MATLAB R2025a: Some base dependencies are not installed by `setup-matlab`, leading to crashes during `run-command`

[zaikunzhang]

Hello @mcafaro and all,

Thank you very much again for making MATLAB available under GitHub Actions!

I am reporting an issue with the newly available MATLAB R2025a.

According to the README at https://github.com/matlab-actions/setup-matlab/blob/main/README.md,

Note: For GitHub-hosted runners, the Setup MATLAB action automatically includes the dependencies required to run MATLAB and other MathWorks products. However, if you are using a self-hosted runner, you must ensure that the required dependencies are available on your runner. For details, see Required Software on Self-Hosted Runners.

As far as I understand, this means that all the base dependencies listed at https://github.com/mathworks-ref-arch/container-images/tree/main/matlab-deps are automatically installed on GitHub-hosted runners by matlab-actions / setup-matlab, aren't they?

However, this seems not always the case, which may lead to crashes (internal errors) during run-command. Here is an example.

In the following workflow, we remove some libraries from a GitHub-hosted Linux runner before running setup-matlab, and see whether MATLAB works properly after setup-matlab:

https://github.com/zequipe/test_matlab/blob/master/.github/workflows/dependencies.yml

It turns out that, when x11-xkb-utils is removed from Ubuntu 22.04 / 24.04 before setup-matlab, MATLAB R2025a will encounter a crash when calling plot, even though x11-xkb-utils is a base dependency of MATLAB R2025a according to the following:

https://github.com/mathworks-ref-arch/container-images/blob/main/matlab-deps/r2025a/ubuntu24.04/base-dependencies.txt

See x11-xkb-utils.log for the full log of the workflow. In particular, the MATLAB crash log is attached to the end of this post.

N.B.:

1. This is only an example, which does not mean to be exhaustive. Similar issues may exist for other base dependencies. I hope it is easy for you to check whether setup-matlab installs all the dependencies correctly.
2. Strangely, the particular issue illustrated by this example does not exist on MATLAB R2024a/b, even though MATLAB 2024a also depends on x11-xkb-utils.
3. Another example: if libgl1 is removed from Ubuntu 22.04 / 24.04 before setup-matlab, MATLAB R2025a will be stuck when calling saveas, even though libgl1 is a base dependency of MATLAB R2025a.
4. In case this example seems silly, I mention that some popular actions may accidentally remove base dependencies of MATLAB. See https://github.com/marketplace/actions/free-disk-space-ubuntu for an example.

Thank you for taking a look.

Crash log of MATLAB R2025a:

MATLAB: <unknown>:0: <unknown>: Assertion `This application failed to start because no Qt platform plugin could be initialized. Reinstalling the application may fix this problem.

Available platform plugins are: linuxfb, minimal, offscreen, vnc, xcb.
' failed.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                Assertion detected at 2025-07-28 09:15:57 +0000
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Configuration:
  Crash Decoding           : Disabled - No sandbox or build area path
  Crash Mode               : continue (default)
  Default Encoding         : UTF-8
  Deployed                 : false
  GNU C Library            : 2.39 stable
  Graphics Driver          : Uninitialized software 
  Graphics card 1          : 0x1414 ( 0x1414 ) 0x5353 Version 0.0.0.0 (0-0-0)
  MATLAB Architecture      : glnxa64
  MATLAB Entitlement ID    : 11373431
  MATLAB Root              : /opt/hostedtoolcache/MATLAB/2025.1.999/x64
  MATLAB Version           : 25.1.0.2973910 (R2025a) Update 1
  OpenGL                   : software
  Operating System         : Ubuntu 24.04.2 LTS
  Process ID               : 10114
  Processor ID             : x86 Family 25 Model 1 Stepping 1, AuthenticAMD
  Session Key              : ebexqphpb432zqv9f6mydjrjr
  Window System            : No active display

Fault Count: 1


Assertion:
This application failed to start because no Qt platform plugin could be initialized. Reinstalling the application may fix this problem.

Available platform plugins are: linuxfb, minimal, offscreen, vnc, xcb.


