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COMSOL® SOFTWARE VERSION 5.6 UPDATE 2

Released 5 mai 2021
COMSOL® software version 5.6 update 2 contains performance and stability improvements to COMSOL Multiphysics®, COMSOL Server™, and COMSOL Client. The update applies to COMSOL® software version 5.6 (280), and version 5.6 update 1 (Build: 341). The update can be applied directly to an installation of version 5.6.

If you have a version older than version 5.6 and a valid license that is on subscription, then perform a full installation of version 5.6 from the Product Download page, which will include all updates.

How to Apply the Software Update

Before proceeding with your installation, make sure that you close and exit any running COMSOL® processes or any software you have running that correlates to a LiveLink™ product you would like to update (Excel®, MATLAB®, or a CAD software).

Updating COMSOL Multiphysics®

The easiest way to install the update for COMSOL Multiphysics® is to start the program and then select Check for Product Updates. If using the Windows® operating system, this is located in the File menu under Help. If using the Linux® operating system or macOS, this is located in the Help menu.

For more information on how to install the update and for offline installation, see the Additional Instructions tab below.

In order to check that the update installation was successful, first start the COMSOL Multiphysics® software and select the About COMSOL Multiphysics menu option. If using the Windows® operating system, this is located in the File menu under Help. If using the Linux® operating system or macOS, this is located in the Help menu. The listed version should be COMSOL Multiphysics® 5.6 (Build: 401).

Updating COMSOL Server™

To update COMSOL Server™ if using the Windows® operating system, run the Update program from the COMSOL Launchers folder in the Start menu.

Note that the COMSOL Server™ service process needs to be stopped before applying the update. For more information on how to install the update, installing on other operating systems, and offline installation, see the Additional Instructions tab below.

To check that the installation was successful, first make sure that COMSOL Server™ is running, then navigate to COMSOL Server™ in a web browser and follow the About COMSOL Server™ link in the lower-right corner. The new version should be COMSOL Server™ 5.6 (Build: 401).

Updating COMSOL Client for Use with COMSOL Server™

To update COMSOL Client for the Windows® operating system, download the new version from Client Download and install. The previous 5.6 installation will be overwritten. Your installation of COMSOL Client must have the same version number as the COMSOL Server™ installation that you connect to.

The following instructions apply only if you are not using the method based on the Check for Product Updates menu item, as described above.

Updating COMSOL Multiphysics®

1

Check the Version Number

  1. Start COMSOL Multiphysics®.
  2. Open the About COMSOL Multiphysics dialog box. If using the Windows® operating system, the dialog box can be found in the File menu under Help. If using either the Linux® operating system or macOS, the dialog box can be found under the Help menu.
  3. Check that the version number is 5.6 (Build: 280). This corresponds to the version that has not yet been updated.
2

Install the Update

Before you proceed with the installation, make sure to exit any running COMSOL Multiphysics® processes or any software you have running that correlates to a LiveLink™ product you would like to update (Excel®, PowerPoint®, MATLAB®, or a CAD software).

  1. Start the COMSOL® software update installer:
    • Windows® operating systems: Run the Update program from the COMSOL Launchers folder in the Start menu, or directly from the COMSOL 5.6 installation folder. The COMSOL Launchers folder can be found in the installation folder, for example, C:\Program Files\COMSOL\COMSOL56\Multiphysics\COMSOL Launchers.
    • Linux® operating systems: Run the update script from the COMSOL 5.6 installation directory, for example, /usr/local/comsol56/multiphysics.
    • macOS: Run the COMSOL Update application from the COMSOL 5.6 installation directory, for example, /Applications/COMSOL56/Multiphysics.
  2. The next step will be taken in the installer program's Options page and depends on whether or not you have a live internet connection or if you plan to download the update file for offline installation:
    • If you have an internet connection: Keep the Direct download setting.
    • If you have an internet connection via a proxy server: Select Download via proxy server and enter your proxy configuration settings.
    • If you do not have an internet connection on the target computer or if you want to apply the update several times on multiple computers: Download the following file to a folder on your computer
      DOWNLOAD UPDATE (1.2 GB)
      In the installer program, select Manual download and click Browse. Navigate to the downloaded file and click Open.
  3. Click Next to get to the Release Notes page for reviewing the update details.
  4. Click Next to get to the Install page and review the software components affected by the update.
  5. In the Install page, click Install to start the installation of the update.
3

Check the Installation

  1. Start COMSOL Multiphysics®.
  2. Open the About COMSOL Multiphysics dialog box. If using the Windows® operating system, this is located in the File menu under Help. If using the Linux® operating system or macOS, this is located in the Help menu.
  3. Check that the version number is 5.6 (Build: 401). (If not, the installation did not succeed.)

