MATLAB: How to find the username in order to install or activate the license

MATLAB

When I try to activate my license, it asks for my username. How do I find this?

Best Answer

When installing or activating an Individual license, the username of the end user is required.  There are multiple ways to obtain the username:
  • Command Prompt/Terminal
  • lmutil Utility
  • Activation Client
Command Prompt/Terminal
The fastest way to get the User Name is from a Command Prompt/Terminal:

Windows

To obtain the username via the command prompt:
  1. Locate the search field. On Windows 7 this is in the Start Menu, and on Windows 10, this is in the Taskbar
  2. Enter "cmd" into the search field and type enter
  3. In the Command Prompt, enter the following command:
set username

MacOS

To obtain the username, open a Terminal window:
  1. Open Finder
  2. Open the "Applications" folder
  3. Open the "Utilities" folder
  4. Start the "Terminal" application
  5. In the Terminal window, enter the following command:
whoami

Linux

To obtain your username, open Terminal and run the following command:
whoami
lmutil Utility
The username can also be obtained by using the lmutil.exe utility. The lmutil utility is included with the installation of the License Manager via the MathWorks Installer or the License Manager binaries.
You can run the following commands to determine the username needed for activation:

Windows

"C:\Program Files\MATLAB\R20XXx\etc\winXX\lmutil.exe" lmhostid -user
The User Name will be displayed as “USER=<your_login_name>”

MacOS

/Applications/MATLAB_R20XXx.app/etc/maci64/lmutil lmhostid -user
The User Name will be displayed as “USER=<your_login_name>”

Linux

/usr/local/MATLAB/R2018b/etc/glnxa64/lmutil lmhostid -user
The User Name will be displayed as “USER=<your_login_name>”
Activation Client
​If access to the above is not available, you may use the MATLAB activation client to determine what your username is. To do this, you will need to first open the MATLAB activation client. The activation client can be found in the following locations: 

Windows

C:\Program Files\MATLAB\R20XXX\bin\win64\activate_matlab.exe.

MacOS

  1. Use Finder to go to /Applications .
  2. From there, control-click (right click) on the icon for your MATLAB version, such as MATLAB_R2015b.app .
  3. In the menu, choose "Show package contents".
In that directory, you will find an Activate.app.

Linux

/usr/local/MATLAB/R2018a/bin/activate_matlab.sh
Once the activation client is open:
  1. Click on “Activate Manually without the Internet” and click next.
  2. Click on “I do not have a license file. Help me with the next steps”
On this screen you will see your Login Name: “Computer Login Name:<your_login_name>”
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