Metztli I. T.  Blog

Update 05-09-2009: if you are searching for resources on 32-bit application support under 64-bit GNU/Linux Fedora 9, Fedora 10 and higher release distributions, you may also want to read Metztli Bits: Providing 32-bit Application Support Under 64-bit GNU/Linux Fedora.

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In this how-to web log entry I will analyze one way to install the IBM Lotus Symphony GA 1 office productivity suite into an 64-bit Fedora distribution. It should be noted that Fedora 9, like 32 and 64-bit Debian and Ubuntu, are not officially supported platforms by IBM Lotus to install (and provide support for) Symphony 1. Nevertheless, whereas Ubuntu support is to be provided in a future Symphony release, there appear to be no immediate plans to support the fast-moving, cutting edge technology, as represented by Debian and Fedora --of which version 9, codenamed Sulphur, is an example.

With the above in mind, let me disclose that after Symphony is installed under 64-bit Fedora 9, there will be a couple of issues that during my limited testing do not appear to affect the core functionality of the office productivity suite. One of those is the initial Home tab that an user simply may close and select to work from the New menu. The other one is the lack of functionality of the integrated browser. Both issues also affect the Symphony installation under 32 and 64-bit Ubuntu and Debian --as expounded in prior relevant web log entries.

The 64-bit Fedora 9 network install image apparently needs further work because its mechanism was not able to detect either of the two network interface controller (NIC) cards in a Sun Microsystems Ultra 20 M2 AMD64 workstation; on the other hand, a network install image from 64-bit Debian testing and CentOS5.1 did, in effect, detect the NICs and intstall into the machine from their corresponding Internet repositories.

Hence, I was forced to download and subsequently burn a 64-bit Fedora 9 DVD image and install from the local device in the Sun workstation. Upon the very first boot, I allowed Fedora 9 to update itself. I set the SElinux to permissive mode (from its default of enforcing), since the security enforcing application complained about some aspect of the update. We should remember that this distribution of 64-bit Fedora is cutting edge technology (like its Debian unstable counterpart) but it is also a testing platform for components that will subsequently make it into the official stable Red Hat enterprise distributions. Hence, we should expect some rough functionality aspects.

After the considerable update process ended, I rebooted the machine, opened up a terminal from the System Tools and I became root user by typing:

[jose@Mictlantecutli ~]$ su root

(sample output)

Password:
[root@Mictlantecutli jose]#

and provided my Bash shell with a little color:
[root@Mictlantecutli jose]# alias ls='ls -F --color=auto'

And subsequently tried to install Symphony which had been downloaded to my local home directory, by typing:

[root@Mictlantecutli jose]# ./IBM_Lotus_Symphony_linux.bin

(sample shell output)

IBM Lotus Symphony - starting installation... please wait

Installation requires libstdc++.so.5 to continue.

Ok, we need to overcome this first obstacle --just like it is necessary under 32-bit Fedora 8, that I covered in a relevant web log.

However, even if we install the appropriate libraries from the GUI package management interface (as illustrated above), we will obtain the same error as before; sure, we could create a symbolic link as we did in 64-bit CentOS5.1 --as shown in the relevant section of the past IBM Lotus Symphony GA 1 on 64-bit Ubuntu 8.04 and 64-bit Debian, but we should realize that, unlike the 64-bit CentOS5.1 instance, 64-bit Fedora 9 does not provide 32-bit support (by a default install) for applications like Symphony 1. Accordingly, our immediate task is to find out which libraries are to provide the equivalent 32-bit support under 64-bit Fedora 9 that the ia32 Suite does for 64-bit Debian and Ubuntu.

Installing 32-bit support libraries under 64-bit Fedora 9 Sulphur

Reiterating, 64-bit Fedora 9 does not come by default with 32-bit support for applications that are 32-bit --like the IBM Lotus Symphony 1. As elaborated in prior blog on 64-bit Debian and Ubuntu, 64-bit Fedora 9 also needs the equivalent libraries provided by the ia32 Suite. Nevertheless, searching around for an appropriate RPM set of packages that provides the equivalent functionality as the ia32 suite does on 64-bit Debian and Ubuntu GNU/Linux distributions was futile. Note that such collection of packages may exist but I simply did not find it.

For my first attempt, I downloaded the 64-bit Debian unstable distribution of the ia32-libs and subsequently converted the DEB package into an RPM equivalent through the Debian alien package converter utility. The RPM procedure worked fairly well under 64-bit Fedora 9 but I did not want potential users to depend exclusively on my distribution of the ia32-libs hack; the former simply reflects our attitude at Metztli Information Technology: we strive to provide solutions that will not hold the customer hostage to any single provider. Besides, future 64-bit Fedora updates might complain about a given dependency issue due to the non-uniform Debian-derived ia32-libs hack.

There had to be another way. I deduced the equivalent ia32 Suite support for Fedora 9 by using its package management utility yum resolvedep to "Determine which [RPM] package provides the given dependency [for the reference Debian ia32-libs]." The result is this text file that I named metztli-F9-ia32-libs.text that lists 81 packages that will enable 32-bit applications like the IBM Lotus Symphony 1 to execute under 64-bit Fedora 9 GNU/Linux.

If you are wondering how you will install manually all those packages in the list from a Fedora repository, the simple answer is that we will automate the process. We will use the Fedora yum install command to do it for us --however expect to wait some half of an hour for the procedure to complete, depending in your hardware, load, etc.. Assuming you decide to download the file, once you have the metztli-F9-ia32-libs.text file in your current directory, you may want to rename it to anything that you feel comfortable with. For instance, I initially used the name ia32-libs.txt and typed as follows:

(all in a single line)
for i in $(< ia32-libs.txt); do yum -y install $i; done

In short, what the above loop does is select each i386 package listed in the ia32-libs.txt source and use yum to install --the procedure will repeat until all of the 81 packages and its dependencies are downloaded and installed into 64-bit Fedora 9 GNU/Linux distribution.

Additionally, please note that the -y option to yum is necessary if you do not want to be prompted for approval by yum for every single one of the 81 packages providing 32-bit support that yum will download and install for you.

Note that the download will be done from the 64-bit Fedora 9 default repository or that of the users' own selection. Accordingly, the subsequently installed packages will be able to be updated regularly as the Fedora 9 organization distributes them for consumption. The only resource I am providing is the list of packages for 32-bit support not the packages themselves.