Updating COMSOL Server™

1

Check the Version Number

  1. Navigate to the running version of COMSOL Server™ in a web browser.
  2. Click the About COMSOL Server link in the lower-right corner.
  3. Check that the version number is 5.6 (Build: 280). This corresponds to the version that has not yet been updated.
2

Stop the COMSOL Server™ Processes

Before you proceed with the installation, make sure to stop any running COMSOL Server™ processes.

  1. In Windows®: Stop the server by either typing close, if COMSOL Server™ is running in a command window, or by running the Stop COMSOL Server shortcut from the COMSOL Launchers folder in the start menu, if COMSOL Server™ is installed as a Windows® service.
  2. In Linux®: If you configured COMSOL Server™ using the systemd service, stop it by typing systemctl stop comsolserver56; otherwise, kill the COMSOL Server™ process.
  3. In macOS: Kill the COMSOL Server™ process.
3

Install the Update

Before you proceed with the installation, make sure to stop any running COMSOL Server™ processes, as described above.

  1. Start the COMSOL® software update installer:
    • Windows® operating systems: Run the Update program from the COMSOL Launchers folder in the Start menu, or directly from the COMSOL 5.6 installation folder. The COMSOL Launchers folder can be found in the installation folder, for example, C:\Program Files\COMSOL\COMSOL56\Server\COMSOL Launchers.
    • Linux® operating systems: Run the update script from the COMSOL 5.6 installation directory, for example, /usr/local/comsol56/server.
    • macOS: Run the COMSOL Update application from the COMSOL 5.6 installation directory, for example, /Applications/COMSOL56/Server.
  2. The next step will be taken in the installer program's Options page and depends on whether or not you have a live internet connection or if you plan to download the update file for offline installation:
    • If you have an internet connection: Keep the Direct download setting.
    • If you have an internet connection via a proxy server: Select Download via proxy server and enter your proxy configuration settings.
    • If you do not have an internet connection on the target computer or if you want to apply the update several times on multiple computers: Download the following file to a folder on your computer
      DOWNLOAD UPDATE (1.2 GB)
      In the installer program, select Manual download and click Browse. Navigate to the downloaded file and click Open.
  3. Click Next to get to the Release Notes page for reviewing the update details.
  4. Click Next to get to the Install page and review the software components affected by the update.
  5. In the Install page, click Install to start the installation of the update.
4

Start COMSOL Server™ Again

  • In Windows®: Start COMSOL Server™ by using the COMSOL Server shortcut in the start menu. Alternatively, if COMSOL Server™ was installed as a Windows® service, start it by using the Start COMSOL Server shortcut.
  • In Linux®: If you configured COMSOL Server™ using the systemd service, start it by typing systemctl start comsolserver55; otherwise, type <installation directory>/bin/comsol server to start COMSOL Server™.
  • In macOS: Type <installation directory>/bin/comsol server to start COMSOL Server™.
5

Check the Installation

  1. Navigate to the running version of COMSOL Server™ in a web browser.
  2. Click the About COMSOL Server link in the lower-right corner
  3. Check that the version number is 5.6 (Build: 401). (If not, the installation did not succeed.)

Setting up Automated Installation of the Update

If you do not have access to the graphical user interface of your operating system or if you want to automate the update process, you can follow the steps below.

Automated Update of COMSOL Multiphysics®

1

Check the Version Number

  1. Start COMSOL Multiphysics®.
  2. Open the About COMSOL Multiphysics dialog box. If using the Windows® operating system, the dialog box can be found in the File menu under Help. If using either the Linux® operating system or macOS, the dialog box can be found under the Help menu.
  3. Check that the version number is 5.6 (Build: 280). This corresponds to the version that has not yet been updated.
2

Download the Update File

Click the button below to download the update. In some browsers, such as the Internet Explorer® browser, a dialog box will then open where you can click Save directly after the download has occurred.

