Abaqus 6.

11-2 Academic Research Installation

There are three licensed Abaqus installation products: Abaqus Standard, Abaqus Explicit and Abaqus/CAE.
Abaqus/CAE is the pre- and post-processing software for Abaqus.

Virginia Tech has purchased an Academic Research license. This means that you may only use the Abaqus
software as a student/staff/faculty member associated with Virginia Tech. The work you do with Abaqus is for the
purpose of fulfilling requirements toward a degree program. This means, Abaqus may be used for work associated
with classes and/or thesis/dissertation work. Abaqus may NOT be used for consulting under Virginia Techs license
agreement.

Each user is allowed up to 10 analysis license tokens and 1 CAE license token. This will allow you to run either 2
simultaneous single processor runs or 1 multi-processor run with up to 6 processors. You may only run one CAE
session at a time.

In order to use the software your VTPID must be registered with the Abaqus license server and the VTPID must be
the username that your computer presents to the server when you start Abaqus. You will need to create a new account
or rename your existing account to be the same as your VTPID.

Step 0: Create a User Account on your computer with a login name the same as your VT PID.
A list of the names of ABAQUS users in the lab/class and their VTPIDs must be entered into a registered
ABAQUS license group. These names and VTPIDs will be entered into the license file so that you may run
ABAQUS on your machine as long as you have a valid VT PID. You will need to use the VPN with ABAQUS while
you are off-campus.

You will need to login to the VT PID account on your computer to run ABAQUS, as ABAQUS uses the login name
to check against the license server. A result of this strategy is that you must meet the following two qualifications to
run ABAQUS installed on your machine:
1. Your VT PID must be listed in a registered Abaqus license manager group,
2. You must have a valid VT PID.

A word about VT PIDs: There are users with spaces and (probably) international characters in their
usernames. These usernames will NOT work with the ABAQUS license manager. These are usually
Windows users, the only solution to date is for them to create new accounts with their VT PID as the
username and run ABAQUS under that username. Simply changing the Windows login name doesn't
work. This result has to do with the information MS Windows passes to the ABAQUS license server.

The bottom line:

1. The students should create a user on their machines the same as their VT PID and run ABAQUS
under this user account.
2. The students must have their Name and VT PID in the ABAQUS license file to execute ABAQUS.

Also, in order to use the software you will need to be connected to the VT network, either directly on campus or off-
campus through the VT VPN. If you need help configuring your VPN connection see http://answers.vt.edu/.
Step 1: Register for the software with the Abaqus Group Manager for your Research Group
VT Information Technology Acquisitions now provides access to the Abaqus software through VT ITA
Central Authorization groups. If your research group or department has registered to access the Abaqus
Academic Research License, there will be a designated person, an Abaqus Group License Manager, to
maintain the authorized list of users for your research group. Information on establishing a registered
Abaqus research group can be found http://www2.ita.vt.edu/software/department/products/abaqus/index.html

Send an email to your Abaqus Group License Manager requesting access to Abaqus. Provide your VT
PID, department, and graduate advisor/course instructor. You will receive access to the software download
and your VT PID will be registered with the license server.
 Once the group manager has added your VTPID to the Abaqus research group, you can continue with these
instructions.
Step 2: Obtain the software
Cut and Paste the following FTP site into site address window in your Web Browser: network.software.vt.edu
or use your favorite ftp client.
Use the username and password provided to you when you registered in step 1. These screenshots are from
the FireFox browser under Windows 7.

Download the Abaqus product ISO DVD image for installation.

