System Requirements: COMSOL Multiphysics® Version 5.3a
These requirements are common to all platforms:
- A working network card and internet connection are recommended during installation
- At least 4 GB memory, but 4 GB or more per processor core is recommended
- 2–10 GB of disk space, depending on your licensed products and installation options
- Adobe Acrobat® Reader to view and print the COMSOL documentation in PDF format
- An Intel® or AMD® 64-bit processor based on the Intel® 64 or AMD® 64 architecture
For further recommendations concerning hardware, please see our Knowledge Base entry.
Operating System Requirements
In addition to the operating system requirements listed below, see the Interfacing Product Suite Requirements for specific requirements for the CAD Import Module, Design Module, and the LiveLink™ product suite.
| Windows® | macOS | Linux® | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 64-Bit Operating Systems |
|
macOS 10.10, 10.11, 10.12, and 10.13 |
|
OS-Specific System Requirements
| Linux® |
|
|---|
1 See FlexNet® License Manager on Linux® below.
Help System on Linux®
In order for the help system to work on Linux® operating system, the following packages need to be installed:
- Debian® and Ubuntu®:
libwebkitgtk-1.0-0 - RHEL:
webkitgtk(not included in RHEL7 but available through EPEL) openSuSE:
libwebkitgtk-1.0-0orlibwebkit-1_0-2depending on the version
If these requirements are not met, the COMSOL Multiphysics® software crashes when accessing the help system.
FlexNet® License Manager
The system requirements for the license manager are the same as for COMSOL Multiphysics®. FlexNet® version 11.13.1.4 is used on Windows® and version 11.13.1.3 on Linux® and macOS. The version of lmgrd must be the same or higher than the FlexNet® version used by the COMSOL® software.
FlexNet® License Manager on Linux®
Linux Standard Base (LSB™) is required for Linux® on the license server computer.
If the LSB™ core package is missing from the distribution repository, manually create a symbolic link as root:
ln -s /lib64/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2 /lib64/ld-lsb-x86-64.so.3
| Distribution | Required Packages |
|---|---|
| Debian® | lsb-core |
| Ubuntu® | lsb-core |
| Red Hat® | redhat-lsb |
| SUSE® | lsb |
Application Builder
The Application Builder is supported in the Windows® operating system.
Parallel System Requirements
| Windows® | macOS | Linux® | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shared-Memory Parallelism | All supported versions of Windows® | All supported versions of macOS | All supported Linux® distributions |
| Distributed-Memory Parallelism |
|
Not Supported |
All computers in the cluster must use the same Linux® version and should have similar hardware. It is recommended that OpenFabrics Enterprise Distribution (OFED) 1.5.4.1 or higher is installed. If you are using RDMA-capable network fabrics, a DAPL 1.2 or later version-compliant driver or library is required. The software is usually provided with your hardware. |
* COMSOL is a proud member of the Intel® Cluster Ready program and certifies COMSOL Multiphysics® with every new version. View Certificate. The certification process ensures that COMSOL Multiphysics® will seamlessly work for parallel processing and cluster modeling on any hardware that has also been certified as being Intel® Cluster Ready.
COMSOL Multiphysics® version 5.3a has been validated on systems compatible with the Intel® Scalable System Framework Reference Architecture.
For information on how you can run COMSOL Multiphysics® and COMSOL Server™ in the cloud, please view this page.
Officially Supported Compilers
COMSOL Multiphysics® provides external C interfaces for external functions, external materials, and external C libraries in the Application Builder.
| Windows® | macOS | Linux® | |
|---|---|---|---|
| External C Interfaces | Visual Studio® 2010 | Intel® Composer XE 2013.3 (also known as Intel® Compiler version 13.0.2) with GCC 4.2.1 is officially supported | Intel® Composer XE 2015.7 (also known as Intel® Compiler version 15.0.7) with GCC 4.9.2 is officially supported |
| Java API | JDK 1.6, 1.7, or 1.8 | JDK 1.6, 1.7, or 1.8 | JDK 1.6, 1.7, or 1.8 |
Graphics System Requirements
COMSOL recommends hardware rendering for performance reasons. Hardware rendering requires drivers that support OpenGL® version 2.0. Windows® operating system users may also use DirectX® version 9 on the local console. Hardware rendering requires at least 24-bit color graphics.
The Optimize for Quality setting in the Graphics preferences requires OpenGL® 2.0. Software rendering also supports 16-bit color graphics. For performance reasons, we recommend that the graphics card has at least 512 MB memory.
