Install DSim Studio

Modified on Wed, 19 Feb at 3:57 PM

Install DSim Studio

DSim Studio is a versatile Visual Studio Code (VSC) extension, offering unparalleled flexibility in HDL simulation, supporting both cloud-based and local (on-prem) workflows. This article describes how to install DSim Studio on your local machine.



Contents

  1. Prerequisites
  2. DSim Studio VSC Extension
  3. DSim Simulator
  4. Licensing

Prerequisites

  • An Altair One account. Sign Up if you do not have one.

  • A supported Windows or Linux operating system. macOS is not supported at this time.
  • The installation requires approximately 300MB of disk space
  • There must be a web browser installed and configured as system default (i.e. set to auto-launch)
  • You must have local administrator permissions, or specifically:
    • Root or sudo on Linux
    • Administrator on Windows
  • An Internet connection is required
  • For Windows only, the Latest Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable
  • Visual Studio Code

Installation

NOTE: The versions of the DSim Studio VSC Extension and DSim Simulator available to you may not match the versions captured in the screenshots below.



DSim Studio VSC Extension


1. From VSC, click Extensions and enter DSim Studio in the search box.



2. Select the latest DSim Studio extension and click Install.


3. Reload VSC as required.


4. Click Extensions. Under INSTALLED, find and hover over the DSim Studio extension to confirm you have the correct version installed.



5. The DSim Studio extension appears in the Activity Bar of the standard VSC User Interface.




DSim Simulator

You can have multiple versions of the Altair DSim Simulator installed on your local machine, and you must have at least one version. Each version is a 100-300MB download and takes up to 1GB of hard disk space once installed. You can have only one active version of DSim at a time. You must be signed into Altair One to download DSim.



1. Click the DSim Studio extension in the Activity Bar, then the drop-down arrow beside DSIM INSTALLATIONS.



All your installed versions of DSim will appear here. Upon initial installation of DSim Studio, this list will be empty.


2. Click Download to download a new version.



3. Allow Visual Studio Code to open external links and 'Sign In' with your Altair One account. If you do not have an Altair One account, click the 'Register' link to create one.


4. Under the Software Downloads of the DSim tile, select your Suite Version, Language, and Operating System.


5. Select a version of DSim to download.


6. Once the download is finished, install it from your Downloads folder.


7. Once a version of DSim has been successfully installed, it wil appear with a hollow bullet point under DSIM INSTALLATIONS.



8. Activate a version of DSim by right-clicking it and selecting Activate Version.



9. Once a version of DSim has been successfully activated, it will appear with a solid bullet point under DSIM INSTALLATIONS.



10. Open the DSim Studio shell by selecting it from the TERMINAL pane.



11. Enter dsim -version and confirm that it matches your activated version of DSim.



12. Repeat steps 2 to 11 for more versions of DSim if desired. All versions are installed to the following paths:


  • Windows: C:\Program Files\Altair\DSim\<version>
  • Linux: $HOME/AltairDSim/<version>

For Linux installations, we recommend you run the script check_dependencies.sh as described in DSim Operating Systems.


13. Anytime you want to activate a version of DSim, right-click it and select Activate Version. The currently active version has a solid bullet point while inactive versions have a hollow bullet point. You can remove a version by uninstalling it.




Licensing

Generated licenses are required for local on-prem DSim use. They are intended for individual use only.


On-prem licenses are not required to access Altair DSim Cloud features, including running simulations in the cloud.


Get a license to start simulating locally.


The installation of DSim Studio is now complete. Check out Tutorial: DSim Studio to see how to use it to simulate your designs.


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