Mac OS X
Installing a Single-Machine License on Mac OS X
Installing a Single-Machine License on Mac OS X (Lab Version)
Installing a Network Client License on Mac OS X

Linux
Installing a Single-Machine License on Linux
Installing a Network Client License on Linux

Mathematica License Manager (MathLM)
Installing MathLM Version 8

Already Installed Mathematica 8?
Help with Activating Mathematica 8

Mac OS X
Installing a Single-Machine License on Mac OS X: Universal Password Version
Installing a Single-Machine License on Mac OS X: Machine Specific Version
Installing a Network Client License on Mac OS X

Linux/Unix
Installing a Single-Machine License on Linux or Unix: Machine Specific Password Version
Installing a Network Client License on Linux or Unix

Mathematica License Manager (MathLM)
Installing MathLM

Already installed Mathematica 7?
Find your Mathematica 7 License Number
Find your Mathematica 7 Password

Wolfram products are usually licensed to be installed on a specific machine, and moving the software to a new computer requires us to update your license. Your activation key works on the machine that your product was originally activated on.

gridMathematica adds more power to parallel computations in Mathematica. Mathematica Core Extension runs more computation processes on the machine on which Mathematica is installed. In contrast, gridMathematica runs computation processes on other machines across a network, orchestrated from a controlling Mathematica process. The computers on which computation processes run are compute nodes; the computers on which the controlling Mathematica processes run are controlling nodes.

Depending on your grid configuration, either gridMathematica Server or Mathematica must be installed on each compute node. Each compute node must be networked or on a networked file system accessible to each machine. The Mathematica license manager (MathLM) must also be installed and configured on a machine able to serve passwords to all computation nodes. You also need software to allow Mathematica to launch computation kernels on each computer across the network; this is discussed further in the next section.

Grid Management Options

There are three ways of controlling the grid: Wolfram Lightweight Grid Manager, grid-management software, and manual remote kernel connections. In Mathematica these are called Lightweight Grid, Cluster Integration and Remote Kernels, respectively. The most appropriate choice is determined by your grid configuration.

For parallel computing, Mathematica runs computation kernels on gridMathematica Server computers. The Wolfram Lightweight Grid System provides an intuitive way to manage your grid. The system, comprising Lightweight Grid Client and Lightweight Grid Manager, is useful if you have a collection of computers but do not have any special grid-management software. Each copy of Mathematica 8 contains Lightweight Grid Client, allowing it to control compute nodes in the grid. Lightweight Grid Manager, which is provided by the gridMathematica Server installer, allows you to easily connect control and compute nodes.

You do not have to use Lightweight Grid Manager. Instead, you can use your own cluster management system such as Windows HPC Server 2008, Platform LSF, or Sun Grid Engine. You can also make manual remote kernel connections using SSH or RSH. Mathematica contains tools that enable you to use these alternatives.

Configuration Layout

Before installing gridMathematica Server, you must decide how to install the different components. Choose the layout that best matches your system configuration.

For any configuration, the following must be true:

• Mathematica must be installed on any controlling computer
• the network must allow the controlling computers to freely communicate directly with all compute nodes
• the network must allow each compute node to contact the machine on which MathLM is installed

Distributed Grid

With a distributed grid, you must install gridMathematica Server on each node or on a shared file system. You should install MathLM on a separate dedicated server. This configuration is well suited to Lightweight Grid Manager. You may instead use a separate grid management system, for example if you need scheduled access to compute nodes.

Mixed Workgroup Cluster

A mixed workgroup cluster may be controlled by Lightweight Grid; in this case, you must install gridMathematica Server on each compute node and choose the option to configure Lightweight Grid Manager. However, if many computers already have Mathematica installed, you might elect to install gridMathematica Server on the remaining computers and control the cluster using remote kernels. You must install MathLM on a machine that is accessible by all compute nodes.

High-Performance Cluster

In a high-performance cluster (with or without multiprocessor systems), nodes typically have a shared file system or cloned file systems on which gridMathematica Server must be installed. If your cluster has a grid-management system, as most clusters do, you would not configure Lightweight Grid Manager. If yours does not, when you install gridMathematica Server, you must choose the option to configure Lightweight Grid Manager. Install MathLM on one of the cluster nodes or on an external machine. If you install MathLM on an external machine, the network must be configured so that the cluster nodes can resolve the IP address of that machine.