DOWNLOAD UPDATE (1.2 GB)

3

Installation

Before you proceed with the installation, make sure you have closed any COMSOL sessions or stopped any running COMSOL processes or any software you have running that correlates to a LiveLink™ product you would like to update (Excel®, MATLAB®, or a CAD software).

Windows® Operating Systems

  1. Create a file named setupconfig.ini in your home directory, or anywhere else you have write permission.

  2. Copy the following lines to setupconfig.ini
    installdir = C:\Program Files\COMSOL\COMSOL56\Multiphysics
    installmode = update
    update.filepath = C:\Users\username\Downloads\comsol_5.6.0.401_update.dat

  3. Change installdir path to the target COMSOL installation. Change update.filepath to the path where the manual update file is located.

  4. Run cmd. Start the setup program (located in the COMSOL install directory under ./bin/arch ) with the flag -s and the path to your setupconfig.ini file. Example: C:\Program Files\COMSOL\COMSOL56\Multiphysics\bin\win64\setup.exe -s C:\Users\username\setupconfig.ini

Linux® Operating Systems

  1. Create a file named setupconfig.ini in your home directory, or anywhere else you have write permission.

  2. Copy the following lines to setupconfig.ini
    installdir = /usr/local/comsol56/multiphysics
    installmode = update
    update.filepath = /home/username/Downloads/comsol_5.6.0.401_update.dat

  3. Change installdir path to the target COMSOL installation. Change update.filepath to the path where the manual update file is located.

  4. Start the setup script (located in the COMSOL install directory under ./bin/arch ) with the flag -s and the path to your setupconfig.ini file. Example: /usr/local/comsol56/multiphysics/bin/glnxa64/setup -s /home/username/setupconfig.ini

macOS

  1. Create a file named setupconfig.ini in your home directory, or anywhere else you have write permission.

  2. Copy the following lines to setupconfig.ini
    installdir = /Applications/COMSOL56/Multiphysics
    installmode = update
    update.filepath = /home/username/Downloads/comsol_5.6.0.401_update.dat

  3. Change installdir path to the target COMSOL installation. Change update.filepath to the path where the manual update file is located.

  4. Start the setup script (located in the COMSOL install directory under ./bin/arch ) with the flag -s and the path to your setupconfig.ini file. Example: /Applications/COMSOL56/Multiphysics/bin/maci64/setup -s /home/username/setupconfig.ini

4

Check the Installation

  1. Start COMSOL Multiphysics®.
  2. Open the About COMSOL Multiphysics dialog box. If using the Windows® operating system, this is located in the File menu under Help. If using the Linux® operating system or macOS, this is located in the Help menu.
  3. Check that the version number is 5.6 (Build: 401). (If not, the installation did not succeed.)

Automated Update of COMSOL Server™

1

Check the Version Number

  1. Navigate to the running version of COMSOL Server™ in a web browser.
  2. Click the About COMSOL Server link in the lower-right corner.
  3. Check that the version number is 5.6 (Build: 280). This corresponds to the version that has not yet been updated.
2

Stop the COMSOL Server™ Processes

Before you proceed with the installation, make sure to stop any running COMSOL Server™ processes.

  1. In Windows®: Stop the server by either typing close, if COMSOL Server™ is running in a command window, or by running the Stop COMSOL Server shortcut from the COMSOL Launchers folder in the start menu, if COMSOL Server™ is installed as a Windows® service.
  2. In Linux®: If you configured COMSOL Server™ using the systemd service, stop it by typing systemctl stop comsolserver56; otherwise, kill the COMSOL Server™ process.
  3. In macOS: Kill the COMSOL Server™ process.
3

Download the Update File

Click the button below to download the update. In some browsers, such as the Internet Explorer® browser, a dialog box will then open where you can click Save directly after the download has occurred.

DOWNLOAD UPDATE (1.2 GB)

4

Installation

Before you proceed with the installation, make sure you have closed any COMSOL sessions or stopped any running COMSOL processes or any software you have running that correlates to a LiveLink™ product you would like to update (Excel®, MATLAB®, or a CAD software).

