Thin Client Installations

This section is applicable to installations involving a license file activation type. This licensing method is gradually being replaced by the user credentials activation type starting with Thermo‑Calc 2025a.

This topic describes how you install a thin Thermo‑Calc client to run Thermo‑Calc from a file server. It is applicable to consolidated and distributed network installations for either a Windows or Linux operating system.

Installation Requirements

  • You need access to the directory where Thermo‑Calc is installed on the file server.
  • You need the IP number or name of the computer where the license file is installed.
  • For Linux you may have to disable your firewall. If SELinux is installed, try disabling it by setting SELINUX=permissive in /etc/selinux/config.

Windows Installations

The following details may also be of use to those installing in a Windows environment.

  • Requests license server name or address and sets LSHOST as a user environment variable accordingly.
  • Sets TC<version>_HOME (where <version> is the software version, e.g. TC22A_HOME) as a user environment variable to point to the location from which the thin client installer is running.

The default folders where documents, materials files, examples, and other folders that sometimes require additional licenses are installed under Public Documents for ALL USERS. See Installation Default Directory: Windows.

How to Install a Thin Client on Windows

  1. Map the file server share as a network drive so that it gets an assigned drive letter (e.g. E:).

  2. Open the \Thermo‑Calc\<version>\ directory on the file server, where version is the current version of the software.

  3. Open the directory Thin-client. Double-click the Thermo‑Calc-client-windows-<version>.exe file.

  4. Click to accept the terms of the license agreement. Click Next.

  5. Enter the name or IP number of where the license file and the License Manager software is installed. Click Next.

  6. By default the Create Shortcuts on Desktop checkbox is selected. Click Next.

    The shortcuts to the program are added to the user's Windows roaming profile as well as placed on the user's Desktop (not the system's).

  7. In the Ready to Install window, click Next.

  8. Click Finish. To start Thermo‑Calc find the program on the server and start it from there.

How to Install a Thin Client on Linux

  1. Add the following to the smb.conf file, where <user> is your user name:

    [public]

    path=/home/<user>/Thermo_Calc/2025b

    public=yes

    writable=yes

    comment=smb share

    guest OK=yes

    force user=<user>

  2. From the client, mount the directory on the server computer that contains the Thermo‑Calc server installation (by default, this directory is called /Thermo‑Calc/2025b). How the directory is mounted depends on the Linux distribution being used as well as how the Thermo‑Calc directory on the server computer is shared. Use the Linux command mount. For example:

    > mkdir public

    > sudo mount -t cifs //ip_number_server_computer/public ./public -o user=<user>

  3. Open the mounted directory on your computer, and run client-install-linux-x64.run or client-install-linux-x86.run in the /Thin-client directory.
  4. If you do this from the terminal window, use the following to start the installation (assuming that the file server is a 64-bit computer):

    > ./client-install-linux-x64.run

  5. Click Forward and click to select the license agreement. Click Forward.
  6. Enter the name or IP number of the License Server. Click Forward.
  7. If you are installing as a non-root user, by default, the Create Shortcuts on Desktop checkbox is selected. Click Forward.
  8. In the Ready to Install window click Forward.
  9. Click Finish. Log out and log back in to start using Thermo‑Calc.