Site Licenses @ Institute of Physics / Silesian University in Opava
Wolfram Mathematica is a system for modern technical computing. Used at the Institute of Physics since 1990’s (version 2).
Site License Administrator: doc. RNDr. Stanislav Hledík, Ph.D.
News & Events ● Licensing & Installation ● Paclets ● Related Courses ● References & Resources ● Miscellany ● FAQ
Sorted in reverse chronological order.
[2025-02] Mathematica 14.2 release
Version 14.2 was released on January 23, 2025:
Summary of New and Improved Features
Staff license L5040-3869 users are encouraged to follow the upgrade instructions depending on whether they are using Network Mathematica for Sites or Mathematica Site Home Use.
Student license L5040-3865 users should automatically receive an email from Wolfram prompting them to upgrade (see details).
Upgrading is straightforward for 14.1 users, but if you are using 14.0 or earlier, read more detailed instructions how to upgrade. If in doubt, do not hesitate to contact me.
Before upgrading, it is a good idea to have a look at the system requirements.
Important notice for Network Mathematica users: Network License Manager MathLM was upgraded to version 14.2 during the first weekend of February 2025 (this must be done before upgrading client machines to version 14.2). Because MathLM 14.2 can only be used to serve licenses to clients running Mathematica versions 13.0 to Wolfram 14.2, it will no longer work for any Network Mathematica users still running a version lower than 13.0. All such users are encouraged to upgrade to version 14.2.
[2024-09] Upgrading from 14.0- to 14.1+
Starting with version 14.1, the Wolfram application was introduced as the new way for users to access Mathematica, Wolfram|Alpha Notebook Edition, Wolfram|One, and Finance Platform. With this update came a number of changes that are not backward compatible. Visit the following links to learn more:
Upgrading from Mathematica to Wolfram
Mathematica, Wolfram|One, and other products are now accessed via the new unified WOLFRAM app
My recommendation: use the “Freshly Install …” alternatives described in the first link above.
Currently I am the Wolfram Site Programs Administrator for the Institute of Physics at the Silesian University in Opava.
A distinction should be made between the following two licences:
Staff license L5040-3869 Mathematica Comprehensive Site (Network Mathematica for Sites and total of 26 Mathematica Site Home Use licenses as a Premier Service Benefit): intended typically for client machines permanently located in reach of the Network License Manager of the Silesian University (activation through a Wolfram Network License Server whose domain name will be provided to eligible users upon request), and for laptops of scientific and educational staff independent of the availability of the network license server (activation through an assigned Activation Key).
Student license L5040-3865 Mathematica Student Comprehensive Site (total of 25 licenses): intended for students’ personal laptops independent of the availability of the network license server (activation through an assigned Activation Key). Each eligible student will be provided with a legal school license of the Wolfram Mathematica program for the duration of the course, at least until the relevant exam has been successfully passed (allocation and installation will be handled after registration before the first lecture).
From a functional point of view, both are equivalent, but differ in licensing terms. Anyone interested in installing the program please notify me at one of the contact in the page header. The current license will expire at the end of the 2026, but we hope on having funds for extending it for years to come.
Current list of users (as of 2025-01-22)
| Staff license L5040-3869 | Student license L5040-3865 |
 |
 |
For Version 14.1 and higher of Wolfram-based products, such as Mathematica, visit the Installing Wolfram tutorial.
For lower versions, see Installing Mathematica tutorial for details.
Once the installation of your Wolfram product (such as Mathematica) is complete, upon first launching it you will be presented with the Wolfram Product Activation dialog. The Activating Mathematica tutorial shows you how to do this.
Upgrade instructions for the Staff license L5040-3869 users (Network Mathematica for Sites)
If you are also a Home Use License user, simply download the installer from the Wolfram User Portal using your Wolfram ID, run the installer, and activate using the Wolfram Network License Server.
Ask me for the installer if you are not a Home Use License user.