Windows® Operating Systems

  1. Create a file named setupconfig.ini in your home directory, or anywhere else you have write permission.

  2. Copy the following lines to setupconfig.ini
    installdir = C:\Program Files\COMSOL\COMSOL56\Server
    installmode = update
    update.filepath = C:\Users\username\Downloads\comsol_5.6.0.401_update.dat

  3. Change installdir path to the target COMSOL installation. Change update.filepath to the path where the manual update file is located.

  4. Run cmd. Start the setup program (located in the COMSOL install directory under ./bin/arch ) with the flag -s and the path to your setupconfig.ini file. Example: C:\Program Files\COMSOL\COMSOL56\Server\bin\win64\setup.exe -s C:\Users\username\setupconfig.ini

Linux® Operating Systems

  1. Create a file named setupconfig.ini in your home directory, or anywhere else you have write permission.

  2. Copy the following lines to setupconfig.ini
    installdir = /usr/local/comsol56/server
    installmode = update
    update.filepath = /home/username/Downloads/comsol_5.6.0.401_update.dat

  3. Change installdir path to the target COMSOL installation. Change update.filepath to the path where the manual update file is located.

  4. Start the setup script (located in the COMSOL install directory under ./bin/arch ) with the flag -s and the path to your setupconfig.ini file. Example: /usr/local/comsol56/server/bin/glnxa64/setup -s /home/username/setupconfig.ini

macOS

  1. Create a file named setupconfig.ini in your home directory, or anywhere else you have write permission.

  2. Copy the following lines to setupconfig.ini
    installdir = /Applications/COMSOL56/Server
    installmode = update
    update.filepath = /home/username/Downloads/comsol_5.6.0.401_update.dat

  3. Change installdir path to the target COMSOL installation. Change update.filepath to the path where the manual update file is located.

  4. Start the setup script (located in the COMSOL install directory under ./bin/arch ) with the flag -s and the path to your setupconfig.ini file. Example: /Applications/COMSOL56/Server/bin/maci64/setup -s /home/username/setupconfig.ini

5

Start COMSOL Server™ Again

  • In Windows®: Start COMSOL Server™ by using the COMSOL Server shortcut in the start menu. Alternatively, if COMSOL Server™ was installed as a Windows® service, start it by using the Start COMSOL Server shortcut.
  • In Linux®: If you configured COMSOL Server™ using the systemd service, start it by typing systemctl start comsolserver55; otherwise, type <installation directory>/bin/comsol server to start COMSOL Server™.
  • In macOS: Type <installation directory>/bin/comsol server to start COMSOL Server™.
6

Check the Installation

  1. Navigate to the running version of COMSOL Server™ in a web browser.
  2. Click the About COMSOL Server link in the lower-right corner
  3. Check that the version number is 5.6 (Build: 401). (If not, the installation did not succeed.)

Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds in the U.S. and other countries. macOS is a trademark of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. Microsoft, Internet Explorer, Excel, and Windows are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. MATLAB is a registered trademark of The MathWorks, Inc.

All COMSOL® software products undergo stability improvements that are introduced as updates. The following list contains the most important improvements in COMSOL® version 5.6 update 2 (including those of update 1).

COMSOL Multiphysics®

  • Added new launch flag, disablehwacceleration, to disable hardware acceleration for the entire user interface. This flag can be used to work around graphics driver issues with the new Intel® Iris Xe graphics chip.1
  • Fixed GTK-related errors and warnings appearing when launching COMSOL Multiphysics® from the command line on Linux®.1
  • Fixed compact history for nested node groups.1
  • The Image to Curve add-in has been updated to better support the Update functionality in the Model Builder. In addition, the toolbar functionality has been improved, and the curve generation is no longer immediately triggered when settings are changed.1
  • Performance and stability improvements.1,2
  • Updated obsolete computation information for some models in the Application Libraries.2
  • Implemented a workaround for a problem caused by some antivirus software that could prevent the COMSOL installer from starting.2
  • Fixed an issue where the software license for the Material Library would not be released. This correction also resets the list of recently used materials when opening models created in earlier versions.2

