Install parallel computing toolbox in matlab docker

Hi Community,

I am struggling with installing parallel computing toolbox within matlab docker images (latest version).

I have followed instructions here: https://www.mathworks.com/help/matlab/matlab_env/get-add-ons.html and https://hub.docker.com/r/mathworks/matlab .

Some problems:

1. The matlab docker image browser version does not support Add-on Explorer, which means I cannot install the toolbox directly.

2. The docker image suggests using File Exchange to download the toolbox. However, I can not find the parallel computing toolbox in File Exchange.

3. With my education license, the parallel computing toolbox is automatically installed. No .mltbx file is provided, which makes local installation inaccessible inside docker.

On the other hand, the offical matlab docker documentation says add-ons can be installed.

Can anyone offer some help? Thank you very much !!!

Answer 1

[Kojiro Saito]

Web browser version does not support Add-On Explorer, so, you need to launch MATLAB with VNC options.

docker run -it --rm -p 5901:5901 -p 6080:6080 --shm-size=512M mathworks/matlab:r2022b -vnc

Then, in your web browser, type "http://localhost:6080/" in address bar.

You can access Linux's desktop environment.

Next, launch "Terminal Emulator", and type

sudo matlab

to launch MATLAB with sudo. It's because MATLAB is installed in /opt/matlab/R2022b with root write permissions.

Then, you can launch Add On Explorer and install toolboxes.

UPDATED

Also, there is a command line way instead of Add-On Explorer.

MATLAB Package Manager (MPM) is available from GitHub.

https://github.com/mathworks-ref-arch/matlab-dockerfile/blob/main/MPM.md

In Terminal Emulator, download MPM with wget and install Parallel Computing Toolbox with MPM.

wget https://www.mathworks.com/mpm/glnxa64/mpm
chmod +x mpm
sudo ./mpm install --release=R2022b --destination=/opt/matlab/R2022b/ --products Parallel_Computing_Toolbox

Installation Results:

Hope this work.

[J.]

Thanks Kojiro! Your solution is working. However, it takes very long to install a toolbox inside the docker image. I am not sure why. I will "accept this answer" after everything is sorted out. Meanwhile, if I encounter new problems, I will keep posting in this thread. Thank you again!

[Kojiro Saito]

@J.

Thank you. I've updated my answer to include command line way (MPM). MPM might be faster than Add-On Explorer. Hope this work.

[J.]

@Kojiro Saito thanks for the update! I followed your instruction and successfully installed the toolbox. Everything works fine. (The installation took some time to finish and requires more space than desktop version.) Thank you very much!

Answer 2

[Caspar Hanselaar]

Dear @Kojiro Saito, Thank you for the extended answer. I'm trying to install the ROS2 toolbox in a matlab docker container. I'm running into the 2 following problems:

1. If I run sudo matlab, the VNC crashes, and cannot reconnect. I see the matlab loader splash screen, followed by noVNC disconnecting, and returning a Failed to connect to server message. The container continues to run in the background.
2. Starting matlab regularly doesn't cause the VNC to disconnect. However, then i cannot reach the add-on explorer window.
3. I've failed to find a suitable link to download the ros2 toolbox, and the matlab website is generally really unhelpful in allowing me direct access to download a toolbox file. So I can't alter your second option to get it working for the ros toolbox.

I hope that you'll be able to help me succeed in either way of progressing.

System information:

M1 mac, 16GB with 8GB and 4 cores allocated to the docker desktop program, running matlab 2022B in a docker container using:

docker run -it -p 6080:6080 -v /Users/username/specificfolder:/data --shm-size=512M --name=MatlabContainer mathworks/matlab:r2022b -vnc