CentOS - Sep 2005 - Can't get JRE to install so that FireFox sees it

Hot on the heels of the success of getting sound to work with FireFox, I
am on to getting Java applets to run.

When I go to a page with a Java applet, I get the little Rubik's cube-
like icon that says I can click to download. So I do, but FireFox says
it can't find it, so I have to install manually.

I click on Manual install and I'm taken to a page that allows me to
download the RPM within a ".bin" file. That's new to me, but
I'm game. I
download it and follow the install instructions. It makes me create
a /usr/java directory, and open the .bin file there.

I have to go through a whole license text file, but in the end it says
it's installed.

I check in the directory, and there's a jre directory and an RPM file. I
wonder why the RPM file is there if it's already installed. I try to
install using RPM, and it says it's already installed, so I decide I
believe it.

I re-open FireFox... and going to the same web page I was at before with
the Java applet, I'm presented with the same screen saying I need to
install the plug in.

What am I doing wrong with the installation?


Dave

> I re-open FireFox... and going to the same web page I was at before with
> the Java applet, I'm presented with the same screen saying I need to
> install the plug in.
>
> What am I doing wrong with the installation?
Simple way  "yum install j2re mozilla-j2re" from dag's repository.
It
sets everything up for you.

The sun java rpm unpacks files, but doesn't really do much that's
useful. It doesn't set any of the environment variables or add java to
the user's path, or install itself with /sbin/aternatives


> Dave
>
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--
Jim Perrin
System Administrator - UIT
Ft Gordon & US Army Signal Center

Dave Gutteridge wrote:
>Hot on the heels of the success of getting sound to work with FireFox, I
>am on to getting Java applets to run.
>
>When I go to a page with a Java applet, I get the little Rubik's cube-
>like icon that says I can click to download. So I do, but FireFox says
>it can't find it, so I have to install manually.
>
>I click on Manual install and I'm taken to a page that allows me to
>download the RPM within a ".bin" file. That's new to me, but
I'm game. I
>download it and follow the install instructions. It makes me create
>a /usr/java directory, and open the .bin file there.
>
>I have to go through a whole license text file, but in the end it says
>it's installed.
>
>I check in the directory, and there's a jre directory and an RPM file. I
>wonder why the RPM file is there if it's already installed. I try to
>install using RPM, and it says it's already installed, so I decide I
>believe it.
>
>I re-open FireFox... and going to the same web page I was at before with
>the Java applet, I'm presented with the same screen saying I need to
>install the plug in.
>
>What am I doing wrong with the installation?
>
>
>Dave
>  
>
I just dealt w/ this this A.M. w/ SuSE 8.2 :-). I think you need to put 
a soft-link in your mozilla plugins directory as such:

(cd /opt/mozilla/plugins/; ln -s 
/usr/lib/java/jre/plugin/i386/mozilla/javaplugin_oji.so javaplugin_oji.so)

You need to be root to do this. If CentOS installs the Java Runtime 
Environment (jre) in a different place (other than /usr/lib/java, 
apparently /usr/java for you), use that path instead of the one I gave 
you. I got this info from the mozilla website. YMMV & all that.

-- 
	William A. Mahaffey III
---------------------------------------------------------------------
	Remember, ignorance is bliss, but
	willful ignorance is LIBERALISM !!!!

Dave,
First, confirm that Java is installed.

cd /usr/java/

you should have a directory "jre1.5.x.x.x" or whatever the current
version.
That directory should have some stuff in it:

<SNIP>
[ahull at hal jre1.5.0_02]$ ls
bin      COPYRIGHT  lib      man     README 
Welcome.html
CHANGES  javaws     LICENSE  plugin  THIRDPARTYLICENSEREADME.txt
<!SNIP>

If it does not, then Java is not installed yet. I recommend not 
downloading the RPM.

One you get it installed, then you have to copy the plugin to the proper 
directory in Firefox.

a symbolic link would do this nicely.

ln -s n -s /<java dir>/plugin/i386/ns7/libjavaplugin_oji.so /<firefox 
dir>/plugins/

Then enable the java checkbox in firefox preferences and you're set.

The java website has some decent instructions too:
http://java.com/en/download/help/5000010500.xml#selfextracting

Andrew