About This Guide

This guide covers the installation, configuration, and maintenance of Mathematica in a multi-user and multi-machine environment, such as a research lab or university. While some organizations will exclusively have either network licenses or single-user licenses, many use a combination of both license types.

To see which kind of license you have, look at the "License Class" on your license certificate or contact your Site Administrator.

• A network license permits a specified number of copies of Mathematica to run concurrently on a network, making Mathematica available to multiple users and machines. Network license management operates on the client-server model. The Mathematica license manager, , is installed on the license server and handles the details of license activity. Copies of Mathematica are then installed as clients of MathLM.
• A single-user license is used for standalone installations of Mathematica. In this document and the Mathematica installers, the terms "single-machine" and "single-user" are used interchangeably. See your license certificate for details.

Chapters 1 through 4 of this guide contain information about installing and configuring MathLM and installing Mathematica as a MathLM client. If you have a network license, begin with Chapter 1, which contains system requirements and installation instructions for MathLM. Chapter 2 describes how to configure MathLM and monitor license activity. Chapter 3 contains instructions for installing Mathematica as a MathLM client. Chapter 4 discusses troubleshooting communication problems between MathLM and its clients. For information about customizing and configuring the client Mathematica installations, see Chapters 5 through 7.

Chapters 5 through 7 contain information about installing, configuring, and maintaining one or many copies of Mathematica. Information in these chapters is also relevant to MathLM environments. If you have a single-user license, begin with the appropriate chapter for your operating system. Chapter 5 covers Mathematica system administration on Windows; Chapter 6 covers Mathematica system administration on Unix and Linux; Chapter 7 covers Mathematica system administration on Mac OS X. Each of these platform-specific chapters includes instructions for installing Mathematica with a single-user license, alternate installation methods, testing instructions, configuration information, and troubleshooting tips.

For an introduction to using Mathematica, see Getting Started with Mathematica.

Both Getting Started with Mathematica and this manual are available online at documents.wolfram.com.