COMSOL Compiler™

  • Performance and stability improvements related to the general COMSOL Multiphysics® updates.1,2
  • Fixed export of STEP and IGES files in compiled applications.2

COMSOL Server™

  • Performance and stability improvements related to the general COMSOL Multiphysics® updates.1,2
  • Fixed export of STEP, IGES, and SAT files when using COMSOL Server™ licenses.2

Application Builder

  • Reloading add-ins now correctly takes method definition changes into account, for example, when changing between Method and Method Call.1
  • Exporting animations to file from an app now supports Current size, which makes the animation use the size of a corresponding graphics form object showing the relevant plot group.1
  • The template Ribbon, sections, and graphics has a new Graphics tab that can be used to quickly select which graphics to display.2

AC/DC Module

  • Improved stability of time-dependent studies with the Ampère's Law, Magnetostrictive, and Lorentz Coupling features.1

Acoustics Module

  • The computation of intersections with the Receiver dataset used in the Impulse Response plot has been improved for meshed domains.1
  • The computation performed in the Impulse Response plot has been corrected to ensure consistent levels by using power summation at the receiver. Aliasing issues have also been fixed by filtering in continuous time.1
  • The computation of the clarity and definition objective metrics, used for room acoustics, has been fixed when evaluated by the Energy Decay subfeature in the Impulse Response plot.1
  • Stability improvements when solving dG-time-explicit-based physics together with systems of ODEs.1
  • Stability improvements.1
  • The Compliance matrix and Elasticity matrix of the piezoelectric material polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) have been corrected to be consistent with the Voigt notation.1
  • The multiphysics coupling between solids that use a Rigid Domain node and the Thermoviscous Acoustics interface now works as expected.2
  • Corrected small erroneous DC component in the impulse response plot.2
  • Improved caching for impulse response plots.2
  • Performance improvements.2

CAD Import Module, Design Module, and LiveLink™ Modules for CAD

  • The CAD file import functionality has been extended to support new versions for the following file formats:1
    • ACIS® (.sat, .sab, .asat, .asab): 2021 1.0
    • AutoCAD® (.dxf, .dwg): 2021
    • Inventor® (.iam, .ipt): 2021
    • NX™ (.prt): 1926
    • SOLIDWORKS® (.sldprt, .sldasm): 2021
  • Fixed export of STEP, IGES, and SAT files when using COMSOL Server™ licenses.2

CFD Module

  • Turbulent flow has been activated for inelastic non-Newtonian fluids. Note that the Viscosity field will be reset to From material for models including turbulence in non-Newtonian fluids in versions prior to 5.6 u1.1
  • Viscoelastic flow: added support for multiple branches in Giesekus and FENE-P viscoelastic models.2

Polymer Flow Module

  • Viscoelastic flow: added support for multiple branches in Giesekus, FENE-P, and LPTT viscoelastic models.2

CFD Module and Fuel Cell & Electrolyzer Module

  • Improved conservation of the dispersed and continuous phase fluxes in boundary conditions (Wall, Inlet, and Outlet) of the Mixture Modelinterface.2

Chemical Reaction Engineering Module

  • The derivative of the pressure with respect to the pellet radius has been renamed to avoid duplicate variable names.1
  • The update of diffusivities, defined by the Chemistry interface when a reaction node or a species node is disabled, has been corrected.1

Heat Transfer Module

  • In the Porous Medium heat transfer feature, the Porous Medium section has been removed from the user interface unless a module providing options to define the Effective conductivity model is available.1
  • For nonisothermal flow, the heat capacity evaluation has been corrected when the Boussinesq approximation is combined with the Phase Change Material feature in the heat transfer interface.1
  • Added coupling between heat transfer in the Porous Medium and Nonisothermal Flow nodes to support porous materials.1
  • For Heat Transfer in Fluids, the Ideal gas and From material options are now included with a basic COMSOL Multiphysics® license.1
  • The definition of postprocessing variables for energy balance has been optimized in order to reduce memory use and model loading time.1
  • The definition of the surface temperature in the Heat Flux, Temperature, and Surface-to-Ambient features in the Heat Transfer in Shells interface has been fixed.1
  • Porous Medium and Moist Porous Medium features now support opacity and are considered as opaque for heat transfer with surface-to-surface radiation.2
  • Radiation in participating media: corrected the definition of the net radiative flux for semitransparent surfaces.2
  • Added support for multiple Heat Transfer with Surface-to-Surface Radiation multiphysics coupling nodes pointing to the same Surface-to-Surface Radiation interface and to Heat Transfer in Solids and Heat Transfer in Shells interfaces.2

