I'm testing out the Java Enterprise System. Version 2005Q4 comes in the DVD kit with Solaris 10 Update 1, so I thought I would try that out, following these sample instructions.
The installer starts off OK, but then it complains that J2SE is obsolete. Say what? This is a brand new S10U1 install, and has a newer JDK than is supplied on the JES media. I selected manual upgrade (promising that I would upgrade it myself) in the hope that it wouldn't do anything stupid.
For what it's worth, Solaris 10 Update 1 ships with J2SE 5.0_06, while the JES media contains the older (and insecure) 5.0_04. There are two major issues here already:
- JES ought to have its java version in sync with the version of the OS it's shipped with
- It ought to detect a newer version and accept it as good
So I plug through the screens. (There's another one where it complains about the versions of JATO, JAXP, and JAF being out of date. Why? This is the latest all-singing all-dancing version of Solaris, hot off the press. Why aren't those components up to date?)
So I get to the end and tell it to go install. And what does it do? It downgrades the system Java to the old insecure version!
Aaaaarrrrrrgggggghhhhhh!!!!!!
This is plain bad behaviour, compounding its previous errors with a heinous crime.
2 comments:
But does JES work?
This is a serious question (and another blog entry to come), but having installed it following the instructions (and it's a long and tortuous road) it doesn't work.
The Calendar Server doesn't work. I can't access the access manager console, and the test user can't log in. Some of these were working in isolation at some point in the process.
I've spent half a day and have absolutely nothing functional to show for it. Is JES ever going to be widely used? I think not.
Jaime, you say they work, but having installed and configured the products precisely according to the instructions, and without any errors or warnings, nothing works when I get to the end. I can't get to the admin console. Users can't log in to the applications. Some of the services don't start - with no explanation or diagnostic output. They may well be the best products in the world, but if a highly experienced admin following the instructions precisely can't get them to work at all - after multiple attempts - then there is something seriously wrong.
It's not the installer. I can get the products installed (even though I don't like how it does it); they just don't do anything useful. And there's no way I would ever risk deploying something that's so prone to failure, and so difficult to diagnose when it goes wrong.
Oh well, wipe and start over I guess.
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