Installing ETABS on Your Computer

Stanford students can install the ETABS application on their computers to perform structural analysis and design by following these steps.

Note: You must be connected to the Stanford network environment (on-campus or via the VPN) to use our network license server for ETABS.

THESE INSTRUCTIONS MUST BE UPDATED FOR ETABS 19 — PRIOR INSTRUCTIONS FOR ETABS 18 NO LONGER WORK
Configure Your Computer to Find Our License Server

Before you get started, you must configure your computer to point to the IP address of our ETABS network license server by creating a new System Environment Variable:

  1. Open the Windows Advanced system settings dialog.
    • On Windows 8: Open the Windows Control Panel > System > Advanced tab
    • On Windows 10: Navigate to Control Panel > Windows Settings > System and Security > System > Advanced System Settings to open the System Properties dialog.
  2. Click the Environment Variables button.
  3. Add a new System variable with the name LSFORCEHOST
  4. Set the value to cee-license.stanford.edu
  5. Click OK to accept the changes and close the Control Panel.
  6. Restart Windows.
Install the ETABS application
  1. Download the latest version of the ETABS software directly from CSI using the CSI Installation Wizard
  2. Run the ETABS Setup application.
  3. When prompted to Select Licensing Model, choose: Install ETABS for use with network license key.
  4. Click Next.
  5. The installer will look for our license manager at cee-license.stanford.edu. When it locates the license manager, click Next.
    • IMPORTANT: This will only work if you are connected to the Stanford VPN.
  6. Download the ETABS installer to your computer.
  7. Click the Install button and accept the default setting to install ETABS on your computer. Then, wait patiently -- the installation takes several minutes to complete.
Run the ETABS application
  • When the installation is complete, double-click the ETABS icon on your desktop or select Computers and Structures > ETABS from the Windows Start menu.