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

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

Accepted Answer

MathWorks Support Team
MathWorks Support Team on 26 May 2023
Edited: MathWorks Support Team on 30 Jan 2023
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:
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:
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.
  7 Comments
Walter Roberson
Walter Roberson on 3 Feb 2021
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
Steve Pellegrino on 3 Feb 2021
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.

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More Answers (1)

Steve Pellegrino
Steve Pellegrino on 14 Oct 2021
Edited: Steve Pellegrino on 14 Oct 2021
It amazes me how incomplete the instructions are. I think it must be a case of ‘not my job”.
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 #

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