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Re: managing version 6 in a locked-down environment

• To: mathgroup at smc.vnet.net
• Subject: [mg78394] Re: managing version 6 in a locked-down environment
• From: Helen Read <read at math.uvm.edu>
• Date: Sat, 30 Jun 2007 06:06:11 -0400 (EDT)
• References: <f62let$chp$1@smc.vnet.net>

Murray Eisenberg wrote:
> This is to ask whether anyone "out there", or anybody at WRI, has had 
> experience with, or insights about, managing a Mathematica 6.0 
> installation on a multiple-machine environment, such as in a college 
> computer lab, where things are very tightly controlled?
> 
> I have in mind the sort of environment where, for reasons of security, 
> write permission is only rarely allowed except for temporary, scratch 
> files in specified directories, and where any change to the program's 
> system files must be done first on a master disk image and then mirrored 
> to the individual machines.  And in particular where such disk 
> re-imaging is only done, say, once per semester except in case of dire need.

A colleague and I maintain the computers in two math classrooms (31 
computers in each room), in exactly the manner you suggest. We installed 
Mathematica 6.0 after classes ended in May, before summer session, did 
some other tidying up, and sent out a new image.

> What I'm concerned about is paclet updates, of course.  

We usually set most software not to look for updates (and then just 
update everything the next time we are going to make a new image), but I 
don't recall whether we did that with Mathematica 6.0. In any case, we 
haven't had any problems with it. Either it's not looking for updates, 
or it's silently installing, or silently trying and failing to install 
them. We're not seeing any permissions errors.

--
Helen Read
University of Vermont