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Installing Mathematica

Installing Mathematica

As of Version 14.1, this page has been superseded by "Installing Wolfram".
Downloading MathematicaInstalling Mathematica on Linux…
Installing Mathematica on Windows…Installing Mathematica from a File Server
Installing Mathematica on Mac…Installing Mathematica from a Script
This page is accurate for Version 14.0 and lower of Mathematica, but for higher versions, Mathematica and related products are distributed through the Wolfram application. When Wolfram is downloaded and installed, whichever product(s) you own (such as Mathematica) will be activated and used through it. See "Installing Wolfram" for details.
Downloading Mathematica
Mathematica is available for Windows, Linux and macOS. For a complete list of platform availability, visit www.wolfram.com/mathematica/system-requirements.html.
To set up Mathematica on your machine, you first need to download Mathematica. Installers are available in your Wolfram Account. If you cannot find your installers there, please check your Wolfram User Portal on the My Products and Services tab. If you have access to Wolfram products through your organization via single sign-on (SSO), product installers, including documentation, can be found on your organization’s site info page.
We recommend using the Download Manager (“Standard Download”) for both the Mathematica installer and the documentation installer. Alternative download managers and installers are available in the User Portal or in your Wolfram Account. Without download managers, installations need to be started manually.

1.  On the Products & Services tab in your Wolfram Account, select Mathematica.

If you do not see your products, go to your Wolfram User Portal.

2.  Under Access ► Desktop, click Download. This downloads the Wolfram Download Manager, which combines the Mathematica core product and documentation installers.

Installing Mathematica on Windows…

3.  Quit any previous installations of Mathematica that are running on your machine.

4.  Start the Wolfram Download Manager executable and follow its instructions. The download manager confirms when the process is complete.

5.  Click "Launch" to install Mathematica documentation.

6.  Wait for the installation to complete.

7.  The Mathematica setup dialog opens next. Click Next to begin the installation process.

8.  Click Next to install Mathematica to the default directory.

9.  Click Next to include wolframscript with your installation.
If you prefer not to install wolframscript, select “Choose components to install” from the drop-down menu and uncheck the box next to wolframscript; click Next to continue.

10.  The installer adds Mathematica shortcuts to the Windows Start Menu in the Wolfram Mathematica folder. To make the shortcuts appear in a different folder, click Browse and select a directory. If you prefer not to make a shortcut in the Start Menu, check the box next to “Don’t create a Start Menu folder”. Click Next to continue the installation.

11.  The Remove Other Applications window only appears if there are older versions installed on the computer. Select any old versions of Mathematica that you want to uninstall, then click Next.

12.  The configuration of the Mathematica installation is finished. Click Install.

13.  When the installation process completes, click Finish to launch Mathematica.

14.  The installation is now complete. Next, activate Mathematica.

Installing Mathematica on Mac…
Since Version 13.0, a single Mathematica installer for macOS installs the product on both Apple Silicon and Intel hardware.

15.  Quit any previous installations of Mathematica that are running on your machine.

16.  If you have a previous version of Mathematica installed in your Applications folder that you want to keep, rename it.

17.  Double-click the downloaded dmg file to start the download manager and follow its instructions. The download manager confirms when the process is complete.

18.  Click "Launch" to install Mathematica documentation.

19.  Click Continue.

20.  Click Install to install the documentation in the default location.

21.  Wait for the installation to complete.

22.  Click Close to finish installing the documentation.

23.  The Mathematica Installer window opens next. Drag the Mathematica icon to the Applications folder icon.

24.  Wait for the installation to complete.

25.  Mathematica is now installed in your Applications folder. Next, activate Mathematica.

Installing Mathematica on Linux…
The Mathematica installer for Linux is a bash script that runs in the Linux terminal. If you are not familiar with the terminal, please read a brief guide on how to use it.
The setup is an easy-to-follow dialog. Please follow the corresponding instructions for installing from a downloaded script or from a DVD or USB drive.

