Sun Java Enterprise System 7 Release Notes

Chapter 1 Java ES 7 Overview

The Sun Java™ Enterprise System 7 (Java ES 7) is a comprehensive set of subscription-based services that combines software, support, professional services, and educational services in a single package, for a single price. The software components within Java ES 7 are rigorously tested to ensure interoperability and reliability.

Java ES 7 comprises a set of core or Base components and, optionally, one or more additional product suites, such as Sun GlassFish Portfolio 2009.12.

Refer to the individual product documentation for more information about a particular Java technology component. See the Sun GlassFish Portfolio 2009.12 Document Collection for more information about GlassFish Portfolio suite.

The remainder of this chapter covers the following topics:

Products in Java ES 7 Base

Table 1–1 lists the products in Java ES 7 Base, specifies each product's version, and provides a link to each product's project page, where you can find product download and documentation links. For information about the products available in other Java ES 7 offerings, see the Sun Java™ Enterprise System 7 product page.

Table 1–1 Products in Java ES 7 Base


Product	Version
NetBeans	6.7.1
Solaris Cluster	3.2 1/09
Solaris Cluster Geographic Edition	3.2 1/09
Sun GlassFish Enterprise Server	2.1.1
Sun GlassFish Web Space Server	10.0 Update 6
Sun Java System Directory Server Enterprise Edition	6.3.1
Sun Java System Message Queue	4.3
Sun Java System Web Proxy Server	4.0.11
Sun Java System Web Server	7.0 Update 6
Sun OpenSSO Enterprise	8.0 Update 1 Patch 2

If you are familiar with the products in past Java ES releases, note the following:

Solaris Cluster and Solaris Cluster Geographic Edition are the same products as Sun Cluster and Sun Cluster Geographic Edition in past Java ES releases.
Sun GlassFish Enterprise Server is effectively the same product as Sun Java System Application Server Enterprise Edition. Sun contributed the source code for Application Server to the GlassFish open source project and uses code from this project in creating Sun GlassFish Enterprise Server.
Sun GlassFish Web Space Server is a new product replacing Sun Java System Portal Server.
Sun OpenSSO Enterprise is effectively the same product as Sun Java System Access Manager. Sun contributed the source code for Access Manager to the OpenSSO open source project and uses code from this project in creating Sun OpenSSO Enterprise.

Platform Support and System Requirements

Supported Operating Systems

The products in Java ES 7 support at least the following platforms:

Solaris 10 for SPARC^TM, x86, and x64 platforms
Solaris 9 for SPARC and x86 platforms
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 (AS and ES) for x86 and x64 platforms
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 (AS and ES) for x86 and x64 platforms
Microsoft Windows 2003 Server Standard and Enterprise Editions (32 and 64 bit versions) SP2 for x86 and x64 platforms
Microsoft Windows 2003 Data Center Server (32 bit version) SP2 for x86 and x64 platforms
Microsoft Windows XP Professional Edition SP2 for x86 platform
Microsoft Windows Vista Business Edition for x86 platform

Note the following caveats to the above list:

Specific platform support may vary across individual component products. Be sure to refer to the platform requirements listed in the product documentation for each component product.
Several Java ES 7 products support the Microsoft Windows XP and Vista platforms for development use, but not for production use.
Solaris Cluster and Solaris Cluster Geographic Edition support only Solaris.
Sun Java System Directory Server Enterprise Edition (DSEE) 6.3.1 does not support Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.
Web Space Server 10.0 U6 does not support Solaris 9.

Solaris Requirements and Issues

Java ES 7 is tested and supported on Solaris 10 for SPARC, x86, and x64 platforms and on Solaris 9 for SPARC and x86 platforms, with the following notes:

Sun GlassFish Web Space Server 10.0 Update 6 does not support Solaris 9.
Java ES 7 is tested and supported on Solaris 10 Trusted Extensions.
Although Java ES 7 is supported on all versions of Solaris 9 and Solaris 10, specific products might recommend particular minimum update levels to achieve full functionality. For information, see the release notes for the appropriate product.
Java ES 7 is tested and supported on Solaris systems installed using the following Solaris software groups:
- SUNWCXall – Entire Solaris Software Group Plus OEM Support
- SUNWCall – Entire Solaris Software Group
Specific products might support additional groups, such as SUNWCprog (Developer Solaris Software Group) or SUNWCuser (End User Solaris Software Group). For information, see the release notes for the appropriate product.
Some Java ES 7 products run on a minimized Solaris 10 system installed using SUNWCreq (Core System Solaris Software Group), or installed using SUNWCreq with the addition of a few other packages. The set of packages required for minimized installation varies by product. Therefore, refer to the release notes for the appropriate product to learn about the product's requirements for minimized installation on Solaris 10.

Linux Requirements and Issues

Java ES 7 is tested and supported on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 (AS and ES) for x86 and x64 platforms, and on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 (AS and ES) for x86 and x64 platforms, with the exception that Sun Java System Directory Server Enterprise Edition (DSEE) 6.3.1 does not support Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.

For detailed platform support information, see the release notes for the appropriate product.

Windows Requirements and Issues

Java ES 7 is tested and supported on the following Microsoft Windows platforms:

Windows 2003 Server Standard Edition (32 and 64 bit versions) SP2 for x86 and x64 platforms
Windows 2003 Server Enterprise Edition (32 and 64 bit versions) SP2 for x86 and x64 platforms
Windows 2003 Data Center Server (32 bit version) SP2 for x86 and x64 platforms
Windows XP Professional Edition SP2 for x86 platform
Windows Vista Business Edition for x86 platform

Note the following caveats to the above list:

Sun Java System Directory Server Enterprise Edition (DSEE) 6.3.1 and Sun Java System Web Proxy Server (WPS) 4.0.11 do not support Windows XP.
DSEE 6.3.1, WPS 4.0.11, and Sun Java System Web Server (WS) 7.0 Update 6 do not support Windows Vista
The products in Java ES 7 also support newer Service Packs that do not introduce functional regressions.
Note that several Java ES 7 products support the Windows XP and Vista platforms for development use, but not for production use.

