Running COMSOL in Client-Server Mode

When you start COMSOL by, for example, entering the comsol command with no additional arguments, COMSOL is run as a single application that includes the functionality of both the COMSOL Multiphysics Client and COMSOL Multiphysics Server, as explained later in this section. However, the COMSOL client-server architecture lets you access the COMSOL Multiphysics Server — the COMSOL computational engine — as a separate process. For example, the COMSOL Desktop can act as a COMSOL Multiphysics Client when connected to a COMSOL Multiphysics Server.

The license server is not the same as a COMSOL Multiphysics Server. The license manager can run on a computer different from both the ones used by COMSOL Desktop and COMSOL Multiphysics Server.

You need a Floating Network License to run the COMSOL Multiphysics Server and the COMSOL Multiphysics Client on separate computers. However, any COMSOL license is sufficient for running the Client and the Server on the same computer.

The Client and Server need not run on the same platform. For example, you can run the COMSOL Desktop on Windows connecting to a COMSOL Multiphysics Server on a Linux computer. This enables offloading heavy-duty computations from your personal laptop or desktop to run just the COMSOL Desktop graphical user interface. A typical use would be to run the COMSOL Multiphysics Server on a computer with large amounts of memory (RAM) and processing power and to use your personal computer for pre- and postprocessing with the COMSOL Desktop.

starting a COMSOL Multiphysics Server

To start the COMSOL Multiphysics Server from a terminal window, run the comsol command with the mphserver argument:

comsol mphserver

You are then prompted for a username and password. You can use any username and password of your choice, it is only used for connecting a COMSOL Multiphysics Client with a COMSOL Multiphysics Server.

When the COMSOL Multiphysics Server starts, it listens for a COMSOL Multiphysics Client connection on the port listed in the command window.

Connecting a COMSOL Multiphysics Client to a COMSOL Multiphysics Server

You can start a COMSOL Multiphysics Client session from the COMSOL Desktop by selecting Connect to Server from the File menu in the COMSOL Desktop. You can also start a COMSOL Multiphysics Client session from a terminal window by running the comsol command with the client argument:

comsol client

When you start the Client, a Connect to Server window appears prompting you for a computer name (Server) where the COMSOL Multiphysics Server is running, Port number, Username, and Password:

Once you have filled out this information and clicked OK, the COMSOL Multiphysics Server terminal window displays information that a COMSOL Multiphysics Client has connected. For more information on running COMSOL in Client/Server mode, see the COMSOL Multiphysics Reference Manual.