A problem and soultion to come with IBM JRE

[Ohad]

I gathered many of you experienced some communication/registration problems with IBM JRE's.
basicly - we use SUN's algorithms , so we must add a support to the JRE.

we found a solution. a patch will be ready soon.

look here:
http://www.netdimes.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=402#402

[vaughan]

Thanks for your efforts Ohad. Many of us like the IBM Java. It really flies in some DC projects (Ubero springs to mind :!: )

I have Dimes working on my xp3000+ using SUN JAVA VM J2RE 1.5.0_02-B09

[Empty_5oul]

i dont know what other sorts of java there are available but it may be worth checking this and adding any if they are not covered by the current DIMES project.

[Ohad]

I think sun and IBM are the main vendors. but i will check it out. maybe oracle or BEA have their own

[Ohad]

I have prepared a patch for you to examine. ii have checked it and now it seems to work. here is what i did :
1. i have installed a IBM 1.42 SDK for eclipse on my computer
2. i have installed DIMES 0-3-9-7 and tried it. it made communication problems.
3. i cativated the patch , and dimes worked.

here is basicly what the patch does :
a. it request the location of the IBM JRE ( in my computer it is C:\eclipse\IBMJDK142\jre) - note that it is important to give the patcher the correct location, where dimes agent is being started from.
b. it installs two jar files (jsse.jar and sunSecurity.jar) into the directory jre/lib/ext. those files contain the https algorithms and verification classes.
c. it adds one line to the file java.security , to indicate that sun is a security provider. typically this is the line :
security.provider.9=com.sun.net.ssl.internal.ssl.P rovider
(doens't have to number 9)

so... please check this and notify me if there are any problems :

http://www.netdimes.org/Updates/DimesIBMJSSEPatch-0-4.exe

[Empty_5oul]

mine stil times out but i get a new error:

Connect Error while connecting to server: Could not connect. underlying exception: Security error.java.lang.RuntimeException: Export restriction: this JSSE implemented is non-pluggable.

this is on 0.3.9.7 and i installed the patych and got a message saying installed ok to the IBM folder.

[vaughan]

Mine failed too, the communication error says:
Connect Error while connecting server: Could not connect. underlying exception: Security error.java.lang.RuntimeException: Export restriction: this ...

remainder of message is truncated even when I went full screen.
All of the error message is in red text.

[Ohad]

DAMN!

[Empty_5oul]

do you want someting emailed ?

i see you are getting closer to the solution.

[Ohad]

closer, but still.. this bug is making me VERY tired and nervous. i can't sleep at night thinking of all these IBM JRE's standing there... no agents to entertain them in the cold nights...

AS for this : i think the problem is that The JRE installation on your computers are 1.4 instead of 1.4.2 - i will have a very big NOTICE in the begining of the installation that will tell the user to cancel the installation.

say, do you have a 1.4 JRE ? how did you install it? coz in IBM they say they won't let me install unless i have an IBM Machine. the only thing i managed to download and install is the SDK.

[AMDave]

I recall that 1.4.0 was open to all, but after 1.4.1 (I think there was some change in agreements) IBM restricted their support policies.

There is more detail on the SDK here:
http://www-106.ibm.com/developerworks/java/jdk/linux140/?S_TACT=104AHW03&S_CMP=ZHP
(This includes a note about renewing expired certificates - as long as you have an IBM product from my interpretation)

There's no longer much on the JRE info page, and at the last paragraph you are referred to Sun for current JRE support:
http://www-106.ibm.com/developerworks/java/jdk/linux140/jre-info.html

[Ohad]

well... that settles it. i can't support 1.4 ibm jre's even if i really wanted to.

Guess it's too much to ask you to test it on 1.4.2... i won't ask it, but i will put a notice on the installation page.

[AMDave]

:cry:

Well guys, can any of you tell us if the Sun 1.5.x JRE has caught up with the IBM 1.4.0 JRE's speed ?
A current comparison would be useful now that the Sun 1.5.x platform is out & I do remember that Sun took the claims about IBM's JRE quite seriously.
I am hopeful that the Sun JRE has included a speed increase.

[Empty_5oul]

as the client installs i think DIMES should do a java search and see what it finds then decides what to use.
You could prioritise the javas if there are multiple installed, e.g. instead of using IBM on my computer use java (normal) 1.4.0

Looking in my control panel I have:
IMB java plug-in 1.4.0
Java plug-in
Java plug-in 1.4.0_01

[bwhite]

AS for this : i think the problem is that The JRE installation on your computers are 1.4 instead of 1.4.2 - i will have a very big NOTICE in the begining of the installation that will tell the user to cancel the installation.

1.4.2 only works on an IBM (it checks during install) computer. IF you try installing on a non IBM box will not install. :-(

[NeoGen]

Just out of curiosity, what components does an IBM machine has that a regular (non-IBM) machine doesn't?
Special IBM motherboard, or memories... or add-on card?

[Ohad]

yes, but i have installed the jdk. it is available here :
:arrow:
http://www-128.ibm.com/developerworks/java/jdk/eclipse/index.html

[Ohad]

I have added a note to IBM JRE Users in the download page. tell me what you think.
http://www.netdimes.org/download.html#IBMNote

sorry guys, this is my best effort.

[NeoGen]

I've read the note and a question raised in my mind... If the problem is with the current security protocol, then isn't there any other security protocol that both jvm's recognize and can use?

I don't know but I imagine there might be some other, but the problem would be rewriting the lot of code to accomodate the new protocol, no?

[AMDave]

good batting think-man