Arch Linux User Repository

@vitaliikuzhdin No worries at all. Thanks for the tips and thanks for putting all the work to get matlab working on Arch! I'll see if I have time soon to test if this works on my system.

@PlanetaryTyler, sorry, changed a lot in the packaging of the ecosystem but forgot to push the update here. To get the Java components, you need to install java-matlab which should also give you a choice of which supported JDK to pull. Then, if said JDK is not configured as the default Java on your machine, you will also have to mangle with MATLAB_JAVA, matlab_jenv or GUI settings. When I'll have time, I will write a set of pacman hooks to handle this automatically, which will also allow the user to choose between the system-wide JDK and the bundled one. Sorry for all of the inconveniences until that actually happens. Here is a snippet from the script that might help you:

  -> NOTE: MATLAB requires the system to use a compatible JDK version.

     You can view and change the current system-wide Java provider:
       $ archlinux-java get
       # archlinux-java set <JAVA_NAME>

     You can also configure MATLAB to use a specific JDK without changing the system default:
       $ matlab_jenv /usr/lib/jvm/<JAVA_NAME>
       $ matlab_jenv -allusers /usr/lib/jvm/<JAVA_NAME>

     Using environment variables (higher precedence):
       $ export MATLAB_JAVA=/usr/lib/jvm/<JAVA_NAME>
       % setenv MATLAB_JAVA /usr/lib/jvm/<JAVA_NAME>

     Graphical configuration (inside MATLAB GUI):
       HOME → Environment → Settings → MATLAB → General → Java Runtime Environment → Java Runtime Environment Path

Been having a hard time getting java enabled. tried multiple jdk versions that are compatible but Matlab cant seem to load it. tried both matlab_jenv and setting MATLAB_JAVA, but neither get matlab to actually load java. Wanted to install java-matlab but java-matlab-meta appears to be dead. Any thoughts about how to fix this?

@Petapton, it should also be a runtime dependency but it seems like I forgot to add that. Please keep it installed manually until I have the time to update the package. The reason is described here: https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=305604

@vitaliikuzhdin why is gnutls3.8.9 a make dependency?

@DarkestZero, no idea how I missed that. Fixed, thank you!

To enable optional products,

Changes made:

1. Line 205: Replace dashes ("-") with underscores ("_") to spaces (" ").

2. Line 214: Adjust formatting by removing quotes around "${_product_list:+${_product_list} }MATLAB".

# Modified code:
# Line 205:
_product_list+="${_product// /_} "  # Changed from _product//-/_}

# Line 214:
--products=${_product_list:+${_product_list} }MATLAB \ # Removed quotes

@bbaovanc, it seems I've found the cause of JDK not being recognised for you by default:

$ archlinux-java get
java-17-openjdk
$ matlab_jenv
JavaEnvironment with properties 
Version       : openjdk version "17.0.16" 2025-07-15
                OpenJDK Runtime Environment (build 17.0.16+8)
                OpenJDK 64-Bit Server VM (build 17.0.16+8, mixed mode, sharing)
Home          : /usr/lib/jvm/java-17-openjdk 
Library       : /usr/lib/jvm/java-17-openjdk/lib/server/libjvm.so
Configuration : system 

# archlinux-java set java-25-openjdk
$ matlab_jenv
Unable to locate Java "system" version

Download and install a supported version of Java. For more information 
 https://www.mathworks.com/support/requirements/language-interfaces.html 

Alternatively, to use the MATLAB-provided JRE, type: 
 matlab_jenv factory 

$ pacman -Qs jdk
local/jdk-openjdk 25.u36-1
    OpenJDK Java 25 development kit
local/jdk17-openjdk 17.0.16.u8-1
    OpenJDK Java 17 development kit

Technically, I could ship the built-in JDK or specify the system-wide version with MATLAB_JAVA, but that wouldn't be a great solution since it wastes space and doesn't allow customization. I think I will just add an instruction for anyone who has newer JDKs installed to specify the version manually, that shouldn't be a big burden.