Upgrade instructions for the Staff license L5040-3869 users (Mathematica Site Home Use)
Basically, there are two ways to request an upgrade:
1. Ask me and I will gladly submit an upgrade request for you. You will then receive a message from Wolfram with further instructions at the email address used as your Wolfram ID login. Please allow 1—2 business days for Wolfram to process your request.
2. You can submit an upgrade request by yourself. Here is how:
On the My Products and Services tab in your Wolfram User Portal, click Request Upgrade in the Reminder column.
On a new page titled Site Home-Use Mathematica License Form, enter L5040-3869 (NOT your activation key) in the input field, and select An upgrade for an existing home-use license in the What are you requesting? radio buttons. Confirm by clicking the Continue button.
In the following License Details section, enter your activation key in the form XXXX-XXXX-XXXXXX (here is how to find it, but it is also available from the Help ▶ About Wolfram menu) in the input field. It is recommended to select Download: Send it to me at the email address I specify (you will be asked for your email address later) in the How would you like to receive the upgrade? radio buttons. Finally, select your operating system in the For what platform will you need your home-use upgrade? radio buttons, and confirm by clicking the Continue button under the User Agreement.
In the input fields of the following Contact Information section, enter your names without diacritics, your email address (must be the same as your Wolfram ID login). Fill in the remaining Organization name and Department fields exactly as follows:
Slezska Univerzita v Opave
Institute of Physics
Place a check mark in the last check box and click the Submit button.
You will then receive a message from Wolfram with further instructions at the email address used as your Wolfram ID login. Please allow 1—2 business days for Wolfram to process your request.
Upgrade instructions for the Student license L5040-3865 users
All student license keys are flagged as “Auto Upgrade = Yes” (see the table at right in the Current list of users). Anyone using a key that is flagged as “Auto Upgrade = Yes” will be upgraded automatically to a new version and sent an email notification with a link to download the upgrade immediately. They can continue using their current version, upgrade to the new version or use both versions on their machine.
Paclets are units of Wolfram functionality, packaged up in a way that allows them to be discovered, installed, updated and integrated seamlessly into the Wolfram environment. They work “behind the scene”, an ordinary user is unaware of their presence and does not even have to care. The Wolfram developers usually deliver many types of content, including Wolfram Language files, LibraryLink libraries, front end resources like palettes and stylesheets, Java libraries for use with J/Link, documentation notebooks, etc. in the form of paclets. Simply copy-paste the following code to a notebook and evaluate it on your computer. Before upgrading to Wolfram version 14.1, my paclet repository was about 5 GB (understandably, it is now much smaller after a fresh install of version 14.1):
Module[{p, n, s, d = $UserBasePacletsDirectory},
p = FileBaseName /@ FileNames[All, FileNameJoin[{d, "Repository"}]];
n = p // Length;
s = UnitConvert[Total[Flatten[Values[
Apply[List, FileSystemMap[FileSize, FileNameJoin[{d, "Repository"}], Infinity], Infinity]
] /. {n_Real, v_String} :> Quantity[n, v]]], "Gigabytes"];
Print["A total of ", s, " in ", n, " paclets:"]; p
]
You can learn more about paclets by following these links.
