Gmsh

1. Introduction

Gmsh is an open-source ‘3D finite element mesh generator with a built-in CAD engine and post-processor’. It includes geometry, mesh, solver and post-processing modules. They can be controlled using a GUI; using .geo script files; from the command line; through an API that is available for Fortran, C, C++, Python and Julia; or using the authors’ ONELAB interface through Unix or TCP/IP sockets.

Models are defined in terms of volumes, surfaces, curves and points, and can include embedded internal model entities. The geometry module includes a built-in kernel (geo) and an OpenCASCADE kernel (occ). Geometric entities can be defined top-down, bottom-up, or both; and they can be combined into ‘physical groups’.

A set of tutorials is available.

2. Getting Gmsh

Gmsh is available for download as binaries for Linux, MS Windows and Mac OS X, and also as source code. It is also available through various Linux distributions (e.g., the Debian package manager).

Python users can use
pip install --upgrade gmsh

As of 2026 Jan 10, the latest version is 4.15.0 dated 2025 Oct 26.

Release notes are at https://gitlab.onelab.info/gmsh/gmsh/-/releases.


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R. Funnell
Last modified: 2026-01-10 09:27:54