Linux Installation

General Information

I originally stored the Linux distribution in a simple tar ball. Tar balls were the quickest way I could deliver Linux support to the Linux community. I continue to distribute unxmit as a tar ball for because it is a very simple installation and you have the greatest flexibility choosing a destination directory.

I also created unxmit packages using DEB and RPM formats. Both of these install unxmit in /opt/unxmit. I chose the /opt directory because that location seems appropriate according to FSSTND. Use “.deb” for Debian and UBUNTU systems; and use RPM for RedHat, Fedora, and SUSE.

I have tested unXmit under two Linux systems using a VMPlayer: openSUSE and UBUNTU. Both of these Linux systems were 64-bit. More importantly, under openSUSE, I have tested using OPENJDK and Oracles JVM.

After installing, unxmit on a recently downloaded Ubunut 11.04, I got an error message. Gohere to see how I resolved the error.

Choosing Correct Distributions

The two Linux systems I am using have preinstalled OpenJVM and OpenJDK; thus, unlike Windows, the issue of running 32-bit under a 64-bit operating systems is more unlikely. For the Linux user, choose the file that is appropriate for your type of Linux system:

Operating Systems	Distribution File
Linux 64-bit Systems	unxmit-v1r1m0-Linux64.tar.gz
Linux 64-bit (RPM)	unxmit-v1r1m0-Linux64.rpm
Linux 64-bit (DEB)	unxmit-v1r1m0-Linux64.deb
Linux 32-bit Systems	unxmit-v1r1m0-Linux32.tar.gz
Linux 32-bit (RPM)	unxmit-v1r1m0-Linux32.rpm
Linux 32-bit (DEB)	unxmit-v1r1m0-Linux32.deb

Installation

If you choose to install unXmit from the tar ball, decide which directory you wish to install; and unpack the tar ball in that directory. I choose to install unXmit in my home directory. When I unpacked the tar ball there, tar created a subdirectory named unxmit. There will be additional subdirectories within the $HOME/unxmit directory. These are there based on Eclipse RCP requirements. If you decide to move directories to new locations, be sure to preserve Eclipses directory structure. I am sure Eclipse, SWT, and JFACE requires consistent locations relative to the beginning directory.

If you choose to install unXmit using dpkg or rpm, these products will install unXmit under the /opt directory.

UnXmit's profile location (unxmit.xml) is determined by a Java string System.Properties(user.home)/unxmit. This derives to /home/<user>/unxmit or /~/<user>/unxmit. This directory is available if you unpack the tar ball in your home directory; however, if you install in another directory, be sure to create /home/<your user id>/unxmit. The profile is updated frequently; thus, you must have write access to that directory.

These are the commands I used to unpack the tar ball, assuming the tar ball is saved in the home directory.

cd ~

tar -zxvf unxmit-v1r1m0-Linux64.tar.gz

chmod 755 R unxmit

These are the commands I used to install unxmit using a .deb file. I put the .deb file in my home directory. Unxmit was installed in /opt/unxmit.

cd ~

sudo dpkg –install unxmit-v1r1m0-Linux64.deb

These are the commands I used to install unxmit using an .rpm file. I put the .rpm file in my home directory and unxmit was installed in /opt/unxmit.

cd ~

sudo rpm –install unxmit-v1r1m0-Linux64.rpm

Configuration

Since Linux has a wide variety of HTML browsers, file mangers, and Text File Viewers; you will have to configure the viewers unxmit uses. Follow this linkto see screenshots of an unxmit running under Gnome's desktop and another running under KDE's desktop. In the examples, the Gnome desktop used firefox, nautilus, and gedit as viewers; the KDE desktop used konqueror, dolphin, and kwrite as viewers. You can add names to the viewer list if you prefer a different viewer; like Notepad++.

I will gladly take suggestions in the area of Linux product delivery. I am, in fact, primarily a mainframe developer; both Windows and Linux are new development terrain for me. I can be contacted at dlknappinfo@att.net.

Thank you

For information regarding OPENJDK, see http://openjdk.java.net/