Aardvark Installation Guide
last updated 22 February 2000 by Dav
Lion
Table Of Contents
Installation
Windows
Linux
Macintosh
Filesystem usage
Modifying the Applet Security Model
Known Bugs
Changelog
Contacts
Source Code
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Installation
The Aardvark browser is written in Java and should run on any Java-supported
platform, with JDK1.1.6 or greater and Swing 1.1.1 or greater.
The primary development platform has been Blackdown JDK 1.1.7 on Linux.
While we validate on Macintosh and Windows 95 platforms before release,
we spend most of our time running Aardvark under Linux. If you have a Linux
machine available, we encourage you to experience Aardvark there. Directions
for Win, Mac, and Linux follow below.
Note: in running Aardvark, we sometimes experience "java out of
memory errors". Adding the following arguments to the java invocation
line (allocating more memory and stack space) seems to help: "-ms64m
-mx64m".
MS Windows/NT Installation
- Create a directory to hold the Aardvark files. This text assumes it
is called "demo".
- Download and install jdk1.1.8
, accepting all installation defaults (Windows installation defaults to
"C:\jdk1.1.8").
- Download and install JFC/Swing1.1.1
, accepting all installation defaults (Chose the Windows installer download
option; it will default to "C:\Program Files\Swing-1.1.1").
- Download the following file: IPPMSwing.zip
but DO NOT unzip it.
- Place it in the "demo" directory.
- Download the batch file: runnit.bat
and put it in the "demo" directory. This file contains one line:
java -classpath ".\IPPMSwing.zip;c:\jdk1.1.8\lib\classes.zip;c:\Program Files\Swing-1.1.1\swingall.jar;c:\demo" org.advanced.aardvark.Main
Note: If you used different directory names, you might have to edit
runnit.bat.
- Edit your autoexec.bat file to include this line:
set PATH=%PATH%;c:\jdk1.1.8\bin
or simply add c:\jdk1.1.8\bin to the end of the "set PATH"
line in your autoexec.bat file. Then either reboot or rerun autoexec.bat.
If you do not want to change your autoexec.bat file, change the beginning
of the line in runnit.bat to look like this:
<complete-path-to>java ...
where <complete-path-to> is something like "c:\jdk1.1.8\bin"
- To run the application, go to the "demo" directory in DOS
and type runnit,or go to the "demo" directory in windows explorer
and click on the runnit batch file. Please read (or at least glance) at
the User's Guide first.
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Linux Installation
- You will need the 1.1.7 Blackdown port to linux of Sun's jdk, and Swing
1.1.1 from Sun. (we have also validated against the recent JDK
1.2.2 Release from Sun) If you manage to get Aardvark to run with IBM's
JDK for Linux,or any other JDK for Linux, please let us know.
- If you are using Blackdown's JDK1.1.7 you will need to install it and
then install Swing separately. The JDK1.2.2 from Sun includes Swing.
- Either
- Or
- Set your CLASSPATH environment variable to include the standard java
classes and the swing classes.
- e.g. setenv CLASSPATH = ./home/java/classes/classes.zip:/home/java/classes/swingall.jar.
- (Note that your path may not look exactly like this, depending on where
*you* install java)
- Download IPPMSwing.zip
This is the applet.
- Invoke the applet as an application (bypassing the java security model),
with the following command:
java -classpath <path to the directory containing zipfile>IPPMSwing.zip:$CLASSPATH
org.advanced.aardvark Main
e.g "java -classpath /home/slithy/IPPMSwing.zip:$CLASSPATH org.advanced.aardvark.Main"
- You may also invoke Aardvark as an applet via appletviewer. First,
however, Please see this note about Filesystem and
Applet Security First, download ippmSwing.html.
Save the html file as source on your local drive, next to the file IPPMSwing.zip.
- issue the command :
- appletviewer ippmSwing.html
-
- If you have not disabled security for appletviewer, you will receive
a multitude of errors at this point. Do not despair! Simply disable security
by changing "Network Access" and "Class Access" to
Unrestricted from the Properties dialog (found in the Applet menu). You
may also need to change "Allow unsigned applets" to Yes. Choose
Apply. Quit appletviewer, and launch again.
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MacOS Installation
- You will need MRJ 2.1.3. or
later.
Previous versions of MRJ which you may need (as 2.1.3 is an update to 2.1
or 2.1.2) are available here.