Current Thread: 'MCR 0 interpret' id 140165162985152

Register State (captured):
  RAX = 0000000000000000  RBX = 00007f7ba8d24428
  RCX = 0000000000000000  RDX = 00007f7ba8d0dd18
  RSP = 00007f7abebfc640  RBP = 00007f7abebfca20
  RSI = 00007f7ba8cf2ab5  RDI = 00007f7abebfc650

   R8 = 0000000000000001   R9 = 00007f7abebfc930
  R10 = 0000000000000000  R11 = 0000000000000000
  R12 = 00007f7ba8cf2ab5  R13 = 00007f7abebfca90
  R14 = 00007f7abebfcef0  R15 = 00007f7ab000dfe8

  RIP = 00007f7ba8c960ff  EFL = 0000000000000000

   CS = 0000   FS = 0000   GS = 0000

Stack Trace (captured):
[  0] 0x00007f7ba8c8fb93 /opt/hostedtoolcache/MATLAB/2025.1.999/x64/bin/glnxa64/libmwfl.so+00326547
[  1] 0x00007f7ba8c8fddc /opt/hostedtoolcache/MATLAB/2025.1.999/x64/bin/glnxa64/libmwfl.so+00327132 _ZN10foundation4core4diag15stacktrace_base7captureEm+00000028
[  2] 0x00007f7ba8c91c9a /opt/hostedtoolcache/MATLAB/2025.1.999/x64/bin/glnxa64/libmwfl.so+00335002
[  3] 0x00007f7ba8c928b2 /opt/hostedtoolcache/MATLAB/2025.1.999/x64/bin/glnxa64/libmwfl.so+00338098
[  4] 0x00007f7ba8c92937 /opt/hostedtoolcache/MATLAB/2025.1.999/x64/bin/glnxa64/libmwfl.so+00338231
[  5] 0x00007f7afd6fab5a /opt/hostedtoolcache/MATLAB/2025.1.999/x64/bin/glnxa64/matlab_startup_plugins/foundation/platform/pf_matlab_integ/../../../../../../bin/glnxa64/libmwpf_internal.so+00355162
[  6] 0x00007f7b7a6a93f1 /opt/hostedtoolcache/MATLAB/2025.1.999/x64/bin/glnxa64/matlab_startup_plugins/cefclient/../../../../bin/glnxa64/libQt5Core.so.5+00693233
[  7] 0x00007f7b7a6a9496 /opt/hostedtoolcache/MATLAB/2025.1.999/x64/bin/glnxa64/matlab_startup_plugins/cefclient/../../../../bin/glnxa64/libQt5Core.so.5+00693398
[  8] 0x00007f7b7a69c5cd /opt/hostedtoolcache/MATLAB/2025.1.999/x64/bin/glnxa64/matlab_startup_plugins/cefclient/../../../../bin/glnxa64/libQt5Core.so.5+00640461 _ZNK14QMessageLogger5fatalEPKcz+00000153
[  9] 0x00007f7b7a111114 /opt/hostedtoolcache/MATLAB/2025.1.999/x64/bin/glnxa64/matlab_startup_plugins/cefclient/../../../../bin/glnxa64/libQt5Gui.so.5+01118484 _ZN22QGuiApplicationPrivate25createPlatformIntegrationEv+00003008
[ 10] 0x00007f7b7a11154b /opt/hostedtoolcache/MATLAB/2025.1.999/x64/bin/glnxa64/matlab_startup_plugins/cefclient/../../../../bin/glnxa64/libQt5Gui.so.5+01119563 _ZN22QGuiApplicationPrivate21createEventDispatcherEv+00000019
[ 11] 0x00007f7b7a7d34d0 /opt/hostedtoolcache/MATLAB/2025.1.999/x64/bin/glnxa64/matlab_startup_plugins/cefclient/../../../../bin/glnxa64/libQt5Core.so.5+01914064 _ZN23QCoreApplicationPrivate4initEv+00000534
[ 12] 0x00007f7b7a11247c /opt/hostedtoolcache/MATLAB/2025.1.999/x64/bin/glnxa64/matlab_startup_plugins/cefclient/../../../../bin/glnxa64/libQt5Gui.so.5+01123452 _ZN22QGuiApplicationPrivate4initEv+00000032
[ 13] 0x00007f7b79b7612f /opt/hostedtoolcache/MATLAB/2025.1.999/x64/bin/glnxa64/matlab_startup_plugins/cefclient/../../../../bin/glnxa64/libQt5Widgets.so.5+01532207 _ZN19QApplicationPrivate4initEv+00000009
[ 14] 0x00007f7afd7319de /opt/hostedtoolcache/MATLAB/2025.1.999/x64/bin/glnxa64/matlab_startup_plugins/foundation/platform/pf_matlab_integ/../../../../../../bin/glnxa64/libmwpf_internal.so+00580062 _ZN16PFGuiApplicationC2ERiPPc+00000030
[ 15] 0x00007f7afd6f833b /opt/hostedtoolcache/MATLAB/2025.1.999/x64/bin/glnxa64/matlab_startup_plugins/foundation/platform/pf_matlab_integ/../../../../../../bin/glnxa64/libmwpf_internal.so+00344891 _ZN9GuiThread3runEv+00001579
[ 16] 0x00007f7ba8adc8c3 /opt/hostedtoolcache/MATLAB/2025.1.999/x64/bin/glnxa64/../../sys/os/glnxa64/libstdc++.so.6+00903363
[ 17] 0x00007f7ba869caa4                    /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libc.so.6+00641700
[ 18] 0x00007f7ba8729c3c                    /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libc.so.6+01219644

