Installing in Windows
Start the Model Manager server installation by using the media that you have received or by using an internet download. In the installer, after selecting your preferred language, choose New COMSOL Model Manager Server 6.4 Installation.
COMSOL Model Manager Server uses a separate installer than the one used when installing COMSOL Multiphysics® or COMSOL Server™.
License
In the next step, License, select the format of your license in the License format list under License information. For the License file option, write the file path to the license file that you have received from your COMSOL representative in the License file field. Click Browse to browse to and choose another file path. You can also use the Port number and Hostname option or the Three-server redundancy option if your license administrator has given you these details.
At this point, the installer detects the type of license used. The following instructions assume that the license used during installation corresponds to a Model Manager server license.
Products
In the next step, Products, select the installation location and which software products and components you want to install. All products and components are selected by default.
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Model Manager Server — installs the Model Manager server software components.
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Managed PostgreSQL® — installs software components for a PostgreSQL® database system managed by the Model Manager server. Clear the checkbox if you only want to use an external relational database management system provided by your organization.
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Managed Apache Solr™ — installs software components for an Apache Solr™ search platform managed by the Model Manager server. Clear the checkbox if you only want to use an external Apache Solr™ installation provided by your organization.
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License Manager — installs the COMSOL License Manager. You only need to install this on the computer where you would like to run the license manager.
Options
In the Options step:
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Select the Create COMSOL Model Manager Server 6.4 folder on Windows Start Menu checkbox to install Start menu shortcuts (Windows® operating system only).
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Select the Add Windows Firewall rules for COMSOL programs checkbox to add Windows Firewall rules.
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Select the Check for updates after installation checkbox to enable checking for updates after installation.
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In the Java runtime environment list, select Built-in to use the default Java runtime included with the Model Manager server installation. Select Custom if you prefer to use another Java runtime that you have licensed and installed.
License Manager
The License Manager step appears if the installer installed the FlexNet® license manager and your computer has been designated to run the license server. If this step does not appear, you can manage the license server using LMTOOLS. This step contains the following options:
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The Install license manager as a Windows service checkbox is selected by default; if you clear the checkbox, the license manager will not be available as a Windows® service.
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The Path to the debug log file field contains a file path to the location of the license manager debug log file. The default is C:\ProgramData\COMSOL\comsol64.log. Click Browse to choose another file path.
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The Service name field shows the service name, LMCOMSOL, for information only.
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Under Additional license manager options, you can select any of the following checkboxes:
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Select the Allow the lmdown command to be executed only from this computer checkbox to restrict the execution of the lmdown command, which you can use to shut down the license manager, to this computer only.
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Select the Disable the lmdown command checkbox to make the lmdown command unavailable.
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Select the Disable the lmremove command checkbox to make the lmremove command, which you can use to remove a user’s license, unavailable.
Server
The Server step makes it possible to set up the Model Manager server as a Windows® service. You can also configure an initial administrator account, which you can use to log in to the Model Manager server web interface to continue the server setup once the installation has finished.
Basic Settings
In the Default Model Manager server port field, write the port number that the server will use. The default is 8181.
Windows Service Settings
There are two ways to install the Model Manager server in Windows®. If you select the Install the Model Manager server as a Windows service checkbox (the default), the Model Manager server is then installed as a Windows® service. Otherwise, the Model Manager server is installed as a regular executable.
Use the Startup list to configure how to start the Model Manager server when installed as a Windows® service:
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Disabled — the service is disabled.
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Manual — the service will not be started after the installation. You need to start the service manually.
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Automatic — the service is configured to start automatically when the host computer boots or restarts. This is the default choice.
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Automatic (Delayed Start) — the service starts automatically but is delayed until all automatic-start threads have finished starting.
The Automatic setting provides the highest availability to users of the installed server.
If you choose Disabled or Manual, you can enable or start the Model Manager server service from the command line or by using the Manage Local Services shortcut installed on the Start menu under COMSOL Launchers. The same configuration options are also available in the snap-in Services in the Microsoft Management Console — search for services from the Windows® Control Panel.