Below is a snapshot of the procedure in my system.

One point needs to be explained regarding the above snapshot, notwithstanding. I am redirecting my screen output to a couple of files named EstoPaso and EstoPasoTambien (as shown by the use of redirectors >>) --hence the reason no verbose output is shown to my shell window. In the case the user types the command as suggested in the code above and not as I did in the screenshot, s/he should expect to see the yum utility filling the shell screen with pages and pages of the processes that it is performing, like figuring out package dependencies, downloading those, and subsequently installing those packages that satisfy the list provided by metztli-F9-ia32-libs.text.

Once the yum processes all the files listed in metztli-F9-ia32-libs.text, there should be no more complaints regarding libstdc++.so.5 anymore since the proper support for the libraries will have been installed by aggregation of packages in metztli-F9-ia32-libs.text.

Symphony 1 may need the help of sed to be installed into 64-bit Fedora 9

Let us try once more to install Symphony from our current working directory:

[root@Mictlantecutli jose]# ./IBM_Lotus_Symphony_linux.bin

(sample shell output)

IBM Lotus Symphony - starting installation... please wait

mktemp: too few X's in template `/tmp/symphony103581214657246.tmp'
tar: option requires an argument -- C
Try `tar --help' or `tar --usage' for more information.
./IBM_Lotus_Symphony_linux.bin: line 30: ./setup.bin: No such file or directory

Here is where an user at the IBM Lotus Symphony forum, who goes by the name of lance, made an important contribution that will allow us to continue. Assuming that our current home directory holds the IBM_Lotus_Symphony_linux.bin binary file, make a copy of it and save it in another location. For instance, I copied IBM_Lotus_Symphony_linux.bin to my Desktop directory and subsequently I changed directories to the Desktop file location in my shell; I will be applying the procedure specified below to the Symphony binary that I copied here previously, evidently:

(all in a single line)
sed -i 's/\/tmp\/symphony.*.tmp//' IBM_Lotus_Symphony_linux.bin

Observe the file that appears momentarily, just below the IBM_Lotus_Symphony_linux.bin, while the above procedure is taking place: sed is modifying the Symphony 1 binary.

After the sed modification process finishes, we attempt to install Symphony 1 once more using, of course, the sed modified Symphony binary in our Desktop:

[root@Mictlantecutli Desktop]# ./IBM_Lotus_Symphony_linux.bin

Some users have reported that they need to move the sed-modified Symphony binary to their Fedora 9 /tmp directory in order for Symphony 1 installation splash screen to appear --as it did above in our snapshot; notwithstanding, if that is not the case, the user simply proceeds to the next step in the installation phase:

Evidently, although the no-charge IBM Lotus Symphony is based on OpenOffice, the office productivity suite is not open source --but it is open standards.

If you proceed to the next step, please note the file associations that will be enabled and/or changed by the Symphony 1 office productivity suite. De-select the checkmarks in the small squares if you do not want your current file associations to be modified by Symphony 1.

The default IBM Lotus Symphony 1 installation directory is shown:

/opt/ibm/lotus/Symphony

As the root, super user, or administrator, of the GNU/Linux 64-bit Fedora 9 system, you should realize that the IBM Lotus Symphony 1 is a multi-user office productivity application. Symphony 1 will accommodate individual (regular) users' need for customizations, like language, by creating a directory (.lotus) in the home of each user of the office productivity application. Hence itis not necessary to install Symphony in any of the users home directories.

Once the root user agreed to install Symphony 1 in an appropriate directory location, the installation proceeds:

After a few more minutes, the Symphony 1 installation routine finishes and the user has the option to start Symphony 1 after selecting the Finish rectangular button. The default, as is seen by the checkmark in the small square, is to test the installation as the root or super user that has just installed Symphony 1.

Reiterating, unsupported GNU/Linux platforms have a couple of issues. One of them is that the Symphony 1 Home tab displays an error that apparently relates to the environment variable MOZILLA_FIVE_HOME. Nevertheless, it may be related to the absence of proper browser/Java 32-bit support.

However, the core functionality of the IBM Lotus Symphony 1 is not apparently affected in unsupported GNU/Linux platforms like 64-bit Fedora 9. Closing Symphony's Home tab and selecting to open any of the Documents, SpreadSheets, or Presentations, from the New menu object will enable the respective office productivity object functionality.

To illustrate, having selected to associate office productivity file types with Symphony, I double-clicked on the just downloaded Lotus Presentation template WhiteFloral.otp from the online IBM Lotus Symphony Gallery --that I hope Hana will find visually attractive as well. And yes, I modified it a little:

And decided to manipulate this other one:

DISCLAIMER although due diligence has been applied, the metztli-F9-ia32-libs.text resource is made available for testing/evaluation purposes on an AS IS basis. Those files listed in the resource only reflect my own limited testing --as expounded above-- and the potential user that manipulates any or all of those (files) assumes all risks.

Please do not hold me or Metztli Information Technology responsible if the information provided here does not achieve the desired result. The information is provided AS IS and with the hope that it may be useful to the Internet community --especially Fedora 9 users.

Notwithstanding, There is no implicit or explicit guarantee that the information presented here is accurate --even though due diligence was exercised during the procedure. Accordingly, if an user(s) decide to implement the procedure described here she, he, or them, do so at her, his, or their own risk. You have been forewarned.

Although the recent release of the IBM Lotus Symphony GA 1 (general availability 1) office productivity suite is not officially supported in Ubuntu 8.04 distributions, IBM Lotus has plans to do so in the near future.

Notwithstanding, the absence of current Ubuntu support begs the question: what do the large community of 64-bit Ubuntu 8.04 users who want to try Symphony GA 1 do meanwhile? Are they simply to stare from outside the (supported) abstract glass pane as other Linux distributions (and users of proprietary operating systems) engage into the Symphony GA 1 experience?

Even though Metztli Information Technology offers subscription fee-based support services for deployments of the IBM Lotus Symphony GA 1 on formally supported configurations, there is no technical reason why Symphony GA 1 would not install into Debian AMD64 (or x86-64) mode -- and 64-bit Ubuntu 8.04 since, as we well know, Ubuntu is based on Debian..

Although there are several ways currently available to hack an Symphony installation into x86-64 legacy 32-bit Ubuntu 8.04, for instance see my previous blog entry --where I installed Ubuntu 8.04 into an Sun MicroSystems Ultra 20 M2, AMD64 in legacy 32-bit mode, the problem is exacerbated in the 64-bit Ubuntu 8.04 operating system distribution due to the absence of the ia32 Suite.

One should note that Symphony GA 1 installs into 64-bit CentOS5.1 with as minimal compat-libstdc library additions as expounded in a related Fedora 8 web blog entry. And the subsequent creation of a symbolic link:

(all in a single line)
ln -s /usr/lib/libstdc++.so.6 /usr/lib/libstdc++.so.5

that links the Symphony relevant libstdc++.so.5 to the libstdc++.so.6 but that is not created by CentOS5.1 64-bit when installed.

Installing IBM Lotus Symphony 1 into 64-bit Ubuntu 8.04.

Without further ado, I began with a download of 64-bit Ubuntu non-live (alternate) iso image that I subsequently burned onto CD-media. Hence I started with a fresh Ubuntu Install.

Killing some time during the update, I customized my (terminal) shell and theme a little ...the older kernel apparently caused a higher CPU usage in 64-bit Debian as well. The updated replacement will be seen to be an improvement on 64-bit Ubuntu as well.

After the online update finished, I rebooted the system, and proceeded to open (terminal) shell, and proceeded to duplicate on Ubuntu what I had done earlier on 64-bit Debian Lenny/Sid.

First I became root or the Linux super user. As explained in previous 32-bit Ubuntu blog, to install IBM Lotus Symphony 1 successfully, using the prefix sudo is not enough. An Ubuntu user should become root explicitly by typing:

jose@Tonantzin:~$ sudo passwd root

(sample shell output)

[sudo] password for jose:
Enter new UNIX password:
Retype new UNIX password:
passwd: password updated successfully

After setting the password for the root user, I proceeded to convert into the Ubuntu super user explicitly in my shell by typing (note that I type su not the usual sudo):

jose@Tonantzin:~$ su root

(example shell output)

Password:
root@Tonantzin:

Lets have a color scheme to highlight directories from regular files and symbolic links:

root@Tonantzin:~# alias ls='ls -F --color=auto'

We should give a try to the IBM Lotus Symphony Installation first of all and find out if the install works; in other words, lets apply the principle of keeping it simple:

root@Tonantzin:~# ./IBM_Lotus_Symphony_linux.bin

(sample output from Symphony 1 to our shell)

IBM Lotus Symphony - starting installation... please wait

Installation requires libstdc++.so.5 to continue.

Hence we update our repositories, although not strictly necessary since we just updated our 64-bit Ubuntu 8.04 distribution.

root@Tonantzin:~# apt-get update

and download the required libraries:

root@Tonantzin:~# apt-get install libstdc++5

Once again I test whether Symphony will install:

root@Tonantzin:~# ./IBM_Lotus_Symphony_linux.bin

(sample Symphony output sent to shell)

Bundled JRE is not binary compatible with host OS/Arch or it is corrupt. Testing bundled JRE failed.

Hummm...

Having first installed the IBM Lotus Symphony 1 on Debian 64-bit Lenny/Sid, I proceeded to leverage the considerable effort expended by applying the procedure into the 64-bit distribution of Ubuntu 8.04, evidently. But the relevant question here is: how different is 64-bit Ubuntu from 64-bit Debian?

Using Debian as a Role model to install Symphony 1 into Ubuntu.

Note: it is not necessary to create the directories and symbolic links in GNU/Linux 64-bit Debian Lenny/Sid. The enumerated procedures below only apply in 64-bit Ubuntu 8.04

We create an directory that will serve as the root for supporting third party applications, like Symphony 1, that execute in 32-bit mode and that will execute in the AMD64 architecture. Please note that extreme care should be taken when performing the operations below from your root shell prompt, else the IBM Lotus Symphony 1 will refuse to install itself into 64-bit Ubuntu 8.04.

Accordingly, make sure to check your spelling carefully when creating the directories and the subsequent symbolic links in the procedure below.

1) Start by creating these three directories at your root of your Ubuntu file system:

(all in a single line)
root@Tonantzin:~# mkdir –verbose -p /emul/ia32-linux/lib

The --verbose option is needed so that the shell will output what directories it created; whereas the -p option will created all the directories with one command.

2) Now create a symbolic link as follows:

(all in a single line)
root@Tonantzin:~# ln -s /emul/ia32-linux/lib /lib32

hence, you will have a shiny new symbolic link pointing from /lib32 towards /emul/ia32-linux/lib

Please note the symbolic link in light blue color.

3) Now create another directory similar to above but different because the addition of usr

(all in a single line)
root@Tonantzin:~# mkdir –verbose -p /emul/ia32-linux/usr/lib

4) Again, create a link with the following command:

(all in a single line)
root@Tonantzin:~# ln -s /emul/ia32-linux/usr/lib /usr/lib32

you will end up with another symbolic link that points from /usr/lib32 towards /emul/ia32-linux/usr/lib


Again, please note the symbolic link in light blue color.

Please make sure that the above procedures are correct before proceeding further else Symphony 1 may fail towards the end of the installation routine.

Reiterating: it is not necessary to create the directories and symbolic links in GNU/Linux 64-bit Debian Lenny/Sid. The enumerated procedures above only apply in 64-bit Ubuntu 8.04

Download and install ia32-libs package for 32-bit Symphony 1 support.

Hence, at the shell command prompt we type:

root@Tonantzin:~# apt-get install ia32-libs

Executing the Ibm_Lotus_Symphony_linux.bin installation once more...

root@Tonantzin:~# ./IBM_Lotus_Symphony_linux.bin

And after the routine sequence we are at the point where Symphony 1 is ready to be installed --default location has been allowed:

Symphony 1 installation proceeds successfully through midphase:

Towards the end of its installation, Symphony 1 install routine activates an error dialog stating:

An error has occurred. See the log file /root/.lotus/symphony/data/logs/error-log-0.xml

Note that analyzing the above referenced XML error file gave me the hints as to what additional .deb packages might contain the needed i386 files: one starts serching the very first listed file that causes the error; the procedure is repeated after another Symphony installation attempt, and so on. Evidently, the IBM Lotus Symphony developers that provide this mechanism are to be applauded.

