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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 RedHat 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 RE 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 RE 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 RedHat 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 RedHat 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 RedHat 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 RedHat 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 fails 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 (a.b.c.d or a.b.c.e). This bug means that, on platforms that use glibc 2.2-7, methods such as java.net.InetAddresss.getByName(String host) do not always throw UnknownHostException, as they should, when the hostname is invalid.

See also the Linux Notes section of the Release Notes.

Installation Instructions

Note: For any lines on this page containing the following notation, you must substitute the appropriate Java RE update version number for the notation.

       <version number>

For example, if you are downloading update 1.4.1_01, the following command:

      ./j2re-1_4_1_<version number>-linux-i586.bin

would become:

      ./j2re-1_4_1_01-linux-i586.bin

• A self-extracting binary file, j2re-1_4_1_<version number>-linux-i586.bin which can be used to install the Java 2 Runtime Environment in a location chosen by the user. If you are using this file, see Self-Extracting Binary.

• The file j2re-1_4_1_<version number>-linux-i586-rpm.bin that contains RPM packages comprising the Java 2 Runtime Environment. If you are using this bundle, see Installation of RPM File.

After you install the Java RE, you will also be able to install the Java Plug-in and Java Web Start products. Java Plug-in installation instructions and Java Web Start installation instructions are included below.

Use the following instructions if you want to use the self-extracting binary file to install the Java 2 Runtime Environment. If you want to install RPM packages instead, see Installation of RPM File.

1. Check the download file size

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

2. Change to the directory you want to install into.

For example, if you want to install the software in the /usr/java/ directory, then execute:

cd /usr/java

3. Run j2re-1_4_1_<version number>-linux-i586.bin and agree to the license it displays.

Launch the installation scripts by using the following commands from the directory in which the file is located:

chmod a+x j2re-1_4_1_<version number>-linux-i586.bin

./j2re-1_4_1_<version number>-linux-i586.bin

The script displays a binary license agreement, which you are asked to agree to before installation can proceed. Once you have agreed to the license, the install script installs the Java RE in a directory called j2re1.4.1_<version number> in the current directory.

Note about 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:

j2re-1_4_1_<version number>-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 for more information about preferences in the Java platform.

Note about Root Access - If you choose to install the Java 2 Runtime Environment 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 Runtime Environment into your home directory, or a subdirectory that you have permission to write to.

Use these instructions if you want to install Java 2 Runtime Environement 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. Once the download has completed, check that you have downloaded the full, uncorrupted software file.

2. Run the installation script and agree to the license it displays.

Launch the installation script by using the following commands from the directory in which it is located:

chmod a+x j2re-1_4_1_<version number>-linux-i586-rpm.bin

./j2re-1_4_1_<version number>-linux-i586-rpm.bin

The script displays a binary license agreement, which you are asked to agree to before installation can proceed. Once you have agreed to the license, the install script creates the file j2re-1_4_1_<version number>-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 packages:

The following command installs the packages comprising the Java 2 Runtime Environment.

rpm -iv j2re-1_4_1_<version number>-linux-i586.rpm

5. Exit the root shell.

Java Plug-in Installation Instructions

See Java Plug-in Installation Instructions in the Installation Notes for Java 2 SDK, Standard Edition, for Linux.

Java RE 1.4.1 includes the Java Web Start product. Inside the Java RE's top-level directory you will find a ZIP file named javaws-1_2_0_<version number>-linux-i586-i.zip. The <version number> notation refers to the current Java Web Start version number.

Move this file to a location where you want to install the Java Web Start product (preferably outside the Java RE installation). Unzip the file. One of the files extracted is install.sh. Run this script to install the Java WebStart product.