Running the Installer from a Downloaded Script

1.  Quit any previous installations of Mathematica that are running on your machine.

2.  Open a terminal and change the directory to where the Mathematica+Documentation installer is located. For example, if the installer is located on your desktop, run: 

cd Desktop

3.  Installing Mathematica and Wolfram Language Documentation in their respective default locations, usr/local/Wolfram/Mathematica/14.0 and usr/share/Wolfram/Documentation/14.0, requires administrative privileges.

While Mathematica can alternatively be installed in a custom location, the Wolfram Language Documentation can only be installed in the default location. Therefore, use the command sudo to run the installer script in either case.
For example, if the installer is called “MathematicaAndDocumentationInstaller.sh”, run:
sudo bash MathematicaAndDocumentationInstaller.sh
sudo asks you to enter your password on the machine. After providing it, the installation starts. The installer will prompt you to enter an installation directory.
Enter the installation directory, or press ENTER
to select /usr/local/Wolfram/Mathematica/14.0:

4.  Press Enter to install Mathematica to the default directory. The installer will then prompt you to choose where you want to place the executables.

Type the directory path in which Wolfram Mathematica
script(s) will be created, or press ENTER to select
/usr/local/bin:

5.  Press Enter to place them in the default directory.

The installer may ask you to choose if you want to overwrite or rename a previously existing installation of Mathematica+Documentation. At this step, you can also choose to cancel your installation.
(1) Overwrite
(2) Rename
(3) Cancel

Type your selection, or press ENTER to select (1):

6.  Press Enter to overwrite the previous installation.

Type 2 if you want to retain your older installation and rename it.
Next, the installer asks if you want to install wolframscript, an optional add-on to execute Wolfram Language code to be run from the command line or by using a script. 
WolframScript allows Wolfram Language code to be run from the command line and from self-executing script files. It is always available from /usr/local/Wolfram/Mathematica/14.0/Executables/wolframscript. WolframScript system integration makes the wolframscript binary accessible from any terminal, and allows .wls script files to be executed by double-clicking them in the file manager.

Install WolframScript system integration? (y/n)

7.  To install wolframscript, type y; otherwise, type n.

Now, the Documentation Installer installs the Wolfram Language Documentation to its default location.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
          Wolfram Language 14.0 Documentation 14.0 Installer 
--------------------------------------------------------------------

Copyright (c) 1988-2023 Wolfram Research, Inc. All rights reserved.

WARNING: Wolfram Language 14.0 Documentation is protected by copyright
law and international treaties. Unauthorized reproduction or distribution
may result in severe civil and criminal penalties and will be prosecuted to
the maximum extent possible under law.

All users of this computer will be able to use this software.

Y


Now installing...

[*****************************************************************]

8.  Wait for the Documentation Installer to finish. Next, activate Mathematica.

Running the Installer from a DVD or USB

1.  Quit any previous installations of Mathematica that are running on your machine.

2.  Mount the DVD or USB and change the directory to the mount point. Then change the directory to Unix/Installer.

3.  Open a terminal and change the directory to where the Mathematica+Documentation installer is located. For example, if the installer is located on your desktop, run: 

cd Desktop

4.  Installing Mathematica and Wolfram Language Documentation in their respective default locations, usr/local/Wolfram/Mathematica/14.0 and usr/share/Wolfram/Documentation/14.0, requires administrative privileges.

While Mathematica can alternatively be installed in a custom location, the Wolfram Language Documentation can only be installed in the default location. Therefore, use the command sudo to run the installer script in either case.
For example, if the installer is called “MathematicaAndDocumentationInstaller.sh”, run:
sudo bash MathematicaAndDocumentationInstaller.sh
sudo asks you to enter your password on the machine. After providing it, the installation starts. The installer will prompt you to enter an installation directory.
Enter the installation directory, or press ENTER
to select /usr/local/Wolfram/Mathematica/14.0:

5.  Press Enter to install Mathematica to the default directory. The installer will then prompt you to choose where you want to place the executables.

