Mathematica licensing/activation problems?

Owned by Marc Miller
Last updated: May 19, 2023
1 min read

Note: Software downloads available ONLY from UCSB campus networks. If you are trying to download while connected to the campus wireless, you must use the campus vpn service (https://www.it.ucsb.edu/vpn).


Some Internet Service Providers (ISPs) block some or all VPNs. ECI has no control over non-university networks and cannot guarantee a secure connection on them. 

VPNs are banned in China and are now considered a crime by China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT)



After you are online on either a wired campus network or network that allows VPNs, follow the instructions at How do I install Mathematica? If still having issues, please take the following steps.

COE Linux Lab Computers:

If you have never run Mathematica on a COE linux system, run the following bash commands in your terminal:

mkdir ~/.Mathematica

mkdir ~/.Mathematica/Licensing/

echo "!license.engr.ucsb.edu" > ~/.Mathematica/Licensing/mathpass

/ece/Mathematica/9.01/Executables/mathematica --pwfile ~/.Mathematica/Licensing/mathpass

All Other Computers:

On Windows and Macs, Mathematica can only be installed correctly by accounts considered computer administrators, all accounts on a computer however can use Mathematica if they have a license.

If you installed Mathematica using a standard user account, please uninstall the program, reboot, and reinstall using an administrator account. Administrator should then check "allow allow users to use this program"