New Linux User: How to install, Use

Spark Spark Support
1

Can someone tell me where I can find installation instructions for Linux?

“Documentation” column under the “Support” section indicates that installation guides are to be found in each project’s documentation section, but all i find under the Spark documentation section is a GPL license agreement and a change log. Generally installation instructions come in a downloaded .tar.gz file, but there are none there either - just the same license agreement and change log!

Not having specific instructions, I downloaded the linux spark_2_5_8.tar.gz, unzipped it, and placed the contents in /opt/Spark

If I try to run it:

/opt/Spark/Spark

I get the following (The reference to “windows” is somewhat disconcerting!). I am running under Ubuntu 8.10:

testing JVM in /opt/Spark/jre …

ls: cannot access /opt/Spark/lib/windows: No such file or directory

Locking assertion failure. Backtrace:

#0 /usr/lib/libxcb-xlib.so.0 [0xb59007c7]

#1 /usr/lib/libxcb-xlib.so.0(xcb_xlib_unlock+0x31) [0xb5900891]

#2 /usr/lib/libX11.so.6(_XReply+0x254) [0xb52d7494]

#3 /opt/Spark/jre/lib/i386/xawt/libmawt.so [0xb565064e]

#4 /opt/Spark/jre/lib/i386/xawt/libmawt.so [0xb562ef97]

#5 /opt/Spark/jre/lib/i386/xawt/libmawt.so [0xb562f248]

#6 /opt/Spark/jre/lib/i386/xawt/libmawt.so(Java_sun_awt_X11GraphicsEnvironment_ini tDisplay+0x2f) [0xb562f54f]

#7 [0xb5dda4ee]

#8 [0xb5dd2ea5]

#9 [0xb5dd2ea5]

#10 [0xb5dd0243]

#11 /opt/Spark/jre/lib/i386/client/libjvm.so [0x620bbbd]

#12 /opt/Spark/jre/lib/i386/client/libjvm.so [0x630a6b8]

#13 /opt/Spark/jre/lib/i386/client/libjvm.so [0x620ba50]

#14 /opt/Spark/jre/lib/i386/client/libjvm.so(JVM_DoPrivileged+0x34b) [0x626190b]

#15 /opt/Spark/jre/lib/i386/libjava.so(Java_java_security_AccessController_doPrivil eged__Ljava_security_PrivilegedAction_2+0x3d) [0xb7deb96d]

#16 [0xb5dda4ee]

#17 [0xb5dd2d4d]

#18 [0xb5dd0243]

#19 /opt/Spark/jre/lib/i386/client/libjvm.so [0x620bbbd]

Locking assertion failure. Backtrace:

#0 /usr/lib/libxcb-xlib.so.0 [0xb59007c7]

#1 /usr/lib/libxcb-xlib.so.0(xcb_xlib_lock+0x2e) [0xb590096e]

#2 /usr/lib/libX11.so.6 [0xb52d6619]

#3 /usr/lib/libX11.so.6(XGetVisualInfo+0x26) [0xb52cc666]

#4 /opt/Spark/jre/lib/i386/xawt/libmawt.so [0xb562e249]

#5 /opt/Spark/jre/lib/i386/xawt/libmawt.so [0xb562e495]

#6 /opt/Spark/jre/lib/i386/xawt/libmawt.so [0xb562f2f9]

#7 /opt/Spark/jre/lib/i386/xawt/libmawt.so(Java_sun_awt_X11GraphicsEnvironment_ini tDisplay+0x2f) [0xb562f54f]

#8 [0xb5dda4ee]

#9 [0xb5dd2ea5]

#10 [0xb5dd2ea5]

#11 [0xb5dd0243]

#12 /opt/Spark/jre/lib/i386/client/libjvm.so [0x620bbbd]

#13 /opt/Spark/jre/lib/i386/client/libjvm.so [0x630a6b8]

#14 /opt/Spark/jre/lib/i386/client/libjvm.so [0x620ba50]

#15 /opt/Spark/jre/lib/i386/client/libjvm.so(JVM_DoPrivileged+0x34b) [0x626190b]

#16 /opt/Spark/jre/lib/i386/libjava.so(Java_java_security_AccessController_doPrivil eged__Ljava_security_PrivilegedAction_2+0x3d) [0xb7deb96d]

#17 [0xb5dda4ee]

#18 [0xb5dd2d4d]

#19 [0xb5dd0243]

2

It should be possible to just unpack and run it via spark.sh. Do you have java installed? Also, you can try spark-installer.jar variant of the latest SVN version. It works on Ubuntu 9.10. http://www.igniterealtime.org/community/docs/DOC-1822

3

Yes, I have java installed. Sun Java 6.

Does the fact that the linux version is looking for a non-existent “windows” directory indicate a problem with the release?

What does one do with a .jar file?

Thanks again.

