Requesting Linux Software

Procedure to request linux software

Requesting software for research or instructional use

First, check to make sure that the software that you are requesting is not already available at list of available Linux software. If it is not already available, send a request to http://go.illinois.edu/EWSSoftware. if your request is for instructional software, or to engrit-help@illinois.edu if your request is for research use. Work with your group and IT support to determine what software packages or versions are necessary for your work and supportable in our environment. After procuring the software and license agreements, provide copies of (or access to) the software installation files or media, license information, and any installation requirements.

Software request guidelines

Requests for software to be used in the EWS Linux labs can only be made by faculty or staff. Students who find that they need software that is not already available must notify their class instructor or teaching assistants for submitting a software request to Engineering IT. This software must be licensed and used for instructional purposes only. For research use requests, all researchers in supported research groups may request the addition of software to the Linux environment.

Software needing specific or custom configurations will require meetings between Engineering IT and the requester for information gathering prior to the software installation as well as testing post-installation. While Engineering IT will configure software with special configurations (when appropriate), we are not specialists in every piece of software and will not be responsible for researching and determining the appropriate environments - researchers and instructors will be expected to provide this information in these circumstances.

Instructors or researchers using software that is not covered under campus site-licenses must acquire and make available the necessary license files and license hosting information before software will be made available. In the case of floating license arrangements, Engineering IT may host licenses and configure software installations to use the correct license servers. Node-locked licenses will be installed on machines specified by the requester, with the understanding that the individual licenses will not be moved around or shared among different workstations or labs. Any updates or renewals of these licenses must be completed by the requester and Engineering IT will make the new license files available to the necessary machines.

Software to be installed must not interfere with the software currently on the Linux systems. We support multiple versions of software packages and can provide a variety of tools that students and researchers may need, however software that requires specific kernel versions or drivers that are different than those in our managed environment may not be supported.