How to create launcher icon
I recently installed Matlab R2013a and it is working fine, however the only way I can start it is by running /usr/local/MATLAB/R2013a/bin/matlab in the terminal. If I type in matlab it says command not found, and I can't seem to get an icon in the side-bar launcher. How can I make it so I can run from the command matlab or from a launcher?
Edit: I have created a link so I can launch it by typing matlab in the terminal. I still can't get the unity icon launcher working though. I managed to create an icon via a matlab.desktop file in /usr/share/applications. When I click it, it launches Matlab, but after the initial loading screen Matlab shuts down instead of launching the application. It works through the terminal though. My matlab.desktop file is:
[Desktop Entry]
Type=Application
Name=Matlab
Comment=Matlab R2013a
Icon=/usr/share/icons/Matlab.png
Exec=/usr/local/MATLAB/R2013a/bin/matlab
Categories=Office
Terminal=false`9 Answers
The lock to launcher is indeed not working for matlab. There is however a .desktop file that is part of the Matlab installation.
sudo ln /usr/share/app-install/desktop/matlab-support:matlab.desktop /usr/share/applications/matlab.desktopYou have to update a few things in this file (matlab.desktop):
[Desktop Entry]
X-AppInstall-Package=matlab-support
X-AppInstall-Popcon=3
X-AppInstall-Section=multiverse
Version=1.0
Type=Application
Terminal=false
Exec=matlab -desktop
Name=MATLAB
Icon=_usr_share_icons_hicolor_48x48_apps_matlab
Categories=Development;Math;Science
Comment=Scientific computing environment
StartupNotify=true
StartupWMClass=com-mathworks-util-PostVMInit
X-Ubuntu-Gettext-Domain=app-install-dataGive the icon an absolute file path by changing the icon path above to
Icon=/usr/share/app-install/icons/_usr_share_icons_hicolor_48x48_apps_matlab.pngAnd change:
Terminal=trueNow you should be able to lock the icon to the launcher as well as start matlab from there.
6For me this works perfectly ...
Open a terminal and then
1.download your own icon-
sudo wget -O /usr/share/icons/matlab.png2.give your access permission
sudo touch /usr/share/applications/matlab.desktop3.edit your .desktop file
sudo gedit /usr/share/applications/matlab.desktop4.and paste the following into the document.
#!/usr/bin/env xdg-open
[Desktop Entry]
Type=Application
Icon=/usr/share/icons/matlab.png
Name=MATLAB R2014a
Comment=Start MATLAB - The Language of Technical Computing
Exec=matlab -desktop
Categories=Development;that's it..! Save, and you should have a new desktop shortcut in your launcher
To add an entry to the launcher and some other features, install the matlab-support package:
sudo apt-get install matlab-support
In your matlab.desktop file, you need to specify that you want to execute in the desktop.
Your Exec= should look like this:
Exec=/usr/local/MATLAB/R2013a/bin/matlab -desktopFor Ubuntu 16.04 and MATLAB R2016b
Find your preferable picture in .png format and rename it matlab.png.
Execute:
sudo cp matlab.png /usr/share/pixmaps/The above command copies your icon to the appropriate folder.
Execute:
sudo gedit /usr/local/share/applications/matlab.desktopThen copy the following lines on
matlab.desktop:[Desktop Entry] X-AppInstall-Package=matlab-support X-AppInstall-Popcon=10 X-AppInstall-Section=multiverse Version=1.0 Type=Application Terminal=false Exec=/usr/local/MATLAB/R2016b/bin/matlab -desktop Name=MATLAB Icon=/usr/share/pixmaps/matlab.png Categories=Development;Math;Science Comment=Scientific computing environment StartupNotify=true StartupWMClass=com-mathworks-util-PostVMInit X-Ubuntu-Gettext-Domain=app-install-dataGo on Dash and type
matlab.Pick the icon from Dash and move in onto Launcher.
Τέλος! The end!
To my experience by far, the far simplest solution I have figured out yet is to simply install "matlab-support" through apt-get. It solves not only this issue but others as well. Just pop open a terminal and type
sudo apt-get install matlab-support -yIt will ask for the location of Matlab. Mine is at /usr/local/MATLAB/R2017b.
Create a symbolic link in /usr/local/bin, i.e. as su
ln -s /usr/local/MATLAB/R2013a/bin/matlab /usr/local/bin/matlabOnce MATLAB is running, an icon should appear in the launcher toolbar. Right click it and lock it to the launcher.
1Ubuntu 18.04 For me this works perfectly ...
Open a terminal and then
Download your own icon:
sudo wget -O /usr/share/icons/matlab.pngCreate .desktop file:
sudo touch /usr/share/applications/matlab.desktopEdit your .desktop file
sudo gedit /usr/share/applications/matlab.desktopPaste the following into the .desktop file:
#!/usr/bin/env xdg-open [Desktop Entry] Type=Application Icon=/usr/share/icons/matlab.png Name=MATLAB R2018a Comment=Start MATLAB - The Language of Technical Computing Exec=matlab -desktop Categories=Development;
I had the same problem, and fund that much of the difficulty came from Matlab installing the .desktop file into ~/.local/share/applications/, rather than /usr/share/applications/. With that in mind, my solution:
Ensure that you can launch matlab by typing
matlabin terminal. If not, then you can install a sym link to do so, or replace mymatlabcommands below with the full path to the matlab executable.Download a matlab icon and save it to
~/.local/share/icons/matlab.pngCreate a new file:
~/.local/share/applications/matlab_version.desktopwith the contents: [Desktop Entry]
Encoding=UTF-8 Version=1.0 Type=Application Name=MATLAB Icon=matlab.png Exec=matlab -desktop StartupNotify=fals[ Terminal=falseCheck that the file you just created (matlab_version.desktop) has permissions set to be executable.
Navigate to ~/.local/share/applications/ using nautilus file explorer, and then double click on matlab_version (it hides the file extension here)
That should launch matlab. If it works, then right-click on the matlab icon in the unit launcher and then select 'lock to launcher'. If it doesn't work, then check that the file has execute permissions, and that your sym link is working.
