Installing 32-bit Java the Yast way

[ijbreakey]

Hello,
I've written a How To on how to install Java from the java.com website here.

For those who are more comfortable using Yast, there's also a way to keep Java up to date, although the website may have an update before it gets packaged into Yast.

I will use screenshots from my own computer to help assist you in installing java as I follow my own guide and write the steps down.

To begin, upon going to this site verify java, your screen probably looks something like this

.

First we must open Yast and go into our Software Manager. Here we'll search for "sun" without the quotes.



As you can see from my screenshot, you must select (check) java-1_6_0-sun and java-1_6_0-sun-plugin. Click on the versions tab to select which version you want. In my example, the latest version is from the update repository.

Click accept and let Yast do its thing.

Next you'll need to create a symbolic link for your web browser to use the java plugin.

Open a terminal and type this:

su

enter your root password

cd /usr/lib/browser-plugins

ln -s /etc/alternatives/jre_1.6.0/plugin/i386/ns7/libjavaplugin_oji.so

And that's it!
You can verify your java installation here verify java

That page should now look like this
http://www.fileden.com/files/2007/7/24/1293578/javayastsuccess_thumb.png

Hope this helps!
Ian

[el_Salmon]

Good HowTo, thank you very much!

[suse_tpx60s]

Which version of openSuSE was written this for? I'm using 11.1 and followed your instructions but found my module in a completely different location.
I had to create the symlink to

/usr/lib/jvm/java-1.6.0-sun-1.6.0/jre/plugin/i386/ns7/libjavaplugin_oji.so

as opposed to

ln -s /etc/alternatives/jre_1.6.0/plugin/i386/ns7/libjavaplugin_oji.so

as posted in your HowTo. That path didn't exist in my installation.

How do you remove older versions of java? I have Java1.5 directories, files and symlinks floating around.

[ijbreakey]

Hi,

This how-to was written for openSUSE 11.1. I'm not sure of any differences between openSUSE versions, as I'm using 11.2 MS3 and have followed these directions without any problems. Of course each time I tried it was with a new installation, and if I had an existing version of Java, I'd uninstall that first, before installing the new version of Java.

It turns out the folder I link to in my how-to is sym-linked to the folder you're using. /usr/lib/jvm/java

Which would be why I can get the same results everytime I install it. But it is curious as to why it didn't create the /etc/alternatives/jre_1.6.0 folder as it does on mine.

As for uninstalling older versions of Java, open YAST and then search for sun. Any versions of Java installed will be listed there.

Thanks for pointing that out though. If anyone else has any trouble with the symbolic link part, try the way suse_tpx60s did it.

Take Care,

Ian