Launching Simcenter STAR-CCM+

Launching Simcenter STAR-CCM+ is generally a two-step process. For an interactive session, you first launch the client, and then you launch a server process from the client. You can also launch servers directly and connect to them later.

Simcenter STAR-CCM+ operates using a client-server architecture. The client software provides an interactive Graphical User Interface (the workspace) that connects to a simulation running on one or more server processes. Two steps are required to launch an interactive session of Simcenter STAR-CCM+ for a new simulation:

Launch the Simcenter STAR-CCM+ user interface (also called, the interactive client):
- On Windows:
  - Start the client from the Simcenter STAR-CCM+ entry in Start menu, assuming you did not change any of the defaults during the installation
- On Linux:
  - First make sure that you know the full path to the Simcenter STAR-CCM+ installation that you wish to use.
  - From the command prompt, enter the Simcenter STAR-CCM+ command as shown in the following example:
```
% [INSTALL_DIR]/starccm+10.02.003/star/bin/starccm+ &
```
    where [INSTALL_DIR] is the path to the installation directory.
If everything is set up correctly, Simcenter STAR-CCM+ displays a splash screen for several seconds, and then opens the user interface. At this point, the user interface, or client, is not connected to any server.
Launch a Simcenter STAR-CCM+ server from the user interface:
- When you want to create a new simulation:
  - Choose File > New...
  Alternatively, you can:
  - Click the Create a File button on the toolbar
  - Enter the keyboard shortcut, <Ctrl><N>.
- When you want to load an existing simulation:
  - Choose File > Load....
  Alternatively, you can:
  - Click the Load a File button on the toolbar
  - Enter the keyboard shortcut, <Ctrl><L>
  - Choose File > Recent Files followed by an entry in the list that appears
  - Drag and drop a simulation file icon onto the user interface.
    Note The simulation will not load if the icon is dropped onto an existing simulation object tree.
- For both options, complete the dialog according to the properties described in Interactive Startup Reference.

Separate sections of the user guide provide detailed information on the client-server architecture that is used in Simcenter STAR-CCM+, and also on running parallel servers for large simulations.

If you are using Simcenter STAR-CCM+ for the first time, work through the Introductory Tutorial before going any further.