Installing VisiBroker on Windows

This section describes how to install VisiBroker and related components on Windows.

If you are installing on a supported UNIX platform, see the later sections.

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.

Note (Windows Vista and Windows 7)

•

In Windows Vista, you must modify the compatibility mode of the installer before you use it. To do this, right-click the installer and select Properties. In the Compatibility tab of the properties window, select "Run this program in compatibility mode for:" and select "Windows XP SP3" from the list.

•	Under either Windows Vista or Windows 7, you need administrator privileges to run the installer. If not, the installer will crash. Therefore, on either of these platforms, right-click the installer and select Run as Administrator.

Installing VisiBroker and related components

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

Otherwise, depending how you have obtained the VisiBroker installer:

•	If you are installing from DVD and autorun is enabled on your system, the installer automatically starts when you insert the DVD into your drive.

•	If you have downloaded a VisiBroker installer from the web, navigate to the directory into which you have downloaded the installer. Double-click the downloaded executable to start the installation.

Follow the 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.

Important

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

1	The installer prepares and a splash screen briefly displays.

2	Introduction: Read the Introduction and click Next.

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

4	Choose Install Folder: You can select an empty folder to create a new installation of VisiBroker, or you can specify the location of an existing VisiBroker installation in order to add components to it.

Either accept the default (C:\MicroFocus\VisiBroker) or click Choose to specify another location.

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

5	Choose Product Components: You can choose the scope of the installation from the Install Set list. The default is Complete Installation, which enables you to select any or all of the components.

Depending on the Install Set you choose, 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, C++ and .Net.

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, in step 9.

6	VisiBroker Core Configuration: VisiBroker is supported in C++, Java, and .NET. By default VisiBroker for Java and C++ is selected here. If you have purchased VisiBroker for .NET (also known as Visi.NET), select the VisiBroker for .NET option.

Note that currently Visi.NET 8.5 is supported only in 32-bit Windows environments. If you are using any of the supported 64-bit versions of Windows, then you need to use the 32-bit installer to install Visi.NET.

7	VisiBroker for .NET Mode: Displays if you selected VisiBroker for .NET. Select the mode for which you will be using VisiBroker for .NET, one of:

a	Development

b

Client

c

Server

Notes

Development for VisiBroker for .NET is free, but if you wish to install the Client or Server modes, you must ensure that you have the correct VisiBroker for .NET licenses.

There is a known issue in VisiBroker for .NET 8.5 licensing. You can request the patch after installation, through Micro Focus Support.

8	VisiBroker for .NET Features: Displays if you selected VisiBroker for .Net. Select VisiBroker for .NET Tools to install the tools alone; select Visual Studio Add-in to install both the add-in and the tools.

9	Choose VisiBroker Services: Displays if you chose the option to install VisiBroker Services in step 5. 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.

10	Choose Install Type: Choose:

a	Typical to use 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: By default this is not added to your PATH. If you select the default, you may have to add certain components to your environment path manually.

3	VisiBroker environment variables: By default these variables are not added 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: see step 11.

2	Include the VisiBroker bin folder in your PATH: see step 14.

3	Include the VisiBroker environment variables: see step 15.

11	Configuration Settings: This appears if you selected Custom installation. Specify a setting for the Smart Agent port. The default is 14000.

12	Choose Shortcut Folder: Choose where to install a VisiBroker shortcut icon. You can install a shortcut in any one of:

a	A new program group (This is the default)

b	An existing program group

c	The Start menu

d	The desktop

e	The Quick Launch bar

f	Another selected folder, which you can browse for.

Or you can choose not to create icons at all.

By default, icons are created for all users, but you can disable this option.

13	Java Development Kit: Enter the path of the JDK to be used for this installation. See JDK for details of the JDK versions that you can use.

14	Modification of PATH: This dialog appears if you selected Custom installation type in step 10. Specify whether to include the VisiBroker bin folder in your PATH. The default is “No”. To add the directory to your PATH, choose “Yes”.

15

Modification of system environment: This also appears if you selected Custom installation type in step 10. 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.

16	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.

17

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.

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. To access the documentation on a machine where the product is installed, use one of the following methods:

•	Choose Start > Programs > VisiBroker > Help Topics.

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

•	You can also see the documentation at https://supportline.microfocus.com/productdoc.aspx

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 batch script is created for you to use for setting these environment variables.

To set these variables:

1	Open a command window.

2	Change directories to <install dir>\bin.

3	Execute vbroker.bat.

Verifying installation and registration

To verify that you have installed and registered VisiBroker correctly:

1	Open a windows command prompt and go to the <VBROKERDIR>\bin folder. (The default value for <VBROKERDIR> is C:\MicroFocus\VisiBroker.)

2	Setup the VisiBroker environment by running vbroker.bat.

3	Go to the sample folder <VBROKERDIR>\examples\vbroker\basic\bank_agent to compile and run the server to verify if the installation has been installed properly.

4	Compile the example using the supported compiler for the operating system where you are installing VisiBroker. You can see a list of compilers supported by VisiBroker 8.5 at http://support.microfocus.com/supportresources/VB85prodmatrix.aspx.

5	Assuming the "nmake" command is in the PATH, enter "nmake -f Makefile_cpp" for a C++ example and "vbmake.bat" for a Java example.

6	Once the compilation is successful, run "osagent" from the same folder. This is a lookup service from where clients will receive the server's IOR.

7	Start the server as follows:

For VisiBroker for C++:
server.exe

For VisiBroker for Java:
vbj Server

8	The server starts and displays the object reference which is hosted by this server.

Uninstalling VisiBroker

To uninstall VisiBroker:

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

2	Open the UninstallerData folder in the installation directory.

3	Double-click Uninstall.exe.

4	The Uninstall wizard opens. Click Uninstall to completely remove all components that were installed.

Note

Uninstalling does not remove files and folders that were created after the installation. After you run the uninstall program, remove the installation directory.

There may also still be files and folders stored in the user’s “Documents and Settings” or “Users” folders (for example, .bdp65) . You should delete these as well.