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Installing on the Mac

Please read the System Requirements to make sure you have the necessary hardware and software in place before installing VolanoChat. In particular, make sure you have downloaded and installed both the Mac OS Runtime for Java (MRJ 2.0) and the MRJ Software Development Kit (SDK 2.0). This section tells you how to:

Installing VolanoChat

The installation and test can be performed in three steps:

  1. Unpack the archive.
  2. Start the server.
  3. Start the applet.

Step 1. Unpack the archive.

Download the archive

Download the VolanoChat installation program for the Macintosh from the following link:

VolanoChat 2.0

Run the installation program

Create a Mac application from the vchat200.class file by following the steps in the Apple Mac OS 8.1 tips and tricks section. Enter the following JBindery information:

Class name:        vchat200
Save settings as:  vchat200

Run the VolanoChat installation program by double clicking the vchat200 JBindery application. Then follow the installation instructions on your screen. In choosing a destination location, you may want to choose a location you can remember, such as a folder called vchat2.0.0 on your local hard drive instead of the default location shown on the Choose Destination Location window.

After installing VolanoChat, create Mac JBindery applications from each of the VolanoChat server Java applications by following the steps in Apple Mac OS 8.1 for each class file below:

           Class name            Classpath   Save settings as
           --------------------  ----------  ----------------
KeepAlive  COM.volano.KeepAlive  vchat2.0.0  vckeep
Server     COM.volano.Main       vchat2.0.0  vcstart
Status     COM.volano.Status     vchat2.0.0  vcstatus
Shutdown   COM.volano.Shutdown   vchat2.0.0  vcstop
Uninstall  uninstall             vchat2.0.0  uninstall

Publish the applet files

A folder called vcclient is created under the installation folder. It contains the client applet code files and their associated resource files. These files must be publicly available through your Web server so that the applet can be retrieved onto its Web pages.

Move this vcclient folder to your Web server public access folder, such as the WebSTAR folder when running Quarterdeck's Web server.

Step 2. Start the server.

To start the VolanoChat server, launch the vcstart JBindery application created in Step 1. After starting the server, you should see the copyright notice:

VolanoChat(TM) Server Version 2.0.0 Build 103
Copyright (C) 1996-1998 Volano LLC.  All rights reserved.
blue.volano.com (192.168.0.3) VolanoChatPro - 5 connection limit.
This evaluation copy expires on Mon Jun 01 00:00:00 PDT 1998.

If the license has expired, simply download the latest evaluation license key from one of the links below:

HTTP:  http://www.volano.com/license.key - 381 bytes
FTP:   ftp://ftp.volano.com/license.key  - 381 bytes

Place the file license.key in the VolanoChat server installation directory, replacing the older file with the same name.

You must leave the VolanoChat server running for it to remain active. See the section below called Purchasing a license key for information on how to increase the server connection limit and remove its expiration date.

Step 3. Start the applet.

With the server running, point your browser to the index.html file in the vcclient folder. You should pull the Web page through your Web server using an http:// address instead of using your browser's File, Open Page menu item. Some browsers will fail to connect when loading the applet with a file:// address.

If your browser and Web server are on the same machine, and you moved the vcclient folder directly under your Web server's public access folder, you can load the VolanoChat applet Web page with the following link:

http://localhost/vcclient/index.html

If the server is on a different machine, you will need to replace localhost with the actual host name where the server is running. If you moved the vcclient folder somewhere other than directly under your Web server's public access folder, you'll need to specify the correct path to the vcclient/index.html test Web page.

Connect to the VolanoChat server by clicking the applet button with the Volano logo on the test Web page.

Purchasing a license key

You can purchase a license key from Volano to increase the VolanoChat server connection limit and remove its expiration date. All we need is the host name and port number on which you plan to run the VolanoChat server. The default port number is 8000, but you can choose any other valid port number as well.

If you don't know your server host name, just send us the support.log file that is generated by the VolanoChat server each time you start it. Its contents look like the following:

server.version     = Version 2.0.0 Build 103
server.license     = VolanoChatPro - 5 connection limit
server.expiration  = Mon Jun 01 00:00:00 PDT 1998
server.host        = blue.volano.com (192.168.0.3)
server.port        = 8000
java.vendor        = Apple Computer, Inc.
java.vendor.url    = http://www.applejava.apple.com/
java.version       = 1.1.3
java.class.version = 45.3
java.compiler      = MRJ2Jitc
os.name            = Mac OS
os.version         = 8.1
os.arch            = PowerPC
user.language      = en
user.region        = US
file.encoding      = MacTEC
file.encoding.pkg  = sun.io

From this file, we can generated a valid license key for any level of VolanoChat you purchase. The license key can be ordered at our Web site from the Pricing and Ordering page.

Stopping VolanoChat

To stop the server, simply exit the vcstart application. Once you have defined an administrator password, you can shutdown the VolanoChat server by running the vcstop JBindery application you created in Step 1. See the VolanoChat server properties section for information on defining an administrator password.

Removing VolanoChat

To uninstall VolanoChat, run the uninstall program by double clicking the uninstall JBindery application you created in Step 1. The uninstall program will remove the installation files while leaving any new or modified files, such as your modified configuration files and new log files. If you don't want these files, you may simply delete them.


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