Iowa State University IT

Installing MATLAB

If you have previously installed MATLAB under an earlier license, you will need to reactivate the software to continue using it.
Reactivation Instructions

Instructions for a first-time installation of MATLAB are below.

Macintosh Installation for 2007b

Installation for Version 2009a (Windows and Intel Mac)

Note: These instructions do not work if you are using the Firefox browser.

Create Account

  1. Go to the MathWorks website at http://www.mathworks.com/.
  2. Click on "Create Account" in the upper right corner of the page.
  3. Create an account and fill in the profile information, using your iastate.edu email address. You will not be able to download the software using a non-iastate.edu address.
  4. Select academic use under "How Will You Use The MathWorks Software?"
  5. Under Department, fill in the name of your major department.

Access License

  1. Go to the License Center page at https://www.mathworks.com/licensecenter/ and click the "add license" button.
  2. In the license number field, enter 333288 (the license number for Iowa State's student MABLAB license).
  3. The webpage will update and show the My License table; once it does, you are associated with the Iowa State license.

Download Software

  1. To proceed with downloading the software, click on the 333288 license entry in the table from step 3 above. This expands the entry into a panel of information describing the toolboxes.
  2. Click on the "Download Product Updates" tab near the top of the screen.
  3. From the download screen, follow the steps to choose release version 2009a, a platform, and a product version. Click Continue.
  4. Windows: Select yes when asked if you want to run the application; the download agent will begin.
    Macintosh: Double-click on the "download_agent.jnlp" file that was downloaded to your desktop.

The download will take some time so be patient.

Installation and Activation

Once the software is downloaded, you will be prompted to install automatically or manually. If you install automatically (which is recommended) while connected to the Internet, you can also activate the software at the same time. Once the software is activated, MATLAB will start up.

Symbolic Math Toolbox

Note: Symbolic Math Toolbox is included in the 2009a version.

The Symbolic Math Toolbox provides tools for solving and manipulating symbolic math expressions and performing variable-precision arithmetic. To get this toolbox, click on "Need Symbolic Toolbox" below. You will be asked to sign in with your Iowa State Net-ID and password. Once you do that, an email request will be generated for you. Within two business days, you will receive an email with instructions to access and download the Symbolic Math Toolbox.

Need Symbolic Toolbox - v2008a only

Help

If you have difficulties installing the software after you've followed these instructions, contact MathWorks at 508-647-7000. For installation help, select Technical Support (option 2) and then Product Installation (option 4).

Macintosh Installation for Version 2007b

Note: These instructions do not work if you are using the Firefox browser.

If your Macintosh computer does not have an Intel processor, you cannot use version 2008 but instead should install version 2007b.

To install MATLAB, you can first create an installation DVD although that step is optional for the Macintosh version. If you create a DVD first, you will need:

Before starting this process, make sure that Microsoft Entourage is not running. Entourage seems to interfere with the process of connecting to Windows server volumes.

MATLAB on Mac OS X requires the installation of X11. This is not usually installed by default, but the installer can be found on the Mac OS X 10.4 DVD or on the third Mac OS X 10.3 CD. For Mac OS X 10.3, it can also be downloaded from http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/x11formacosx.html.

You can burn a MATLAB DVD and use it for installation or you can download the files to your desktop and install MATLAB directly from there. Instructions for both methods are included here, respectively.

  1. From the Finder, choose Go -> Connect to Server.
  2. For Server Address, enter "smb://mcacd3.iastate.edu/Studentmatlab" and click "Connect".

  3. Enter the following information (where "yourNetID" is your Iowa State Net-ID):

    Workgroup/Domain: IASTATE
    Username: yourNetID
    Password: yourNetID password

  4. Click OK.
  5. A Finder window titled "STUDENTMATLAB" will open; it contains a number of folders. Open the folder named R2007b and then the Macintosh folder, and copy the file "MATHWORKS_R2007B.dmg" to your local hard drive. This will take several minutes.
  6. Also in the R2007b folder, you will find a file named "R2007b license file update.txt". Copy that file to your local hard drive as well; it contains the license code you will need.
  7. Open Disk Utility (in "Applications/Utilities"). Click on "Burn".
  8. To burn the .dmg file you downloaded to a DVD, do the following:
    1. Select the .dmg file and click "Burn".
    2. Insert a blank DVD into your computer's DVD drive.
    3. Click "Burn".
    4. Remove the disk from the drive when Disk Utility has finished burning the DVD.

You should now have a MATLAB DVD. You can insert the disk and install by double-clicking "InstallForMacOSX".

Alternatively, you can install directly from the .dmg file on your hard drive. Instead of steps 7 and 8 above, do these:

  1. Double-click on the .dmg file you previously downloaded. The disk image will mount as a drive icon labeled "MATHWORKS_R2007B" on the Desktop.
  2. Open the drive icon and double-click on "InstallForMacOSX" to install MATLAB.

Symbolic Math Toolbox

The Symbolic Math Toolbox provides tools for solving and manipulating symbolic math expressions and performing variable-precision arithmetic. To get this toolbox, click on "Need Symbolic Toolbox" below. You will be asked to sign in with your Iowa State Net-ID and password. Once you do that, an email request will be generated for you. Within two business days, you will receive an email with instructions to access and download the Symbolic Math Toolbox.

Need Symbolic Toolbox

Reactivating MATLAB

If you have previously installed MATLAB under an earlier license, you will need to reactivate the software to continue using it. To do so, use one of the following methods.

Windows

  1. On your computer, under Programs, select MATLAB. (Software version will vary depending on your last download.)
  2. Click "Activate MATLAB xxxx" where "xxxx" is the version you have installed.
  3. Follow the prompts.

Macintosh

  1. Start MATLAB. (Software version will vary depending on your last download.)
  2. Under Help tab, select Licensing and then Update Current License.
  3. Click on Update Now.
  4. After download process completes, click on Done.
  5. You will need to restart MATLAB to use the new version.

Windows or Macintosh

  1. Log into your Mathworks account at http://www.mathworks.com/.
  2. Click "My Account" and then "Manage License".
  3. Click on license 333288.
  4. Click on "Activation and Installation" tab.
  5. Click on "Activate" and follow the prompts.