INLS 183 Systems Administration Assignment 6

Java and Moneydance on Red Hat Linux

Java

Java is a programming language that is used to run and build programs on different kinds of computers, as well as a platform that translates the language of software and hardware on any machine that has a version of Java. Java is unique because is can be used to write programs and build web applications. I chose to install this software on Red Hat Linux to gain experience with the software on Linux and because the program is very useful and popular.

I went to the Java website at http://java.sun.com to learn about the program and what is required to install it. I learned that I needed to test the computer to make sure that everything was working correctly and the program was not already installed. To see if the RPM packages were installed I typed the following in the command line: rpm –q j2sdk RPM self extracting file – downloaded to jre-1_5_0_02-linux-i586-rpm.bin. The results said that the program was not already installed. So, the next step was to install the files. I had to log in as root by typing “su” in command prompt and entering in my password. I tried without doing this but permission was denied.

Then I tried to install the software by typing the following in the command line: ./jre-1_5_0_02-linux-i586-rpm.bin. At this point, I realized that I needed to change the permission of the file. To change the permissions I typed chmod a+x jre-1_5_0_02-linus-i586-rpm.bin. Then I proceeded with the installation by typing: ./jre-1_5_0_02-linux-i586-rpm.bin. The terms and conditions came up in the window. After I accepted the terms and conditions, the program began to unpack and extract.

The program created an installation file re-1_5_0_02-linux-i586.rpm. The installation process went very quickly. To install the packages, I ran the RPM command prompt by typing pm –iv jre-1_5_0_02-linux-i586.rpm. Java was installed successfully!

To ensure that Java was installed correctly, I wanted to test it in Mozilla. I tried getting to the directory via the command prompt, but found the help options in Mozilla to be more helpful. After reading some of the help contents, I realized that I needed to install the plug in. I went back to the command prompt and received a few error messages when I typed in the commands. Finally, I got it right by typing ln -sf /usr/java/jre-1_5_0_02-linux-i586-rpm and the script installed. The command java --version libgcj-java-placeholder.sh changed the script. I tested the browser and found that the plug in worked very well.

Moneydance

Moneydance is a program designed to organize and store financial information. I chose to use this program because it depends on Java and can be installed on Linux. I decided that installing a program with a Java dependency would give me additional experience using Java. Moneydance is available for Linux, Windows, and Mac OS platforms. Moneydance allows users to pay bills, balance accounts, synchronize bank records, plan a budget and set reminders. Another interesting feature that makes this program unique is that it allows for currency transfers and exchanges.

I found the Moneydance software on Sourceforge. To learn about the product and access the files, I went to http://moneydance.com. Because there are versions for multiple platforms, I chose the version for Linux, moneydance_linux_i386_jre150.tar.gz. The web site was very helpful and provided instructions for installing Moneydance.
I downloaded and extracted the files from the archive. Then I went to the command prompt and typed gunzip moneydance_linux_1386_jre150.tar.gz and tar xf moneydance_linux_1386_jre150.tar –C /home/cyan. At this point I encountered a slight challenge, because I kept typing in the wrong commands. I really wanted the program to create a Moneydance directory and execute the files. I went back to the web site for assistance and realized that I needed to essentially tell Moneydance how to find Java so that it can work properly. Luckily, the web site had instructions for this, so I entered cd /moneydance and then ln-s /moneydance/j2se jre. After a little bit of trial and error, I finally got it to work and the platform helper started to load. After this stage was complete, I executed the Moneydance script. The configuration completed pretty quickly and worked very well.

The program opened and prompted me to register the software. The window said that I could only use the program 100 times because it was a trial version. I chose not to register the software and went on to test the program. Moneydance has some really neat features that allowed me to access currencies, exchange rates, edit securities, set reminders, create a budget, use the loan calculator, and address book. Moneydance can even be used to convert files from Quicken or Microsoft Money. The interface was interface was plain, simple, and extremely useful.

The combination of these two projects was an excellent way to gain experience using Red Hat Linux to install software. Because Moneydance depends on Java to perform, it was valuable for me to first install Java, and then walk through the installation of a program that uses Java.

Email me at johnso34@email.unc.edu. This page was last updated on April 25, 2005.