Registration and Passwords

Registration

To install and use the Wolfram System and MathLM, you must activate your product and receive a password.

Before registering, you must first begin the installation process according to the instructions in "Installing Mathematica". Midway through the installation process, a MathID number will be displayed on your screen. This MathID number is a machine-specific identification number that is automatically determined when running the installer on a machine.

In addition to your MathID number, you will need to provide the activation key located on your electronic or printed license certificate. To register MathLM, you will also need to provide the hostname of the machine that will run MathLM.

Once you have your MathID number, you can register and get a password by following the instructions in "Activating Mathematica".

Be sure to write down the password and keep it for future reference. The MathID number for your machine can change under certain circumstances, for example, if you reformat your hard disk. If the MathID number changes, you will need to contact Customer Service to get a new password.

The mathpass File

To run the Wolfram System or MathLM, you must have the appropriate password. Passwords are stored within a file called mathpass. The location of the mathpass file for the Wolfram System varies by operating system. See "Configuration Files" for mathpass file locations. The mathpass file for MathLM is located in the top-level MathLM installation directory. The mathpass file is created automatically by the installer, but you may find it necessary to edit the file by hand at times.

The mathpass file may contain one or many password entries, depending on your license type. Each line of the mathpass file contains information for a separate password. The mathpass file is parsed from top to bottom and the first valid password found is used. You can comment out any line in the mathpass file by placing a % character at the start of the line.

Sitewide mathpass Configuration

If you are a site license administrator, you can create a mathpass file containing a list of all or some of the licenses provided in your license agreement. Then you can copy that mathpass file to all the machines on which the Wolfram System has been installed. When launched, the Wolfram System will scan through the list of passwords in the mathpass file from top to bottom until it finds the appropriate password for that machine. This mathpass configuration is a good option for administrators running automated installations. See "Installing Mathematica from a Script" for information on automated Wolfram System installations.

Wolfram System Passwords

Wolfram System passwords have two forms. Network passwords are used by copies of the Wolfram System that get a license from the license server. Single-machine passwords are used by standalone copies of the Wolfram System.

The mathpass file can contain a single password or a mixture of both types. If there is more than one password in the mathpass file, the first valid entry is used.

Network passwords have the form !hostname, where hostname is the hostname or IP address of the MathLM license server. Network passwords must begin with a ! character. A network password is stored in the mathpass file in the following format.

!hostname

Single-machine passwords typically have the form dddd–ddd–ddd:n::YYYYMMDD. Here, d stands for a digit 0–9, n stands for the number of processes for the license, and YYYYMMDD stands for the license expiration date. The password may have other fields in it depending on your license type. The password is stored in the mathpass file in the following format.

hostname	7000-10419-18404	0123-3012-XK4J9Y	 7923-871-948:4::20101230

The hostname here is the name of the machine on which the Wolfram System processes will run. This is given first, followed by the MathID number, the activation key, and the password. The parts of the entry may be separated by spaces or tabs.

The mathpass file may have multiple single-machine passwords listed. It may be shared across the network, allowing you to maintain a single mathpass file for multiple machines.

MathLM Passwords

MathLM passwords typically have the form dddd–ddd–ddd:n::YYYYMMDD:Ct. Here, d stands for a digit 0–9, n stands for the number of processes for the license, YYYYMMDD stands for the license expiration date, and t stands for the license class, which may be A or B. In some passwords, the digit n may be replaced with a pair of digits n, m, which specify the number of kernel processes and front end processes, respectively. The password may have other fields in it, depending on your license.

The capital letters at the end of the password refer to the license class, which determines what client platforms the Wolfram System can run on. Windows, Mac OS X, and some Linux platforms are class A. Server-class platforms are class B. The mathpass file must contain separate password entries for each license class. Class B passwords are valid for both class A and class B clients.

The password is stored in the mathpass file in the following format.

!hostname	7000-10419-18404	0123-3012-XK4J9Y	 7923-871-948:20::20080301:CA

The name of the license server running MathLM is given first, followed by its MathID number. The ! character at the start of the line distinguishes a network password from a single-machine password. The license number is followed by the password. The parts of the entry may be separated by spaces or tabs.