Basic user operations with paclets
Paclets are usually sourced from a remotely located site called a Paclet Server (although a local site is also possible). By default, the Wolfram Research Paclet Server and the Wolfram Language Paclet Repository are known to your system (input and output are on light gray and pink background, respectively):
With[{p = PacletSiteUpdate[PacletSites[]][[All, 1]]},
TableForm[Values@p, TableHeadings -> {None, First[Keys@p]}]
]
| URL | Name | Local | Type |
| https://pacletserver.wolfram.com | Wolfram Research Paclet Server | False | Server |
| https://resources.wolframcloud.com/PacletRepository/pacletsite | Wolfram Paclet Repository | False | Server |
None of the above sites should be removed (removal instructions are below). However, you can add other paclet sites (including mine or your own). Adding a remote paclet site from the list below is done by substituting the appropriate URL and a name of your choice into the PacletSiteRegister function. For example:
PacletSiteRegister["https://is.slu.cz/www/hle0002/paclets", "Some name"]
PacletSiteObject[<|URL -> https://is.slu.cz/www/hle0002/paclets, Name -> Some name, Local -> False, Type -> Server|>]
The Paclet Server at https://is.slu.cz/www/hle0002/paclets/ is now known to your system:
With[{p = PacletSites[][[All, 1]]},
TableForm[Values@p, TableHeadings -> {None, First[Keys@p]}]
]
| URL | Name | Local | Type |
| https://pacletserver.wolfram.com | Wolfram Research Paclet Server | False | Server |
| https://resources.wolframcloud.com/PacletRepository/pacletsite | Wolfram Paclet Repository | False | Server |
| https://is.slu.cz/www/hle0002/paclets | Some name | False | Server |
Now you can install, for example, the Snapdragon paclet:
PacletInstall["Snapdragon"]
If you no longer need the Snapdragon paclet, you can uninstall it:
PacletUninstall["Snapdragon"]
If you no longer intend to use the Paclet Server “Some name”, you can unregister it with PacletSiteUnregister; it will no longer be known to the system:
PacletSiteUnregister["Some name"];
With[{p = PacletSites[][[All, 1]]},
TableForm[Values@p, TableHeadings -> {None, First[Keys@p]}]
]
| URL | Name | Local | Type |
| https://pacletserver.wolfram.com | Wolfram Research Paclet Server | False | Server |
| https://resources.wolframcloud.com/PacletRepository/pacletsite | Wolfram Paclet Repository | False | Server |
Read the Working with Paclets guide to learn more commands, options and capabilities of the paclet system from both a user and developer perspective.
Paclet Servers at the Institute of Physics
Within the framework of the Information System of the Institute of Physics, I operate, maintain and contribute these own paclet servers:
I am working on a new Paclet Server at https://is.slu.cz/www/hle0002/wolfram/pacletarium/ that will replace the paclet server listed below.
My Paclet Server at https://is.slu.cz/www/hle0002/paclets/. Warning: This paclet server is outdated and will be replaced by a new one (see above). However, I still use my own paclets Snapdragon and Cuticurve, although their use is deprecated (unfinished documentation, needs code polishing). Until they are replaced by their successors, this page will be kept alive.
Paclety – jak na ně? (Paclets – How to handle them?) Presentation and Paclet Server at https://is.slu.cz/www/hle0002/wolfram/sum21/ for online meetings of Mathematica users, 2021-02-09 (available in Czech only).
Some useful material may be found on web pages of the following Wolfram Language & Mathematica related courses:
Symbolické výpočty / Symbolic Computations
Standardní matematické softwary / Standard mathematical software
Numerické metody ve fyzice / Numerical Methods in Physics (see also Sample projects written in Wolfram Language / Mathematica)
Deterministický chaos / Deterministic Chaos – FU:TFNPV0003, FU:ETFNPV0003, FU:OAVENPVB01
[WLHome] Wolfram Language home page.
[WLSDC] Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Available at https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ (The same offline documentation, in addition involving interactive features, is an optional part of the Mathematica installation.)
[WLRepo] Wolfram Language curated/community repositories.
[MathWorld] Wolfram MathWorld. The web’s most extensive mathematics resource.
[FunSite] The Mathematical Functions Site. A resource for the educational, mathematical and scientific communities.
[WolfComm] Wolfram Community. Connection with users of Wolfram technologies to learn, solve problems and share ideas.
[NtbkSec] Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center: Notebook Security
[MathUnins] How do I uninstall Mathematica? Available at https://support.wolfram.com/12473
[WolfAUP] Wolfram Account & User Portal
[MathSupp] Mathematica Support. A very useful source of information.
[WolfSupp] Wolfram Support. You can contact the support by posting a question, product feedback, bug report, …
[SysReq] Mathematica System Requirements.
