Windows Support

Note: You can access the Planetary and Marine Computing (PMC) MATLAB or ENVI/IDL licenses from home or other off-campus location provided you are connected to the Campus VPN or by tunneling through a Linux account on the PMC network.

VPN Access Instructions (easiest method for accessing the licenses from off campus)

To use the Campus VPN please visit https://its.ucsc.edu/vpn/installation.html If you have difficulty connecting to the VPN contact us and we can help you.

Linux Account Access Instructions

If you are a guest and do not have a UCSC Cruzid you can use a PMC Linux account to access the licenses. If you need an account please contact us to establish one. Once you have a Linux account follow the instructions below. These instructions were written for Windows 7 but should be similar for Windows XP or Vista.

Instructions

  1. You must have a Linux account the PMC managed Linux machines.
  2. You must be connected to a network.
  3. Your ISP must allow direct SSH connections (tcp port 22) to network hosts.
  4. Some locations such as wi-fi hotspots may limit the network services that can be connected to.
  5. If the putty connection phase of these instructions fails then here some possible problems:
    1. You are in a location that does not allow direct SSH connections (try from another network)
    2. You aren't properly connected to a network (test using a browser to some popular site such as google)
    3. The public.pmc.ucsc.edu server or some portion of the network in-between you and the server is temporarily down (try again later).

Initial Setup

  1. Setup the LM_LICENSE_FILE variable (only needs to be done once)
  2. Setup a putty tunnel to the license server (only needs to be done once)

Running Matlab or ENVI/IDL from off-campus locations

  1. Double click on the putty icon to run PuTTY.
  2. Under the left-hand "Category" menu select "Sessions"
  3. Select the "remote license" session in the "Saved Sessions" list. (This session was created during the "Initial Setup" instructions above.
  4. Click the "Open" button.
  5. A terminal should be presented asking for your password.
  6. Enter your password.
  7. You should be presented with a linux command prompt.
  8. You must leave this PuTTY connection open while using matlab or ENVI/IDL. You may minimize the terminal window, but do not close it. If you experience disconnects from the "public.pmc.ucsc.edu" server read SSH Timeouts. In particular, try the solution in the "Shell auto-logout Solution" section.
  9. Run matlab or envi/idl either by double clicking on it's desktop icon or selecting in from the appropriate location in the "Start" menu.
  10. Matlab or envi/idl should run and be properly licensed.
  11. When you have finished your session, remember to close your PuTTY session also.