Also, has the recent update which now keeps the bundled Qt runtime fix the errors for you? And could you please help me fix my install by telling me what is your output for ls ~/.MathWorks/ServiceHost/-mw_shared_installs/?

Weird, for me when I run matlab_jenv system or matlab_jenv -allusers system, it says:

Unable to locate Java "system" version

Download and install a supported version of Java. For more information 
 https://www.mathworks.com/support/requirements/language-interfaces.html 

Alternatively, to use the MATLAB-provided JRE, type: 
 matlab_jenv factory 

I can't remember a point where it ever worked for me, even about a month ago when I was first trying it. I have a lot of JDKs installed, so there should be plenty to choose from, unless that's part of the problem?

$ pacman -Qs jdk 
local/jdk-openjdk 25.u36-1
    OpenJDK Java 25 development kit
local/jdk11-openjdk 11.0.28.u6-1
    OpenJDK Java 11 development kit
local/jdk17-openjdk 17.0.16.u8-1
    OpenJDK Java 17 development kit
local/jdk8-openjdk 8.462.u08-1
    OpenJDK Java 8 development kit
local/jre8-openjdk 8.462.u08-1
    OpenJDK Java 8 full runtime environment
local/jre8-openjdk-headless 8.462.u08-1
    OpenJDK Java 8 headless runtime environment

@bbaovanc, thank you for taking the time to look into this. Unfortunately, I’m still not able to get it to work. As I’ve already mentioned, patchelf should no longer be relevant, since the new license server doesn’t seem to suffer from this issue. I also had gtk2 installed both before and after the breakage, and that doesn’t seem to help either.

About a week ago, I reinstalled MATLAB in the hope of getting it to work, and I was able to do so by running:

find "/usr/lib/gnutls3.8.9" -maxdepth 1 -type f,l -name 'lib*.so*' -exec \
    ln -vsf {} ~/.MathWorks/ServiceHost/-mw_shared_installs/v*/bin/glnxa64/ \;

The v* expression expanded to something like v2025.10.*.* (I don’t remember the exact version). Interestingly, after activating, crashing, and patching the execstack, the usual login asked me to confirm my email by redirecting me to https://www.mathworks.com/mwaccount/widgets/embedded/profiles/verify/confirm, which had never happened before. I then tried to reproduce the behaviour to confirm that I’d found the root cause, but after that, the expression only expanded to v2025.8.1.1, and I wasn’t able to “update” it. Still, this confirms that Arch itself isn’t blocked, which is very good news.

Regarding Qt5, I used to remove the bundled runtime to make it work on Wayland without extra tinkering, but as you and @AnonymePalme reported, this causes issues, so I’ve stopped removing any runtimes. We’re now using matlab-meta and java-matlab-meta to pull in the dependencies, just like before I took over maintenance.

As for Java, I’m removing the bundled JDK in favour of the system-wide one. MATLAB actually supports this natively. The java-matlab package also includes a .hook and an .install file to correctly set the JDK. For me, this works even with a broken license server:

$ matlab_jenv
JavaEnvironment with properties 
Version       : openjdk version "17.0.16" 2025-07-15
                OpenJDK Runtime Environment (build 17.0.16+8)
                OpenJDK 64-Bit Server VM (build 17.0.16+8, mixed mode, sharing)
Home          : /usr/lib/jvm/java-17-openjdk 
Library       : /usr/lib/jvm/java-17-openjdk/lib/server/libjvm.so
Configuration : system 

$ pacman -Qs jdk
local/jdk17-openjdk 17.0.16.u8-1
    OpenJDK Java 17 development kit

Before the breakage, this setup had always worked for me, including for the Add-on Store. Could you please show your output?

Also, regarding Simulink, is there a reason you install it with chowns and the Add-on Store instead of enabling the product in the PKGBUILD?