In the Service account list, select the computer account that runs the service. You can choose the predefined LocalService, LocalSystem, or NetworkService accounts in Windows®, which have no password. When using other accounts, choose Custom and provide a username and password. By default, the installer selects the predefined LocalService account.
The LocalService account has limited privileges intended for running local services. It is the recommended service account if you intend to set up a Model Manager server database using a single server computer — see Examples of Server Setups. If you, for example, intend to mount a file server or connect to an external SQL database server, you must use a service account with network access privileges — for example, the predefined NetworkService account or a custom account.
The PostgreSQL® database system does not support running under a user account with administrative privileges on Windows® — that is, a member of the Administrators or Power Users group. If you choose to not install this software component, you are still strongly recommended to use an account with less privileges — see also Security.
Consult the documentation that came with the operating system for more information about service accounts.
Default Local Administrative User
Select the Create a default local administrative user checkbox to set a username and a temporary password for an administrator account. You will typically use that account to log in to the Model Manager server web interface after the installation finishes to continue the setup of the server.
Only clear the Create a default local administrative user checkbox if you are repairing or updating a previous installation for which an administrator account already exists.
Model Manager Server Database
Under Add a Model Manager server database, select Automatic if the Model Manager server should automatically create a new database during startup unless an existing database is found. Select Custom if you prefer to create the database manually via the Model Manager server web interface once the server is up and running — see Adding the Model Manager Server Database on First Login.
For the Automatic option, Model Manager server will create the new database in a default file system location — typically on the same disk drive as the Model Manager server installation itself. As discussed in the Installation Planning section, this may not be ideal long-term for the following two reasons:
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The disk may not meet the expected size requirements of your simulation data.
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The data directories and the backup directories of the database are located on the same disk, thereby making this setup vulnerable to a future disk failure.
You can always move the automatically created database to a new location after the server has been installed, although this may involve a fairly large number of steps — see Moving a Model Manager Server Database.
Select Automatic if you are mainly interested in quickly getting started with a Model Manager server database to, for example, learn in its various features. Select Custom if you already have an idea of how you want to set up the server database long term — see Examples of Server Setups.
Only the Custom option is available if you cleared the Managed PostgreSQL® or the Managed Apache Solr™ checkbox in the Products step.
No new database will be created if a database from a previous Model Manager server installation is found during startup. See also Migrating From an Older Installation.
Troubleshooting
When you click Next from the Server step, the installer will verify some of the given settings, including employing a test service to check that the given service account details are valid and that the service account has the right permissions to access the installation directories. The following are some common warning and error messages that may arise and suggestions on how to address them:
The given service account does not seem able to start services due to a logon failure. Please verify that it has the right to log on as a service.
The installer failed to start the test service. To verify that a custom user account has the right to log on as a service, you can check the security settings for the Log on as a service policy under Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Local Security Policy > Local Security Settings > Local Policies > User Rights Assignments in Windows®.
The installation directory is not accessible. Please verify that the directory is correct and that the service account has access to this path.
The service launcher failed to locate the test service when starting it. The service account either does not see that location or does not have read permissions. Commonly, this is caused by using an installation location that either has security permissions that do not include the service account, or by the location being on a network share that is not mounted by the service account.
The given service account is invalid or does not exist or the password is wrong.
The test service could not be installed or started due to a problem with the service account. Verify that the account details are correct.
Failed to verify the service account.
An unexpected error happened. If you believe that the installation settings are correct, you can proceed with the installation. Further details are given in the comsolsetup.log file after the installation.
No administrative user has been defined.
You did not specify an administrator account under Default local administrative user. In this configuration, it will not be possible to log in to Model Manager server unless the server has already been configured with accounts after a previous installation.
Install
The Install step shows a list of the software products and components that will be installed. Click the Install button to begin the installation.
Finish
The last Finish step is shown when the installation has finished. You can view an installation log file in case, for example, there were warnings or errors during the installation.
If you selected to install as a Windows® service that starts automatically, you can now verify that you can access the web interface of the Model Manager server — see Accessing the Web Interface. Otherwise, see Starting a Model Manager Server.