Type the directory path in which Wolfram Mathematica
script(s) will be created, or press ENTER to select
/usr/local/bin:

6.  Press Enter to place them in the default directory.

The installer may ask you to choose if you want to overwrite or rename a previously existing installation of Mathematica+Documentation. At this step, you can also choose to cancel your installation.
(1) Overwrite
(2) Rename
(3) Cancel

Type your selection, or press ENTER to select (1):

7.  Press Enter to overwrite the previous installation.

Type 2 if you want to retain your older installation and rename it.
Next, the installer asks if you want to install wolframscript, an optional add-on to execute Wolfram Language code to be run from the command line or by using a script. 
WolframScript allows Wolfram Language code to be run from the command line and from self-executing script files. It is always available from /usr/local/Wolfram/Mathematica/14.0/Executables/wolframscript. WolframScript system integration makes the wolframscript binary accessible from any terminal, and allows .wls script files to be executed by double-clicking them in the file manager.

Install WolframScript system integration? (y/n)

8.  To install wolframscript, type y; otherwise, type n.

Now, the Documentation Installer installs the Wolfram Language Documentation to its default location.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
          Wolfram Language 14.0 Documentation 14.0 Installer 
--------------------------------------------------------------------

Copyright (c) 1988-2023 Wolfram Research, Inc. All rights reserved.

WARNING: Wolfram Language 14.0 Documentation is protected by copyright
law and international treaties. Unauthorized reproduction or distribution
may result in severe civil and criminal penalties and will be prosecuted to
the maximum extent possible under law.

All users of this computer will be able to use this software.

Y


Now installing...

[*****************************************************************]

9.  Wait for the Documentation Installer to finish. Next, activate Mathematica.

Installing Mathematica from a File Server
One convenient way to install Mathematica on a client is to run the installer remotely from a file server. This is an efficient way of making Mathematica available to a large number of users without having to re-download it for each machine. You can install Mathematica from a file server on a client running any supported platform. It is not necessary that the client platform be the same as the file server platform.
To install Mathematica from a file server, you first must make the installer and Mathematica files available to the clients. You can do this by downloading the Mathematica files on the file server and exporting the directory. Then, mount the directory with the Mathematica distribution on the client, change to this directory and run the installer as usual.
Installing Mathematica from a Script
If you are installing Mathematica on multiple machines, it can be time consuming to respond to all of the installer prompts on each individual machine. By supplying command-line options to the installer, you can customize various features of the installation process or automate it entirely.

Windows

/dir="C:\ path \ here "
specify the installation directory
DisableShellVerbs
disable file associations for .m, .nb, .nbp, etc. (enabled by default)
/group=" start menu folder name"
specify the start menu folder name
/noicons
disable creation of start menu folder and shortcuts
/norestart
do not restart the system, even if necessary
/restartexitcode= code
specify the installer exit code to return if restart is necessary
/silent
force an automatic installation and suppress installation windows
/suppressmsgboxes
suppress installer message boxes (only effective when used in conjuction with /silent )
Mathematica Installer supported command-line options.

Creating a Script That Performs a Silent Mathematica Installation:

The following instructions explain how to write a simple script to silently install Mathematica from a file server. These instructions require that you have a mathpass file with a valid password. See "Registrations and Passwords" for more information on sitewide mathpass configurations.

1.  Follow the instructions in the first part of "Installing Mathematica from a File Server" to get the installer and files on a file server.

2.  Copy your mathpass file to the same directory on the file server as the installer and Mathematica files.

3.  Open Notepad (Start Menu ▶ Windows Accessories ▶ Notepad) and type the following lines into a new file.

@echo off
echo Installing Mathematica...
\\server\math\setup.exe /silent /suppressmsgboxes /log="C:\Windows\Temp\install.log"
echo Creating password file...
copy \\server\math\mathpass "C:\Directory\Name"
echo Mathematica installation complete.

