Installation

Prior to running Multics simulations, you must purchase and set up a license. The setup steps depend on the type of license you have selected.

Prerequisites

Multics comes bundled with most dependencies. For many computers, you can run Multics out-of-the-box with no need to install other software. Administrator privileges are not required to run Multics.

However, depending the type of simulations you are running, some preprocessing tools may require installation of other software or administrator privileges, so be sure to read through the Utilities section to see what steps are required.

Note

Multics requires some DLL files to run on Windows. If you receive errors about missing DLL files, you can either install Visual Studio with the “Desktop development with C++” workload (instructions) or contact Maha to request a distribution of Multics with the DLL files bundled.

Online Licenses

Online licenses require an Internet connection throughout the simulation. If you have purchased an online license, Maha faculty will provide you with a license key that looks something like this: ABCDE-FGHIJ-KLMNO-PQRST.

In order to run Multics, this license key must be saved in an environment variable named MAHA_MULTICS_LICENSE_KEY. You can read about how to add environment variables for your system here:

For instance, on Linux, you can configure Multics by adding the following to your .profile file:

export MAHA_MULTICS_LICENSE_KEY=ABCDE-FGHIJ-KLMNO-PQRST

Floating Licenses

Floating licenses allow a specific number of machines to run Multics at once. Each machine can run an unlimited number of simulations simultaneously, but the total number of machines is limited. Once one machine finishes running Multics, its license can be used by another machine.

To set up a floating license, set the MAHA_MULTICS_LICENSE_KEY variable to your license key on any machines on which you wish to run Multics. If you have purchased n licenses, up to n of these machines can run Multics at once.

Typically, when using floating licenses, as soon as a computer finishes running Multics, its license will be released for other machines to use. If you cancel a Multics simulation before it finishes (e.g., by pressing Ctrl+C), the license may not be released properly. In this case, the license will eventually be automatically released, but please wait up to 2 hours for this process to complete.

Node-Locked Licenses

Node-locked licenses are intended for use on a specific set of machines. They allow an unlimited number of simulations to run on a given machine (until the license expires), but you are limited to running Multics on specific computers.

To set up a node-locked license, set the MAHA_MULTICS_LICENSE_KEY variable to your license key on the desired machines on which you wish to run Multics. If you have purchased n licenses, the first n machines on which you run a Multics simulation will automatically be registered and your license will be linked to those machines.

If you need to switch machines (hardware failure, purchased new computer, etc.), please contact the Maha faculty. They will need your machine ID, which you can obtain by running:

./Multics --machine-id

Multics.exe --machine-id

Offline Licenses

An offline license allows machines without an Internet connection to run Multics. This type of license is tied to a specific computer and allows the computer to run Multics until a specific expiration date.

In order to obtain an offline license, you will need to provide your computer’s machine ID to the Maha faculty. You can obtain your machine ID by running:

./Multics --machine-id

Multics.exe --machine-id

After sending the Maha faculty your machine ID, they will provide a license file, typically named something like maha_multics_license_file.skm. Follow instructions from the Maha faculty about where to save this file (typically, it is saved in the same folder as the Multics executable).