Controlling kernels can be run from either one of the cluster nodes or from a machine external to the cluster; if an external machine, Mathematica must also be installed on it. If the controlling node is a cluster node, Mathematica should be installed on it as well as gridMathematica Server. You may want to connect to it from a Mathematica front end on a separate workstation. The controlling node can use Mathematica‘s built-in cluster integration or must be able to connect to all other nodes without a password via RSH or SSH. If a workstation is used to access the controlling node, it must be able to do so using RSH or SSH.

Setting Up gridMathematica

Install MathLM

Install MathLM on the appropriate machine for your configuration, as described in the previous section. This machine must be able to serve passwords to machines that are running gridMathematica Server. See the Wolfram Mathematica Documentation Center for installation instructions.

Setting up gridMathematica with Lightweight Grid

After MathLM is installed, you will install gridMathematica Server on each compute node, making sure to configure Lightweight Grid Manager when prompted. You can follow the instructions in the Lightweight Grid Manager User Guide (HTML or PDF); see screencasts below showing the Lightweight Grid Manager installation process on Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux respectively. When configuring the license information for Lightweight Grid Manager, specify the hostname of the MathLM server that you set up. To control these kernels, use the “Lightweight Grid” tab in Mathematica‘s Parallel Kernel Configuration dialog.

The following screencasts show how to install and set up Wolfram Lightweight Grid Manager.

• Windows Installation
• Mac OS X Installation
• Linux Installation

For further installation assistance, please see the user guide (HTML or PDF) and additional installation notes or contact Wolfram Support.

Setting up gridMathematica with Cluster Integration

First install and configure MathLM and your grid management system. If the cluster is using a shared file system, install gridMathematica Server on the shared file system and do not choose the option to configure Lightweight Grid Manager. If there is no shared file system, you must install gridMathematica Server on each compute node, again not configuring Lightweight Grid Manager. To activate your copy of gridMathematica Server, follow the instructions for activating Mathematica, and choose the activation option “Connect to a network license server”. If installing on the Mac OS X platform, see the section below for activation on Mac OS X.

If the cluster prevents direct connection to the compute nodes from external workstations, you must install Mathematica on the head node; this will be the control node. If the cluster allows direct connections to the compute nodes, then any computer with Mathematica may be used as a control node.

Finally, to control the compute nodes, use the “Cluster Integration” tab in Mathematica‘s Parallel Kernel Configuration dialog.

Setting up gridMathematica with Remote Kernels

After MathLM is installed, you need to set up passwordless SSH or RSH on all control and compute nodes, such that all control nodes can connect to the compute nodes without a password. In this configuration, each computer may be a control node, a compute node, or both. On each control node, install Mathematica if it is not already present. Then install gridMathematica Server on any remaining compute nodes. To activate your copy of gridMathematica Server, follow the instructions for activating Mathematica, and choose the activation option “Connect to a network license server”. If installing on the Mac OS X platform, see the section below for activation on Mac OS X.

Finally, to control the compute nodes, use the “Remote Kernels” tab in Mathematica‘s Parallel Kernel Configuration dialog.

Activating gridMathematica Server on Mac OS X

Once you have installed gridMathematica Server on Mac OS X, you need to activate it by telling gridMathematica Server the fully-qualified hostname of your MathLM server. You can do this in one of two ways: you can use the Mathematica front end or you can manually create the mathpass file. Refer to the tutorial Registration and Passwords for full details on the mathpass file and network Mathematica passwords.

In order to activate gridMathematica Server with the Mathematica front end, use Finder to locate the folder where you installed gridMathematicaServer. Right-click on the gridMathematica Server icon and select “Show Package Contents”. In the finder window that opens, click Contents, then Mac OS, and finally double-click on Mathematica. The Wolfram Product Activation window will open and you can follow the instructions for activating Mathematica, choosing the option “Connect to a network license server”.

You may choose to activate gridMathematica Server by manually creating the mathpass file. First locate the directory where you installed gridMathematica Server and create a directory named “Licensing”. Then use a text editor to create a file named mathpass in the Licensing directory. For example, if you installed gridMathematica Server to its default location, your mathpass file would be in /Applications/gridMathematicaServer.app/Licensing/mathpass. In this text file put a single line beginning with an exclamation point and followed by the fully-qualified hostname of your mathpass server.

