Installing Groupwise in Ubuntu 9.04
Another issue I’ve had in regards to using Linux is installing the Groupwise e-mail client in Ubuntu. Before going through this, I have to say that it’s been very crashy for me. Perhaps your luck will be better than mine.
Step 1: Download and install Groupwise
I downloaded my instance from work. Not much support I can provide on obtaining a package for Linux. Once my download finished, I had gw703_client_linux_us.tar.gz sitting on my desktop. Time to open up Terminal enter a few commands.
Go to: Applications > Accessories > Terminal
First, you’re going to have to install an application to convert the Groupwise rpm file to a Debian package that Ubuntu can install. There’s a nice app called alien you can use for this. At the command prompt, type:
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install alien
Now, to install Groupwise:
cd [Directory where you stored Groupwise Client]
alien –dci [Groupwise RPM filename]
You should now have a Groupwise icon in your Applications > Internet menu. Unfortunately, we’re not done. Unfortunately, Groupwise comes with a version of java that doesn’t work with Ubuntu. So, you need to delete the java installation that comes with Groupwise put in your own installation.
Step 2: Install Java and libstdc++5(if not already installed)
Download the JRE (Java Runtime Environment) java.sun.com (if it’s not already installed).
To install the JRE, go back to Terminal. Type in:
cd [Directory where you downloaded the JRE]
sudo sh ./jre-6u14-linux-i586.bin [for JRE 6 U 14]
You have now installed java to the location where you had the JRE bin file. Lastly, you need to move the jre directory to a shared location on your drive, such as /usr/share/java. To do so:
sudo mv jre1.6.0_14 /usr/share/java/jre1.6.0_14 [For JRE 1.6.0.14]
You also need libstdc++5 to run Groupwise. To do so, enter the following in Terminal:
sudo apt-get install libstdc++5
Step 3: Replace Groupwise’s JRE installation with Step 2’s installation
In Ubuntu 9.04, Groupwise is installed to /opt/novell/groupwise/client.
What you need to do is remove the jre folder in groupwise and then make a jre symbolic link to the instance of the jre you installed in Step 2.
Again, in Terminal:
sudo rm -r /opt/novell/groupwise/client/jre
sudo ln –sT /usr/share/java/jre1.6.0_14 /opt/novell/groupwise/client/jre [For JRE 1.6.0_14]
All done! Hit the Groupwise icon in the Applications > Internet menu and you should be up and running. If you have any trouble, leave me a comment.
When i try to execute the final command this come up:
ln: accessing `–st’: No such file or directory
ln: `/usr/share/java/jre1.6.0_13′: hard link not allowed for directory
stuart@stuart-laptop:~$
@stuart
Did you capitalize the “T” in -st? It should be -sT and not -st.
sudo ln -sT /usr/share/java/jre1.6.0_14 /opt/novell/groupwise/client/jre
Not sure why the “-sT” is a long hyphen, that was giving me a problem.
Great article – other sites I had visited omitted the install of libstdc++5. Many thanks.
Great instructions!
I had an additional error: After starting the Groupwise client, the “connecting” screen would be displayed forever. strace reported that the process was hung up at futex(0xb48e321c, FUTEX_WAIT_PRIVATE, 381, NULL
I read about a solution for it here: http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php?p=6076003&postcount=20
In case that thread disappears, here is the fix:
o fix the gray/blank window at startup with Java 1.5, you have to pass a parameter to the startup script:
/opt/novell/groupwise/client/bin/groupwise.sh -jvm=-Dawt.toolkit=sun.awt.motif.MToolkit
That should be all on one line, with a space separating the groupwise.sh from the -jvm.