MEMS Module

  • The Compliance matrix and Elasticity matrix of the piezoelectric material polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) have been corrected to be consistent with the Voigt notation.1
  • The formulation for rarefied (general accommodation) thin-film flow has been corrected.2

Particle Tracing Module

  • Fixed incorrect behavior when opening and rerunning models created in older versions that used the Space Charge Limited Emission multiphysics coupling node.1
  • Fixed an error when computing the space-charge-limited current of emitted electrons from a cathode at nonzero electric potential.1
  • Fixed an incorrect expression in the reported values of the Twiss parameters for asymmetric charged particle beams in 3D.1
  • The Symmetry boundary condition no longer gives an error message when its selection is empty.1
  • In the Particle Tracing for Fluid Flow interface, a possible circular variable dependency error has been eliminated. It could occur when the particle mass and diameter were specified for some species, while the particle density and diameter were specified for other species.1
  • Stability improvement for the Particle Beam release feature in 2D axisymmetric geometries.2
  • Prevented an error when modeling nuclear stopping with secondary particle emission, particle–field interactions, and additional auxiliary dependent variables.2
  • Ensured that the Thermal Re-Emission boundary conditions always reflect particles rather than transmitting them, when applied to interior boundaries.2
  • Prevented an error when performing Monte Carlo particle collision models, including secondary particle emission, particle–field interactions, and additional auxiliary dependent variables.2
  • Allowed nonuniform weighting of model particles released by the Space Charge Limited Emission node.2

Porous Media Flow Module

  • The variable for the flow rate in the Inlet boundary condition in the model example in the Introduction to Porous Media Flow Module has been corrected.2

Ray Optics Module

  • Fixed an error in the calculation of phase delays for the Interference Pattern plot.1
  • The inputs for reflectance and transmittance now appear in the settings for the Scattering Boundary node when computing ray power.1
  • The software now avoids the creation of Particle and Ray datasets corresponding to disabled physics interfaces, which could sometimes cause an unexpected error to occur.1
  • Rays undergoing total internal reflection no longer contribute a large negative imaginary number to the deposited ray power on material discontinuities.1

Semiconductor Module

  • The selection of the Schrödinger-Poisson multiphysics coupling is extended to include domains of the Second-Order Hamiltonian domain condition.1

Structural Mechanics Module

  • The formulation for wear using deformed geometry has been improved to avoid spurious wear rate after separation of wear surfaces.1
  • Fixed a problem with the random vibration operators, whereby they could incorrectly return zero when evaluated during assembling.1
  • Stability improvements.1
  • The Compliance matrix and Elasticity matrix of the piezoelectric material polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) have been corrected to be consistent with the Voigt notation.1

Subsurface Flow Module

  • Out-of-plane thickness in the Well feature with a mass flow rate is now considered.1

1 New in update 1 (Feb 8, 2021)

2 New in update 2 (May 5, 2021)

ACIS is a registered trademark of Spatial Corporation. Autodesk, the Autodesk logo, AutoCAD, and Inventor are registered trademarks or trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., and/or its subsidiaries and/or affiliates in the USA and/or other countries. CATIA is a registered trademark of Dassault Systèmes or its subsidiaries in the US and/or other countries. Debian is a registered trademark of trademark of Software in the Public Interest, Inc. in the United States. Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds in the U.S. and other countries. Microsoft, Excel, and Windows are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. macOS is a trademark of Apple Inc., in the U.S. and other countries. MATLAB is a registered trademark of The MathWorks, Inc. NX is a trademark or registered trademark of Siemens Product Lifecycle Management Software Inc. or its subsidiaries in the United States and in other countries. Red Hat Enterprise Linux is a registered trademark of Red Hat, Inc. SOLIDWORKS is a registered trademark of Dassault Systèmes SolidWorks Corp. SUSE is a registered trademark of SUSE LLC.