Installation

Elmer Studio is the desktop. The Elmer solver that does the computation is a separate program, so installation has two parts:

  1. Install Elmer Studio: a ready-to-run package, or from source.

  2. Install Elmer: the official CSC builds.

Elmer Studio finds Elmer by itself in the usual places. Without Elmer you can still build geometry and meshes, but you cannot solve.

Table 1. Requirements

Operating system

Windows 10/11 (x64), macOS on Apple silicon (arm64), Linux x86-64 (glibc-based distributions such as Ubuntu 22.04+)

Graphics

Any OpenGL 3.2 driver. Without a GPU there is a software fallback.

Memory

4 GB is enough for the tutorials; large 3D models need more.

Elmer

Elmer 9.0 or newer (the official CSC builds, a distribution package, or your own build from source)

1. Install Elmer Studio

Every release on the GitHub Releases page carries these files (version 1.0.0 shown):

System File How to use it

Windows

ElmerStudio-1.0.0-windows-x64-setup.exe

Installer. Run it, then start Elmer Studio from the Start menu.

Windows

ElmerStudio-1.0.0-windows-x64-portable.zip

No installation. Extract it anywhere and run ElmerStudio.exe.

macOS

ElmerStudio-1.0.0-macos-arm64.dmg

Open it and drag Elmer Studio to Applications.

Linux

ElmerStudio-1.0.0-linux-x86_64.AppImage

chmod +x the file, then run it.

Linux

ElmerStudio-1.0.0-linux-x86_64.tar.gz

Extract it and run the ElmerStudio program inside.

Any

elmerstudio-1.0.0-py3-none-any.whl

Python wheel: pip install it into Python 3.10 or newer, then run elmerstudio.
The macOS build is not signed. The first time, right-click Elmer Studio in Applications and choose Open. Afterwards it opens normally.

Each package is tested before release by starting the packaged application on an example, building its geometry and, where Elmer is present, solving and plotting it.

From source

Use this to follow the latest development or to change the code. You need Python 3.10 or newer.

git clone https://github.com/AltElmer/ElmerStudio.git
cd ElmerStudio
Windows

Double-click run_elmerstudio.bat. The first run creates a virtual environment in .venv and installs the dependencies (PySide6, VTK, PyVista, gmsh, NumPy, Matplotlib).

Linux and macOS

Run ./run_elmerstudio.sh. It does the same.

Manually
python -m venv .venv
.venv/bin/pip install -r requirements.txt      # Windows: .venv\Scripts\pip
.venv/bin/python -m elmerstudio

2. Install Elmer

System Where to get Elmer

Windows

Download the installer from the CSC download area and install it with the default options. Elmer Studio looks in C:\Program Files\Elmer*.

Ubuntu, Debian

Add the official PPA, then install:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:elmer-csc-ubuntu/elmer-csc-ppa
sudo apt update && sudo apt install elmerfem-csc

macOS

Homebrew or a build from source. Elmer Studio looks in /Applications/Elmer*, /opt/homebrew/opt/elmer, /usr/local/opt/elmer and /usr/local.

Any

A from-source build tree of elmerfem can be selected directly (see below).

How Elmer Studio finds Elmer

At startup Elmer Studio looks in these places, in order:

  1. the folder saved in File  Preferences…​;

  2. the ELMER_HOME environment variable (or --elmer-home on the command line);

  3. ElmerSolver on your PATH;

  4. the standard install folders listed above.

The Messages pane then reports Elmer found: … with the solver’s version. If it shows Elmer was not found, open File  Preferences…​. In the dialog:

  • click Browse…​ and choose the Elmer installation folder (the one that contains bin/ElmerSolver), then click Detect;

  • or point it at a CMake build directory of elmerfem. Elmer Studio recognises a build tree and sets up the solver, its modules and libraries from it.

Detect shows the solver version and a one-line report on what this Elmer can do beyond the 9.0 release. It reports whether StatCurrentSolve has the diffusion-current term (multi-ion electrolytes) and whether a Fortran compiler is available for user solvers. It also says when the selection is a from-source build tree. Elmer Studio adapts to the build it finds: a feature that needs one of these is used only where it is present.

Developer  Elmer Installation opens the same dialog.

Parallel runs (optional)

To solve on several cores, set Number of MPI processes on a Study node. This needs an MPI build of Elmer (ElmerSolver_mpi plus mpiexec). Elmer Studio partitions the mesh with ElmerGrid by itself. The Windows -nompi builds of Elmer run serially.

3. Check that everything works

  1. Start Elmer Studio. The New window opens.

  2. Choose an Application Library example, for example Heat sink. Or later, from File  Application Libraries.

  3. Click Home  Compute (Ctrl+=).

After a few seconds a temperature plot appears in the Graphics window, and the Messages pane reports the solution time. If it does, you’re ready for the Quick start.

Graphics without a GPU

The 3D view needs OpenGL 3.2. Virtual machines, remote desktops and CI runners often have no GPU driver. Use Mesa’s software renderer:

  • Linux: pip install vtk-osmesa, or start with LIBGL_ALWAYS_SOFTWARE=1.

  • Windows: copy Mesa’s opengl32.dll (from the mesa-dist-win project) next to python.exe in .venv.

Without any usable OpenGL, the Graphics window shows a notice. Everything else, including solving, plots in 1D and tables, keeps working.

Command-line options

elmerstudio [model.esm] [--example KEY] [--elmer-home DIR] [--no-new]
Option Effect

model.esm

Open a saved model.

--example KEY

Open an Application Library example: busbar, heat_sink, cantilever, flow_cylinder, capacitor, coil, sphere, loudspeaker, scatterer.

--elmer-home DIR

Use this Elmer installation instead of the saved preference.

--no-new

Start with an empty desktop instead of the New window.

From source, run the same options as python -m elmerstudio …​.

Updating and uninstalling

  • Installer (Windows): run the newer installer over the old one. Uninstall from Settings › Apps.

  • Portable zip, AppImage, tarball, macOS app: replace or delete the file or folder.

  • Your models (.esm files) are separate and stay where you saved them.