Requirements

This section lists the requirements for installing Instant Messaging software. Before you install, ensure you have met the minimum hardware and operating system requirements. JRE 1.4 is supported by both server and client. In addition, check for any product patches before you install.

For the current list of required patches for Sun Java System Instant Messaging, go to SunSolve Online and select either “Patches” or “Patch Portal”. Follow the Sun Java System Instant Messaging links. As system patch requirements change and patches to Java Enterprise System components become available, updates will be made available on SunSolve, initially in the form of recommended patch clusters.

The hardware and software requirements for this release of Instant Messaging software are described in the following sections:

• Server Operating System Requirements

• Server Software Requirements

• Server Hardware Requirements

• Client Operating System Requirements

• Client Software Requirements

• Client Hardware Requirements

Server Operating System Requirements

This release of Sun Java System Instant Messaging supports the following platforms:

• Solaris^TM 8 (5.8) Operating System (Solaris OS) (SPARC® Platform Edition)

• Solaris 9 (5.9) OS (SPARC Platform Edition, x86 Platform Edition, and Opteron Platform Edition)

• Solaris 10 OS (SPARC Platform Edition, x86 Platform Edition, Opteron Platform Edition)

• Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS 2.1 and AS 3.0.

A list of recommended patches for Solaris can be found at SunSolve Online.

Server Software Requirements

This version of Instant Messaging is compatible with the following versions of other server software:

• Sun Java System Access Manager 7 2005Q4

• Sun Java System Application Server Enterprise Edition 8 2005Q4

• Sun Java System Calendar Server 6 2005Q4

• Sun Java System Directory Server 5 2005Q4

• Sun Java System Messaging Server 6 2005Q4

• Sun Java System Portal Server 6 2005Q4

• Sun Java System Web Server 6.1 2005Q4 SP5

Server Hardware Requirements

The minimum hardware requirements for installing Instant Messaging are as follows:

• Approximately 300 MB of free disk space for the software.

• Approximately 5K of disk space for each user.

• At least 256 MB of RAM. The amount of RAM needed depends on the number of concurrent client connections, and whether the server and multiplexor are deployed on the same host.

Client Operating System Requirements

This release supports the following client platforms:

• Solaris 8, 9, and 10

• Microsoft Windows 98, ME, NT (SP 6a), 2000, XP

• Mac OS X, minimum 10.1

• Red Hat Linux, minimum 7.2

Client Software Requirements

On Windows, you can run Instant Messenger using the browser’s Java Plug-in from the following browsers:

• Netscape^TM, minimum 4.79

• Mozilla^TM, minimum 1.2

• Internet Explorer, minimum 5.5

If the client machine has Java 1.4 or later version installed, there are no additional requirements to use either Java Plug-in or Java Web Start. Netscape Navigator v7 as well as the recent versions of the Mozilla browser include Java v1.4 or higher. Internet Explorer does not include the latest version of Java. If you experience problems using the client with Java 1.4, upgrade to 5.0. JDK^TM 5.0 is included with Sun Java System Instant Messaging.

If the client machine does not have Java v1.4 or a higher version installed, you need to install Java Web Start. You can download and install Java v1.4. from the Java Technology website.

You can download and install Java Web Start from the Java Web Start Technology website.

HTML links can be exchanged over Instant Messenger and activated from the messenger by clicking them. When a link is activated, the messenger invokes a browser. Table 3–2 lists supported operating system and browser combinations.

Table 3–2 Supported Client OS and Browser Combinations for Instant Messaging

Operating System	Browser
Solaris	Netscape Communicator, minimum 4.79
Red Hat Linux 7.x	Netscape minimum 4.79
Red Hat Linux, minimum 8.0	Mozilla, minimum 1.2
Windows 98/ME/NT/2000/XP	No restrictions
Mac OS X	No restrictions

Client Hardware Requirements

Instant Messenger uses between 20 and 40 MB of memory on most platforms. You should estimate the memory requirement by including the requirements of other applications (including operating systems) used on the client machine. In most cases, at least 128 MB RAM is recommended in order to run Instant Messenger and other applications comfortably. This number becomes higher when using memory-intensive operating systems.