[IncompChng] Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center: Incompatible Changes since Mathematica Version 1
[TransferForm] How do I move Wolfram software to a new computer? System Transfer Form
[MathLM] MathLM Status (within Site IPs only)
[FastIntroProg] The Wolfram Language: Fast Introduction for Programmers
[FastIntroMath] Mathematica & Wolfram Language: Fast Introduction for Math Students
[IntroBook] Stephen Wolfram: An Elementary Introduction to the Wolfram Language, Third Edition
[WolframU] Learning Resources for the Computational Universe
[MSE] Stack Exchange. Mathematica & Wolfram Language
[MSEGood] Mathematica Stack Exchange. Where can I find examples of good Mathematica programming practice?
[MSEPitfalls] Mathematica Stack Exchange. What are the most common pitfalls awaiting new users?
[MSELoops] Mathematica Stack Exchange. Alternatives to procedural loops and iterating over lists in Mathematica
[MSEScoping] Mathematica Stack Exchange. What are the use cases for different scoping constructs?
[MSEXValues] Mathematica Stack Exchange. What is the distinction between DownValues, UpValues, SubValues, and OwnValues?
[MSO] StackOverflow – Questions tagged [wolfram-mathematica]
[WLSDCPacOver] Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center: Paclets Overview Tech Note
[GayleyPaclets] T. Gayley: Paclets and Paclet Development. A preliminary version of a tutorial on paclets and paclet development
[WLSDCPacRepo] Wolfram Research: Wolfram Language Paclet Repository. Community-contributed installable additions to the Wolfram Language
[b3m2a1Paclets] b3m2a1@gmail.com: Package Usage and Development — Paclets
[WLSDCPacCreate] Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center: Creating Paclets Tech Note
[AbbVer] Nasser M. Abbasi: A little bit of Mathematica history – Versions and release dates
[b3m2a1] A little Mathematica tutorial written for a group of chemists the author knew: A (Somewhat) Quick Intro to Mathematica
[Rus09] Ruskeepää, H.: Mathematica® Navigator. Mathematics, Statistics, and Graphics. 3rd Edition, Elsevier, 2009. ISBN 978-0-12-374164-6. Available at http://math.bme.hu/~jtoth/Mma/Mathematica%20 Navigator %202009 %203 rd %20 Edition.pdf
[Shi09] Shifrin, L.: Mathematica Programming – An Advanced Introduction. 2009. Available at https://www.mathprogramming-intro.org/
[Wel13] Wellin, P.: Programming with Mathematica® : An Introduction. Cambridge University Press, 2013. ISBN 978-1-107-00946-2.
[Wel16] Wellin, P.: Essentials of Programming in Mathematica® , Cambridge University Press, 2016. ISBN 978-1-107-11666-5. See https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/essentials-of-programming-in-mathematica/81F75307C7FAA35AA65F28ECE5F07260
[Wol99] Wolfram, S.: The Mathematica® Book. 4th Edition. Wolfram Media & Cambridge University Press, 1999. ISBN 0-521-64314-7.
Sorted in reverse chronological order.
On 2025-01-09, a strange (and suspiciously buggy) behavior of the AbsArg system function was observed in version 14.1 on Windows 10, 11. (Student Alejandro Estupiñán Suárez also deserves credit, as the weird behavior was found while reviewing his Exam Project.) The description of the issue has been posted to Mathematica & Wolfram Language StackExchange, where there has been confirmation of the suspicion of a bug. A bug report was then sent to Wolfram Support. On 2025-01-14 this suspicion was acknowledged as a bug by Wolfram Support and listed as [CASE:5217115].
[2024-03] Sample projects written in Wolfram Language / Mathematica
Can be found in the Numerical Methods in Physics course, section Software ▶ Projekty vyučujícího napsané ve Wolfram Language (currently only available in Czech).
Q: I’m annoyed by the Suggestion Bar popping out after each output. How to get rid of it?
A: Uncheck Edit ▶ Preferences... ▶ Interface ▶ Show Suggestion Bar after last output.
Q: How can I suppress notebook history tracking?
A: Uncheck Edit ▶ Preferences... ▶ Advanced ▶ Enable notebook history tracking.
Q: How can I install a stylesheet?
A: Follow this guide-by-example:
After restarting Mathematica, the stylesheet appears in menu. Changing the stylesheet makes the notebook contents to appear differently:
