Run Autodesk Nastran

Having reached this section, you now have a fully operational Autodesk Nastran installation. If not, please review the previous sections before proceeding.

Autodesk Nastran is run from the command line by typing the name of the program (nastran.x), then the name of initialization file, and the name of the Nastran model file you wish to run. The order of the Nastran file and initialization file is not important. e.g.

nastran.x Nastran.INI sample.nas

and the following is equally valid

nastran.x sample.nas Nastran.INI

Additionally, other options can be specified on the command line as referenced in the NASTRAN Command Line section of the Reference Guide. These options should be placed before the initialization or model files on the command line. e.g.

nastran.x [OPTIONS] Nastran.INI sample.nas

or an example with multiple options:

nastran.x NPROCESSORS=1 SYSTEMSTATUS=ON Nastran.INI sample.nas

A simple example is used to illustrate the execution of Autodesk Nastran. With the following commands, we create a folder to work in and then copy a test file and a Nastran.INI into the newly created folder. Then we illustrate how to execute Autodesk Nastran. The command sequence is shown below:

mkdir nas_test
cd nas_test
cp /opt/Autodesk/Nastran_2026/Example\ Files/en-us/Test.nas .
cp /opt/Autodesk/Nastran_2026/ini/Nastran.INI .
nastran.x Nastran.INI Test.nas

Note: In the example shown, a space was present in the name of the folder and a backslash was required on the command line to 'escape' this and allow the command to work. This will be required for other 'special' characters when they are used on the command line. The ' .' (space + period) is also required at the end of the 3rd and 4th lines. The period represents the current working directory.

This should result in a working simulation. If this fails, please check your license settings or contact Technical Support.

Run Autodesk Nastran

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