Installation Notes

Java 2 Runtime Environment, Standard Edition
Version 1.4.1
Solaris Operating Environment

System Requirements

The Java 2 Runtime Environment, Standard Edition, v. 1.4.1 is intended for use on the Solaris 7, Solaris 8, and Solaris 9 Operating Environments.

Prior to installing the Java 2 Runtime Environment, you should insure that you have installed the full set of required patches needed for support of this release. Recommended and required patches are hosted for download on the SunSolve website.

See also (/j2se/1.4.1/font-requirements.html) Solaris Font Package Requirements for information about which font packages should be on your system.

Installation Instructions

The Java 2 Runtime Environment (Java RE), Standard Edition, v1.4.1 comes in the form of a self-extracting binary file. Follow the instructions below to install the J2RE.

At the end of this file, see also:

Java Plug-in Installation Instructions
Java Web Start Installation Instructions

64-bit support for the Java 2 Runtime Environment is available for SPARC processor platforms in a separate download. Installation instructions for 64-bit support are in a separate document.

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:
      chmod +x j2re-1_4_1_<version number>-solaris-sparc.sh
would become:
      chmod +x j2re-1_4_1_01-solaris-sparc.sh

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 of the same size.

2. Make sure that execute permissions are set on the self-extracting binary:

On SPARC processors:
chmod +x j2re-1_4_1_<version number>-solaris-sparc.sh
On x86 processors:
chmod +x j2re-1_4_1_<version number>-solaris-i586.sh

3. Change directory to the location where you would like the files to be installed.

4. Run the self-extracting binary.

A directory called j2re1.4.1_<version number> will be created 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>-solaris-i586.sh -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 (1.4.1/docs/guide/lang/preferences.html) documentation for more information about preferences in the Java platform.

Java Plug-in Installation Instructions

See Java Plug-in Installation Instructions in the Installation Notes for Java2 SDK, Standard Edition.

Java Web Start Installation Instructions

Java RE 1.4.1 includes the Java Web Start product. In the top-level directory you will find a ZIP file named javaws-1_2_0_<version number>-solaris-sparc-i.zip on SPARC platforms and javaws-1_2_0_<version number>-solaris-i586-i.zip on x86 platforms. 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 will be install.sh. Run this script to install the Java Web Start product.

Location of libjvm.so files

If you use the Invocation API to launch an application directly rather than using the Java application launcher, be sure to use the correct paths to invoke the Java HotSpot Client VM or Java HotSpot Server VM as desired. The path within the SDK to the Java HotSpot Client VM is:

jre/lib/sparc/client/libjvm.so (on SPARC processors)
jre/lib/i386/client/libjvm.so (on x86 processors)

The path to the Java HotSpot Server VM is:

jre/lib/sparc/server/libjvm.so (on SPARC processors)
jre/lib/i386/server/libjvm.so (on x86 processors)

The Exact VM and Classic VM are no longer part of the Java 2 platform, and legacy code that uses the Invocation API to launch an application based on old paths to the Exact or Classic VMs do not work.