Installation Files for GlassFish Server 3.1

The following topics are addressed here:

• GlassFish Server Download Locations

• GlassFish Server Installation Methods

• Choosing an Installation Method

• GlassFish Server ZIP Files

• GlassFish Server Self-Extracting Bundles

• HTTP Load Balancer Plug-in for Oracle GlassFish Server

GlassFish Server Download Locations

Installation files for Oracle GlassFish Server 3.1 are available from the GlassFish Server Downloads page.

GlassFish Server Installation Methods

Table 1-1 lists the various Oracle GlassFish Server installation methods. The table also provides links to installation instructions for each method.

Table 1-1 GlassFish Server 3.1 Installation Methods

Each of the installation methods listed in Table 1-1 also let you choose between installing the Full Platform or the Web Profile. These two distributions are explained in the next section.

Choosing an Installation Method

There are two general sets of questions you should consider when deciding which GlassFish Server 3.1 installation method to use.

• ZIP Package or Self-Extracting Bundle?

• Full Platform or Web Profile Distribution?

ZIP Package or Self-Extracting Bundle?

The relative features and strengths of the GlassFish Server ZIP packages and self-extracting bundles are listed below.

• ZIP Package

  • Is simpler to install, but provides no configuration options during the installation

  • Any additional configurations must be performed manually, after installation

  • Includes Update Tool and pkg utility installer stubs, which can be used to install those utilities after GlassFish Server installation

  • If uninstallation is desired, product must be uninstalled manually

  • Product downloads are roughly 25%-30% larger than the analogous self-extracting bundles

• Self-Extracting Bundle

  • Provides a GUI-based installation wizard with many configuration options

  • The installation wizard can be used again after the initial installation to perform additional configuration tasks

  • Can be used to perform Silent Mode installation, which is useful for performing consistent script-based installations on multiple server machines

  • Provides the option to install the full Update Tool and pkg utility at installation time

  • If uninstallation is required, a GUI-based uninstaller is provided

Full Platform or Web Profile Distribution?

Each of the installation methods listed in Table 1-1 also let you choose to install either the GlassFish Server Full Platform or Web Profile distribution. Table 1-2 lists the features available in each of these two distributions. Note that some of these features are value-adds, and are not required by the Java 6 EE specification.

Table 1-2 GlassFish Server Full Profile and Web Profile Features

* The Full Java EE Platform contains the complete CORBA package. The OMG CORBA v3.0 APIs are available in the Java EE Web Profile.

** Transaction propagation not supported.

GlassFish Server ZIP Files

The Oracle GlassFish Server 3.1 multi-platform ZIP files are compatible with Solaris, Linux, Mac OS, UNIX, and Windows operating systems. See GlassFish Server Download Locations for a list of download locations.

Table 1-3 lists the available ZIP file downloads.

Table 1-3 GlassFish Server Downloadable ZIP Files

ogs-3.1.zip
ogs-3.1–ml.zip

ogs-3.1-web.zip
ogs-3.1–web-ml.zip

GlassFish Server Self-Extracting Bundles

The Oracle GlassFish Server 3.1 self-extracting bundles are platform-specific, and are available for Solaris, Linux, Mac OS, UNIX, and Windows operating systems. See GlassFish Server Download Locations for a list of download locations.

Table 1-4 lists the available self-extracting bundles.

Table 1-4 GlassFish Server Self-extracting Bundles

ogs-3.1-unix.sh
ogs-3.1-windows.exe
ogs-3.1-unix-ml.sh
ogs-3.1-windows-ml.exe

ogs-3.1-web-unix.sh
ogs-3.1-web-windows.exe
ogs-3.1-web-unix-ml.sh
ogs-3.1-web-windows-ml.exe

HTTP Load Balancer Plug-in for Oracle GlassFish Server

The HTTP Load Balancer Plug-in for Oracle GlassFish Server 3.1 provides high availability load balancing features for GlassFish Server.

The Plug-in is shipped as a ZIP bundle that you install after installing and configuring GlassFish Server and your desired Web server. The Plug-in is installed by means of a graphical Load Balancer Configurator that helps you configure your Web server and GlassFish Server to work together.

See Chapter 7, Configuring Web Servers for HTTP Load Balancing, in Oracle GlassFish Server 3.1-3.1.1 High Availability Administration Guide for instructions on installing the HTTP Load Balancer Plug-in and performing the configuration steps required to make the Plug-in work with your Web server.