Why I don't use Linux, or haven't....All I wanted to do was install Java on Firefox..

[Santilli]

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How do I download and install Java for my Linux computer?
This article applies to:

* Platform(s): Red Hat Linux, SUSE Linux
* Browser(s): All Browsers
* Java version(s): 1.5.0, 6.0

Linux system requirements

See supported System Configurations for information about supported platforms, operating systems, desktop managers, and browsers.

You will also need a Pentium 166MHz or faster processor with a minimum of 75MB free disk space and a minimum of 32MB of RAM.


Follow these steps to download and install Java for Linux.

1. Download
2. Install
3. Enable and Configure

Download

1. Go to http://java.com and click on the Download button
2. There are two types of installation packages.
* Linux self extracting binary file
This file can be used to install Java in a location chosen by the user and can be installed by anyone (not only root users). As long as you are not root user, it cannot displace the system version of the Java platform suppled by Linux.
* Linux RPM package
Linux RPM (Redhat Package Manager) uses RPM to install Java. In order to use this method, you need to have RPM available on your system. Otherwise use the other option.

Download the package that best suits your needs. You can download the file to any of the directories on your system.
3. Download and check the download file size to ensure that you have downloaded the full, uncorrupted software bundle.
* Before you download the file, notice its byte size provided on the download page on the web site.
* Once the download has completed, compare that file size to the size of the downloaded file to make sure they are equal.

Install
# Linux self extracting binary file
# Linux RPM package

Note: The instructions below are for installing Java 6. If you're-installing another version, make sure you change the version number appropriately when you type the commands at the terminal.
To install the Linux (self-extracting) file
Follow these instructions:

1. Change the permission of the file you downloaded to be executable. Type:
chmod a+x jre-6u<version>-linux-i586.bin
2. Verify that you have permission to execute the file. Type:
ls -l

Make sure the installation file has executable permission

3. Change to the directory in which you want to install. Type:
cd <directory path name>
For example, to install the software in the /usr/java/ directory, Type:
cd /usr/java/

Note about root access: To install Java in a system-wide location such as /usr/local, you must login as the root user to gain the necessary permissions. If you do not have root access, install the Java in your home directory or a subdirectory for which you have write permissions.

4. Run the self-extracting binary Type:
./jre-6u<version>-linux-i586.bin

The license agreement is displayed. Review the agreement. Press the spacebar to display the next page. At the end, enter yes to proceed with the installation.

5. Java is installed into its own directory. In this example, it is installed in the /usr/java/jre1.6.0_<version> directory. When the installation has completed, you will see the word Done.

The installation completes

6. Verify that the jre1.6.0_<version> sub-directory is listed under the current directory. Type:
ls

Verify the installation filename

The installation is now complete. Skip to the Enable and Configure section.

To install the Linux RPM (self-extracting) file
Follow these instructions:

1. Become the root user by running the su command and entering the super-user password.
At the terminal: Type:
su
Enter the root password.
2. Change to the directory in which you want to install. Type:
cd <directory>
For example, to install the software in the /usr/java/ directory, Type:
cd /usr/java

Note about root access: To install Java in a system-wide location such as/usr/local, you must login as the root user to gain the necessary permissions. If you do not have root access, install Java in your home directory or a subdirectory for which you have write permissions.

3. Change the permission of the file you downloaded to be executable. Type:
chmod a+x jre-6u<version>-linux-i586-rpm.bin

4. Start the installation process. Type:
./jre-6u<version>-linux-i586-rpm.bin

The license agreement is displayed. Review the agreement. Press the spacebar to display the next page. At the end, enter yes to proceed with the installation.

5. The installation file creates and runs the file jre-6<version>-linux-i586.rpm in the current directory.

RPM unpacking completes

6. Verify that the jre1.6.0_<version> sub-directory is listed under the current directory. Type:
ls

Verify the installation filename

The installation is now complete. Go to the Enable and Configure section.
Enable and Configure
Firefox or Mozilla

1. Create a symbolic link to the libjavaplugin.so file in the browser plugins directory
* Go to the plugins sub-directory under the Firefox installation directory
cd <Firefox installation directory>/plugins

* Create the symbolic link
ln -s <Java installation directory>/plugin/i386/
ns7/libjavaplugin_oji.so

In the ln command line above, use ns7-gcc29 if Firefox was compiled with gcc2.9.

If you install Firefox 1.5 or later, you can enable the Java Console menu item in the Tools menu. Change directories to the Firefox extensions directory, then unzip ffjcext.zip there.

cd /usr/lib/firefox-1.4/extensions
unzip /usr/java/jre1.6.0/lib/deploy/ffjcext.zip

Example
* If Firefox is installed at this directory:
/usr/lib/firefox-1.4/
* And if the Java is installed at this directory:
/usr/java/jre1.6.0
* Then type in the terminal window to go to the browser plug-in directory:
cd /usr/lib/firefox-1.4/plugins
* Enter the following command to create a symbolic link to the Java Plug-in for the Mozilla browser.
ln -s /usr/java/jre1.6.0/plugin/i386/ns7/libjavaplugin_oji.so

2. Start the Firefox browser, or restart it if it is already up.

In Firefox, type aboutlugins in the Location bar to confirm that the Java Plugin is loaded. If the version is Firefox 1.5 or later, click the Tools menu to confirm that Java Console is there

Test Installation
To test that Java is installed and working properly on your computer, run this test applet.

Vs. download and install in 2 seconds on windows....

My actual problem is finding the right directory to install in. CD doesn't seem to work for VMWARE, and,
a regular install of Fedora 13 was 'unsupported'.

Or how I learned to hate Linux. It's all coming back now...

 

[ddrueding]

Yup. *nix is ready for server-side stuff, but they have a long way to go for the desktop.

 

[LunarMist]

What are you doing at home that cannot be accomplished with Windows or OSX? :right:

 

[Chewy509]

Yup. *nix is ready for server-side stuff, but they have a long way to go for the desktop.

One could say the same about Microsoft Operating Systems... umm, actually no you couldn't. Don't work too well in the server room overall, and by god the support needed to support the desktop environment is a nightmare, I tell you... Between weekly patches, anti-virus updates, malware, rootkits, default configurations where users can trash their desktop, weird problems that take forever to resolved through hunting using your favourite search engine, and if you actually call Microsoft as a general customer get ready to hand over credit card details to actually get support for a product that you paid for! Could you really say that Windows is ready for the mass consumer market?

(This post was made with a tongue-in-cheek attitude, and should not be taken seriously).

 

[Santilli]

What are you doing at home that cannot be accomplished with Windows or OSX? :right:

I get bored, and, with VMWARE, it's fun to try and run stuff on The Beast. I've been able to test stuff and actually give the processor a mini-workout, once in awhile.

Not to mention the only times I've had Linux working have been on my laptop. Don't feel like dedicating a drive to Linux, or building a new machine just to play with it.

Still, to be real, that's probably what it's going to take to learn the system...

Not to mention the protection of running Fedora 13, on VMWare, on The Beast.

 

[timwhit]

If you are installing Java by downloading something from a website you're doing it wrong.

You can install most software you need through yum. For Fedora search for OpenJDK.

 

[Santilli]

When you use VMware, do you sometimes run out of disk space? Fedora wouldn't install from disk, so I downloaded an 'appliance', complete with setting and a single core kernal.

I've got a download that won't work because the OS partition is nearly full. I am slowly trying to clear stuff out, but, I have been getting a bunch of install problems.

 

[timwhit]

When you use VMware, do you sometimes run out of disk space?

No, because I set the initial disk size large enough to accommodate the install I'm doing. The appliances I have used in the past have been flaky. I prefer to do the install myself. I normally drop LVM during installation and use straight ext4 partitions.