You can perform these steps in a Terminal window. For this example, we assume the default installation directory and that the MathLM server is named mathlmserver.example.com:

prompt% cd /Applications/gridMathematicaServer.app
prompt% mkdir Licensing
prompt% cd Licensing
prompt% cat > mathpass
!mathlmserver.example.com

Press Ctrl-d after typing the last line to finish creating the mathpass file.

• Setting up a servlet container
• Installing and configuring Mathematica
• Installing the webMathematica web application into your servlet container
• Setting up an X server (Unix only)
• Testing your webMathematica installation
  

You may also need steps for upgrading from webMathematica 2.3
or for further optional configuration, or wish to browse addtional resources.

Setting Up a Servlet Container

You must set up Java and a servlet container before adding webMathematica. If you already have these components, you can skip this step.

There are several servlet containers, but one that is particularly convenient to use with webMathematica is Apache Tomcat. The following instructions assume the use of Tomcat, but keep in mind that other servlet containers may be used with webMathematica.

Setting Up Java

We recommend that you use one of the latest versions of Java with webMathematica. The Java download website provides detailed installation instructions for different platforms.

You will also need to set the JAVA_HOME environment variable for the environment in which Tomcat runs:

Unix/Linux

Here is an example, suitable for inclusion in .bashrc (the initialization file for the bash shell):

JAVA_HOME=/usr/local/jdk1.6.0_14

export JAVA_HOME

For other shells, you should follow their standards for setting environment variables.

Windows

It is less important to set the JAVA_HOME variable for Windows, because the Tomcat installer will find your installation of Java. However, it is still recommended.

If you go to the Control Panel and open System, you will see the System Properties window. From this, select the Advanced tab, then click the Environment Variables button. Under System Variables, look for a JAVA_HOME listing. Edit or create it, as applicable, setting it to the top-level directory containing your Java Development Kit (JDK). For example, if your JDK is installed in C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.6.0_14, this is the setting for JAVA_HOME.

Mac OS X

Mac OS X ships with Java. Updates can be obtained via the software update mechanism or from Sun’s Java website. If you update your Java installation, you can ensure that you are always using the most recent version of the Java Development Kit (JDK) by setting up the JAVA_HOME environment variable properly, as shown here:

JAVA_HOME=/System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Home

export JAVA_HOME

The above command needs to be placed in the appropriate shell initialization file. For example, the default login shell for Mac OS X 10.5 is bash, for which the command would be placed in .bashrc.

Setting Up Tomcat

Before you set up Tomcat, make sure you have Java on your machine. For webMathematica 3, we recommend the use of Tomcat 5.5.27 or higher.

Unix/Linux

Unpack the Tomcat archive in some central location, for example /usr/local. You may also wish to change the name of the top-level directory. The actual location of Tomcat and the name of the top-level directory are entirely up to you. Here are sample shell instructions for these steps:

[server1]$ cd /usr/local

[server1]$ tar xfz jakarta-tomcat-5.5.27.tar.gz

[server1]$ mv jakarta-tomcat-5.5.27 tomcat

It is often useful to create a low-privilege account, such as “tomcat”, to run your servlet container. It is probably helpful for this account to have a home directory so that Mathematica and your X server can store preferences. If you create such an account, you may need to change ownership of the Tomcat layout so this account can run it:

[server1]$ chown -R tomcat tomcat

The main top-level directory of Tomcat contains some important directories, including:

• tomcat
• bin
• conf
• logs
• webapps

The bin directory contains commands for running Tomcat, the conf directory contains site configuration files, the logs directory contains various log files, and the webapps directory is where you will install webMathematica. You should be able to launch Tomcat immediately from the bin directory, making sure to be the “tomcat” user:

[server1]$ su tomcat

[server1]$ cd tomcat/bin

[server1]$ ./startup.sh

At this point, you should be able to connect to Tomcat via a URL such as http://localhost:8080. If this does not return the Tomcat front page, then something is wrong with your setup. The log files may help you track down your problem. Make sure that you have set your JAVA_HOME variable correctly.

