I've been following another good thread on the Kronos-Fans Yahoogroup about Java and thought I'd point it out to any of you that don't spend enough time there. This particular message is written by Chris Flanders and is a worthwhile read. He starts,
"Having been through this same dilemma in a couple of different large, distributed healthcare systems, I can assure you that there is no magic bullet or easy solution to managing Java on the clients for your Kronos users. In fact, even when you have the correct versions installed & working, I would still say that roughly 95%+ of the non-process related problems that individual users experienced were Java-related and resolved by either clearing their Java cache or reinstalling Java. But, despite all that, you can make it a little easier on yourself. Here are some suggestions or thoughts that you mind find helpful (in no particular order):"
Go check it out if you still have Java issues!
OK. I'm on a roll. Here's the detail. JRE installation packages are built using InstallShield Developer 7. The JRE installation executables include built-in support for silent (unattended) installations. In the command line we can do all sorts of fun stuff, but let's focus on topic. Here's a command line sample.
j2re-1_4_2_06-windows-i586-p.exe /s /v"/qn IEXPLORER=1 ADDLOCAL=ALL UPDATE=1 /L C:\jre.log"
Here is the command for silent installation, turning off automatic updates:
.exe /s /v "/qn[ADDLOCAL=jrecore[,extra][,other_US] | ALL] [IEXPLORER=1] [NETSCAPE6=1] [MOZILLA=1] [INSTALLDIR=:\] [REBOOT=Suppress] [JAVAUPDATE=0] [EULA=1]"
The options are described below.
- .exe is the single executable installer for the JRE
- ADDLOCAL is either jrecore[,extra][,other_US] or ALL
- IEXPLORER=1 indicates that the JRE should be registered with the Internet Explorer browser
- NETSCAPE6=1 indicates that the JRE should be registered with Netscape 6 or later browsers
- MOZILLA=1 indicates that the JRE should be registered with Mozilla 1.1 and later browsers
- INSTALLDIR specifies the drive and path of the installation
- REBOOT=Suppress indicates that if locked files are encountered the computer should not be rebooted
- JAVAUPDATE=1 indicates that Java Update feature is enabled
- EULA=1 indicates that End User License Agreement will be displayed on first use and not during installation
See all the details for installation options at the Java web site.
What a great holiday! I feel so invigorated after a few days off. Luckily it doesn't take much.
So I'm thinking about Java these days as I've recently been performing so many implementations and upgrades in dramatically different environments. Below are my notes from all over including Kronos.com, Kronos-Fans and all my friends and work buddies.
So what version of Java do we need?
Firstly, well, I'm not going to answer the first question because it's changed so much over the years. Hopefully someone out there has created a little table and will post it here. I can point you to the latest bulletin I've read though so we're all on the same page. ‘How To Set Java Plugin Settings in WFC 6.0.8 for a Mixed Environment of JRE 1.5 and JRE 1.6'. This will actually answer both questions. Workforce Central 6.0.8 supports JRE 1.6.0_5 or higher.
Can we run more than one Java Client version on a machine?
Yes! Some sites may not want to push Java 1.6 to all clients. Instead, they will have a mixed environment to allow more flexibility while clients migrate to the latest Java Run Time environment. How can the Java plugin settings be changed to allow Workforce to use JRE 1.6 if it is installed, but otherwise use JRE 1.5?
Firstly, the site MUST utilize the Family Class ID system as outlined by Sun Microsystems. This system and its implementation were described in a Kronos Customer Support Technical Advisory. Go to the Kronos customer support site, login and search for it.
Note that
only ONE version of the plug-in can be resident in memory on a client at a time. This means that when 1.6 is used for a non-Kronos application, and the user wants to open WFC, they must close ALL browser windows on the client,
then open a new browser for use with WFC. This will ensure that the 1.5 plug-in can be loaded into memory and used with Workforce.
Rich asked in Kronos-Fans, "I went in and updated the Java Plugin settings as indicated below and when I try running with 1.5 and then on another PC with 1.6 it seems to actually load a lot quicker for both versions of Java. Have you tried this at all? Is it safe and does it make any difference do you know?"
He was reading from the document mentioned above from customer.kronos.com. I've not tried it yet but I've gotten confirmation it's safe and works well. What I'm unsure about is that my notes show this particular CLSID to be the Universal one. It will use the latest version of Java installed on the client. Therefore, if JRE 1.6.0_5 or later is installed, it will launch JRE 1.6. In all other cases, it will use JRE 1.5.
In answer to the speed question, again because of Rich's findings, I'm stumped. It seems to me that if we point to the specific instance we want to use, such as the JRE 1.6.0_7, it should be faster, but that's not what he is finding. Anyway, here's what you do if you want your Kronos apps to use this.
Log in to Workforce, on your TEST system, as a SuperUser and select Setup-->System Settings-->Java Plug-in Settings. Edit the site.java.plugin.CLSID.familyVersion to be:
clsid:8AD9C840-044E-11D1-B3E9-00805F499D93
Click Save, logout and back in to test.
This next set of settings, to put the above mentioned one in context, is for JRE 1.6.0_7
site.java.plugin.installer: jre-6u7-windows-i586-p-s.exe
site.java.plugin.version.minimalVersion: 1.6.0_5
site.java.plugin.CLSID.familyVersion: clsid:CAFEEFAC-0016-0000-FFFF-ABCDEFFEDCBA
site.java.plugin.type.familyVersion: 1.6.0
site.java.plugin.version.installVersion: 6,0,070,0
Check out the related article:
How To Configure JRE 1.6 Support in Workforce Central Suite Service Pack 6.0.8 (6C4-JW2-0U2-79I)