def METHOD_NAME(
    exec_file=None,
    run_location=None,
    jobname=None,
    nproc=None,
    additional_switches="",
    start_timeout=60,
):
    """Launch MAPDL as a pexpect process.
    Limited to only a linux instance
    """
    import pexpect
    command = "%s -j %s -np %d %s" % (
        exec_file,
        jobname,
        nproc,
        additional_switches,
    )
    process = pexpect.spawn(command, cwd=run_location)
    process.delaybeforesend = None
    try:
        index = process.expect(["BEGIN:", "CONTINUE"], timeout=start_timeout)
    except:  # capture failure
        raise RuntimeError(process.before.decode("utf-8"))
    if index:  # received ... press enter to continue
        process.sendline("")
        process.expect("BEGIN:", timeout=start_timeout)
    return process