Matlab @ Angsana

Today is about 1 week from the ACM MM 2010 deadline and I was having problems running Matlab on angsana.comp. The issue lies with the Matlab FLEXnet license manager. Well, not really. Apparently at this time, a lot of people seem to require Matlab. As a result, the maximum number of users for Matlab was reached and there is nothing that the SoC helpdesk (tech services) can do about it (Yes, I've emailed them a few times).

My current experiments (read: predicament) is such that my database is hosted on one server, but running the experiments require Matlab and need to be done on angsana. My previous solution involves running a Ruby script to transfer the required data from one server to angsana via scp, remotely run my .m files on the data, and then to scp back the results for parsing. This solution was a quick hack so each new call actually (inefficiently) makes a new ssh connection and hence a new Matlab session. As a result, Matlab needs to be constantly available for all the calls to work.

With the licensing issue, I had to rework the script to use one SSH connection and hence one Matlab session. After an hour or two, the rework is done. And just in case, I added a safeguard for any runtime exceptions to pause program execution. This way I can immediately start a Matlab session as soon as my program exits (relinquishing its hold on one of the Matlab slots).

In summary: