JRE Installation for Solaris (32-bit)

JDK Documentation

Contents

System Requirements

This version of the JRE is supported on the Solaris 8, Solaris 9, Solaris 10, and Solaris 11 operating systems. For supported processors, desktop managers, and browsers, see System Configurations.

Prior to installing the JRE, you should ensure that you have installed the full set of required patches needed for support of this release. See My Oracle Support website for recommended and required patches.

See also Solaris Font Package Requirements for information about which font packages should be on your system.

JRE Installation Instructions

To install the 32-bit JRE, use the Self-Extracting Binary File . This file can be used to install the JRE in a location chosen by the user. It can be installed by anyone (not only a root user), and it can be installed in any location. It will not displace the system version of the Java platform suppled by the Solaris Operating System (unless you intentially install it in the same location as the system's Java platform, which requires you to be root user).

When you install the JRE, Java Plugin and Java Web Start are automatically installed as well. Note that Java Plugin needs to be registered with the browser. Instructions for doing so can be found below at Java Plugin Browser Registration Instructions.

To install the 64-bit JRE on a SPARC, x64, or EM64T platform, you must follow a two-step procedure. First, install the 32-bit JRE using the installation instructions below. Next, install the supplemental support for 64-bit operation by following the 64-bit Installation Instructions.

Note: For any text on this page containing the following notation, you must substitute the appropriate JRE update version number (such as "_01") for the notation.

<update>

For example, if you are installing update 1.6.0_01, the following command:

chmod +x jre-6 <update>-solaris-sparc.sh

would become:

chmod +x jre-6_01-solaris-sparc.sh

Installation of Self-Extracting Binary

Use these instructions to install the 32-bit JRE for Solaris.

  1. Download the self-extracting binary and ensure that you have downloaded the full, uncorrupted software bundle.

    You can download to any directory you choose; it does not have to be the directory where you want to install the JRE.

    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.

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

    3. On SPARC processors:

    chmod +x jre-6 <update> -solaris-sparc.sh

    On x86/x64/EM64T processors:

    chmod +x jre-6 <update> -solaris-i586.sh

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

    4. The next step installs the JRE into the current directory.

  4. Run the self-extracting binary.

    5. Execute the downloaded file with the path prepended to it. For example, if the file is in the current directory, prepend it with " ./" (necessary if " ." is not in the PATH environment variable):

    On SPARC processors:

    ./jre-6 <update> -solaris-sparc.sh

    On x86/x64/EM64T processors:

    ./jre-6 <update> -solaris-i586.sh

    The binary code license is displayed, and you are prompted to agree to its terms.

    The JRE files are installed in a directory called jre1.6.0 <update> in the current directory. Follow this link to see its directory structure. The JRE documentation is a separate download.

Note about System Preferences - When run by a non-root user, the installation is considered a "private" or non-system install. During a private install, the installation script configures Java such that the backing store for the java.util.prefs package is created inside the JRE's installation directory. If the JRE is installed this way on a network-mounted drive, all Java applications, libraries, and preferences can be exported for sharing, so that the same version of the Java runtime environment and preferences are available to other machines.

As an alternative, when root users run the installation script, preferences are stored in the /etc directory. This is similar to installing the Java packages for Solaris, and this installation is "public" or system specific. Installing Java in this manner allows all versions of Java that support the java.util.prefs package to share the same set of preferences. In other words, in a public/system install, preferences set by a user running the JRE are available when the system is upgraded.

See the Preferences API documentation for more information about preferences in the Java platform.

Java Plugin Browser Registration Instructions

You must register the Java Plugin component with Netscape or Mozilla for the Plugin to work.

Java Plugin is supported for Netscape 7.x, plus Mozilla 1.x and higher on Solaris 8, 9, and 10. Java Plugin also supports Netscape 4.x, but only on Solaris 8. Java Plugin no longer works with Netscape 6.x. Java Plugin may work with other non-supported browsers. If you are using a non-supported browser, check your browser documentation for details on registering the Java Plugin.

Also see documentation on the Java Plugin component.

Java Web Start Installation Notes

This JRE release includes Java Web Start; Java Web Start is automatically installed with the JRE. But note the following:

  • Compatibility: The release of Java Web Start that comes with this JDK/JRE can be run on SDK/JRE 1.2.2 or later. It will not work with SDK/JRE 1.1.x or earlier.
  • Upgrading from Previous Versions: This new release will overwrite previous installations and automatically update browsers to use this new release. The configuration files and program files folder used by Java Web Start have changed, but all your settings will remain intact after the upgrade, since Java Web Start will translate your settings to the new form.
  • Using Java Web Start with Netscape 6.x/7.x: For Netscape 6.x/7.x users, setup the Java Web Start MIME type (JNLP) in the Edit->Preferences->Navigator->Helper Applications section. The file extension is jnlp; MIME Type is application/x-java-jnlp-file. It should be handled by the javaws executable file in your Java Web Start directory. Also note that, due to a problem with the JavaScript in Netscape 6.x/7.x, you must use the non-JavaScript version of the demos page.
  • pkgadd utility use: (1) If you use the pkgadd utility to install the Solaris packages for JDK or JRE, a symbolic link for /j2se/jre/javaws/javaws is created in /usr/bin. (2) If you have a previous release of Java Web Start installed and you want the latest version to run instead, edit the $HOME/.mailcap file so that it is identical to /etc/.mailcap. If you want the older version of Java Web Start to run, do not edit $HOME/.mailcap.

General Installation Notes

Location of Java VM Library Files ( libjvm.so)

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 Virtual Machine (VM) or Java HotSpot Server VM, as desired. Refer to Location of VM Library Files.