ERROR

Fluent automatically closes after pressing Start in the Fluent Launcher.

Software & Version

Fluent 2025R2

*This documented instance of this error occurred in this version but is not necessarily limited to this version.

Description

After clicking Start in the Ansys Fluent Launcher, Fluent begins loading but closes immediately. The error message appears briefly and disappears before it can be reviewed.

A log file may be generated in the user's profile directories such as:%userprofile% or %appdata% containing the following error message "Legacy provider loading failed. EVP_DecryptInit. Could not load the shared library" when opened with a TextEditor such as Notepad.

Cause

This issue is typically caused by conflicting OpenSSL libraries located in the Windows System32 directory. Fluent may attempt to load OpenSSL libraries located in C:\Windows\System32\ instead of the versions packaged with Fluent.

Solution

• Rename the Open SSL libraries
  1. Navigate to C:\Windows\System32\
  2. Look for the following files and rename them to add ".safe" at the end of the file:
     1. libcrypto-1_1-x64.dll or libcrypto-3_3-x64.dll
     2. libssl-1_1-x64.dll or libssl-3_3-x64.dll
• Copy Fluent OpenSSL Library
  1. Navigate to: C:\Program Files\ANSYS Inc\v252\fluent\ntbin\win64\ and copy the file "libssl-3-x64.dll"
  2. Navigate to C:\Program Files\ANSYS Inc\v252\fluent\fluent25.2.0\cortex\win64\ and paste the copied file
     • Note: v252 in the path corresponds to Ansys 2025 R2. The version number may vary depending on the installed release.
• Re-launch Fluent