4

Does the fact that the linux version is looking for a non-existent “windows” directory indicate a problem with the release?
That is probably a side effect of having a native cross-platform client. Anyway, try it with the latest SVN version, maybe this error is not there anymore, so i won’t have to file a bug ticket.

You can run jar file as an executable. As long as i remember in 9.10 i right clicked it and selected to Run with java or like that.

5

As indicated by the name, the .jar file installs Spark, it does not run it. It installed all three versions - Windows, Linux, and Mac on my Linux machine. Once installed, it does run without the errors. I have nowhere to chat to so I cannot say that I have used it (I realize the world does this, but this is for a course that has not started yet, and I have no clue who else or how else I might chat).

Thank you for leading me through getting it working (I hope), however I do consider the following bugs:

[1] The installer installs Windows and Mac versions/libraries on my Linux machine.

[2] That the running program requires Windows .dll’s to be installed on my Linux machine to run!

[3] That the distributed .tar.gz for Linux does not include the Windows .dll’s required for it to run, even if this is by itself a bug.

Especially the last one. The first two are “dumb” but there is probably a rational explanation for [2], and [1] therefore must be done.

However it should not be that a non-functional release is made, for whatever reason!

Thanks again.

–Ray

6

“Next Step” question.

During install, it only offered me the option to add to my menu. I did this, but then uninstalled and re-ran the install as root. This time it gave me the option to add it to everyone’s menu.

It does not show up under ANYONE’s menu though!

Can you help with this? Can you tell me what it did, or what file it edited?

Thanks.

–Ray

7

To try it out you can register on any open jabber server (e.g. igniterealtime.org) and then maybe go to Conferences tab, browse the service, join a room and see how it works.

Yes, this jar file is an installer. When i was talking how to run it, i meant how to run the installer, not the Spark itself. This installer is not linux-only. Actually it is a multiplatform one, so probably that’s why it puts all those versions together, but i don’t think it requires windows dlls to run on linux. It is still an experimental version made by community volunteer. There is also .deb version, but it doesnt run on 9.10, not sure about 8.10.

As about 2.5.8 linux version. Blame Jive Software. They have done this release, maybe it wasn’t fully tested. I will try it myself and will ask site admins to remove it, if it’s really worthless. Maybe they will listen.

Can’t really help about that menu issue. I assume this option works only for Windows, but only cstux (current project lead and author of this installer) can answer this. You can try asking in the comments of that document.

8

Thank you very much for all of your help. It does seem unreasonable that the menu thing would work at all, given the wide variety of desktops. I will make my own entry.

–Ray

9

Should have tagged this answered. All done!

10

Just tripped over a post titled “Spark on Ubuntu Linux” at http://www.igniterealtime.org/community/message/165662#165662 from 2008 with exactly the same problem, and showing the root cause.

The start-up file tries to do an ls on the windows directory, piped to egrep, plus a few other references. I can’t imagine what they are thinking about. It can’t be that they ported the code over from the windows version and forgot to change the directory name, since shell files don’t run on Windows, nor are there commands called ls or egrep (Unless they assume the user has cygwin installed). I don’t understand why such code would ever exist. At any rate, Chris Christensen put his finger exactly on it 22.5 months ago.

I guess this says something about the project, their testing, and their support for Linux, especially when the fix is so trivial.

11

I can only explain this that the original developer was mainly a windows programmer (same with Openfire), but as it was a java app, they thoguht they can deploy it as a linux version too with some minor changes, as java is a multiplatform base. Anyway, Jive has abandoned this project long time ago and now only a few volunteers are trying to push it forward. But so far no new releases (only a Beta, which is now old too). There were a lot of changes in the code in the SVN (linux support releated too), and also a lot of new features added, major rewrite of some parts, etc. But i can’t say when will we see next stable release. It is taking a lot of time to understand the original code, fix it, rewrite, etc. And cstux has his own job and life after all So, now we can only have SVN builds, and they aren’t bad. Unlike the recent one, which has some nasty issue on Windows (chat window doesnt show up upon receiving new messages).

12

I understand now. Brings back to memory a proverb on someone’s office door: “Keep your words soft and sweet, for someday you may have to eat them!”

Has Jive abandoned OpenFire also, or just Spark?

Looking at the 2.5.8 Linux download, there are two files to run it: Spark and startup. The “startup” appears to have the offending lines simply deleted. Perhaps it would work where the Spark did not (given Chris’ comments, it should). Perhaps all that is needed is a readme to use startup instead of Spark, or simply swap them. I can’t fool with it now, but will try to find time.

13

Hi,

you may want to read http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/08/technology/start-ups/08sequoia.html?_r=1 even it’s a little bit old. As far as I can tell there are a few Jivers which want to contribute to Openfire and Smack but currently the SBS development needs too much time. So they host this community, subversion and jira and have little time left to work on Openfire.

LG

14

Not completely. As LG said, they still host this site, SVN, bug tracker and sometimes contribute to the code and will do releases if someone else will be fixing bugs Though it takes some time to get to them.