1. Abaqus Product DVD v6.11-2.iso Abaqus version 6.11-2 product DVD image, required. Estimated Time 1
hour.
2. Abaqus Documentation DVD v6.11-2.iso Abaqus version 6.11-2 documentation DVD image, optional.
This is only needed if you want to browse the documentation offline.
3. NOTE: The full documentation for Abaqus, including installation instructions, is available on-line at
http://docs.software.vt.edu/v6.11.
4. NOTE: VT users should install the Product only. Installing Licensing will break your installation,
and installing the documentation is not necessary.
Click Abaqus Product DVD v6.11-2.iso
Step 3: Extract without Burning a DVD OR Burn the Abaqus product DVD image to a blank DVD.
Extract the Abaqus Product DVD Image without Burning a DVD:
1. Use an Unzip utility to uncompress the ISO DVD image:
A good Unzip utility from the public domain is 7Zip, you can download it from source forge
at the following link: http://www.7-zip.org/download.html
Once 7-Zip, WinZip or other Zip utility is installed you can have it extract the Abaqus
distribution from the DVD ISO image for installation without burning a DVD.
2. Extract the Abaqus distribution from the ISO for Installation:

Right click on the Abaqus-v6-11-2-ProductDVD.iso image and select Extract Here.

This option will extract the Abaqus distribution in-place, which is your Downloads folder. If you wish to
extract the image to another folder you can specify the folder.
Burn the Abaqus Distribution to a DVD for Installation:
Follow your regular procedure to burn the image to a blank DVD.
Insert the DVD and it should autorun the Abaqus installation
Step 4: Installation:
 Double-Click on setup

Read and click Next

On Windows platforms the Microsoft Visual C++ 2005 SP1 runtime libraries are required to run Abaqus. On
Windows/x86-32 platforms, the 32-bit runtime libraries are required; on Windows/x86-64 platforms, the 32-bit and
64-bit runtime libraries are required. The runtime libraries are installed automatically during the Abaqus product
installation.

Click OK and the runtime libraries are installed.

 Click Continue.

Click Next.

Click Next. I recommend against selecting View Installation and Licensing Guide since this is much more
detail than you need, unless problems arise.
 Do NOT select License since VT provides the Abaqus license server. Doing so will break your installation.
Select Product and click Next.

Abaqus use the HP-MPI libraries for parallel execution. Install the HP-MPI Libraries.

Accept the terms of the HP-MPI parallel execution libraries. Click I accept . Click Next.

Click Ok to launch the HP-MPI installer.

 Click Next.

Accept the Default Location to install the HP-MPI Libraries. Click Next.

Select the HP-MPI components for the Windows System you are using:
o Windows 7: Select HP-MPI Libraries and Tools CCS, - Default
o Windows XP or earlier: Select HP-MPI Libraries, tools and service for Windows 2003/XP
 Click Next.

Accept the default Start Menu Folder for the HP-MPI Libraries shortcuts. Click Next.

Install the HP-MPI Libraries. Click Instal Install. Click Finishl.

Complete the HP-MPI Library. Click Finish.

 Under License server 1 enter 27000@abaqus.software.vt.edu and click Next.
Note: that you must be connected to the VT Campus Network (use the VT VPN (Virtual Private Network) from
off-campus) to obtain Abaqus license tokens.

Enter http://docs.software.vt.edu/v6.11 in the dialog box and click Next.

Typically, accept the default installation location. Change if desired and click Next.
 Typically, accept the default installation location. Change if desired and click Next.

Click install, and after a while

 Dont worry about failures in product verification associated with compilers on your system unless you intend to
link in user defined elements or materials. Click Next.

Click Done.
Click Allow access and youre all done. The programs and documentation links will be found in your program
menu.
How to disable graphics hardware acceleration to resolve graphics incom... http://simulia.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/abaqus.cfg/php/enduser/prnt_adp.php?...

Answer ID How to disable graphics hardware acceleration to resolve graphics

1249
incompatibility
Last Updated
08/05/2009 12:10 PM Question
Access Level
Everyone How do I disable graphics hardware acceleration to resolve graphics incompatibility?

Answer

(The following applies to all Abaqus Versions)

SIMULIA tests specific graphics devices to assure adequate performance and compatibility with
Abaqus/CAE and Abaqus/Viewer. Please check the SIMULIA Systems Information for the latest
information regarding supported graphics cards and drivers as well as to ensure that the machine meets
all requirements.

Customers who use an Abaqus certified graphics card but still encounter problems may have a different
version of the manufacturer's graphics driver than the one tested. Newer graphics driver versions are
expected to work, but may not be compatible. Please obtain and install the appropriate graphics driver
version.