** This crash report has been saved to disk as /home/runner/matlab_crash_dump.10114-1 **

MATLAB is exiting because of fatal error
exit status 255

[mcafaro]

Thanks for reporting this @zaikunzhang! We are looking into it.

[rebeccamccabe]

I seem to have a similar bug, although using the zip installer not setup-matlab. I have the following stack trace:

MATLAB: <unknown>:0: <unknown>: Assertion `This application failed to start because no Qt platform plugin could be initialized. Reinstalling the application may fix this problem.

Available platform plugins are: linuxfb, minimal, offscreen, vnc, xcb.
' failed.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                Assertion detected at 2025-08-25 22:16:46 -0400
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Configuration:
  Crash Decoding           : Disabled - No sandbox or build area path
  Crash Mode               : continue (default)
  Default Encoding         : UTF-8
  Deployed                 : false
  GNU C Library            : 2.31 stable
  Graphics Driver          : Uninitialized software 
  Graphics card 1          : 0x10de ( 0x10de ) 0x2230 Version 535.183.1.0 (0-0-0)
  MATLAB Architecture      : glnxa64
  MATLAB Entitlement ID    : 3202980
  MATLAB Root              : /usr/local/MATLAB/R2025a
  MATLAB Version           : 25.1.0.2973910 (R2025a) Update 1
  OpenGL                   : software
  Operating System         : Ubuntu 20.04.6 LTS
  Process ID               : 950899
  Processor ID             : x86 Family 6 Model 85 Stepping 7, GenuineIntel
  Session Key              : asubpc8g3mxdbd5g03wrm2ax0
  Window System            : No active display

Fault Count: 1


Assertion:
This application failed to start because no Qt platform plugin could be initialized. Reinstalling the application may fix this problem.

Available platform plugins are: linuxfb, minimal, offscreen, vnc, xcb.


Current Thread: 'MCR 0 interpret' id 140219121063680

Register State (captured):
  RAX = 0000000000000000  RBX = 00007f88d4eed428
  RCX = 0000000000000000  RDX = 00007f88d4ed6d18
  RSP = 00007f874ee6b670  RBP = 00007f874ee6ba50
  RSI = 00007f88d4ebbab5  RDI = 00007f874ee6b680

   R8 = 0000000000000001   R9 = 00007f874ee6b960
  R10 = 0000000000000000  R11 = 0000000000000000
  R12 = 00007f88d4ebbab5  R13 = 00007f874ee6bac0
  R14 = 00007f874ee6bf20  R15 = 00007f874000e938

