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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. This section tells you how to:

Make sure to read our Server Support pages for important information on configuring your operating system and Java virtual machine environments for running the VolanoChat server.

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 to your Macintosh system from the following link:

VolanoChat 2.1

Important note! You cannot use a VolanoChat 2.0 license key with VolanoChat 2.1. If you're upgrading from Version 2.0, please write to support@volano.com in order to purchase an upgraded license key.

Run the installation program

Create a Mac application from the vchat2_1_10_2.class file by following the steps on our Apple Mac OS support page. Enter the following JBindery information:

Class name:        vchat2_1_10_2
Save settings as:  vchat2_1_10_2

Run the VolanoChat installation program by double clicking the vchat2_1_10_2 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 vchat2.1.x 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 on our Apple Mac OS support page for each class file below:

           Class name            Classpath   Save settings as
           --------------------  ----------  ----------------
KeepAlive  COM.volano.KeepAlive  vchat2.1.x  vckeep
Server     COM.volano.Main       vchat2.1.x  vcstart
Status     COM.volano.Status     vchat2.1.x  vcstatus
Shutdown   COM.volano.Shutdown   vchat2.1.x  vcstop
Uninstall  uninstall             vchat2.1.x  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. The easiest way to make the directory publicly available is to create a Web server virtual directory for it. For information on creating a virtual directory using the Apache Web server, for example, see Apache's documentation on the Alias directive.

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 2.1.x
Copyright (C) 1996-1999 Volano LLC.  All rights reserved.
Loading server properties from My Hard Drive/vchat2.1.x/properties.txt.
blue.volano.com (192.168.0.2) VolanoChatPro - 5 connection limit.

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 created a virtual Web directory called vcclient directly under your Web server's root public access directory, 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 created a different virtual Web directory for the actual vcclient directory, you'll need to specify the correct Web address 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 support.log file that is generated by the VolanoChat server each time you start it. Its contents look like the following:

server.version     = Version 2.1.x
server.properties  = My Hard Drive/vchat2.1.x/properties.txt
server.license     = VolanoChatPro - 5 connection limit
server.expiration  = null
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 connection level based on the IP address (from server.host) and port number (from server.port) of your VolanoChat server. 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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