COMSOL Runtime™ 5.5 Information

Version 5.5.0.359, February 25, 2020

What Is COMSOL Runtime™?

COMSOL Runtime™ is provided by COMSOL, a global provider of simulation software for product design and research to technical enterprises, research labs, and universities. View more information about COMSOL here.

When you receive your first compiled application in the form of an .exe1 file, COMSOL Runtime™ needs to be installed in order to run it. This is only necessary the first time you launch an .exe file. Depending on the choice of the author of the application, COMSOL Runtime™ is available for download or embedded in the application.

  • Download option: When you click on the .exe file, the COMSOL Runtime™ installer will be downloaded from a web server hosted by COMSOL. The .exe file itself only contains information about the specific application.
  • Embedded option: If COMSOL Runtime™ is embedded in the executable, then it will be unpacked, instead of downloaded, and installed.

COMSOL Runtime™ contains all of the necessary software components that the application needs for geometry creation, meshing, solving, visualization, etc. In other words, you can think of COMSOL Runtime™ as the environment in which various compiled applications are run.

1 Note that the file extension of the compiled application will vary depending on the operating system. The file extension will be .exe for the Windows® operating systems, .sh for the Linux® operating systems, and .dmg or .tar for macOS.

Running Your First App

Launching the App

Start by double-clicking the .exe file (.sh for the Linux® operating systems and .tar for macOS).
A dialog box appears when the download of the COMSOL Runtime™ installer starts. Note that downloading the installer may take several minutes, depending on the speed of your internet connection.

Installing COMSOL Runtime™

Once the download has finished, the installer starts automatically. Accept the terms and conditions, and click Next.

The runtime environment requires about 3 GB of disk space. Click Install.

Once the installer has finished, dismiss the dialog box and the application will start. The next time you start an application, it will launch within seconds.