  RIP = 00007f88d4e5f0ff  EFL = 0000000000000000

   CS = 0000   FS = 0000   GS = 0000

Stack Trace (captured):
[  0] 0x00007f88d4e58b93    /usr/local/MATLAB/R2025a/bin/glnxa64/libmwfl.so+00326547
[  1] 0x00007f88d4e58ddc    /usr/local/MATLAB/R2025a/bin/glnxa64/libmwfl.so+00327132 _ZN10foundation4core4diag15stacktrace_base7captureEm+00000028
[  2] 0x00007f88d4e5ac9a    /usr/local/MATLAB/R2025a/bin/glnxa64/libmwfl.so+00335002
[  3] 0x00007f88d4e5b8b2    /usr/local/MATLAB/R2025a/bin/glnxa64/libmwfl.so+00338098
[  4] 0x00007f88d4e5b937    /usr/local/MATLAB/R2025a/bin/glnxa64/libmwfl.so+00338231
[  5] 0x00007f87c0588b5a /usr/local/MATLAB/R2025a/bin/glnxa64/matlab_startup_plugins/foundation/platform/pf_matlab_integ/../../../../../../bin/glnxa64/libmwpf_internal.so+00355162
[  6] 0x00007f88a95b83f1 /usr/local/MATLAB/R2025a/bin/glnxa64/matlab_startup_plugins/cefclient/../../../../bin/glnxa64/libQt5Core.so.5+00693233
[  7] 0x00007f88a95b8496 /usr/local/MATLAB/R2025a/bin/glnxa64/matlab_startup_plugins/cefclient/../../../../bin/glnxa64/libQt5Core.so.5+00693398
[  8] 0x00007f88a95ab5cd /usr/local/MATLAB/R2025a/bin/glnxa64/matlab_startup_plugins/cefclient/../../../../bin/glnxa64/libQt5Core.so.5+00640461 _ZNK14QMessageLogger5fatalEPKcz+00000153
[  9] 0x00007f88a912e114 /usr/local/MATLAB/R2025a/bin/glnxa64/matlab_startup_plugins/cefclient/../../../../bin/glnxa64/libQt5Gui.so.5+01118484 _ZN22QGuiApplicationPrivate25createPlatformIntegrationEv+00003008
[ 10] 0x00007f88a912e54b /usr/local/MATLAB/R2025a/bin/glnxa64/matlab_startup_plugins/cefclient/../../../../bin/glnxa64/libQt5Gui.so.5+01119563 _ZN22QGuiApplicationPrivate21createEventDispatcherEv+00000019
[ 11] 0x00007f88a96e24d0 /usr/local/MATLAB/R2025a/bin/glnxa64/matlab_startup_plugins/cefclient/../../../../bin/glnxa64/libQt5Core.so.5+01914064 _ZN23QCoreApplicationPrivate4initEv+00000534
[ 12] 0x00007f88a912f47c /usr/local/MATLAB/R2025a/bin/glnxa64/matlab_startup_plugins/cefclient/../../../../bin/glnxa64/libQt5Gui.so.5+01123452 _ZN22QGuiApplicationPrivate4initEv+00000032
[ 13] 0x00007f88a8c5012f /usr/local/MATLAB/R2025a/bin/glnxa64/matlab_startup_plugins/cefclient/../../../../bin/glnxa64/libQt5Widgets.so.5+01532207 _ZN19QApplicationPrivate4initEv+00000009
[ 14] 0x00007f87c05bf9de /usr/local/MATLAB/R2025a/bin/glnxa64/matlab_startup_plugins/foundation/platform/pf_matlab_integ/../../../../../../bin/glnxa64/libmwpf_internal.so+00580062 _ZN16PFGuiApplicationC2ERiPPc+00000030
[ 15] 0x00007f87c058633b /usr/local/MATLAB/R2025a/bin/glnxa64/matlab_startup_plugins/foundation/platform/pf_matlab_integ/../../../../../../bin/glnxa64/libmwpf_internal.so+00344891 _ZN9GuiThread3runEv+00001579
[ 16] 0x00007f88d528b8c3 /usr/local/MATLAB/R2025a/bin/glnxa64/../../sys/os/glnxa64/libstdc++.so.6+00903363
[ 17] 0x00007f88d53dc609              /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libpthread.so.0+00034313
[ 18] 0x00007f88d50bb353                    /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libc.so.6+01176403 clone+00000067

** This crash report has been saved to disk as /home/becca/matlab_crash_dump.950899-1 **

My workflow can be viewed at https://github.com/symbiotic-engineering/MDOcean/actions/runs/17225977993/workflow.
Note that the same workflow hangs infinitely instead of crashing if I have Simulink-related code: in my case set_param(0, 'ErrorIfLoadNewModel', 'off') and load_sl_glibc_patch had to be commented out to avoid the hang and arrive at this crash to even see debugging information.

This issue only happens on R2025a on my self-hosted runner (matlab was installed with the zip installer using linux instructions here https://www.mathworks.com/help/install/ug/install-products-with-internet-connection.html, not with setup-matlab). In R2024b on my same self-hosted runner, also installed that way, it is fine. On a github hosted runner with setup-matlab, in both R2024b and R2025a it is fine. I did not delete any dependencies to my knowledge.

[mcafaro]

@zaikunzhang This issue should be resolved. I see the latest run of the test_matlab repo seemed to pass as well. Please feel free to reopen if the problem persists.

@rebeccamccabe This may be a separate issue than the one @zaikunzhang has reported. Can you please try again with the latest release and open a new issue if the problem you see persists.