The bin directory also contains a script, shutdown.sh, used for shutting down Tomcat.

Windows

A convenient way to install Tomcat is to download the self-installing executable—simply launch the installer and follow the instructions it provides. If you choose not to use the self-installing executable, then unpack the binary distribution into a convenient location.

After the installation is complete, you may wish to inspect the main top-level directory of Tomcat, which contains some important directories, including:

• Tomcat 5.5
• bin
• conf
• logs
• webapps

The bin directory contains commands for running Tomcat, the conf directory contains site configuration files, the
logs directory contains various log files, and the webapps directory is where you will install webMathematica.

The installer adds a Start menu group from which you can run Tomcat. You should test it via a URL such as http://localhost:8080. If Tomcat does not run correctly, you should open a command prompt window, change directories (cd) to the bin directory (in the main top-level directory of Tomcat), and try running the tomcat5.exe executable file (this can also be accomplished by double-clicking on the file via the Windows Explorer). Previous versions of Tomcat used a startup.bat batch file. Starting and stopping Tomcat from the Start menu is very convenient, but for running Tomcat as a production server under Windows, you may wish to run it as a Windows service.

Mac OS X

It is often useful to create a low-privilege account, such as “tomcat”, to run your servlet container. You can accomplish this via the System Preferences panel. If you create such an account, you may need to change ownership of the Tomcat layout so this account can run it:

[server1]$ sudo chown -R tomcat tomcat

The main top-level directory of Tomcat contains some important directories, including:

• tomcat
• bin
• conf
• logs
• webapps

The bin directory contains commands for running Tomcat, the conf directory contains site configuration files, the logs directory contains various log files, and the webapps directory is where you will install webMathematica. You should be able to launch Tomcat immediately from the bin directory, making sure to be the “tomcat” user:

[server1]$ su tomcat

[server1]$ cd tomcat/bin

[server1]$ ./startup.sh

At this point, you should be able to connect to Tomcat via a URL such as http://localhost:8080. If this does not return the Tomcat front page, then something is wrong with your setup. The log files may help you track down your problem. Make sure that you have set your JAVA_HOME variable.

The bin directory also contains a script, shutdown.sh, used for shutting down Tomcat.

Please also note that for webMathematica to fully function, you need to log on via the Mac OS X console. This is necessary because the Mathematica front end makes use of the Mac OS X windowing environment.

Unpack the Tomcat archive in some central location, for example /Library. You may also wish to change the name of the top-level Tomcat directory. The actual location of Tomcat and the name of the top-level directory are entirely up to you. /Library is useful because it can be viewed via the Finder.

Here are sample shell instructions for these steps (note that the tar xvfz archive will give you more information on what files are being extracted). These instructions assume that you are using the Terminal application found in Applications > Utilities > Terminal.

[server1]$ cd /Library

[server1]$ sudo /usr/bin/gnutar xfz jakarta-tomcat-5.5.27.tar.gz

[server1]$ sudo mv jakarta-tomcat-5.5.27 tomcat

Installing and Configuring Mathematica

Install the version of Mathematica appropriate for the platform you wish to use for your web server. You should choose a single-machine installation. Installation instructions are available at the Wolfram Technical Support Center. When you have finished, you should be able to run Mathematica interactively to validate your installation. If Mathematica cannot run, then web
Mathematica cannot run.

If you already have an installation of Mathematica on your server, you do not need to install Mathematica again and can proceed with the remaining installation steps. With an existing installation of Mathematica, you should place your webMathematica license information into a different location. Placing the license information in a different location will ensure that an interactive usage of Mathematica
on your server does not interfere with the operation of your webMathematica site. One possible alternative is the webMathematica/WEB-INF/conf directory. Note that if you install the license in a special file, you will have to set the -pwfile option the first time you run Mathematica outside of webMathematica.

Installing the webMathematica Web Application

Installing the webMathematica components into your servlet container involves deploying the webMathematica web application. The web application is a collection of HTML and other web components that are placed in a specific directory structure. Any servlet container that supports web applications will be able to use these files in a standard way. Web applications can use a special WAR (web application archive) file format, which is supported by some servlet containers. The webMathematica CD-ROM and download include the webMathematica web application files in both .war and .zip format. These archive contents are identical; use whichever is supported by your system, and ignore the other.

