Red Hat Training

A Red Hat training course is available for JBoss Enterprise SOA Platform

Chapter 3. Prerequisites

3.1. Prerequisites for Installing the JBoss Enterprise SOA Platform

In order to install and run the JBoss Enterprise SOA Platform, you must already have the following items on your computer:
  • A supported Java Virtual Machine
  • A supported Java Development Kit (for running the quickstarts)
  • A supported database server (needed to run the JBoss Server)
  • Apache Ant 1.7 or later (needed to run the Database Schema Configuration Tool and deploy the JBoss ESB quick start examples)
  • An archiving tool (such as FileRoller, ark or tar). (You need this to extract the contents of compressed files)
  • JBoss Developer Studio 5.0. (Obtain it from the Red Hat Customer Portal at https://access.redhat.com/home)
Red Hat tests and certifies the JBoss Enterprise SOA Platform against several different hardware platforms, Java Virtual Machines, operating systems and databases. This is an ongoing process and the list of supported environments is always growing. Find the list of currently-supported environments at http://www.jboss.com/products/platforms/soa/testedconfigurations/.

3.2. Java Virtual Machine

A Java Virtual Machine (JVM) is a piece of software that is capable of running Java bytecode. The JVM creates a standard environment in which the intermediate bytecode is run. By creating the standard environment irrespective of the underlying hardware and operating system combination, it allows programmers to write their Java code once and have confidence that it can be run on any system. Red Hat recommends customers use OpenJDK as it is an open source, supported Java Virtual Machine that runs well on Red Hat Enterprise Linux systems. Windows users should install Oracle JDK 1.6.

3.3. Install Open JDK on Red Hat Enterprise Linux

Procedure 3.1. Install Open JDK on Red Hat Enterprise Linux

  1. Subscribe to the Base Channel

    Obtain the OpenJDK from the RHN base channel. (Your installation of Red Hat Enterprise Linux is subscribed to this channel by default.)

  2. Install the Package

    Use the yum utility to install OpenJDK: yum install java-1.7.0-openjdk-devel

  3. Verify that OpenJDK is Now Your System Default

    To ensure that the correct JDK is set as the system default, login as root and run the alternatives command: /usr/sbin/alternatives --config java
    Select /usr/lib/jvm/jre-1.6.0-openjdk/bin/java
    Set javac /usr/sbin/alternatives --config javac
    Select /usr/lib/jvm/java-1.6.0-openjdk/bin/java

3.4. Apache Ant

Apache Ant ("Another Neat Tool") is a Java-based build tool. It is designed to automate the process of software compilation. It requires the developer to provide it with an XML-based build file from which it receives custom build instructions. Refer to http://ant.apache.org/ for more information.

3.5. Install Apache Ant

Procedure 3.2. Installing Apache Ant on Red Hat Enterprise Linux

  1. Download Apache Ant

    Open a terminal and input this command: sudo yum install ant-trax

  2. Install Apache Ant

    Enter Y when prompted to do so by the installer.

  3. Add the ANT_HOME Environment Variable

    1. vi ~/.bash_profile.
    2. Add the following line: 
    export ANT_HOME=/FILEPATH/ant
    where filepath is the directory in which Apache Ant was installed. Save and exit vi.

    Example 3.1. 

    export ANT_HOME=/opt/apache-ant-1.8.2

  4. Append the Ant installation's bin directory to the Path environmental variable.

    1. vi ~/.bash_profile.
    2. Add the following line and then save and exit vi: 
    export PATH=$PATH:$ANT_HOME/bin

  5. Test the installation

    Go back to your terminal and run ant -version. The output should resemble the following: 
    [localhost]$ ant -version
Apache Ant(TM) version 1.8.2 compiled on July 6 2011

Procedure 3.3. Installing Apache Ant on Microsoft Windows

  1. Download Apache Ant

    Download the latest Apache Ant binary release from http://ant.apache.org/.

  2. Extract Apache Ant

    Extract the files to a preferred installation location such as:
    • c:\Program Files\Apache\Ant\

  3. Add the ANT_HOME Environment Variable

    1. Click on the Start Menu.
    2. Open the Control Panel.
    3. Select System → Advanced → Environment Variables
    4. Create a new variable called ANT_HOME.
    5. Configure the ANT_HOME variable so that it points to the Apache Ant directory.

  4. Append the bin directory of the Ant installation to the Path environmental variable.

    1. Click on the Start Menu.
    2. Open the Control Panel.
    3. Select System → Advanced → Environment Variables → System Variables
    4. Edit the PATH variable and append the text: 
    ;%ANT_HOME%\bin

  5. Test the installation

    Run ant -version in a command line terminal. The version number should appear.