MATLAB

FASRC users

Matlab is an pen OnDemand app that launches Matlab as an interactive session on a compute node. Matlab is a computing platform that is used for engineering and scientific applications like data analysis, signal and image processing, control systems, wireless communications, and robotics.

FASRC documentation:

• MATLAB on FASRC clusters
• Parallel MATLAB with PCT and DCS

Sandbox app

For how to create a Sandbox app, see the Developing your own app using Open OnDemand documentation.

Appverse overview

> [!NOTE]
> This section is intended for sys-admins, developers, and power users.

Matlab is an Open OnDemand Batch Connect app that launches Matlab as an interactive desktop session on HPC clusters. It is designed for researchers who need data Matlab is a computing platform that is used for engineering and scientific applications like data analysis, signal and image processing, control systems, wireless communications, and robotics.

This app uses the Batch Connect turbovnc template with Slurm and software OpenGL rendering.

• Upstream project: MATLAB
• Batch Connect template: turbovnc
• Scheduler: Slurm

Screenshots

A Matlab 3D plot example

Features

• Launches MATLAB desktop GUI in a TurboVNC session with Xfce window manager
• Multiple MATLAB versions (R2021a, R2022b, R2024b, R2025b) via matlab/ module
• Supports CPU and GPU execution
• Configurable memory, CPU cores, GPU count, and wall time
• Lmod module-based
• Software OpenGL rendering (-softwareopengl flag)
• Optional extra modules loading (comma-separated list)
• Optional additional Slurm options pass-through (long format)
• Optional reservation support for priority scheduling
• Optional email notification on job start
• OOM score management to prevent proxy errors on out-of-memory conditions

Requirements

Compute Node Software

• Matlab Lmod module and Matlab license
• Xfce Desktop 4+
• Slurm job scheduler
• Lmod 6.0.1+ or any other module purge and module load based CLI used to load appropriate environments within the batch job

For VNC server support

• TurboVNC 2.1+
• websockify 0.8.0+

Open OnDemand

• Open OnDemand v3.0+
• Slurm job scheduler
• Lmod 6.0.1+ or any other module purge and module load based CLI used to load appropriate environments within the batch job

App Installation

Please see the References section below for instructions on how to install the software that is launched by this App.

1. Clone the repository

# Batch Connect apps:
cd /var/www/ood/apps/sys

git clone https://github.com/fasrc/ood-matlab.git
cd ood-matlab

# Pin to a release (recommended)
git checkout v1.0.0

2. Configure for your site

form.yml attributes

Edit form.yml and update these values for your cluster:

submit.yml.erb attributes

submit.yml.erb uses slurm-specific variables. If you use a different scheduler, edit these accordingly:

manifest.yml attributes

Edit manifest.yml and update these values for your organization:

3. Verify

No OOD restart is needed (Batch Connect apps are detected automatically). Visit your OOD dashboard and look for Matlab under Interactive Apps > Desktop Apps.

Troubleshooting

Job starts but app doesn't appear (Batch Connect)

1. Check the job's output.log in ~/ondemand/data/sys/YOUR-APP/
2. Verify the module loads correctly: module load software/1.0
3. For VNC apps, verify the window manager is installed: which xfwm4

"Module not found" error

The module name in form.yml doesn't match your system. Run module spider software to find the correct name and update the modules attribute.

Connection timeout

The app may need more time to start. Increase the connection timeout or check that the compute node can open the required port.

Testing

> [!NOTE] > *Operating system of compute nodes

To verify your installation:

1. Launch the app from the OOD dashboard with default settings
2. Confirm the application loads in the browser

Known Limitations

• Multi-node jobs are not supported
• Only tested on Centos 7 and Rocky 8; may not work on Ubuntu.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome. To contribute:

1. Fork this repository.
2. Create a feature branch (git checkout -b feature/my-improvement).
3. Submit a pull request with a description of your changes.

For bugs or feature requests, open an issue.

This app is part of the OOD Appverse. Join the Appverse Affinity Group to connect with other contributors.

References

• MATLAB — the application launched by this OOD app.
• Open OnDemand — the HPC portal framework.

Software Installation

• MATLAB installation guide.

License

MIT License.

Acknowledgments

This work is supported by FASRC at Harvard Univesity.