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System Requirements

To print on Linux, the /usr/sbin/lpc utility must be installed. This is a standard Linux utility. On Red Hat 7.1, for example, this utility is in the "LPRng-3.7.4-22 RPM" package.

Check your version of glibc using the following command:

ls /lib/libc-*

You should have about 75 megabytes of free disk space before attempting to install the Java 2 SDK software.

Most testing of Java 2 SDK 1.4.1 for Linux in the English-locale has been conducted on Red Hat 7.2, with kernel patch 2.4.9-31. Most testing in non-English locales has been conducted on Red Hat 7.1. However, Java 2 SDK 1.4.1 has undergone limited testing on these other Linux operating systems:

• Caldera Open Linux 3.1 (kernel 2.4.2, glibc 2.2.1)
• Turbo Linux 7.0 (kernel 2.2.18, glivc 2.1.x)
• SuSE Linux 7.1 (kernel 2.4, glibc 2.2.14)
• Turbo Linux for Simplified Chinese locale

Known Problems
The following are known problems on the non-supported platforms.

• Behavior in comformance with the API specification is not guaranteed while running as superuser on any version of Linux whose kernel was compiled with the CONFIG_IP_TRANSPARENT_PROXY option. The default kernel shipped with the Red Hat 6.2 distribution is compiled with this option. To avoid incompatibilities associated with this problem, either do not use the Java platform while superuser or else upgrade to a Linux operating system whose kernel was not compiled with the CONFIG_IP_TRANSPARENT_PROXY option. Red Hat 7.1 and later versions ship with the version 2.4 kernel which does not have this problem.

• When System.exit(int) is invoked on Red Hat 7.0, the program never exits with a non-zero value. This problem is apparently due to a bug in the exit function in libc.so library. To avoid this problem, use Red Hat 6.2 or Red Hat 7.1 rather than 7.0.

• If you use Red Hat Linux 7 Server, you must manually install compat-libstdc++-6.21-2.9.0.0.i386.rpm to prevent "error while loading shared libraries" when using the Java HotSpot VMs. This file is located in the /RedHat/RPMS directory on the Red Hat Linux 7 CD-ROM. You may also obtain a copy of this file from http://rpmfind.net. To install the file, use this command:

  rpm --install compat-libstdc++-6.21-2.9.0.0.i386.rpm
  

  It is not necessary to manually install compat-libstdc++-6.21-2.9.0.0.i386.rpm if you are using Red Hat Linux 7 Workstation.

• Some early versions of Caldera OpenLinux use version 2.1.2-3 of glibc. Because that version is not greater than or equal to 2.1.2-11, the Java 2 SDK's rpm installer will fail during its dependency check. We recommend that you obtain an updated version of the glibc library available from Caldera at the following locations:

  ftp.caldera.com:/pub/updates/eDesktop/2.4/current/RPMS
  

  or

  ftp.caldera.com:/pub/updates/eServer/2.3/current/RPMS
  

• An apparent bug in glibc 2.2-7 causes invalid hostnames of the form a.b.c.d.e to be resolved as a valid address. This bug means that, on platforms that use glibc 2.2-7, methods such as java.net.InetAddresss.getByName(String host) will not always throw UnknownHostException, as they should, when the hostname is invalid.

See also the Linux Notes section of the Release Notes.

Installation Instructions

• A self-extracting binary file named j2sdk-1_4_1-linux-i586.bin which can be used to install the Java 2 SDK in any location you choose. If you are using this file, see Self-Extracting Binary below.

• The file j2sdk-1_4_1-linux-i586-rpm.bin containing RPM packages comprising the Java 2 SDK. If you are using this bundle, see Installation of RPM File below.

The Java 2 SDK includes the Java Plug-in and Java Web Start products. See Installation of Java Plug-in and Installation of Java Web Start below.

