Installation & Licensing Center
HOW TO - Download & Install Ansys Lumerical
Authored by Carlos Rodriguez
November 1st, 2026
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KB4005794
Description
You download Ansys Lumerical from the Ansys Download Center, the same site you use for every other Ansys product. This article is for anyone installing Lumerical on Windows.
Each release is a single zip file that contains Lumerical, the Ansys Optics Launcher, and the MPI (Message Passing Interface) components Lumerical uses to run simulations. The installer sets them all up in one pass.
Solution
Before You Start
- You need an Ansys account linked to your company's Ansys customer account. If you do not know your customer number, see HOW TO - Locate Your Ansys Customer #.
- You need administrator rights on the computer where you will install Lumerical.
- Lumerical needs a license before it runs. If your company's Ansys licensing is not set up yet, start with Part #1 - Licensing Setup in the Ansys Download & Installation Guide (Start Here!).
Installing Lumerical With Other Ansys Products
Starting with 2025 R1, Lumerical is also available in the Ansys Automated Installer, under Optics. Use it if you are installing Lumerical together with other Ansys products. See the Ansys Download & Installation Guide (Start Here!).
1. Download the Installer
Download & Install on a Local Drive (Not a Network Share or VPN)
Do not download, extract, or run the installer from a network share, a mapped drive, or across a VPN connection. Files copied this way can arrive incomplete. See HOW TO - Verify the Integrity of Installation Files.
- Go to the Ansys Download Center and sign in with your Ansys account.
Note: If the Download Center shows "You don't have permissions to access this page!" after you sign in, your Ansys account is not yet linked to your company's customer account. - In the left menu, select Current Release.
- Set Select Release to the release you want, for example 2026 R1, and set Select Operating System to Windows x64.
- Under "Primary Packages (Commercial & Academic Packages)", select Photonics ➜ Lumerical (Full Package), and download its zip file.
- Save the zip file to a local drive on the computer where you will install Lumerical.
- Extract the zip file on the same local drive.
2. Install Lumerical
Computers with Microsoft Visual Studio
If Microsoft Visual Studio is installed on the computer, do not install Intel MPI. Instead, install the Ansys Optics Launcher, Lumerical, and Microsoft MPI individually from the extracted folder, as described under Lumerical advanced installation in the Ansys guide Installation using the stand-alone installer for Windows.
- In the extracted folder, right-click
Lumerical_Installer.exeand select Run as administrator. - When "Lumerical Product Suite Setup" lists the components it will install, such as the Ansys Optics Launcher and Microsoft MPI, click Install.
- Keep the default installation folder, and leave the Add firewall exceptions options selected. Complete the setup wizard with the default settings.
3. Connect Lumerical to Your License
- Open the Ansys Optics Launcher from the Windows Start menu.
- Select I have a license from Ansys.
- Choose to configure your license for Lumerical products only.
Note: If you also use Ansys Speos or Ansys Zemax OpticStudio, choose to configure your license for all Optics products instead. That option uses the Ansys Licensing Settings, as described in HOW TO - Specify an Ansys License Server. - Go to the licensing setup.
- Enter your license server.
4. Verify It Worked
- Start a Lumerical product, such as FDTD, from the Ansys Optics Launcher. If it opens with your license, Lumerical is installed and licensed.
If Something Goes Wrong
If Lumerical cannot reach your license server, see ERROR - Could not connect to license server, System error.
Note: To set the license without the launcher, for example on Linux or for every user on a computer, see HOW TO - Configure Lumerical Licensing with ANSYSLMD_LICENSE_FILE or License.ini.
Note: For Linux, see the Lumerical section of the Ansys Download & Installation Guide (Start Here!).
