Installing VisiBroker on Linux

This section describes how to install VisiBroker and related components on Red Hat Enterprise Linux and SUSE Linux Enterprise Server operating systems.

Installing VisiBroker

Ensure that you have the prerequisites described in “System requirements”.

Before installation

Before you install VisiBroker, select the installation method:

•	Download the product from the email sent by Micro Focus Distribution.

•	Download a trial version of the product from https://www.microfocus.com/products/corba/visibroker/index.aspx.

•	If you are installing from DVD, place the DVD in your drive.

Mounting the VisiBroker DVD on Linux

The VisiBroker DVD includes installation software for the Linux operating systems. This section describes how to prepare to install VisiBroker on Linux from DVD.

To manually mount the DVD on Linux:

1	Log in as a user with root authority.

2	Insert the DVD in the drive and enter the following command:

# mount -t iso9660 -o ro /dev/cdrom /cdrom

where /cdrom represents the mount point of the DVD

To mount the DVD using auto-mounting software:

If you are using auto-mounting software, the DVD is mounted automatically to the directory specified in your auto-mount configuration when you insert it into the DVD drive.

To check if you have auto-mounting software, use the following command:

$ ps aux | grep automount

If you do have auto-mounting software, the output should be similar to the following:

root 628 0.0 0.2 1148 588 ? S 17:32 0:00 /usr/sbin/automount

To unmount the DVD after installing VisiBroker, go to root and enter one of the following commands:

•	umount /cdrom (if you have manually mounted the DVD)

•	eject cdrom (if you have used auto-mounting software to mount the DVD)

To Install VisiBroker and related components

If you want to perform a silent installation using definitions from a properties file, see “Silent Installation on Linux”.

You can either download the VisiBroker installer from the web or install from DVD.

If installing VisiBroker from DVD:

1	Log in as a non-root user. Make sure that the user name you select has read/write access to the folder where you intend to install VisiBroker.

2	Mount the DVD.

3	Enter the following command to launch the installer:

$ /cdrom/install_linux

where /cdrom is the directory where the DVD is mounted.

(Or see “Start the installer in console mode on Linux”.)

Important: Make sure the Mozilla /usr/bin is in your path in order to use the default browser.

The DVD splash screen appears after a few moments. The installation wizard launches a separate window.

To view the Readme and installation documentation on the DVD, or to browse the contents of the DVD, click the appropriate entries on the splash screen.

If installing VisiBroker from the web:

1	You can install VisiBroker from the Micro Focus web site at https://www.microfocus.com/products/corba/visibroker/index.aspx.

2	Log in as a non-root user. Make sure that the user name you select has read/write access to the folder where you intend to install VisiBroker.

3	Enter the following command to launch the installer:

vb85-<release number>-linux-<platform>-<arch>.bin

where <platform> is either rh5 or suse10

and <arch> is either x86 or x86_64.

The installation wizard launches in a separate window.

Using the installation wizard

Follow the installation wizard's onscreen instructions. For most options, defaults offered by the installation wizard are acceptable. You can use the Previous button to return to earlier screens and change any information that is incorrect.

1	Introduction: Read the Introduction and click Next.

2	License agreement: Read the licensing agreement carefully and accept it in order to install and use VisiBroker.

3	Choose Install Folder: This creates a new installation of VisiBroker, or adds components to an existing installation. Either accept the default /opt/MicroFocus/VisiBroker or choose another location. Ensure that the user name you are using has write access to the chosen folder.

Note that you cannot install this version of VisiBroker on top of previous releases; but you can specify an existing location in order to add components.

4

Choose Product Components: Depending on the VisiBroker product you are installing, you can select from the following product components. By default, the components are all selected. You can choose to de-select any components which you do not need. For example, you could de-select the Examples option. The options are:

a	VisiBroker Console: GUI and tools for managing the VisiBroker ORB and services.

b	VisiBroker Core: The development tools and server components for VisiBroker for Java and C++.

c	Documentation: The suite of online documentation.

d	Examples: Example applications for VisiBroker.

e	VisiBroker Services: Optional components that you can purchase for extended VisiBroker functionality. You can select the specific services you have purchased later in the installation procedure.

5	Choose VisiBroker Services: Displays if you chose the option to install VisiBroker Services in step 4. Select the services you have purchased. By default, all services are selected:

a	VisiNotify: An industrial strength, ORB-level implementation of the OMG Event/Notification Service.

b	VisiSecure: A framework for establishing secure connections between clients and servers.

c	VisiTransact: A complete implementation of the OMG transaction management solution for transactions with CORBA applications over the Internet or intranets.

Important: Once you select which product you are installing and click Next, then if you wish to select a different product you must cancel the current installation and restart the installation process.

6	Choose Install Type: Choose:

a	Typical: an express install using default settings, including:

1	Smart Agent port: Also known as the osagent. Client-side ORBs use this port to locate server objects before invoking their services. The default is 14000.

2	VisiBroker bin folder: Typical install does not add this to your PATH. If you select the default, you may have to add certain components to your environment path manually.

3	VisiBroker environment variables: Typical install does not add these variables to your system environment.

b	Custom to customize your installation. If you select this, you can:

1	Set the Smart Agent port (osagent) to a value other than its default.

2	You can choose the default JDK. If you don't want to use the default JDK, select the JDK home path by clicking the Choose button. See JDK for details of the JDK versions that you can use.

3	Specify whether to include the VisiBroker bin folder in your PATH. The default is “No”. To add the directory to your PATH, choose “Yes”.

4	Specify whether to include the VisiBroker environment variables. The default is “No”. To add the VisiBroker environment variables to your system environment, choose “Yes”. The installation sets the variable BES_LIC_DIR to <install_dir>/var and BES_LIC_DEFAULT_DIR to <install_dir>/license.

7	Pre-Installation Summary: Review the displayed information before proceeding with the installation. Verify in particular the install folder location and the product features that you have specified. To confirm your choices and start installing, click Install.

The status bar provides information about the installation process. After the installation is completed, the Registration page displays

8

Registration: You must register and activate your license before you can start to use VisiBroker. This dialog gives you the choice to register now, or to do so at a later date. You are recommended to accept the default “Yes”, and register now. If you do so, the Product Registration Wizard dialog appears in a separate window.

Select “No” and click Next if you want to register later. See “To register and activate a license after installation” for information about how to do this.

Registering your license

 

The most straightforward method of registering VisiBroker is to enter the serial number and license key and choose direct registration, as described in this section. Other methods are described in “Product Registration”.

1	Product Registration Wizard: Select Have Serial Number.

2	Serial Number: Enter the 20-character serial number and the 6-character license key supplied with your installation into the respective fields.

3	Select Registration Method: Choose Direct.

4	Account Information: This is specified as a prerequisite for installing VisiBroker. See “A Borland Developer Network (BDN) account” for information. Choose I have an account.

If you have not yet set up a developer network account, select I do not have an account. The wizard prompts you for the information to create an account.

5	Account Information: Enter your developer network account information.

6	Proxy settings: If you have any proxies configured, check I use a proxy and enter your proxy information. If you do not use proxies, just click Next.

7	Information Summary: Check the information you have entered and if it is correct click Next. Click Back if you want to change anything.

8	Direct Registration: This dialog box shows how your registration is progressing. When registration is complete, the Done button is enabled. Click Done.

Closing the installer

1	Install Complete: This dialog appears when you complete the Product Registration Wizard dialog, or if you select “No” when asked to register. Click Done to finish.

Note: When VisiBroker is installed in NFS mounted directories and if there is insufficient disk space for the system temp directory, post installation cleanup process may not remove all the temporary files as the NFS server periodically locks files in the directories. To resolve this, you must manually clean the temporary directories and files after installation.

The install log

The installer generates an install log that is written to the root of the installation directory if you installed VisiBroker from DVD, or to the folder where the installer file resides if you used a downloaded file to install VisiBroker.

The VisiBroker install log file is:

<install_dir>/VisiBroker_InstallLog.xml

The file is an XML formatted log with installation-specific information, such as errors.

Using the VisiBroker documentation

The VisiBroker DVD contains a complete library of online documentation. In addition you can

•	From within the VisiBroker (Standalone) Console, go to the Help menu.

•	See the documentation online at https://supportline.microfocus.com/productdoc.aspx

Running the installer without a GUI

The installer is capable of running in a text only mode (console mode) for UNIX systems. You can invoke the installer with a parameter which specifies that mode. You can run the installer in text-only mode as follows.

Using an installation DVD:

install_Linux install -i console

Using a downloaded installer:

vb85-<release number>-linux-<platform>-<arch>.bin -i console

where <platform> is either rh5 or suse10

and <arch> is either x86 or x86_64.

Then see “Installing VisiBroker in console mode” for further information.

Configuring VisiBroker license variables

Before running a VisiBroker server or client, or VisiBroker services, you need to set two license environment variables (BES_LIC_DIR and BES_LIC_DEFAULT_DIR). During installation, a shell script is created for you to use for setting these environment variables.

To set these variables:

1	Open a UNIX shell.

2	Change directories to <install dir>/bin.

3	Determine the appropriate script for your shell. If you are using the Korn or Bourne shell, use the following script to set environment variables:

$ .<space><install_dir>/bin/vbroker.sh

or

$ source<space><install_dir>/bin/vbroker.sh

If you are using the C shell, use the following script to set environment variables:

$ .<space><install_dir>/bin/vbroker.csh

or

$ source<space><install_dir>/bin/vbroker.csh

4	To run the script automatically when you log in, add a command to your .profile, .cshrc, or .login file.

Uninstalling VisiBroker

To uninstall VisiBroker:

1	Make sure there are no background processes (such as osagent) running during the uninstall.

2	Change directories to the <install_root>/UninstallerData directory.

3	Enter the appropriate uninstall command.

For VisiBroker installed from a DVD:

uninstall

For VisiBroker installed from a downloaded installer:

vb85-<release number>-linux-<platform>-<arch>.bin -uninstall

where platform = rh5 or suse10, and arch = x86 or x86_64.

Note

Uninstalling does not remove files and folders that were created after the installation. After you run the uninstall command, check the installation directory and remove any unnecessary files and subdirectories.