What is the purpose of mw_4a_config.bin?

Hi!

We have an environment with a network license installation of Matlab, where colleagues have historically dropped the file MATLAB_BASEDIR/licenses/mw_4a_config.bin on disk. It does not appear necessary to start Matlab, though I have not checked all toolboxes. As cargo cult systems administration is an abomination:

• what is the purpose of this file?
• Is it in use (for R2021+)?

Previous searches:

• I have not found it in the documentation, regarding license files.
• The community forum provides the thread https://se.mathworks.com/support/search.html/answers/716768-can-i-delete-the-file-mw_4a_config-bin-from-the-licenses-folder.html which refers to https://se.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/answers/367213-why-do-i-get-the-error-something-unexpected-occurred-after-entering-my-credentials-to-start-matlab#answer_291295 . No conclusive answer is given.
• Threads related to license file locations (eg https://se.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/answers/99147-where-can-i-find-matlab-license-files) or variables (https://se.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/answers/93105-what-are-the-lm_license_file-and-mlm_license_file-environment-variables-and-how-do-i-set-or-check-fo) yield little information.

//Anders

Answer 1

[Vidip Jain]

The "mw_4a_config.bin" file you mentioned is a license file for the MATLAB software. It contains information about the license that has been granted to your organization, including the number of licenses and the expiration date.

When MATLAB is installed on a network license server, the server needs to be configured with a license file so that it can manage the distribution of licenses to individual users. The "mw_4a_config.bin" file is one such license file that can be used for this purpose.

It's possible that your colleagues dropped this file on disk to ensure that MATLAB would be able to access the license information it needs, without having to manually specify the license file location each time they started MATLAB.