Java 7 Error in online Installer?

I am using the most recent nightly build - specifically this file: http://bamboo.igniterealtime.org/artifact/SPARK-INSTALL4J/JOB1/build-609/Install 4j/spark_2_6_3_12555_online.exe

My understanding was that, while the filename says 2.6.3, the file is in reality Spark 2.7.0 beta X.

Yes, it is a 2.7.0 “Beta”. So, it seems that online version can’t find system’s Java 7. As i said, you can still use the full installer.

When the online installer is pointed to JRE 1.7_45 on my systems after proposing to d/l or locate, it states that it still could not find Java.

Yes, i can reproduce this. There are even more issues more critical than this. Spark still has some hooks in the code and uses system java if it finds java 6, even if it has java 7 bundled. I have added a comment about the installer to the ticket SPARK-1545

Okay maybe I am new to this, but why is it that Spark must rely on its own copy of java rather than just run with installed version already on the machine? Also is install4j still in development, if not then maybe its time to find another method of packaging the product.

I’m not a developer, so i can’t say why. Probably at some point, when Java 5 and 6 were still mainstream, support for this versions was ‘hardcoded’ into Spark’s code and now when Java 5/6 is not available on the system issues popup.

install4j is in development (latest version released two days ago http://www.ej-technologies.com/download/install4j/changelog.html), but i’m not sure latest version is in use in Bamboo (which produces installers) http://bamboo.igniterealtime.org There are no fulltime devlopers or maintainers here, so some stuff gets old. Though Jira and Bamboo got updated to the latest version recently. Will ask another community member about the situation with install4j. Ej-technologies has granted a free license to use install4j on this site and for the developers a few years ago (http://community.igniterealtime.org/blogs/ignite/2011/09/03/ej-technology-grants -install4j-license-to-the-spark-community), but i don’t know if this covers all the new versions.

Also, i’m not sure the problem is with the installer. It is probably somewhere on the Spark’s side or in the configuration of the installer or Bamboo, which puts the hooks to search for Java 5/6. Someone with a good Spark’s source and installer configuration knowledge should look into this and find a solution, but as i said, we lack such experts here. If you search the forums, you will find other people using launch4j, izpack, advanced installer and other tools to produce their own installers, but they don’t tie in so nicely into Bamboo system as far as i know. And izpack installers are a bit cluncky from my personal experience.

Thank you so much for the reply! I have some experience with Java, although I am much more experienced with perl, PHP, HTML, .NET so JS is not too foreign. Point me in the right direction and I would be glad to have a look. Obviously I have been able to “make” this work but it would be so much better if it could be independent of Java versions, and or at least be kept more up to date. Again I am willing to have a look at the code, as we use Spark here every day and would like to see it kept going. Working in the financial industry it is very important for us to maintain a certain amount of integrity for all the applications we use. And at this point I have not yet found another IM client that works as well as Spark does. And that is easily deployable.

I have asked Daryl Herzmann, who oversees Bamboo/Jira here to take a look at what version of install4j is in use. Not much hope, but maybe install4j version bump only will fix this issue. If not, then i think this is most probably a Bamboo/installer configuration issue and maybe he can shed some light on this too. Not sure who exactly has access to that and can change it. If it is in the Spark’s main code, then i can’t point you to the exact place, so digging the whole source can be a bit overwhelming. The source is available to browse via Fisheye or you can pull it via SVN: http://www.igniterealtime.org/downloads/source.jsp

Update. Daryl has installed install4j 5.1.9 on Bamboo and looks like installers are working fine, but they still ask for Java 5-6 if using the Online installer. So the issue is somewhere else.

Thanks for the effort for sure, so help me out here, the installer reads a config file from the spark package? I know there are cfg files in the install4j folder after spark is installed this is where I have found the references for 1.5-1.6. Is the current build with the new installer online to get? If so I will have a look at it. Also the SVN of spark (what a mess lol) I will see about getting the source (can you lead me to the latest build) and see what I can find. I have lots of tools I use currently to track down content in 100’s of source files for my own development I may be able to find something but it may take me a little bit to acquaint myself with this source.

Also not sure where to report a bug in the current build(s) but if the startHidden=true is set in the configutaion spark will not start.

Okay I installed the current build and the i4jparms.conf in the install4j folder of the spark installation still shows a min version of java 6, I have found that if you change this spark will run okay, not sure if this effects the installation or not, but if defiantly needs to be changed:

Daryl is def having some “permission issues creating the builds:”

[install4j] /home/j2ee-bamboo/install4j.4.0.5/bin/install4jc: line 63: /.install4j: Permission denied

[install4j] /home/j2ee-bamboo/install4j.4.0.5/bin/install4jc: line 63: /.install4j: Permission denied

BUILD FAILED

/opt/j2ee/domains/igniterealtime.org/bamboo/webapps/atlassian-bamboo/data/atlass ian-bamboo-5.3/xml-data/build-dir/SPARK-INSTALL4J-JOB1/build/build.xml:606: /bin/sh failed with return code 83

Total time: 16 seconds

He is trying to switch build plan to Java 7. Now it requires 6. Will tell him to take a look at your findings.

Carl Slaughter wrote:

Also not sure where to report a bug in the current build(s) but if the startHidden=true is set in the configutaion spark will not start.

Bugs are reported in the forums. But i can’t reproduce this issue. Spark is starting ok for me (hidden in the system tray). That is with the version with built-in jre folder.

Okay I will keep my eyes open on his progress, thanks!

By default it is set to open on startup, during my deployment phase I kill spark, edit/build the properties file then restart Spark, when that parm is added it will not start / open when the machine is restarted or the user logs off the machine and back on. If may be fixed in these latest version but the last complied version it was not.

Getting closer?

Still install4j parms are not updated, this is in the 14jparams.conf in the .install4j folder in the spark instalation folder:

Sorry, what should I set those values to then? Both to 1.7 ?