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Install Documentation on Network Server

Note

These instructions are for administrators only.

Defaulting to web documentation is the best way to ensure that your users are getting the most up to date documentation for their installed products. However, if you need to provide access to documentation for your users with machines that can't access the internet, you can choose to install documentation on a network server that all of your users can access instead of installing documentation on individual machines. The advantages to this setup are that:

  • Users do not need to store large amounts of documentation on their machines.

  • Users do not have to remember to update documentation when products are added or deleted.

  • As long as you keep it updated, users always access the most recent documentation that is available for installation.

Note

Make sure MATLAB® is installed on the network server. You don’t have to have it running, nor does it even need to be in use, but MATLAB must be installed.

In addition, make sure that the MATLAB installed on the network server includes ALL the toolboxes and add-ons that clients may use so that the documentation installer knows what product documentation sets to install. If you omit a product your users are accessing, they do not get the documentation for that product.

To install documentation on the network server:

  1. Follow the procedure in Install Documentation on Offline Machines to download and install documentation on the network server.

  2. Edit the startup.m file for each user on each computer that has MATLAB and set the documentation root to the network server documentation location.

    In the startup.m file, add this line:

    docroot(newDocInstallFolder/help)

    Replace newDocInstallFolder with the path to the network folder where you installed the documentation.

    Alternatively, give this part of the instructions to your users to have them do it themselves.

  3. Restart MATLAB on each user machine (or have the user do it).

Access the documentation as you normally would, online or offline. If MATLAB still tries to open documentation on the web, go to the Home tab, and in the Environment section, click Preferences and select MATLAB > Help. Under Documentation Location, select Installed locally.

Notes

  • To revert back to documentation on the web, go to the Home tab, and in the Environment section, click Preferences and select MATLAB > Help. Under Documentation Location, select Web, on bat365.

  • To update installed documentation after adding or removing products, or to make sure you have the most recent documentation, repeat this procedure.

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