Tomcat

Unpack one of the webMathematica web application archives into the webMathematica directory located in the Tomcat webapps directory. This is usually found in the top-level directory of Tomcat. You have now created a web application called web Mathematica. Some of the contents of the top directory of Tomcat, along with the location of the webapps directory and web Mathematica web application, are shown here:

• tomcat
• conf
• bin
• logs
• lib
• webapps
• webMathematica

Second, configure the file MSPConfiguration.xml, located in the WEB-INF/conf directory. This file holds various site-specific parameters and may need modification for your site.

The most important setting is KernelExecutable, the location of the Mathematica kernel. The MSPConfiguration.xml file that ships with webMathematica contains settings suitable for a default installation of Mathematica for Windows, Unix, Linux, and Mac OS X. However, if you install Mathematica into a nondefault location, you will need to modify this file. For example, if you installed Mathematica into E:\Mathematica, make the following setting of KernelExecutable in MSPConfiguration.xml.

<KernelExecutable>

E:\Mathematica\MathKernel.exe

</KernelExecutable>

Another reason to modify MSPConfiguration.xml is to store your webMathematica license information in its own password file, for example webMathematica/WEB-INF/conf/mathpass. It would then be necessary to modify KernelLaunchFlags in MSPConfiguration.xml to ensure that Mathematica uses this location. The following shows how this could be done for a typical Windows installation:

<KernelLaunchFlags>

-pwfile c:/Program Files/tomcat/webapps/webMathematica/WEB-INF/conf/mathpass

</KernelLaunchFlags>

A typical setting for MSPConfiguration.xml to use a special mathpass file under Unix or Linux is shown here:

<KernelLaunchFlags>

-pwfile /usr/local/tomcat/webapps/webMathematica/WEF-INF/conf/mathpass

</KernelLaunchFlags>

Under Unix or Linux, you may need to add a KernelLaunchFlags parameter so the front end can run properly. In the following example, the front end will be launched to use DISPLAY 1 with fixed geometry and in server mode.

 <FrontEndLaunchFlags>

-display :1 -nogui -geometry 1000x500+10+10

</FrontEndLaunchFlags>

Other Servlet Engines

If you are unfamiliar with servlets, then we recommend that you use Tomcat. You should only use another servlet engine if you are already experienced with it.

Setting Up an X Server (Unix Only)

There are special problems associated with running the Mathematica front end under X from within a web server. This is because, typically, the web server is run as a special account, such as “tomcat”. This means that when webMathematica runs the front end, it is running under this account.

For the front end to operate, it must connect to an X server. This could be achieved by logging into the console of the web server machine with this special account running an X server, but there are a few problems with this approach. First, you may not want to leave the machine with an open login on the console; second, every time the front end does something, a window will appear on the screen, which may be distracting for someone using the machine. Finally, if a different user logs into the console and runs an X server, the front end (which is run under the special webMathematica account) will not be able to connect to this server at all under X’s standard authentication system. While it is possible to configure the server to allow these connections, it is not satisfactory because webMathematica will display windows on the screen every time it does something with the front end.

These problems are solved by running a virtual X server, such as Xvnc, which prevents the windows created by the Mathematica front end from displaying on the screen console of the computer running Mathematica.

Detailed instructions about configuring Xvnc and webMathematica are available in the webMathematica User Guide.

Upgrading from webMathematica 2.3

To upgrade from webMathematica 2.3, simply follow the steps below. If you are using an older servlet container, this may be a good opportunity to upgrade to something more recent. If you are going to upgrade your servlet container, you can follow the instructions at the beginning of this page as though this is a fresh installation of webMathematica.

Install Mathematica

Install Mathematica 7.0 on your web server. If you have installed any applications into your previous copy of Mathematica, you will need to make them available to the new Mathematica installation. Note that you should not copy the MSP application to Mathematica.

Install the webMathematica Web Application

To install the webMathematica web application, you will need to remove your current webMathematica web application from your servlet container. For Tomcat, this is a simple matter of moving the webMathematica directory from the webapps directory. You may need some of the material in this web application, so you should probably keep it somewhere accessible.