And upon closing the error dialog, another one pops up stating:

The IBM Lotus Symphony installation has failed.

For additional information refer to the log file
/opt/ibm/lotus/Symphony/framework/rcp_install.log

The installer will now exit.

So we are almost there, but not yet: an “almost” solution is not the same as a complete solution –Metztli Information Technology focuses on complete solutions and not partial ones.

But ... does it mean that the IBM Lotus Symphony 1 core office productivity functionality will not even install into Ubuntu 64-bit after all??? Well, we needed to follow with more care the advice provided in the Debian Administration article and figure out just what other packages are needed.

Yes, IBM Lotus Symphony will install into 64-bit Ubuntu 8.04 ...but

Well, after some considerable trials, errors, and frustrations, the 32-bit packages needed are found and downloaded. We need to expand them into the directory location /emul/ia32-linux that we created before, remember ???

Please download the following current year (2008) i386 packages from your nearest Debian mirror. The following links are from an USA Primary Debian mirror site.

gtk2-engines_2.14.2-1_i386.deb
libxkbfile1_1.0.5-1_i386.deb

DO NOT allow the GDebi package installer to do the operation for you, but elect to save the packages to to the a location in your file system. You will be doing the operations manually.

and prepare to install those into the /emul/ia32-linux directory. We will do it as follows:

root@Tonantzin:~# dpkg -X gtk2*.deb /emul/ia32-linux
and
root@Tonantzin:~# dpkg -X libxk*.deb /emul/ia32-linux

Attempt your IBM Lotus Symphony 1 installation once again:

Evidently, you should succeed ...

DISCLAIMER Please do not hold me or Metztli Information Technology responsible if the information provided here does not achieve the desired result. The information is provided AS IS and with the hope that it may be useful to the Internet community --especially Ubuntu users.

Notwithstanding, There is no implicit or explicit guarantee that the the information presented here is accurate --even though due diligence was exercised during the procedure. Accordingly, if an user(s) decide to implement the procedure described here she, he, or them, do so at her, his, or their own risk. You have been forewarned.

There have been certain reports that the IBM Lotus Symphony GA 1 (general availability 1) does not install properly under Ubuntu 8.04. During this how-to web log entry, I will install ubuntu 8.04 –the x86 architecture 32-bit non-live download ISO image-- under an Sun MicroSystems Ultra 20 M2 Workstation. It has the dual-core AMD Opteron 1200 series and 1 GB of RAM.

Evidently, I have this machine for some other non trivial uses. Notwithstanding, since Metztli Information Technology offers subscription support for deployments of the IBM Symphony GA 1, I will attempt to shed some light into Symphony productivity office suite on Ubuntu 8.04.

In this multi-boot operating system machine, I allocated 4 GB of space to Ubuntu 8.04 simply to test the Symphony GA 1 installation and potential issues that I might encounter. Needless to say, the hard disk space allocated was barely enough for the project; there remained roughly 2 GB of free space after the Ubuntu updates to bring the Ubuntu installation up to date upon the very first boot into the system. I had to clean subsequently the downloaded .deb archives and had to leave the IBM Lotus Symphony installation binary at another disk partition.

As an aside, here is the Debian (and Ubuntu) command to remove the downloaded .deb archive packages that were needed no more because Ubuntu update process had finished; hence the directive below allowed me some extra free space to complete the Symphony installation:

jose@MixCoatl:~$ sudo apt-get clean

Accordingly, in order to avoid experiencing disk space installation issues, please make sure to have 3 GB of free hard disk space to allow the Symphony binary to expand into the /tmp Linux directory “comfortably” even though the actual space needed for the IBM Lotus Symphony productivity office suite is only around 600 MB.

Ubuntu 8.04 installation requires libstdc++.so.5

That is what Ubuntu will tell you when you open up a command shell prompt and attempt to run Symphony with a command similar to:

jose@MixCoatl:~$ sudo IBM_Lotus_Symphony_linux.bin

Please note that in the screenshot above, the binary installation file IBM_Lotus_Symphony_linux.bin was not in my current directory location –as I mentioned before, it was in another partition. Hence the reason the path that I entered is so long in the screenshot.

Well, go ahead and download the required libraries by typing:

jose@MixCoatl:~$ sudo apt-get update

(sample output requesting the regular user password)

[sudo] password for jose:

Enter the regular user password to first update our Ubuntu repositories and subsequently download the actual libraries needed by typing:

jose@MixCoatl:~$ sudo apt-get install libstdc++5

Now you can install Symphony using the sudo prefix command --since you are not root-- as you did above; however, this time the IBM Lotus Symphony installation will start ...but wait! Cancel the installation that was began using the prefix sudo --Symphony should be installed with root privilege.

sudo is not the same as root when Installing IBM Lotus Symphony GA 1.

IBM Lotus Symphony is designed to be installed by the root user. However, using the sudo prefix will install Symphony but will not allow the regular user of Ubuntu --created initially during the Ubuntu installation-- to simply click on the subsequent Symphony icon --that cascades from the Applications => Office menu-- to start the office productivity suite. Therefore, from the shell prompt, the sudo prefix command is required for the Ubuntu user to start Symphony because clicking on the Symphony icon will not have effect.

As an example, if the sudo prefix command was used to install Symphony, the following would be entered at the shell prompt to start Symphony GA 1:

Note that for illustrative purposes the picture immediately above displays the whole command in two lines; hence, the prefix sudo is terminated with a backslash (\). Once we press the Enter key, the next line will display an greater than character (>) that simply means that the shell is expecting further input from the user --and then the whole command to start Symphony GA 1 is typed within quotes with the exception of the last two characters %U .

