Summary: Requirements and how to install GigaSpaces with Windows, Linux or Unix.

Overview

GigaSpaces is 100% pure Java, and therefore can run on any UNIX or Windows machine that supports Java.

Prior to Installation

Prior to the GigaSpaces installation, make sure:

  • JDK 1.5 or 1.6 is installed (see note below):
    • JDK 1.5 – download the latest update (for example, JDK 5 Update 22)
    • JDK 1.6 – download the latest update (for example, JDK 6 Update 22)
  • The JAVA_HOME environment variable points to the correct JDK (not JRE) directory before running GigaSpaces. For example, D:\Java\jdk1.6.0_22.
  • The JAVA_HOME environment variable should be added to the beginning of the Path environment variable. For example, %JAVA_HOME%\bin;SystemRoot%\system32;%SystemRoot%;%SystemRoot%
  • Optional: Your network and machines running GigaSpaces are configured to have multicast enabled. See the Multicast Configuration section for details on how to enable multicast.
  • You have reviewed the Supported Platforms section.

Installation

Installing on Windows

  1. Unzip the ZIP file (using your favorite unzip tool, for example, WinZip) to the location of your choice. Unzipping the file creates a <GigaSpaces Root> directory with several sub-directories. An example for the name of the ZIP file:
    • XAP (eXtreme Application Platform) – gigaspaces-xap-premium-7.1.0-ga-b4300

  2. After unzipping the ZIP file, you should have the following files and folders under the <GigaSpaces Root> folder:

What's Next?

Installing on Linux

  1. Go to the directory into which you want to install, e.g. opt, and issue the unzip following command, supplying the path to the name of the ZIP file – gigaspaces-edition-versionNumber_version/milestone_build.zip. For example:
    • XAP (eXtreme Application Platform) – unzip gigaspaces-xap-premium-7.1.0-ga-b4300.zip
  1. Make sure all sh file(s) in the /bin and the /examples directory are in executable mode, meaning you can run them from your machine. To check this, use the ls -all command for the relevant directory, and make sure that x is included in the file permissions.

What's Next?

Using the SIGAR Library to Monitor Machine-Level Statistics

GigaSpaces XAP comes with a comprehensive out-of-the-box support for monitoring the GigaSpaces cluster using the Management Center GUI and the new Administration and Monitoring API.

The majority of the functionality is based entirely on the JDK and does not require any 3rd party library (note it is recommended to use JDK 6 which exposes more runtime statistics than JDK 5).

However some machine-level statistics (CPU, disk and network utilization) are not available in the JDK APIs. For that reason GigaSpaces XAP instegrates natively with the open source SIGAR library (System Information Gatherer and Reporter).

Due to licensing restrictions, GigaSpaces XAP does not ship with SIGAR out of the box.
To enable CPU, disk and network utilization monitoring using Sigar, you should follow the following steps:

  1. Download the SIGAR 1.6.2 distribution here.
  2. Unzip the downloaded file to a location on your local disk
  3. Copy the sigar.jar and the relevant libraries for your operating system from <SIGAR Root>/sigar-bin/lib/ directory to <gs root>/lib/platform/sigar. (Note, no need to copy log4j.jar).

Mixing Versions

Mixing GigaSpaces versions/builds

Supported:
Applications built using GigaSpaces 6.6 (these run without any code changes on a clean 7.0.0 installation).

Not supported:
Mixing clients/servers from different GigaSpaces releases/builds – 6.6.x clients can not run against 7.1.x servers. 7.1.x clients can not run against 6.6.x servers.

Mixing Different GigaSpaces JARs in Same Deployment Environment

GigaSpaces components (space, cluster of spaces, Processing Unit, GSM, GSC, LUS, Mahalo, GUI, CLI) can run only with the same GigaSpaces JARs (i.e., the same version and same build number).

Important Tips

Use JDK and not JRE

It is recommended to use a JDK (Java Development Kit), and not a JRE (Java Runtime Environment), which can be used for runtime only and not for development. However, if you do decide to use a JRE, make sure the JAVA_HOME environment variable points to the correct JRE directory.

You should also remove specific JDK command-line arguments, like -server, which do not exist in JRE.

Performance Tips

Before you begin working with GigaSpaces, it is recommended to review the Performance Tuning and Considerations sections and apply some of the required changes. For example, you must update the max file descriptors limit before you begin.

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