Can I overwrite MATLAB 2013 over 2012?

I have MATLAB 2012 installed on my laptop, but due to some toolbox issues I want to install MATLAB 2013.

I know that I can't uninstall MATLAB, I've to delete that folder.

But it is possible that I just overwrite the existing MATLAB with the new one, this will work?

1 Answer

If you install the new version, it will not overwrite the old one, because each version uses its own folder, usually with a name of the form R201?? under /opt/MATLAB/. The same holds for the settings, which are kept in a folder of the same name under ~/.matlab/. This way it is possible to use in parallel two or more different versions of Matlab.

The "command" matlab is usually a symbolic link in /usr/local/bin/ which points to the actual binary, e.g.

/usr/local/bin/matlab -> /opt/MATLAB/R2013a/bin/matlab

If you want to start another version, you have to type the full pathname of the executable at the command line, e.g.

$ /opt/MATLAB/R2012b/bin/matlab

If you only want to use the new version though, I'd recommend to uninstall the old version first. Uninstallation is done by deleting the installation directory with all its contents, and all the symbolic links pointing into that directory in /usr/local/bin/. Besides matlab, there can be e.g. mex or links to other executables. The link you provided says essentially the same, except for additional information on (de-) activating a Matlab license.