Additionally, after finishing a sudo Symphony GA 1 session, there may remain an (invisible) hanging process that will have to be killed so that Symphony can be (re)started subsequently. That offending process can be identified by typing:

jose@MixCoatl:~$ sudo ps aux | grep -i symphony

(example output):

root 23509 0.4 4.3 141576 45248 pts/0 Sl 23:21 0:01 /opt/ibm/lotus/Symphony/framework/shared/eclipse/plugins/com.ibm.productivity.tools.base.app.linux_3.0.1.20080529-0018//soffice.bin -invisible -hidemenu -accept=pipe,name=487844528_Office;urp;StarOffice.ServiceManager -enableautomation
jose 23543 0.0 0.0 3004 776 pts/1 R+ 23:25 0:00 grep -i symphony

and the ubuntu user subsequently obliterates the process by typing (example process number):

jose@MixCoatl:~$ sudo kill 23509

The above discussion simply shows that using the sudo prefix command does not provide adequate results when used to install and use IBM Lotus Symphony GA 1.

Becoming root or super user in Ubuntu 8.04 to install Symphony.

You may use any of the several procedures to become root in Ubuntu as a prerequisite before installing Symphony GA 1. Although, the procedure that I used was different, you may follow the setting of your root password as explained in this relevant Debian admin article. For instance, let us use the prefix sudo to create a root password to install Symphony GA 1 as follows:

jose@MixCoatl:~$ sudo passwd root

(example shell output):

Enter new UNIX password:
Retype new UNIX password:
passwd: password updated successfully

In effect, now we have a password for root and we proceed to exercise that power by typing at the command prompt (please note that we type su and not sudo below to become the root user):

jose@MixCoatl:~$ su root

(example shell output):

Password:
To run a command as administrator (user "root"), use "sudo command".
See "man sudo_root" for details.

root@MixCoatl:/home/jose#

Note how the shell prompt starts now with the super user name of root and not the regular user name in prior instances. Additionally, you can verify that you have in effect become the super user if you type:

root@MixCoatl:/home/jose# whoami

and the shell response should be: root

Thus we get ready to install the IBM Lotus Symphony. But first, we must grant root all privileges by typing:

root@MixCoatl:/home/jose# users-admin

Hence we select (by highlighting) the root account, subsequently followed by the Properties rectangular button, and selecting the User Privileges tab from the Account 'root' Properties dialog.

Please check all the squares (see screenshot below) since root is the super user of the Ubuntu system. Do not forget to save your changes by selecting the Ok button that closes the Account 'root' Properties dialog window upon that action. Follow that by selecting the button Close to close the User Settings dialog. Now you are ready to install Symphony GA 1 wielding root privilege.

Assuming that your downloaded Symphony binary file is located at your current directory location, proceed to install the IBM Lotus Symphony GA 1 by typing:

root@MixCoatl:/home/jose# ./IBM_Lotus_Symphony_linux.bin

and follow the prompt dialogs from Symphony installation routine. You may need to select the Next button by clicking on the button more than once to progress along. You should complete your productivity office suite installation successfully.

Well, having installed the IBM Lotus Symphony GA 1 as root, the regular user is able to simply click on the Symphony icon to start the office productivity suite application.

Nevertheless, as can be seen in these snapshots, there are a couple of issues that remain to be resolved. The Home page tab of Symphony can not be displayed. The error displayed in a single line across the Home page is:

org.eclipse.swt.browser.Browser: No more handles (java.lang.UnsatisfiedLinkError: no swt-mozilla-gtk-3346 or swt-mozilla-gtk in swt.library.path, java.library.path or the jar file)

And when the Web Browser option is selected, the subsequent tab shows the following error relating to the environment variable of MOZILLA_FIVE_HOME:

As a workaround, the user may select to use the web browser that came with Ubuntu instead of the Symphony integrated one. From the Symphony menu, select File => Preferences => Web Browser and check the appropriate radio button. Select Ok button to save your changes and exit Symphony Preferences configuration dialog:

Notwithstanding, Document, Presentation, and Spreadsheet, core functions perform as those should for the home and office worker during the limited time I tested IBM Lotus Symphony GA 1 on Ubuntu 8.04:

DISCLAIMER Please do not hold me or Metztli Information Technology responsible if the information provided here does not achieve the desired result. The information is provided AS IS and with the hope that it may be useful to the Internet community --especially Ubuntu users.

Notwithstanding, There is no implicit or explicit guarantee that the the information presented here is accurate --even though due diligence was exercised during the procedure. Accordingly, if an user(s) decide to implement the procedure described here she, he, or them, do so at her, his, or their own risk. You have been forewarned.

As the Warpstock 2008 annual USA event approaches --to be held in Santa Cruz California and hosted by the local BayWarp OS/2 user group, I felt the curiosity to find out what kind of server was hosting the WarpStock organization website. I was pleasantly surprised that, apparently, it is the Apache web server ported to OS/2 by Paul Smedley --as can be verified if an user visits the site IPtools and enters the pertinent domain in question.

It is consistent that an OS/2 event website be hosted by the celebrated operating system, evidently. Notwithstanding, browsing through some of the WarpStock web pages it is obvious that the website designer(s)/administrator(s) have not embraced more enthusiastically the Web 2.0 collaborative technologies. These latter are so pervasive that IBM, through the Lotus brand, has embedded security mechanisms so that small and large customer enterprises may focus on the positive aspect of Web 2.0; that is, enable the potential for a highly efficient collaborative business environment.

Notwithstanding, there is high quality open source social network software like wikis and blogs that obviously have more modern themes and interactivity than the conservative nature of a yesterday forum. Additionally, Paul Smedley, building on top of the efforts of other OS/2 hackers that came before him, has ported the infrastructure needed to bring OS/2 up to speed with current Web 2.0 technologies. Accordingly, and with no intention to offend the venerable OS/2 organization, I will venture forward my constructive criticism --with deeds and not only with words: I will show a proof of concept to install b2evolution 2.4.2 on the OS/2 WSEB.

IMPORTANT: the following screen shots are scattered for subsequent reference and do not correspond to the instructions immediately above (or below) each of those (screenshots) until noted otherwise further down the blog post. However, clicking on the orange-colored links, as one reads the procedure, will open up the relevant screenshots that reference what is being discussed in the post.

Gathering the components needed and laying down the assumptions that I make.

I am using PkWare pkzip utility for OS/2 whose development ended towards 1997. If you look under my other OS/2 blogs you will find that the name of the alternative freeware utility is pkos2250.exe; after extracting its contents, simply locate the pkzip.exe. For instance it resides under one of my directories referenced by the PATH statement in my OS/2 CONFIG.SYS file; needless to say, the clear advantage is that when I open a command prompt, I am able to execute pkzip.exe from anywhere in the OS/2 environment directory structure. You may use your own utility to decompress files with an zip extension but make sure that you know how to maintain the directory structure when decompressing zip archives.

