Can you use a designated computer license with a remote login

33 views (last 30 days)
Someone at my company is circulating information that Matlab designated computer licenses can only be used on the physical computer where the license is installed (i.e. no rlogins or rshells). This doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. Remote logging in to a machine and running Matlab is just a convenience. It still occupies the license so no one else can use it. It still uses that computers CPU and resources. Can someone at Mathworks clarify?
Thanks

Answers (4)

Walter Roberson
Walter Roberson on 21 Jan 2020
Edited: Walter Roberson on 21 Jan 2020
They are correct about the historical license terms. If I recall correctly, one of the recent releases finally updated that provision. It was no earlier than r2018b however and I would need to recheck the exact version.

Brian Holden
Brian Holden on 21 Jan 2020
This seems like antiquated thinking. We live in a world where people telecommute, check back on their computers when they are on a business trip, remote login to their home machine from a conference room etc. You are saying that all of these activities are prohibited under the MATLAB EULA..
We are a company that follows the rules, so we will comply, of course. However, I think this type of 20th century thinking puts MATLAB on a dangerous path. We are already looking at other options to try and satisfy out scientific computing needs. Putting these types of nonsense limitations on MATLAB will definitely influence that decision making process.
  1 Comment
Walter Roberson
Walter Roberson on 21 Jan 2020
People who have those needs should not be using a Dedicated Computer license, which was designed for the kind of situation where people physically sit down at a lab machine. The uses you describe are individual user access, which is a different license type.

Sign in to comment.


Brian Holden
Brian Holden on 21 Jan 2020
Edited: Brian Holden on 21 Jan 2020
So, suppose I want a license that any of 6 different people can use. It will be on a single machine, and no 2 people will ever be using the MATLAB license simultaneously. Each of these 6 people has the option of logging into the machine at the console, or remote logging into the machine from another machine and running it that way, but, as long as they are running MATLAB, no other users will be allowed to use MATLAB.
You're saying that there is no Mathworks license mechanism that would satisfy the above situation. I suppose one could purchase 6 individual licenses, install them all on the same machine, and put in some sort of 3rd party wrapper that would prevent users from running MATLAB simultaneously. That is 6x the cost, a lot more work to implement, and it just seems like such a waste, since the situation I describe is exactly the software implementation of the designated computer license. Sadly, you are telling me I can't use the designated computer license in the manner it was implemented because Mathworks license rules prevented it.
It seems like this is a case where the lawyers have flat-out screwed up because they don't understand computers. The Mathworks software team has made no attempt to prevent users of designated computer licenses to run MATLAB from a remote login. I can't help but wonder why that is.
-Brian
  3 Comments
Walter Roberson
Walter Roberson on 21 Jan 2020
"It seems like this is a case where the lawyers have flat-out screwed up because they don't understand computers."
No, in my opinion, the lawyers got it right originally, because they understand well that people will try to abuse the lowest cost license type.
Your scenario that 6 different people with remote access will never try to access the system at the same time is not realistic. Except in cases where there are physical access tokens involved (such as having to sit in a particular chair), the reality is that groups that large never coordinate that closely. The reality is that you see access friction all the time when you have more workers than you have licenses.
I have been there, been the systems administrator responsible for tracking down who was using one of the floating licenses to try to convince them to quit MATLAB to free up a license. It was always resented, and it was always considered to be my fault for there not being enough licenses for people to never have to think about license sharing. (Trying to convince people to contribute towards an additional license was typically fruitless, so it mostly became considered that it was my fault that Mathworks expected to be paid at all.)
Walter Roberson
Walter Roberson on 21 Jan 2020
In any case, you should be talking to your sales representative about details of license terms and which versions those terms apply to. I do not work for Mathworks (and have never worked for Mathworks), and I have been known to have public disagreements with Mathworks, my pointing out clauses that are more restrictive than Mathworks employees have been conveying.

Sign in to comment.


Brian Holden
Brian Holden on 21 Jan 2020
Edited: Brian Holden on 21 Jan 2020
I apologize. My last post came out as more confrontational than intended. Your experience in this area has been very helpful and I very much appreciate the feedback.
In reading other threads, I got the following snippet of information from the MATLAB support team-
However, the MATLAB Software License Agreement prohibits remote usage of MATLAB for Designated Computer licenses for all but a single user specified by a license administrator. Note that this user does not need to be the Licensed End User, however the Licensed End User role is a convenient way to keep track of this user, especially on licenses with multiple administrative contacts.
My question now is, what do they mean by specifying a user for remote usage? They specifically say that the specified user does not need to be the Licensed End User, but I'm not sure how else I could specify it. Also, what is the frequency in which the user that has been specified to be allowed to remote access a Designated Computer License can be changed?
Maybe our situation is somewhat unique. We have two machines, each with their own DC license, and each machine has a primary user that is the only user for that MATLAB 99% of the time. However, there are rare occasions where one of the primary users is unavailable (e.g. vacation), but there is a time critical process that needs to be run on that machine. We do have several alternates that understand the software well enough to login and kick off some process. In this situation, there is no real contention, since no one would even try to use the license if the primary user was available. It seems ideal for the DC license structure, but for the unfortunate rule that when an alternate is called on to kick off a task due to the inavailability of the primary user, it will be necessary for that alternate to hike to the lab to do so. To make matters worse, said alternate is probably a Manager or a Director whose time is at a premium. However, we can work within the constraints of the restriction, and will certainly do so.
Again, I am sorry if my previous post was interpreted as an attack on anyone. If anything, it was just a result of my personal frustration.

Categories

Find more on Introduction to Installation and Licensing in Help Center and File Exchange

Products

Community Treasure Hunt

Find the treasures in MATLAB Central and discover how the community can help you!

Start Hunting!