 

[Santilli]

Thanks Timwhit.

Odd that when I tried Fedora 13, VMWARE said it's unsupported.

Anyone installed a version of Fedora and had it work?

 

[ddrueding]

I don't understand what you mean when you say unsupported. VMWare will install ANY OS, even ones it has never heard of. It doesn't need to know anything about the OS for the fundamentals to work just fine. What steps are you taking when you get this error?

 

[Handruin]

I don't understand what you mean when you say unsupported. VMWare will install ANY OS, even ones it has never heard of. It doesn't need to know anything about the OS for the fundamentals to work just fine. What steps are you taking when you get this error?

I don't know if that's 100% true. Their support is pretty wide now, but I do remember hearing in a presentation about VMWare optimizing their hyper-visor for different OSs for performance reasons. My point being, if you selected Linux for your guest OS and then you actually installed windows, your performance may not work as well had you selected the specific version of windows that you actually installed. The OS may not even install, but I've not tried.

 

[ddrueding]

While lying to it may not work, there has always been an "other" option that will allow you to do whatever you want.

 

[Santilli]

I've downloaded and burned Fedora 13 to a DVD.
I go through the setup, pointing the installer to the Fedora disk, and it's detected, and says so.
I go through the install process to the point it's supposed to start. I hit start and this message pops up:
"Guest operating system 'fedora' is not supported. Please select a guest operating system from the General page on the options tab of Virtual Machine settings."

 

[Handruin]

Like David mentioned, what happens when you select the option named 'other'?

 

[Santilli]

We'll see. I'm currently trying the various settings to see if I can Ubuntu 10.4 to install.
Easy install is nearly done...

 

[Santilli]

Well, managed to use it with onscreen keyboard, then it froze.

 

[Mercutio]

I'm installing FC13 right now on vmware server 1.0 directly from the source .iso. It's working just fine for me.

 

[ddrueding]

Merc has a point Greg, you don't need to burn it, just point VMWare to the ISO.

 

[timwhit]

Merc has a point Greg, you don't need to burn it, just point VMWare to the ISO.

That's what I did too. I had this up and running in under 20 minutes.

 

[Santilli]

Maybe VMserver is better for what I'm doing then VM workstation? That's what I down loaded. Just bought a rather large bood on Fedora that includes Fedora 12.
Anyway, I'll download the VM Server, and give that a try with Fedora.

Thanks

GS

 

[Santilli]

Sorry VM Player is what I'm using.

 

[Handruin]

In terms of which product is better with features and abilities...this is the order:

1.) VMWare Workstation (paid)
2.) VMWare Server (free)
3.) VMWare player (free)

 

[Howell]

0.)Virtualbox (free)

In terms of which product is better with features and abilities...this is the order:

1.) VMWare Workstation (paid)
2.) VMWare Server (free)
3.) VMWare player (free)

 

[timwhit]

There is also an open source version of VirtualBox. That's what I use at home.

 

[BingBangBop]

Last time I looked at VirtualBox it was highly unstable with very limited capabilities but lots of potential. Have they fixed it to make it a usable product worthy of another look?

 

[Chewy509]

Last time I looked at VirtualBox it was highly unstable with very limited capabilities but lots of potential. Have they fixed it to make it a usable product worthy of another look?

An absolute yes.

Virtualbox can do just about anything VMWare can do including 3D acceleration for supported guests/hosts, usb sharing/support, every LAN combination, etc.

 

[Santilli]

VB was not very good at running games in XP, etc. Video artifacts. However, I could install the OS..

 

[Mercutio]

If you just want to play games, get Dosbox and be done.

 

[Santilli]

I'm actually out to learn Fedora, Red Hat eventually, and improve my networking skills.

Thanks for the link on the Dos box, by the way.
Wonder If I can get Tex Murphy?

I'm cooking, or I'd have a better look.