Installation of Self-Extracting Binary

Use these instructions if you want to use the self-extracting binary file to install the Java 2 SDK. If you want to install RPM packages comprising the Java 2 SDK, use Installation of RPM File below.

1. Check the download file size.

Before you download a file, notice that its byte size is provided on the download page on the web site. Once the download has completed, check that you have downloaded the full, uncorrupted software file.

2. Copy j2sdk-1_4_1-linux-i586.bin to the directory into which you want to install the Java 2 SDK.

3. Run j2sdk-1_4_1-linux-i586.bin

Launch the executable file you downloaded, j2sdk-1_4_1-linux-i586.bin, by using the following commands from the directory in which it is located:

chmod a+x j2sdk-1_4_1-linux-i586.bin

./j2sdk-1_4_1-linux-i586.bin

The script will display a binary license agreement, which you will be asked to agree to before installation can proceed. Once you have agreed to the license, the install script will install the Java 2 SDK in a directory named j2sdk1.4.1 in the current directory.

System preferences -- By default, the installation script configures the system such that the backing store for system preferences is created inside the Java 2 SDK's installation directory. If the SDK is installed on a network-mounted drive, it and the system preferences can be exported for sharing with Java runtime environments on other machines. As an alternative, root users can use the -localinstall option when running the installation script, as in this example:

j2sdk-1_4_1-linux-i586.bin -localinstall

This option causes the system preferences to be stored in the /etc directory from where they can be shared only by VMs running on the local machine. You must be root user for the -localinstall option to work.

See the preferences API documentation at http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.4.1/docs/guide/lang/preferences.html for more information about preferences in the Java platform.

Note about root access - Unbundling the software automatically creates a directory called j2sdk1.4.1. Note that if you choose to install the Java 2 SDK into system-wide location such as /usr/local, you must first become root to gain the necessary permissions. If you do not have root access, simply install the Java 2 SDK into your home directory, or a subdirectory that you have permission to write to.

Note about overwriting files - If you unpack the software in a directory that contains a subdirectory named j2sdk1.4.1, the new software will overwrite files of the same name in that j2sdk1.4.1 directory. Please be careful to rename the old directory if it contains files you would like to keep.

Installation of RPM File

Use these instructions if you want to install Java 2 SDK in the form of RPM packages. If you want to use the self-extracting binary file instead, see Self-Extracting Binary above.

1. Check the download file size.

Before you download a file, notice that its byte size is provided on the download page on the web site. Once the download has completed, check that you have downloaded the full, uncorrupted software file.

2. Run j2sdk-1_4_1-linux-i586-rpm.bin and agree to the license it displays.

Launch the executable file you downloaded, j2sdk-1_4_1-linux-i586-rpm.bin, by using the following commands from the directory in which it is located:

chmod a+x j2sdk-1_4_1-linux-i586-rpm.bin

./j2sdk-1_4_1-linux-i586-rpm.bin

The script will display a binary license agreement, which you will be asked to agree to before installation can proceed. Once you have agreed to the license, the install script will create the file j2sdk-1_4_1-linux-i586.rpm in the current directory.

3. Become root by running the su command and entering the super-user password.

4. Run the rpm command to install the package for the Java 2 SDK v1.4.1:

rpm -iv j2sdk-1_4_1-linux-i586.rpm

This will install the packages comprising the Java 2 SDK.

5. Exit the root shell.

Installation of Java Plug-in

For documentation on the Java Plug-in product, see

http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.4/docs/guide/plugin/index.html

To install/register the Java Plug-in product you have two choices:

• You can do it manually;
• or you can do it automatically via the ControlPanel script.

Java Web Start Installation Instructions

Java 2 SDK 1.4.1 includes the Java Web Start product. Inside the SDK's jre directory you will find a ZIP file named javaws-1_2-linux-i586-i.zip. Move this file to a location where you want to install the Java Web Start product (preferably outside the Java 2 SDK installation). Unzip the file. One of the files extracted will be install.sh. Run this script to install the Java WebStart product.