4.  Change all instances of \\server\math to the pathname of the network share where the Mathematica installation files and mathpass file were copied.

5.  Change "C:\Directory\Name" to the directory listed here for your version of Windows. Be sure to enclose the name of the directory in quotes.

Windows 7/8/10/11/Vista—"C:\ProgramData\Mathematica\Licensing"

Windows XP—"C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Mathematica\Licensing"

Note: These directories are the values of $BaseDirectory for different versions of Windows. See "Configuration Files" for further information.

6.  To save the file, choose File ▶ Save. Save the file in the same directory as the Mathematica installation files. Type the file name install.bat and choose All Files from the Save as type popup menu. Click Save, then quit Notepad.

Performing a Silent Mathematica Installation:

1.  On the client, open a Command Prompt window, type the pathname of the install.bat file and press Enter. For example, if the network share is called \\server\math, type:

\\server\math\install.bat

The following messages are displayed.

Installing Mathematica...
Creating password file...
Mathematica installation complete.

2.  The installation is now complete. If you see any messages other than those printed here, check the file C:\Windows\Temp\install.log on the client machine for further information.

Installing Mathematica in this way eliminates the need to download an installer on each client machine and saves time by allowing you to run a simple script instead of responding to the installer questions.

Linux

-auto
force the installation to proceed automatically without prompting the user for any information
-createdir= value
specify whether or not to create the directories specified by the options -targetdir and -execdir
-execdir= dir
specify the path to be used for the symbolic links to the executable scripts
-help
display information about the installer options
-method= type
define the type of installation you would like to perform
-overwrite= value
specify whether the installer should overwrite any files that already exist in the target directory
-platforms= value
specify the system ID of the Linux platform or platforms for which you want to do the installation
-selinux= value
specify whether the installer should attempt to modify the security context of any included libraries so that it will function properly
-silent
force an automatic installation (equivalent to the -auto option)
-targetdir= dir
specify the installation directory
-verbose
display detailed information about the files and directories being installed
MathInstaller command-line options.

Note: Default values are used for any options that are not specified explicitly on the command line.

Valid input for -createdir is y for yes or n for no. By default, this value is set to y.
The default directory for -execdir is /usr/local/bin. This option only works with an automatic installation.
The values for -method may vary by product. When this option is applicable, the values can be determined by running the installer. The default value for this option is Full.
Valid input for -overwrite is y for yes or n for no. By default, this value is set to y. This option only works with an automatic installation.
The default for -platforms is the system you are installing on, if that information is available to the installer. This option only works with an automatic installation.
Valid input for -selinux is y for yes or n for no. By default, this value is set to n.
The option -silent suppresses any output from being displayed on the screen. The output is instead written to a file named InstallerLog-number. If the installation is unsuccessful, the log file is saved in the /tmp directory. Otherwise, the file is moved to the target directory and renamed InstallerLog.
The directory specified for -targetdir corresponds to the value of the global variable $InstallationDirectory. The default value is /usr/local/Wolfram/Mathematica/14.0. This option only works with an automatic installation.
To complete the installation in one step, run a command like the following.
./MathInstaller -auto -targetdir=/home/mathematica
To do the same using the sudo command, you may need to use sudo's -- flag.
sudo ./MathInstaller -- -auto -targetdir=/home/mathematica
This allows you to complete the installation automatically in one step, while still being able to customize various details such as the directory to install to. You are not prompted to enter your password using this method, so you will need to enter a password the first time Mathematica is launched.
If you are doing many installations, you might find it convenient to include the MathInstaller command with all the relevant options in a shell script. Running the shell script is then an easy way to do an identical customized installation on multiple machines. You can further simplify the installation process by including a line in your script that copies an existing mathpass file to the appropriate location on the newly installed machine. Note that MathInstaller must be run from the directory in which it is located, so your script may require a command to change directory. See "Registrations and Passwords" for information on sitewide mathpass configurations.