Our most recent validation has been against MRJ2.2
(which is distributed as an update to MRJ2.1.4)
- You will need the file "swingall.jar", which you can copy
from any swing equipped linux/windoze box, or from the Swing
1.1.1 site at Sun. If you download from Sun, unpack whatever you get
just enough to see the file "swingall.jar". Place "swingall.jar"
inside the "MRJ Classes" folder inside the "MRJ Libraries"
folder inside the Extensions folder inside your system folder. It should
sit next to "MRJClasses.zip" and "JDKClasses.zip".
The path looks like:
- <System Folder>/Extensions/MRJ Libraries/MRJ Classes/swingall.jar
- Download IPPMSwing.zip
This is the applet.
- Download ippmSwing.html.
This is the script which invokes the applet. We recommend running the applet
directly from MRJ, and have *never* managed to get Netscape nor IE to run
it successfully. Please save the html file as source on your local drive,
next to the file IPPMSwing.zip
- Run "Apple Applet Runner", which the MRJ installer places
inside <boot-volume>/Apple Extras/Mac OS Runtime For Java/Apple Applet
Runner/.
- Open the properties dialog, from the File menu.
- Turn off all security by selecting "unrestricted" for the
two top pull-down menus, and unchecking the "restrict <blah-blah>"
checkboxes.
- From the file menu, select "Open local hmtl file", and choose
ippmSwing.html.
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Filesystem Usage and Security Issues
Aardvark creates two files on your filesystem: a preferences file (".ippm-prefs")
and a bookmarks file ("AardvarkBookmarks"). For this reason, Aardvark
requires at least read (and preferably both read and write) access to your
host machine. If you invoke aardvark as an application (recommended),
then you do not need to change your security model to successfully use the
current release.
If you prefer to invoke aardvark as an applet, you will have to grant
permission to read + write to aardvark in order to successfully launch the
applet. Note that there is no way to grant these priviledges solely to aardvark,
and that performing the modifications necessary to allow aardvark to work
as an applet on your system effectively removes all the security which applets
could provide. (table-of-contents)
Modifying Applet Security for Aardvark
To use aardvark as an applet you will have to change your Applet Security
Model which will open Serious Security Risks On Your Machine to foreign
and hostile applets.
Please consider running aardvark as an application instead.
thank you.
linux users:
files are located in your home directory. Edit the file "~/.hotjava/properties"
and add the following two lines:
acl.read=<path-to-your-home-directory>
acl.write=<path-to-your-home-directory>
macintosh users:
files are located in the Preferences file of your system folder. Change
the preferences of MRJ's Applet Runner (Apple Applet Runner) to grant Unrestricted
File Access to applets.
Windows users:
files are located wherever you have installed the jdk (!). Find the
".hotjava/properties" file inside the jdk dir. Add the following
two "lines" to that file (they aren't exactly displayed as lines
in NotePad, your mileage may vary)
acl.read=<path-to-at-least-the-jdk-dir>
acl.write=<path-to-at-least-the-jdk-dir>
i'm using "c:" for this directory with swell results.
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Bug Reports, Comments, and Praise
Please send bug reports to Dav
Lion of Electric Fish who
is serving as the primary developer of Aardvark. You may use this form, or simply send email. Make sure to include the
version number (found in the upper-right hand corner of the applet), a complete
description of the bug, any relevant information from stderr, and your platform
OS. Thanks.
Please address all other correspondence to both Ben
Teitelbaum and Dav Lion.
Known Bugs and Deficiencies
- Much of the data is missing. (see this note)
- The resolution of the sliders may be insufficient when applied to Percentage
Loss
- The "Now" functionality is simulated.
- On some flavors of Windows, we occasionally receive a "failure
opening connection to" error followed by a java exception: "Exception
is java.net.SocketException: connect". We are slowly attempting to
resolve this. If you enjoy debugging java under windows, contact Dav.
- Sometimes the Progress Bar gets stuck pre-completion due to bad server-side
data. The "Aardvark" menu provides a reset mechanism for this
problem. Please send bad URLs to Dav.
Scheduled Improvements
- Some solution for the Percentage Loss slider granularity issue
- Server side improvements to populate more data
- Traceroute information
Additional Notes
The data for some of the dates is sparse and is
currently only available for August-September 1998 and Dates later than
September 1999.
Source Code
- Contact Ben if you would like
access to the source-code.
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Direct any questions or comments concerning these instructions to Ben Teitelbaum, or Dav
Lion.