IBM Workplace Managed Client 2.6 on Linux

Chapter 3. Workplace Managed Client 2.6 on Linux installation and configuration 91

This section describes the installation procedure on a typical Linux desktop. Is

there such a thing? Here is how we have qualified a typical Linux workstation for

the purposes of this book:

򐂰 It is essentially a single-user system because only one user logs in on a

day-to-day basis.

򐂰 The OS is installed on the local disk.

Note the similarities with a typical Windows workstation.

Note also that we are not considering how the workstation is used, but how it is

deployed (1.2.2, “Linux desktop classifications” on page 6).

Because this is the most common type of Linux workstation deployment and the

one most tested by the Managed Client, this is the installation procedure we

describe in this guide.

3.2.2 Prerequisites

This section provides the prerequisites.

Supported platform

The supported platform for Workplace Managed Client 2.6 is Red Hat Enterprise

Linux Workstation 3, Update 4.

Configuring the browser for Java

For the client download link to initiate the Managed Client installer automatically,

Java must be configured properly in the user’s browser. Although it is not

required to install the Managed Client through the download link, we strongly

advise that you install it this way.

In this section, we outline the steps required to configure Java on both Mozilla

and Firefox browsers under Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation 3, Update 4.

Tip: Appendix A, “Installing IBM Workplace Managed Client on other Linux

distributions” on page 195 describes how you can install the client some

unsupported, albeit common, Linux distributions.

Tip: Owing to the large number of possible combinations of both distributions,

browsers, and JREs, it is not possible to publish a definitive guide even for the

supported platform. However, the instructions in this section should be generic

enough for use with any distribution.

92 IBM Workplace Managed Client 2.6 on Linux

Perform the following steps:

1. Obtain either the IBM or Sun™ Java™ runtime environment (JRE). Download

the Sun JRE from their Web site. In either case, we recommend a 1.4 or later

JRE.

2. Install the JRE into a suitable location on the client workstation. In this guide,

we choose /opt/. For example, if we choose IBM JRE Version 1.4.2, the JRE

is in /opt/IBMJava2-142/. Make a note of the directory name; in this book, we

substitute $JAVA_HOME with that value.

3. The final step is to create in our browser’s plug-ins directory a symbolic link to

the browser plug-in shared library provided by the JRE. We must locate some

files and directories:

a. Where is the browser’s plug-in directory? On a standard Red Hat

Enterprise Workstation 3 Update 4 machine, the Mozilla plug-in directory

is /usr/lib/mozilla-1.4.3/. Firefox does not come with this distribution, but if

you have downloaded it from http://www.mozilla.com/firefox/ and

extracted it to /opt, the plug-ins directory is simply /opt/firefox/plugins. In

this book, we substitute $PLUGIN_DIR with this value.

b. Where is the JRE browser plug-in shared library? It is called something

similar to libjavaplugin_oji.so. For an IBM JRE, it is probably in the jre/bin

directory under the directory into which you installed the JRE. With a Sun

JRE, it is probably in jre/plugin/i386/ns610 or jre/plugin/i386/ns610-gcc32.

In this book, we substitute $PLUGIN_SO with this value.

c. Now, to create the link, enter:

cd $PLUGIN_DIR

ln -s $PLUGIN_SO

4. To verify that the plug-in is successfully installed, enter about:plugin into the

address bar of your browser (Mozilla or Firefox). Verify that Java is listed.

Important: The IBM JRE supplied with Red Hat Enterprise Linux

Workstation 3, Update 4 is Version 1.3.1 and incompatible with Mozilla and

Firefox. You must use a later edition of the JRE.

Tip: If there are multiple directories with names of the form

/usr/lib/mozilla-X.X.X, try the directory with the highest number.

Tip: For a list of all possible plug-in shared libraries, use this command:

find $JAVA_HOME -iname *oji*.so