For detailed platform support information, see the release notes for the appropriate product.

System Virtualization Support

System virtualization is a technology that enables multiple operating system (OS) instances to execute independently on shared hardware. Functionally, software deployed to an OS hosted in a virtualized environment is generally unaware that the underlying platform has been virtualized. Sun performs testing of many of its products on select system virtualization and OS combinations to help validate that the products continue to function on properly sized and configured virtualized environments as they do on non-virtualized systems. For general information about Sun support for products in virtualized environments, see System Virtualization Support in Sun Java System Products. For product-specific exceptions to or extensions of this general information, see System Virtualization Support in Sun Java System Products.

Web Browser Support

Web-based end user and administrative interfaces provided by the products in Java ES 7 support at least the following web browsers:

Mozilla Firefox 1.5, 2.x, and 3.x on Solaris, Red Hat Linux, Microsoft Windows, and Mac OS X
Microsoft Internet Explorer 6, 7, and 8 on Microsoft Windows
Apple Safari 2.0 and 3.0 on Mac OS X

Additionally, several Java ES 7 products support additional web browsers, such as Opera. See the release notes for the products you are using for the complete list of supported web browsers for those products.

Java Platform, Standard Edition (Java SE) Support

The products in Java ES 7 support at least the following versions of Java SE:

Java SE 5.0 Update 22 (1.5.0_22)
Java SE 6.0 Update 17 (1.6.0_17)

Note the following caveats:

The above are the recommended minimum versions because they resolve security issues defined in http://sunsolve.sun.com/search/document.do?assetkey=1-66-270476-1.
Sun Glass Fish Web Space Server (WSS) 10.0 Update 6 supports JDK 5 on Mac OS only, and not on Solaris, Linux, or Windows.
The products in Java ES 7 also support newer updates that do not introduce functional regressions.
Specific products might support additional versions of Java SE, such as J2SE 1.4.2, or might have compatibility issues regarding certain versions of Java SE. For information, see the release notes for the appropriate product.

What's New in Java ES 7

Overall, compared to Java ES 6, updates to the Java ES 7 Base components primarily comprise product version updates, bug fixes, and minor changes to subscription offerings. No new products have been added.

As with past Java ES releases, Java ES 7:

Uses a subscription-based pricing model that reduces cost of ownership and simplifies license-tracking and bookkeeping
Includes a wide range of tiered services to meet the needs of small businesses up through large enterprises
Provides a selection of software products to meet a broad spectrum of infrastructure needs
Offers a set of suites that provide features to meet specialized business needs
Supports multiple operating systems and a variety of system virtualization technologies

New Products

No new products have been added in the update from Java ES 6 to Java ES 7.

Product Version Updates

Java ES 7 includes the new versions of the following products:

Sun GlassFish Enterprise Server (2.1 ⇒ 2.1.1)
Sun OpenSSO Enterprise (8.0 ⇒ 8.0U1P2)
Sun Java System Web Server (7.0U4 ⇒ 7.0U6)
Sun Java System Web Proxy Server (4.0.8 ⇒ 4.0.11)
Sun GlassFish Web Space Server (10.0 ⇒ 10.0U6)
NetBeans (6.5 ⇒ 6.7.1)

Refer to Table 1–1 for the latest versions of all component products.

New Installation Method

A new installation model for Java ES components was introduced in Java ES 6. It is still worth mentioning in these Release Notes however because some users may have bypassed version 6 and are upgrading directly from Java ES version 5 or earlier.

Java ES releases prior to version 6 provided a common installer for the core Java ES products. While this common installer had some advantages, especially when performing simple, single-system installations, it also had some disadvantages:

It required superuser access to run, and gave superuser ownership to installed software.
It permitted only a single product instance per system.
It supported only native-package software distributions.

Quite often, one or more of these disadvantages made the task of installing a robust, enterprise-strength deployment of Java ES more complicated or convoluted than necessary. The common installer was therefore retired in Java ES 6 in favor of the installers provided by the individual products in the Java ES base distribution. Because each product installer is tuned to the features and capabilities of the product it installs, the overall installation experience is smoother now than in past releases.

Accessibility Features

Most Java ES 7 components are designed to support a comprehensive range of United States and international accessibility standards and requirements. These requirements are designed to assure ease of use and full accessibility to all Java ES features for users with various visual and/or physical limitations.

The accessibility features built into and tested with Java ES 7 software include the following:

All graphical interface elements are fully navigable with the keyboard, including the Tab, arrow, and Enter keys.
All forms embedded in application pages are friendly to assistive technologies through various methods, such as attaching a label to each form field, or providing an appropriate title or other nonvisual text element to each element.
Alternative text strings are provided for all non-text elements, including icons, images, and logos.
All dynamic elements, including Javascript code and menus and pop-up menus with strings that are displayed when a mouse is hovered over them, have embedded text string identifiers that can be read by assistive technologies.
Product documentation, including PDF and HTML versions, have been written according to accessibility standards.
Most or all Java ES component products have been tested and are expected to work with a variety of assistive technologies for several operating environments, including:
- Mac OS X: Universal Access
- Solaris and OpenSolaris: Orca
- Linux: Orca
- Windows: JAWS, System Access

Getting and Installing Java ES 7

For information about getting and installing Java ES 7 software, refer to the Sun Java Enterprise System 7 Installation and Upgrade Guide.