RiSource.org

RiSource.org

the PIA

Downloading and Installing the PIA

"Release early, release often..."

Legal stuff:

The source code, documentation, and other materials are available for download under the Ricoh Source Code Public License. BY DOWNLOADING THIS SOFTWARE, YOU AGREE TO THE TERMS OF THE LICENSE GOVERNING THE USE, MODIFICATION, AND DISTRIBUTION OF THIS SOFTWARE. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO THESE TERMS, DO NOT CLICK ON THE LINKS BELOW TO DOWNLOAD THIS CODE.

Please understand that this release is meant for developers; this is not (yet) an end user product.

If you've done this before, here's what you need to know:

Current Release: [an error occurred while processing this directive]
Release Notes : Release Notes for r2.1.*
Instructions : Downloading || Updating || Troubleshooting
via FTP (~2Mb): ftp://ftp.risource.org/PIA/pia_src.tgz
via HTTP (~2Mb) : http://www.RiSource.org/PIA/Download/pia_src.tgz

System requirements:

  • A network connection (for downloading the source and retrieving updates; subsequently, the PIA can run by itself).

  • Java. Any version 1.1.3 or higher is known to work. The PIA runs on Kaffe, but doesn't yet compile there. You can get away with a Java Runtime Environment (JRE) if you don't want to do development or update from the CVS tree. Otherwise, you'll need a Java Development Kit (JDK).

    Java for Solaris or Windows can be obtained from java.sun.com The latest Linux port of Java is available from blackdown.org ).

  • An operating system that supports sockets and long filenames.

    We have run the PIA software on Linux (Red Hat 4.2 - 6.1 with the blackdown.org JDK), Windows 9X, and Solaris on SPARC. It does not seem to work on the Macintosh because of differences in file handling.

  • Approximately 12 Mb of free disk space. See the in-depth mechanics and the PIA FAQ for more details.

  • A working version of CVS , the Concurrent Versioning System, is required for updating.

Downloading the PIA:

  1. Getting the archive (tarball)

    Download the PIA source archive (about 2Mb):
    ... using FTP: ftp://ftp.risource.org/PIA/pia_src.tgz
    ... using HTTP :http://www.RiSource.org/PIA/Download/pia_src.tgz

  2. Extracting the archive

    Move the downloaded file into a location where you would like the PIA server and its subsites to live and work. Uncompress and un-tar the PIA archive, for example by tar -xzvf pia_src.tgz (or gunzip pia_src.tgz , then tar -xvf pia_src.tar , or winzip pia_src.tgz ).

    3. At this point, you should have a directory called PIA. Aim your web browser at the file PIA/Doc/install.html for further installation instructions. Alternatively you can read it here.

  3. Running the PIA

    Run the PIA by the command pia (which your PATH should find in PIA/bin). You can ignore messages about "CLASSPATH not set", "missing end tag", and "[...] agent initializing." The final line should look like

    Point your browser to <URL: http://lena.crc.ricoh.com:8888>

    If such a line doesn't appear, something is broken, and perhaps we should know about it.

    If it does appear, you PIA system seems to be working! You can make sure by checking out some of our sample applications (these URLs assume the default installation is running on localhost:8888):

    You can even try modifying these, or read the documentation.

    Keeping Up to Date

    You can update your copy of the PIA using the CVS version control system. You should not do this if you value stability! The CVS tree is kept very up-to-date by the developers.
    1. CVS setup

      Set up your CVS system to get updates from our CVS server. Move (cd) into the PIA directory (which should have been created above), and login as follows:

      cvs -d :pserver:anonymous@cvs.risource.org:/home/cvsroot login
      password: anonymous

    2. Updating from the repository

      Use the CVS system to update the archival PIA to the current version, as follows:

      cvs update -d -P

      This command can be repeated at any time to ensure that you have the latest and best version of the PIA source... but you have to perform a "make" (see below) to convert that source into a working PIA system.

    3. Setting the PATH

      Make sure your PATH environment variable is set so that "good" versions of java and javac appear first. (Failure to do this may cause cryptic errors during the next "build" step, such as failing to find certain java classes).

    4. Building

      Build the executable software by typing make (while still in the directory PIA).

    Problems?

    If things didn't work out as we described above--or if you want to "personalize" your PIA by playing with environment variables, command-line arguments, and such--you should probably look at in-depth mechanics and the PIA FAQ for more details.

    Send bug reports to PIA-bugs@risource.org.