UNIX/Linux notes:

Some Linux installations, by default, do not take advantage of the hardware capabilities of the
installed graphics card. See Switching from software rendering to hardware accelerated displays
on Linuxfor more information.
GLX support is required in order to access OpenGL. Check with your systems administrator for
information on how to enable GLX if it is unavailable. You can check if your UNIX/Linux machine is
using GLX with one of the following commands:
glxinfo
xglinfo
xdpyinfo

If your machine has a certified graphics card and/or driver, ensure that the machine meets all
requirements and see 'Tuning graphics cards,' Section 5.4 of the Version 6.9 Abaqus Installation and
Licensing Guide before resorting to disabling hardware acceleration. Contact your local support office if
a certified card used with an Abaqus certified driver is not performing acceptably. Disabling hardware
acceleration should not be necessary when using an Abaqus certified card along with its correspondingly
tested driver.

If your machine has an incompatible graphics card and/or driver, you may use the following procedure(s)
to disable graphical hardware acceleration and run Abaqus/CAE and/or Abaqus/Viewer with reduced
performance.

The procedure to disable Hardware Acceleration is dependent on the version of Abaqus installed.

UNIX/Linux machines:

Disable Abaqus Hardware Overlay Support and render Mesa/OpenGL functions in software by
using the Mesa software libraries provided by SIMULIA. Start Abaqus/CAE/Viewer using the
following commands as appropriate.

abaqus cae -mesa

abaqus viewer -mesa

Windows machines:

Although eliminating the dependency on Exceed has resolved most of the incompatibilities
experienced with graphics card drivers, it is still possible that a problem in the graphics card
driver will affect Abaqus/CAE/Viewer functionality.

To disable hardware acceleration on Windows machines, add the following lines to your local or
home abaqus_v6.env file:

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How to disable graphics hardware acceleration to resolve graphics incom... http://simulia.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/abaqus.cfg/php/enduser/prnt_adp.php?...

(Do NOT add this to your site level abaqus_v6.env file. Leading spaces are important!)

abaqus_no_hardware_acceleration=ON
def onCaeGraphicsStartup():
session.defaultGraphicsOptions.setValues(antiAlias = OFF)

Note: The abaqus_no_hardware_acceleration option is only functional on Windows machines and

has no effect on UNIX/Linux machines.

You can also control the level of graphics hardware acceleration for all applications by adjusting the
hardware acceleration slider in the Display Properties -> Settings -> Advanced -> Troubleshoot
Tab.

To determine your current graphics card and driver information, download the attached file
findvid.exe and run the executable in a command prompt window.

File Attachments
findVid.exe

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Abaqus/CAE viewport window is blank http://simulia.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/abaqus.cfg/php/enduser/prnt_adp.php?...

Answer ID Abaqus/CAE viewport window is blank

3829
Question
Last Updated
11/03/2008 02:52 PM I can't see anything in the Abaqus/CAE viewport. The screen is blank or some solid color
(white or black). How can I fix this issue?
Access Level
Cust wo support Answer
(The following applies to Abaqus 6.3 and later.)

SIMULIA tests specific graphics devices to insure adequate performance and compatibility
with Abaqus/CAE and Abaqus/Viewer. Please check the SIMULIA Systems Information page
for the latest information regarding supported graphics cards and drivers, and to ensure that
the machine meets all requirements.

This issue has been identified on a few systems where:

The machine is configured with a low-end 2D graphics card,

and/or

The graphics driver has a compatibility problem.

Try the following suggestions in the order listed below:

1. Disable hardware overlay by adding the following lines to your abaqus_v6.env

environment file:

import os()
os.environ['ABAQUS_EMULATE_OVERLAYS'] = 'OFF'

2. Update the graphics driver to the latest version. See the following web sites for more
information.

Nvidia Graphics drivers download

ATI Graphics drivers download

For embedded graphics cards and laptop platforms, download and install the
latest driver from the laptop vendor

3. Disable hardware acceleration for Abaqus/CAE.

See: How to disable graphics hardware acceleration to resolve graphics incompatibility

4. Update the graphics hardware to a supported professional 3D card.

Check the SIMULIA Systems Information for the current list of tested graphics devices.

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