Configure the New Layout

If you made any special configuration changes to your old version of webMathematica, you may want to make similar changes in webMathematica 3.0. Typically this might affect the file web.xml, as well as the webMathematica and security configuration files.

web.xml

You should only make changes to web.xml if you are certain that you understand the intent of the setting. In addition, it would be better to copy any modified configuration parameters from the old version rather than taking the entire file. The web.xml file is found in the directory webMathematica/WEB-INF.

MSPConfiguration.xml

webMathematica 3.0 uses a new configuration system based on an XML file called MSPConfiguration.xml, which is found in the directory webMathematica/WEB-INF. You should copy specific configuration parameters rather than taking the entire file.

Security Configuration

The mechanism for locating the security configuration file has changed. The security configuration file is now named in the pool configuration and is located in a central configuration directory in webMathematica/WEB-INF; the default name is SecurityConfiguration.m. Previously the configuration file could be loaded from anywhere on the Mathematica path.

This change was made because loading the security configuration from a single central location is more secure. As the default security system of webMathematica is very conservative, any sites that do not move their security files will run with a higher level of security than is expected.

Move Content to the New Layout

Now you should copy your content from your old layout. You should not copy any of the examples, because webMathematica 3.0 has its own set of updated examples. Instead, you should just copy your own material from the old layout into the new.

Finalize the Installation

When you have installed the new version of webMathematica you should test your installation. A good URL to use is http://localhost:8080/webMathematica/Examples/Specification.jsp. This will print the version numbers of your installation. You should confirm that you have webMathematica 3.0 and Mathematica 7.0.

Further Configuring (Optional)

There are a number of additional features that can be obtained following a few extra installation steps, but it is not necessary to carry them out to run your webMathematica server.

Testing Your webMathematica Installation

You should now be able to restart your server and connect to webMathematica. Note that you may have to modify the URLs shown in this document to connect to your servlet container; for example, the URL may require a different port number from 8080, which is the default port for direct access to Tomcat. The URL that you use to test your servlet container will show the correct URL to use for webMathematica. In addition, you should note that the URL is case sensitive, so make sure to type in capitals as they appear.

You may first want to connect to the webMathematica front page via http://localhost:8080/webMathematica. This page contains links to examples, documentation, templates, images, and external references.

After this, it may be good to try some of the active examples, such as Expand, which can be reached from a link on the front page and from a URL such as http://localhost:8080/webMathematica/BrowseExamples/Expand.html. Enter parameters into the input fields and click Evaluate.

It may also be a good idea to test a graphics example, such as http://localhost:8080/webMathematica/Examples/Plot.jsp. If you are running on Unix, you will need to specifically configure your X server to generate graphics and use other features of the Mathematica front end. It is a good idea to test that this works correctly.

Additional Resources

For additional installation assistance, see the webMathematica User Guide (HTML or PDF), or contact
Advanced Technical Support.

The kit is downloaded and set up directly from a Mathematica session (Note: If you purchased Mathematica in the United States or Canada, you must first contact Wolfram Research Customer Service):

1. Start Mathematica.
2. Run the following commands:
   
PacletSiteUpdate[$PacletSite];
PacletUpdate["SpanishLanguageKit"];

3. Under Edit > Preferences…, for “Language for menus and dialog boxes” select “Spanish”.
4. Restart Mathematica.

If you have any questions or need assistance, please contact Wolfram Research or your local reseller.

/bin/sh Mathematica_8.0.1_Japanese_LINUX.sh

The version of this file is not compatible with the version of Windows you’re running. Check your computer’s system information to see whether you need an x86 (32-bit) or x64 (64-bit) version of the program, and then contact the software publisher.

This can happen if the installer has become corrupted in some way while downloading. The Mathematica installer for Windows has all of the files needed for 32- and 64-bit installation and will automatically install the correct files once downloaded without error. Please try downloading Mathematica again from the Wolfram User Portal.

If you are downloading Mathematica through a wireless internet connection, you may consider connecting your computer using an ethernet cord. This will speed up the download and decrease the chance of any errors during the download.

Unix/Installer/MathInstaller: line 1718: [: 0-ARCH: integer expression expected

This error message is harmless, and Mathematica will run without any issues. The installer for Mathematica is expected to be updated for the newer Linux kernels in a future release.