The University of Sheffield
Sheffield-WRGRID

Introduction

Matlab is one of the major items of Scientific, Mathematical and Engineering Software provided by CiCS Department for Teaching and Research related activities.

It is freely available to use on ICEBERG and also on the Managed/XP service workstations.
It is also possible 'at a cost' to install and use Matlab on your workstation.

Continuity of Matlab Service

CiCS makes every effort to minimize interruptions to the Matlab service, but cannot compensate users for loss of service due to the following or other similar events:

  • Unexpected peaks in demand for Matlab (i.e. more than 225 simultaneous users due to large class teaching etc.)
  • Loss of connectivity to the licence server caused by network interruptions
  • Licence server crashes


If you experience problems accessing Matlab via the University network, please check the CiCS Service Status web page and if necessary contact the CiCS Helpdesk .

Matlab Q&A

Q: I am having problems starting MATLAB on my Windows computer while using a VPN client to connect to the campus network.
A: The default VPN client provided with MS Windows seem to have a bug which causes this problem. The CiSCO VPN client does not exhibit such problems.
You can download a local coppy of the CiSCO VPN client from here.

Q: On a managed/XP PC I started Matlab and had to wait over 45 minutes for it to come up. This is outrageously slow !!!
A: Matlab does not come pre-installed on the Managed/XP workstations. However it gets installed the very first time it is used. This process is very slow "over half an hour" but the subsequent usage of Matlab on the same workstation will not require installation and hence Matlab will start reasonably fast. So, if you are unlucky to be the first person to use Matlab on a fresh Managed/XP workstation you will suffer the initial installation delays. Workstations are normally re-imaged once a year but sometimes due to corruptions etc. individual workstations may have to be re-imaged thus loosing the already installed software such as Matlab.