What versions of Matlab are available?

The following versions and packages for Matlab are currently available and supported by CSLab.

  • Matlab 8.3 (R2014a) (on compute servers in /opt/matlab-83 or /opt/matlab-R2014a).
  • Matlab 9.0 (R2016a) (on compute servers in /opt/matlab-90 or /opt/matlab-R2016a or /opt/matlab).

We recommend that you use the default version of matlab (/opt/matlab/bin/matlab) or a newer one when/if possible.

Our concurrent licenses are listed below. Please note that the child or non TAH licenses have been purchased by specific research groups, and if you use them you are denying the owners access to them. If you are unsure whether or not you should be using a particular toolbox, please email your Point of Contact (PoC).

TAH licenses:

  • 155 MATLAB
  • 30 of each:
    • Bioinformatics Toolbox
    • Control System Toolbox
    • Curve Fitting Toolbox
    • Data Acquisition Toolbox
    • DSP System (Signal Processing Blockset)
    • Image Processing Toolbox
    • Instrument Control Toolbox
    • Optimization Toolbox
    • Parallel Computing Toolbox 1
    • Signal Processing Toolbox
    • SimMechanics
    • Simscape
    • Simulink
    • Simulink Control Design
    • Stateflow
    • Statistics Toolbox
    • Symbolic Math Toolbox v5.1

Child or non TAH toolboxes (1 of each):

  • Financial Toolbox
  • Partial Differential Equation Toolbox
  • Wavelet Toolbox

In the past additional toolboxes were purchased but not renewed due to lack of interest by the groups that purchased them. They are still in the license file and will appear in lmstat output. These toolboxes do not exist in the current installed versions of matlab on the compute servers.

Where should I run Matlab?

Matlab as provided by CSLab is only available on the compute servers. Matlab is a heavyweight application, so please think about how others may be affected when you run it. If your Matlab jobs will be running for a long time, you should consider using the 'screen' application to help monitor your jobs and reduce the chances of unexpected termination. 'man screen' should provide you with enough information to get started. For a list of the appropriate compute servers, please see CSLab Compute Servers.

Purchasing Matlab

If you wish to have a personal copy of Matlab, to run on your laptop or some other machine not administered by CSLab, you (or your supervisor) may have to buy a copy. But contact your Point of Contact (PoC) first to check. You can get a quote from U of T Software Licensing at Software Commons.

Please also see Software Commons' page for Matlab and Student version of Matlab.

Matlab Tips

  • matlab -h lists the available options.
  • matlab -nodesktop starts matlab without starting the matlab desktop. The current window is used for commands.
  • matlab -r matlab_command starts matlab and executes the matlab_command.
  • If Matlab is crashing due to video issues, start up matlab in a non graphics mode with the following command:

    matlab -nojvm -nodisplay -nosplash

    Then run these two commands in matlab:

    opengl('save','software')
    exit

    The next time you start matlab you should get the message "MATLAB is selecting SOFTWARE OPENGL rendering.". You will need to do this for each compbk server as the setting is stored on a per server basis.

  • 1 Note that "Parallel Computing Toolbox" appears as "Distrib_Computing_Toolbox" in the license file and lmstat output, as that was its previous name.

Mathworks Support

Mathworks has provided us with a resource that can provide technical support (e.g., answering technical questions about new/existing functionality), teaching resources (e.g., free auto-grading capabilities for courses with programming assignments; lecture slides, example problems, and homework assignments from existing courses ) and curriculum development funding. Please contact your Point of Contact (PoC) for more information.