Select a location for your work from where you will be extracting (unzipping) files into the root of your hard drive/partition letter. For instance, and for the sake of clarity, I will be using the drive letter O: for the root drive where AMP will execute, and O:\workspace for the workspace from where I will extract to the pertinent directory structures.

Accordingly, after an OS/2 windowed command prompt opens, change directory to O:\workspace (as seen within in my OS/2 bracketed prompt) and type:

[O:\workspace]dir

these files should have been downloaded (by following the appropriate links) from b2evolution and Paul Smedley OS/2 ports

• httpd-2.2.8-os2-20080216.zip
• mysql-5.0.51-os2.zip
• php-5.2.6-os2-20080504.zip
• libc-0.6.3-csd3.zip
• b2evolution-2.4.2-stable-2008-04-27.zip

This last (after extraction) will need to be placed preferably under your OS/2_drive_letter:\OS2\DLL since Apache, MySQL, and PHP will not run without it.

Extract three(3) zip archives from within your workspace directory to the root of your drive.

[O:\workspace]pkzip /extr /dir httpd-2.2.8-os2-20080216.zip o:\.

[O:\workspace]pkzip /extr /dir mysql-5.0.51-os2.zip o:\.

[O:\workspace]pkzip /extr /dir php-5.2.6-os2-20080504.zip o:\.

You will now have three new directories:

o:\apache2
o:\mysql5
o:\php5

Now, we need to place the file libc063.dll --that is compressed into the file libc-0.6.3-csd3.zip-- into your OS/2_drive_letter:\OS2\DLL so as to that file be available to Apache2, MySQL5, and PHP5.

We make a temporary directory to extract the contents, say tmpLIBC and execute the following command to decompress the contents into it:

[O:\workspace]mkdir tmpLIBC

follow that with:
[O:\workspace]pkzip /extr /dir libc-0.6.3-csd3.zip tmpLIBC\.

We can see what files were extracted into tmpLIBC with the command:

[O:\workspace]dir tmpLIBC

COPYING.LIB
gcc335.dll
libc06.dll
libc061.dll
libc062.dll
libc063.dll

Now copy the relevant named file below to your OS/2_root_drive:\OS2\DLL with the following command:

[O:\workspace]copy tmpLIBC\libc063.dll OS/2_root_drive:\os2\dll\.

Note: keep track of these supporting libraries because those may cause compatibility problems with newer and/or different OS/2 ports. Documenting what one does will help solve subsequent "mysterious" problems that are blamed on the OS/2.

Quick and dirty OS/2 Setting up of Apache2, MySQL, and PHP5, (OAMP).

We will return to set up b2evolution blog software; first we must make sure that the OAMP software infrastructure will support the blog software. I experienced, due to relatively lack of documentation, painful issues due to the PHP5 front end not connecting to the MySQL backend.

Hence, we must change directory to make Apache2 run by typing:

[O:\workspace]cd \apache2

[O:\apache2]

There will be a file that we need to modify first; specifically, we need to replace the drive letter referencing the OS/2 porter's environment to our own. Locate the file that starts up Apache; it is named STARTUP.CMD. Make a copy of it in case you need to start anew by entering:

[O:\apache2]copy STARTUP.CMD STARTUP.CMDORIG

Subequently, using an OS/2 text editor, like EPM or E, open the file. Your unmodified Apache2 STARTUP.CMD will read something that looks like this:

Code

For the purposes of our initial attempts, we want to delete the first line of text so that we can see possible errors when we start Apache2. Further, we adjust the drive letter u: to reflect our own --in this case o: Subsequently, we remove the error directive messages going into infinity, by deleting the directive "2>&1"

We end up with the following trimmed and customized STARTUP.CMD stated below:

Code

Important: make sure to leave the space and trailing dot because it is a relative path argument so that Apache will know where its needed resources are in the file system.

Now you must make available the httpd.conf Apache configuration that Apache searches under the current directory (.) and path as follows (in Linux/Unix forward slashes): ./conf/httpd.conf

If you observe the directory .\conf you will find that there is a file that you can use as a template that you will subsequently minimally edit to suit your environment; the file that you will use as a template is named: .\conf\httpd.conf.sample

Accordingly, make a copy of it so that you can edit (the renamed copy):

[O:\apache2]copy .\conf\httpd.conf.sample .\conf\httpd.conf

Open the .\conf\httpd.conf file with your OS/2 text editor --unless, of course you are using a Linux/Unix editor like VI or its clones Elvis, VIM, and others.

Warning: on occassions, an end of line/file character that will not be seen under OS/2 utilities but will be noticed under the Linux/Unix text editors as ^Z and will cause issues during the parsing of the text string flow. If the user is unaware of its presence, s/he will go frustrated trying to diagnose her/his system. You have been warned about it, you may want to learn a Linux/Unix text editor since your recent/future applications for OS/2 have *nix text configuration files.

For the minimal editing of the Apache2 configuration file, I will use OS/2's EPM text editor. Hence I type:

[O:\apache2]EPM .\conf\httpd.conf

Subsequently, I use the search facility built into EPM to find the last of the LoadModule directives. At that location I add the following directive taken from the \php5\README.OS2 :

# 06-02-2008 support for PHP5
LoadModule php5_module modules/modphp5.dll

Additionally, at the very end of the file I add the following important three(3) line directives (the comment starts with the character # and is optional):

# 06-02-2008 my modifications
ScriptAlias /php5/ "o:/php5"
AddType application/x-httpd-php .php
Action application/x-httpd-php "/php5/php.exe"

Save your changes to your .\conf\httpd.conf file once you are satisfied that those reflect your environment (notice the driver letter "o:/php5" that you should take care to adjust to your situation.

Now, again based on the directions of o:\php5\README.OS2, we copy the file modphp5.dll to our current Apache2 .\modules directory thus:

[O:\apache2]copy o:\php5\apache2\modphp5.dll modules\.

