Why do I get an unexpected exception when activating MATLAB on my Mac?

When I attempt to activate MATLAB on my Mac, I get the error:

There was an unexpected exception:

null

See the log file (/tmp/aws.log) for more details.

The log file has the following information: ERROR: MATHWORKS ACTIVATION IS STARTING UP. java.lang.UnsatisfiedLinkError: Cant load library: /Applications/MATLAB_R2008b.app/bin/maci64/libinstutil.jnilib

How can I activate MATLAB on my Mac?

Answer 1

[MathWorks Support Team]

This error indicates that you are attempting to activate MATLAB R2013a or earlier on macOS 10.10 or later. The reason this error occurs is because MATLAB R2013a requires Java 6, but macOS 10.10 and later will not invoke Java 6 by default, even if it is installed.

To resolve this issue, manually activate MATLAB and circumvent the activation client by manually placing the license file in the licenses folder.

Manually activate MATLAB

See “How do I activate MATLAB without an internet connection?” for instructions on manually activating MATLAB.

Place the license file in the licenses folder

Once you have the license.lic file from the MathWorks License Center:

1. Right-click or Control-click on the MATLAB application in your Applications folder
2. Select “Show package contents.”
3. Open the “licenses” folder. If this folder does not exist, create it.
4. Put license.lic in the “licenses” folder.

You should now be able to launch MATLAB.