MATLAB Runtime installer_input.txt

I am trying to install MATLAB Runtime with just the core MATLAB product to reduce the size of the installation. I want to use the installer_input.txt file to do this. The help page says:

"The MATLAB Runtime installer archive includes an example installer control file called installer_input.txt. This file contains all of the options available for a full MATLAB installation. The options listed in this section are valid for the MATLAB Runtime installer."

I cannot find the example file in the 'archives' directory of the unzipped Runtime files (or anywhere). I have used the file that comes with the regular Matlab installation zip, but I do not know which options are applicable, or if there are options unique to the Runtime installer.

Please help me find the example installer_input.txt file for the Runtime installer, and preferably add details to the help page too.

Answer 1

[Paul Wright]

I have a workable, but probably incomplete, answer to my question from the output of compiler.package.docker. If I copy those lines to a text file, it seems to work. Note that unlike the installer input file for regulat MATLAB, the Runtime one appears not to require equals between argument and value.

The bit I was most interested in was the product.<name> true line, which lets you install just the Runtime products you need. This is addressed in my other question.

mode silent
destinationFolder /path/to/mcr
agreeToLicense yes
product.MATLAB_Runtime___Core true
product.MATLAB_Runtime___Numerics true
product.MATLAB_Runtime___Parallel_Computing_Toolbox_Cluster_Addin true

Thanks to @Raymond Norris for suggesting I look at compiler.package.docker.

Edit: this works with MATLAB R2021a / Runtime v9.10, but not in R2019b. Selective installation of Runtime seems to be a recent addition.

[Paul Wright]

This is an incomplete, or at least uncertain, answer and I hope an expert can confirm whether this syntax is correct for a Runtime installer input file.

[Jerome Blum]

This worked perfectly for me. Thank you very much.

I would wish, however, that I could just use the file "requiredMCRProducts.txt" created by Matlab Compiler as input to the installer. This way I would not need to collect the "product.MATLAB_Runtime___[Toolbox_name] true" entries manually.

[Benjamin Tomlinson]

@Jerome Blum

FYI, I created a python script which takes as inputs (1) the complete MCR and (2) "requiredMCRProducts.txt" and outputs the input file described above.

Within the complete MCR folder "productdata", there is a list of files with productNumber (e.g. 35000) which contain the productName (e.g. Core) which can be used to build the instruction for the input file (e.g product.MATLAB_Runtime___Core true).

This way the entries don't have to be collected manually.

[Jerome Blum]

@Benjamin Tomlinson

Thank you for pointing to the "productdata" folder. I could also generate a configuration file now!

This procedure worked for R2021a (9.10), but it does not seem to work for release R2022b. Do you, or @Paul Wright have any idea how the mcrInputFile should look like for release R2022b?

[Benjamin Tomlinson]

@Jerome Blum It works for me using version R2022a (v912) - that's the only version I have tested.

I see in the release notes for R2022b it says "MATLAB Runtime Installer: Automated Mode removed" (under "Functionality Being Removed or Changed"). Maybe you could try removing the line "mode silent" from the text file.

What is the error message and when does it appear?

[Jerome Blum]

@Benjamin Tomlinson

I have created a question myself. There you can see what my file and my output looks like. If we could continue our discussion over there.

Thank you!

[Jerome Blum]

@Paul Wright Hello! I am having troubles doing a selective mcr installation under the newest release R2022b. Apparently, Mathworks changed the format of the mcrInputFile.

How did you come up with the [product.MATLAB_Runtime___{Product_name_with_underscore} true]-Syntax? How did you find this out? I am searching for the syntax for the newest release.

Greetings, Jérôme

[Paul Wright]

Hi @Jerome Blum. This was a while age, but you might find more in my other question. I think I figured out by trial and error that the syntax was "arg value" rather than "arg=value". Sorry, but that's I recall at the moment, and I haven't looked at it since. I'm still using MCR R2021a, precisely because I don't want to have to redo all that work. If your dependencies force you newer, condolences.

[Jared Wong]

@Paul Wright I have found that it is possible to install only specific products in the MCR for R2022b (9.13). Here is an example of the file:

mode silent
destinationFolder /usr/local/MATLAB/MATLAB_Runtime
agreeToLicense=yes
product.MATLAB Runtime - Core
product.MATLAB Runtime - Numerics
product.MATLAB Runtime - Image Processing Toolbox Addin

Note that they no longer replace the spaces with underscores and there is no "true" statement or "=" following the lines specifying the products. The product names must exactly match their respective names that can be found under the "productdata" folder. I did have to set the "agreeToLicense=yes" using an equal sign as it complained otherwise.

[Paul Wright]

Thanks, Jared. Also paging @Jerome Blum, who was looking for this answer.

[Wolf Blecher]

With R2022b the format of the file changed:

mode=silent
destinationFolder=/path/to/mcr
agreeToLicense=yes
product.MATLAB Runtime - Core
product.MATLAB Runtime - Graphics
product.MATLAB Runtime - Numerics
product.MATLAB Runtime - Statistics and Machine Learning Toolbox Addin
product.MATLAB Runtime - Non Interactive MATLAB