Not modifying correctly the .\conf\httpd.conf (and saving the changes) and not copying over to the o:\Apache2\modules directory the PHP5 module modphp5.dll will print some error, subsequently, similar to:
--------------------------------------
[O:\apache2]rem adjust as necessary

[O:\apache2]set beginlibpath=o:\apache2\bin;o:\apache2\modules;

[O:\apache2]bin\httpd -d .
bin\\httpd: Syntax error on line 112 of ./conf/httpd.conf: Cannot load O:/apache2/modules/modphp5.dll into server: SYS0002: The system cannot find the file specified. (O:\\APACHE2\\MODULES\\MODPHP5.DLL)
---------------------------------------

Moreover, if the last three lines that we added above to our Apache2 .\conf\httpd.conf are missing or incorrect, Apache2 will not parse your web PHP files and will present them to the viewer in plain source.

Now lets test your PHP5 and Apache2 combo --we need to prepare some more but we must make sure that simply starting up those services will not spit out errors. Ready? Type:

[O:\apache2]cd \php5

[O:\php5]start php

Another OS/2 window should start up where the php.exe service/daemon executes; note that the window is blank --meaning but with no waiting prompt since the PHP process/daemon is executing and may be minimized for convenience subsequently. Make sure to start PHP5 before Apache2; otherwise Apache2 will refuse to start printing an error similar to:

bin\\httpd: Syntax error on line 112 of ./conf/httpd.conf: Cannot load O:/apach2/modules/modphp5.dll into server: SYS0002: The system cannot find the file speified. (PHP5)

Accordingly, after PHP5 has been started first, change back to your Apache2 directory and start the webserver with the CMD as:

[O:\php5]cd \apache2

[O:\apache2]start /f startup

If your OS/2 subsequent opening of the window where Apache service/daemon executes is similar to:

bin\\httpd: Could not reliably determine the server's fully qualified domain name, using 127.0.0.1 for ServerName
Apache/2.2.8 (OS/2) PHP/5.2.6

then your minimal local b2evolution installation efforts are going well. You could open your browser to test your Apache2 web server:

firefox http://localhost or mozilla http://localhost and you should be getting the two word text string: It works! displayed relatively large on the upper left corner of your browser. An you would be ready to continue on the b2evolution effort into OS/2.

On the other hand, if you get some error containing a statement like the following (even if you are able to view the "It works!" note):

bin\\httpd: apr_gethostname() failed to determine ServerName

then it is likely that your OS/2_root_drive:\mptn\etc\hosts file and the current HOSTNAME environment variable are in disagreement. As it may be known, the directive:

SET HOSTNAME=your_OS/2_Host_name

is sometimes (often or always) placed into the OS/2 CONFIG.SYS file by some utilities. Notwithstanding, the HOSTNAME variable can be reset on the fly --but only for the current session in your OS/2 window, hence the reason I am spanning or forking the Apache2, PHP5, MySQL, etc., processes from the current instance of my dynamically set window environment.

Evidently, if you want the HOSTNAME environment (or any other environment, as a matter of fact) to maintain global persistence, it should be changed in your OS/2 CONFIG.SYS and your machine rebooted for the changes to take effect. Notwithstanding, since we are interested in a proof of concept on the localhost, type as follows:

SET HOSTNAME=localhost

After you set the above environment from the OS/2 window command line from which you are doing all manipulations towards the b2evolution blog set up. The immediately previous error should cease to exist. Of course, your OS/2_root_drive:\mptn\etc\hosts in your workstation should contain some statement similar to:

127.0.0.1 localhost

Where is the php.ini and why does it matter?

The PHP5 php.ini configuration file is needed to (among other services) provide the MySQL required directives but it was nowhere to be found in the PHP5 compressed zip archive.

Smedley touches tersely on the appropriate location to place the php.ini file in the \php5\README.OS2; the OS/2 developer also addresses lightly on the importance of the modules (for PHP MySQL connections). But it was a PDF document (clicking this link will download PDF document) that I saw floating on the Web that provided the insight required to deal with the problem of the PHP5 frontend not connecting to an database already created (and required thus) for b2evolution.

Code

Having created a file with the above content to extract important information from PHP5, among which it showed that php.ini was to be placed under /php5/lib I created the directory (since it was not there) and proceeded to place a php.ini copy of an fresh installation of PHP5 on Debian. It did not work; a subsequent observation of the PHP5 information file showed that it was not even loading!

Finally I realized that the php.ini file should be placed under OS/2_root_drive:\mptn\etc --that is in the same directory location as the hosts file and other TCP/IP related configuration files. Note that php.ini file should be modified by the addition of directives amongst which MySQL backend support connectivity is enabled. Below is the added fragment at line number 58 of the Debian donated php.ini file for OS/2:

; Added on 06-01-2008 for MySQL backend support.
extension_dir = "O:/php5/modules"
extension=bz2.dll
extension=curl.dll
extension=exif.dll
extension=gd.dll
extension=gettext.dll
extension=mbstring.dll
extension=mysql.dll
extension=openssl.dll

Evidently there are more extensions that the user may include as judged by those that populate o:\php5\modules directory. Those that I cared to include in the php.ini were enough for the b2evolution proof of concept on OS/2.

Priming MySQL for action before b2evolution install.

From the Apache2 directory, change to the the /mysql5 equivalent:

[O:\apache2]cd \mysql5

and we decompress the file mysql5_sample_database.zip thus:

pkzip /extr /dir mysql5_sample_database.zip

effctively creating a data directory for new users. The README.OS2 file that came with MySQL5 advises of the online resource http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.0/en/default-privileges.html to proceed further. To start the MySQL daemon one changes to bin:

[O:\mysql5]cd bin

[O:\mysql5\bin]start mysqld

UNIX Socket is \socket\MySQL
080602 5:22:46 [Note] O:\mysql5\bin\mysqld.exe: ready for connections.
Version: '5.0.51' socket: '\socket\MySQL' port: 3306 Source distribution

and a message fragment like the one above tells us that MySQL backend is ready for us to proceed with the b2evolution installation.

Please, note that the initial install of MySQL has no root (database administrator or super dba user) password set; hence, we are able to log in as root without a password. Notwithstanding, you should become familiar with the MySQL documentation to, among other security tasks, set this most importan root passoword task.

Accordingly, disregarding security for the moment to engage the b2evolution challenge, as MySQL root I grant user tlaloc extreme privilege.

