installation |
| -selinux=value | specify whether the installer should attempt to modify the security context of any included libraries so that it will function properly |
| -silent | force an automatic installation (equivalent to the -auto option) |
| -targetdir=dir | specify the installation directory |
| -verbose | display detailed information about the files and directories being installed |
MathInstaller command-line options.
Note: Default values are used for any options that are not specified explicitly on the command line.
Valid input for
-createdir is
y for yes or
n for no. By default, this value is set to
y.
The default directory for
-execdir is
/usr/local/bin. This option only works with an automatic installation.
The values for
-method may vary by product. When this option is applicable, the values can be determined by running the installer. The default value for this option is
Full.
Valid input for
-overwrite is
y for yes or
n for no. By default, this value is set to
y. This option only works with an automatic installation.
The default for
-platforms is the system you are installing on, if that information is available to the installer. This option only works with an automatic installation.
Valid input for
-selinux is
y for yes or
n for no. By default, this value is set to
n.
The option
-silent suppresses any output from being displayed on the screen. The output is instead written to a file named
InstallerLog-number. If the installation is unsuccessful, the log file is saved in the
/tmp directory. Otherwise, the file is moved to the target directory and renamed
InstallerLog.
The directory specified for
-targetdir corresponds to the value of the global variable
$InstallationDirectory. The default value is
/usr/local/Wolfram/Mathematica/7.0. This option only works with an automatic installation.
To complete the installation in one step, run a command like the following.
./MathInstaller -auto -targetdir=/home/mathematica
This allows you to complete the installation automatically in one step, while still being able to customize various details such as the directory to install to. You are not prompted to enter your password using this method, so you will need to enter a password the first time
Mathematica is launched.
If you are doing many installations, you might find it convenient to include the
MathInstaller command with all the relevant options in a shell script. Running the shell script is then an easy way to do an identical customized installation on multiple machines. You can further simplify the installation process by including a line in your script that copies an existing
mathpass file to the appropriate location on the newly installed machine. Note that
MathInstaller must be run from the directory in which it is located, so your script may require a command to change directory. See "
Registrations and Passwords" for information on sitewide
mathpass configurations.