AMD®
| Card Model | Operating System | Driver Version |
|---|---|---|
| Radeon™ Pro WX 5100 | Windows® 10 | 17.Q4-Oct25 |
| Radeon™ Pro WX 4100 | Windows® 10 | 17.Q4-Oct25 |
| Radeon™ Pro WX 4100 | Windows® 7 | 17.Q4-Oct25 |
| Radeon™ Pro WX 3100 | Windows® Server 2016 | 17.Q4-Oct25 |
| Radeon™ Pro WX 2100 | Windows® 7 | 17.Q4-Oct25 |
| FirePro™ W7100 | Windows® 10 | 17.Q4-Oct25 |
| FirePro™ W5100 | Windows® 8.1 | 17.Q4-Oct25 |
| FirePro™ W4100 | Windows® 10 | 17.Q4-Oct25 |
| FirePro™ W2100 | Windows® 10 | 17.Q4-Oct25 |
NVIDIA®
| Card Model | Operating System | Driver Version |
|---|---|---|
| NVIDIA Quadro® P600 | Windows® 7 | 385.90 |
| NVIDIA Quadro® M2000 | Windows® 10 | 385.90 |
| NVIDIA Quadro® K2200 | Windows® 7 | 385.90 |
| NVIDIA Quadro® K1200 | Windows® 10 | 385.90 |
| NVIDIA Quadro® K620 | Windows® 10 | 385.90 |
| NVIDIA Quadro® K620 | Windows® 7 | 385.90 |
| NVIDIA Quadro® K620 | Windows® 8.1 | 385.90 |
| NVIDIA Quadro® K620 | Debian® 9 | 384.98 |
| NVIDIA Quadro® K600 | Windows® 10 | 385.90 |
| NVIDIA Quadro® K600 | Debian® 8 | 384.98 |
| NVIDIA Quadro® K600 | Red Hat® Enterprise Linux 7 | 348.98 |
| NVIDIA Quadro® K5000 | Windows® 7 | 385.90 |
| NVIDIA Quadro® K4000 | Windows® 7 | 385.90 |
| NVIDIA Quadro® K2000 | Windows® 7 | 385.90 |
The graphics cards listed above have been rigorously tested for compatibility with the COMSOL Multiphysics® software. Please note, however, that other AMD® or NVIDIA® graphics cards may also be compatible with COMSOL Multiphysics®. Graphics cards that belong to the same model series as one of the cards listed above are more likely to be compatible with COMSOL Multiphysics®.
For hardware acceleration on Linux®, use proprietary drivers from your graphics card vendor, such as NVIDIA®; otherwise, use COMSOL® software rendering. The Nouveau video driver is only supported for software rendering.
3Dconnexion SpaceMouse® Devices
3Dconnexion SpaceMouse® Devices is supported for COMSOL Multiphysics® in Windows® only. Make sure to download the latest drivers from 3Dconnexion.
NOTE: This information is provided for your benefit but should not be used as a substitute for your own investigation of the system requirements that may be appropriate for your use of COMSOL® software or other software, given your particular circumstances. Systems and hardware change regularly, which may impact any determination of what system requirements are appropriate for you.
Adobe and Acrobat are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries. AMD, AMD Athlon, FirePro, and Radeon are trademarks or registered trademarks of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. Debian is a registered trademark or trademark of Software in the Public Interest, Inc. in the United States. FlexNet is a registered trademark of Flexera Software LLC. GeForce, NVIDIA Quadro, and NVS are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of NVIDIA Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries. Intel and Pentium are trademarks of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in the U.S. and/or other countries. Oracle and Java are registered trademarks of Oracle and/or its affiliates. Red Hat and Red Hat Enterprise Linux are registered trademarks of Red Hat, Inc. Ubuntu is a registered trademark of Canonical Ltd. OpenGL is a trademark or registered trademark of Silicon Graphics, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries worldwide. OpenSUSE and SUSE are registered trademarks of SUSE LLC. Linux, Linux Standard Base, and LSB are trademarks or registered trademarks of Linus Torvalds in the U.S. and other countries. macOS is a trademark of Apple Inc., in the U.S. and other countries. Microsoft, DirectX, Visual Studio, Windows, and Windows Server are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. COMSOL AB and its subsidiaries and products are not affiliated with, endorsed by, sponsored by, or supported by these trademark owners.