[O:\mysql5\bin]mysql -u root

Welcome to the MySQL monitor. Commands end with ; or \g.
Your MySQL connection id is 1
Server version: 5.0.51 Source distribution

Type 'help;' or '\h' for help. Type '\c' to clear the buffer.

mysql> GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON *.* TO 'tlaloc'@'localhost'
> IDENTIFIED BY 'tlaloc_password' WITH GRANT OPTION;

mysql> quit
Bye

As an additional note, since the intention here is to make accessible the procedure to everyone, the command above spanned a couple of lines. The character that starts the second line ( > )is not entered by the user and simply means that MySQL is waiting for additional input; MySQL will not execute the command entered until the user types an ending semicolon (;).

Make sure that you replace the tlaloc_password string with a password that you will not forget; later it will be required for the creation of the b2evolution database by the user (tlaloc for our illustration) and the installation of your b2evolution blog.

And now user tlaloc proceeds to create a database for for b2evolution as follows:

[O:\mysql5\bin]mysql -u tlaloc -p
Enter password:
Welcome to the MySQL monitor. Commands end with ; or \g.
Your MySQL connection id is 2
Server version: 5.0.51 Source distribution

Type 'help;' or '\h' for help. Type '\c' to clear the buffer.

mysql> CREATE DATABASE b2evolution;
Query OK, 1 row affected (0.01 sec)

mysql> SHOW DATABASES;
+--------------------+
| Database |
+--------------------+
| information_schema |
| b2evolution |
| mysql |
| test |
+--------------------+
4 rows in set (0.04 sec)

mysql> quit
Bye

Hence, going back to process b2evolution:

[O:\mysql5\bin]cd \workspace

We proceed to decompress the b2evolution archive:

pkzip /extr /dir b2evolution-2.4.2-stable-2008-04-27.zip

An b2evolution directory is created where the important data for our purposes is contained within b2evolution\blogs. This latter directory is the one that I will copy over to the Apache root document directory, i.e., o:\apache2\htdocs Accordingly, I use the OS/2 XCOPY utility to operate on b2evolution\blogs thus:

[O:\workspace]XCOPY b2evolution\blogs \apache2\htdocs\blogs\ /h /o /t /s /e /r /v

And we are ready to install b2evolution! But first, since we know that MySQL daemon is running and we have created our much anticipated b2evolution database, I should go back and start PHP5 and Apache2 services/daemons --Remember PHP5 first is started then Apache2.

[O:\workspace]cd \php5

[O:\php5]start php

[O:\php5]cd \apache2

[O:\apache2]start /f startup

[O:\apache2]

Point your browser to

http://localhost/blogs/install

and proceed to click to call the install script. Since an db of the name b2evolution has been created previosly, as well as an MySQL user with a password, enter those in the subsequent screen.

Review the information that displays and press the GO! button. Make sure to scroll down to the lower half of the page for additional but important settings that must be reviewed.

b2evolution shows what is being done and created in the informational output. Do not forget to to examine with care for an unwanted or error condition. Also note the Login name and random password credentials assigned to you. Those will be needed as you click the log in link to advance to the next screen.

If satisfied with the information conveyed by b2evolution through the web interface, then you are ready to log in to administer your cool blog in your favorite operating system. Make sure to type in the fields your Login name and password that you noted down from the previous screen. After you enter into the administrator area of your newly installed blog, you can assign yourself another password.

As soon as your credentials are accepted by the security routine, the first view will be of the Global section of b2evolution.

IMPORTANT: from this point on, screen shots do correspond to the immediate instructions just above them.

From the b2evolution menu on the left, hover over the pointer and observe the sub-menus available. An important element of a post-installation is to select the About this system menu option. It will advise of potential security problems that should be attended. For instance, leaving the installation directory of the b2evolution blog represents an security risk; hence that directory should be deleted so that an cracker may not mess with a reinstall of your blog if subsequently your OS/2 hosted services go on the Internet live.

The other issues that might represent a potential security exposure of your OS/2 server is through the PHP. This latter case is fixed by editing the php.in file. Remember that it was placed into the OS/2_root_drive:\mptn\etc ?

Scrolling downwards the page we see that practically everything works under the OS/2 environment --with the possible exception of the PHP user and group. It is expected because those Linux/Unix security notions are non existent in the OS/2. Nevertheless, the installation of b2evolution in an 386 High Performance file system ( 386HPFS ) might alleviate the issue at hand; as well the application of the the Toronto Virtual File System ( TVFS ) to the server.

Hence I delete the b2evolution install files and directory from the default apache2 web server path that we use for this quick proof of concept:

erase o:\apache2\htdocs\blogs\install\*.*

rmdir o:\apache2\htdocs\blogs\install

and refresh the page, it can be seen that the issue is no more:

Ok ...A quick blurb on Metztli IT, OS/2, and Tlaloc --the ancient Teuhctl of the rain in Ixachitlan, i.e., Landmass Immensity, now renamed as 'America' by the European invaders:

And an equally quick change of skin/theme reflecting the abundance made possible by the rain water that Tlaloc symbolizes:

AS I finish the blog blurb and change of skin, I can only admire the OS/2 resiliency against all odds and dire predictions --and can simply conclude that b2evolution on OS/2 Rocks!

Keep in mind that due to the fast pace of Free and open source software F(OSS) development, as opposed to proprietary camp, you should adjust accordingly the above procedure as you read this blog how-to post in the future.

Please note that the procedure discussed may also work on older versions of OS/2 but I did not test it.

If you find the above discussed software useful, please consider making a donation to Francois Planque of b2evolution fame and OS/2 hacker Paul Smedley for their continued efforts in support the open source software communities.

NOTE: suggestion code for commands entered at the OS/2 shell(s) prompt are provided on an as-is basis. Although due diligence has been applied, the information may not be accurate under all circumstances.

Debian derived php.ini file is available for download to illustrate something that may be alien to an OS/2er (and others) and may not be suitable for the environment of whoever downloads to use it; hence, Debian derived php.ini is available AS-IS.

Accordingly, please do not hold Metztli IT responsible if unforeseen effects are experienced. You are not obliged to use the information provided.

Metztli IT reserves the right to modify the procedure including deleting the blog entry.