This page covers how to install MATLAB on a computer that you manage or administer, i.e. where you know the Administrator password (Windows) or the root or sudo password (Linux or macOS).

All current UofT students qualify for one individual “node-locked” license for MATLAB, to use on a computer that belongs to you personally (not on a computer owned by UofT/ECE or by a business).

In addition, ECE faculty, grads and research staff may run MATLAB from the ECE pooled network license on any computer, on or off campus. These licenses are valid worldwide for users currently affiliated with ECE. We can also extend access to these licenses to outside collaborators working with ECE faculty, at the faculty member's request. ECE users can install MATLAB on any computer you use, owned by anyone, and set it up to check out licenses for MATLAB from our network license server.

All current ECE users may access ECE's network license for MATLAB. Running MATLAB using our network license requires internet access, and using it outside of ECE's wired network also requires a connection via the ECE VPN to gain access to our network license server. ECE VPN is needed when connecting via UofT wifi (even if inside ECE spaces), in any other part of UofT, or off campus. Users can request a login on the ECE VPN by emailing ecehelp {at} ece.utoronto.ca.

Current UofT students can also get a Student license for MATLAB for one personally owned computer. This stand-alone license does not require network access to ECE's license server via ECE VPN, and works even while you lack internet access, so students may prefer this option for their own laptop or home PC.

Student licenses may not be used on University-owned equipment, and each student may only license one device. ECE grad students are also welcome to use ECE's network license on any additional computers they use not covered by their one-PC student license. See the matlab_setup_flowchart for more info.

The portal site for current students only (but not faculty or staff) is Mathworks UofT Student Portal. Faculty and staff trying to use this link will see a message about “You are not permitted to use this license for University of Toronto” since this link is only for students. Note that postdoctoral fellows (“PDFs” / “postdocs”) count as staff, not students.

All non-student users – faculty, staff, PDFs, visitors, volunteers, casuals – need rather to connect to https://mathworks.com/login using their activated Mathworks login, not via the student portal.

In order to install MATLAB onto computers you manage, you need a login on the Mathworks.com website. Current students can access this via the Portal link above, which uses your UTORid to log in.

Faculty and staff need to create a logis at Mathworks Account registration, using their UofT email address, then link that login to our ECE license using the “Activation Key” for our subscription. Contact ecehelp {at} ece.utoronto.ca for the Activation Key and a copy of our ECE_network_license.lic license file.

You only need to do this account setup and activation once; after that you can use your MathWorks login and password whenever you need to download and install MATLAB or additional toolboxes, on any number of computers, using our network license. Your Mathworks login also lets you access MATLAB Online, MATLAB Drive, Mathworks courseware, and the “get add-ons” function within MATLAB.

Once you are registered, log in to https://mathworks.com/login with your Mathworks ID and password. Go to the “My Account” section, then look under “My licenses.” for a list of licenses linked to your account. Once linked to our ECE license using our activation key, ECE users should see one entry “676468 (network concurrent);” students who registered through Mathworks' student portal may also see an entry for their Student license.

Beside each license in the list is a down-arrow icon for downloading that item. If you also link your account to other Mathworks licenses such as RoadRunner, those will also appear in this list; the installer for each product can be downloaded via the down-arrow icon by its name in this list.

Installers are available for macOS, Linux and Microsoft Windows, for the latest release (or for past releases if you need them.) Note that you need the Administrator password (Windows) or the root / sudo password (Linux and MacOS X) to complete the installation. To add MATLAB on a computer where you do not know that password, ask the system administrator / person who does have that password to do the install.

Mathworks provides a "Platform Roadmap" of what O/S versions can run which MATLAB releases. The installer program is under 250 MB in size. When running the installer you will need much more disk space for installer temporary files, and the disk where you install MATLAB will need many gigabytes of free space to hold the installed program folder. A very basic install might need just a few gigabytes; installing all of Full Suite will use up around 40 GB.

Once you have downloaded the MATLAB installer, you can start the install right away, or save the installer to use later; you can also copy it to another computer of the appropriate O/S and run it there.

The installer downloads the full program over the internet, so a wired connection may help get the install done sooner, but a fast wifi connection can suffice. If installing on a laptop, it's a good idea to connect the charging cable to avoid a low battery interrupting the installation. Don't move a laptop around during the install, as wifi connection dropouts could interrupt the long downloads and prevent the installer from completing.

Run the setup program that you downloaded from Mathworks. Click to agree to the license. During the setup, choose “online install” and log in with your Mathworks login. If your MathWorks account is linked to both Student and our Network Concurrent license, both will be listed by the installer; be sure to select the appropriate license for this install. See our matlab_setup_flowchart to determine which license to use where.

When setup prompts you for your license file, you will configure MATLAB to use our ECE network license server by choosing the file “ECE_network_license.lic”. ECEHELP will email this file to you along with the activation key. Save the email attachment to your computer's disk in any convenient location such as “Documents” or “Desktop.” When prompted for the license file, browse to the location you saved the attachment and choose that file.

The setup program will present a checklist of features to install. Our Full Suite subscription now includes every toolbox that Mathworks issues, so the extensive list will include several of little to no relevance for the areas of research we do in ECE. Checking more toolboxes will require more time for the install to complete, as well as filling up more disk space. Note that it is now easy to add other toolboxes from within MATLAB later (see below), so during the initial setup don't feel you need to select every toolbox on the list or even every one you might want later. You will want to check at least this list of basic features:

• MATLAB
• Simulink
• Parallel Computing Toolbox

Also include any toolboxes already in use in your current work. To list all the toolboxes installed in an existing copy of MATLAB, launch that MATALB then type 'ver' at the MATLAB prompt. You can find out what toolboxes are called in any MATLAB code with the MATLAB dependency checker.

Once installation completes, ensure you are connected to ECE VPN if required (working off campus or on UofT wifi), then launch MATLAB. If prompted to allow firewall changes for license service connections, click “allow access.” At the MATLAB prompt, type 'ver' to see a list of installed toolboxes.

Log in to your Mathworks account within MATLAB using the button at the far right end of MATLAB's blue menu bar. If your Mathworks login has access to MATLAB Drive, you'll now see MATLAB Drive among the directory locations available in the file location bar.

You're ready to go to work!

Later, after you've completed this initial installation of MATLAB, if you find other toolboxes you didn't originally install that you think might be useful, you can use the “Get Add-ons” menu in the MATLAB program ribbon to list all available toolboxes and see descriptions. Then you can click “Install” for any toolbox not already in your install of MATLAB to add that feature. You need to log in with your Mathworks ID to access this service under our license. MATLAB will close to allow the installer to proceed, so save your work before using “Get Add-ons” to install a new toolbox.

The “Get Add-ons” feature will work on any computer where you have permissions to install programs. Note: the “Get Add-ons” option will not work on ECE Tier 1 Linux workstations, as users do not have write permission on the MATLAB program directories. For these systems, please contact ECEHELP to request adding any missing toolboxes. The R2020b install on EECG Linux accessed through /local/bin/matlab_r2020b has all toolboxes already installed.