DIMES Ubuntu Installation Guide

tjmagneto

[H]ard DCOTM x2
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Aug 6, 2008
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You read it correctly, there is a way to successfully install and run Linux 0.5.5 DIMES. I know, you've read all of those posts on various forums about all of the install errors, tried the workarounds and it was just way too much trouble to mess with. After a bit of troubleshooting and testing, I have come up with a guide that'll walk you through the DIMES installation process.

The first section of the guide will cover installing DIMES on either Ubuntu 12.04 64 bit system. If you plan on running DIMES on a virtual machine, I recommend that you read through this part of the guide then skip down to the alternate 32 bit installation notes section.


DIMES-Ubuntu 12.04 64 bit version Installation Guide

In order for this configuration to run DIMES you need to a couple of packages: ia32-libs and the i386 version of openjdk-6-jdk. Please keep in mind that DIMES 0.5.5 Linux is a 4 year old client, so you need to add those packages in order to have a successful installation.

If you don't already have Synaptic Package Manager installed, please download/install it from the Ubuntu Software Center before proceeding.

Open Synaptic and enter your password


Next, search for the ia32-libs-multiarch and openjdk-6-jdk:i386 libraries. First let's tell Synaptic that we want to look for i386 Architecture packages.

Down on the lower left hand corner of the Synaptic window there is a button named "Architecture." Select it.

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In the column on the left there is a selection named arch: i386. Select it

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Click Reload, followed by closing and re-opening Synaptic.

Next, Copy/paste the following into search or the quick filter and then select

Code:
ia32-libs-multiarch:i386

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Click "Apply"


Copy/paste the following into search or the quick filter and then select

Code:
openjdk-6-jdk:i386

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Select it, then click "Apply"


Now let’s download and extract DIMES.

Change your directory location, download and extract the 0.5.5 tar file then set up permissions

Code:
cd /usr/local
sudo wget http://www.netdimes.org/PublicData/downloads/Dimes_Agent_055_Linux.tar.gz
sudo tar -xzvf Dimes_Agent_055_Linux.tar.gz
sudo chmod -R 777 DIMES

WARNING: DO NOT INSTALL DIMES JUST YET!!!

Next DIMES needs to know where JAVA_HOME is located, so we need to edit the .bashrc file and enter the location

First, go back to home, switch to root and then open the .bashrc file with the nano editor

Code:
cd
sudo –s
nano .bashrc

Go all of the way down to the end of the file and add this line:

Code:
export JAVA_HOME=/usr/lib/jvm/java-6-openjdk-i386

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(do not press the Enter key)

save and exit -- press Ctrl X followed by Y, then Enter.

The following command needs to be performed to lock the change into the .bashrc file.

Code:
source ~/.bashrc

If you are building a Virtual Machine and plan on cloning it, clone the VM now.

DIMES Installation

Make sure that you are still logged on as root. If not, type

Code:
sudo -s

Go to the DIMES folder

Code:
cd /usr/local/DIMES

Run the installation command

Code:
./linuxInstall.sh

You will get a thank you message and instructions on how to start the DIMES agent and the DIMES service. Let's start the DIMES Agent.

To start the agent:

Code:
./linuxAgent.sh

DIMES will start up and ask you to configure it. If there seems to be a little lag time before the configuration window opened, be patient and give it a moment. Refer to the [H] instructions in order to configure the client.

You'll notice that the agent’s graph looks like a deranged flower versus the graph from the Windows version of DIMES. Give the client a few minutes and you ought to have something in your statistics besides an error message.

Keep in mind that if you need to start the client after exiting DIMES AND closing the terminal, you need to do the following after re-opening the Terminal

Code:
sudo -s
cd /usr/local/DIMES
./linuAgent.sh

Running DIMES as a Service

The DIMES service option uses the same GUI based configuration method as the agent. Following configuration DIMES will will run as a service.

To start the service

Code:
./linuxService.sh

To stop the service

Code:
./linuxStopService.sh

Warning: If for some reason that you try to close the GUI window during the configuration process, the window will not go away. You will need to go to terminal and stop the service first

Code:
sudo -s
cd /usr/local/DIMES
./linuxService.sh
 
Alternate Installation Notes

If you are planning on running DIMES from within a VM, Ubuntu 32 bit is a pretty good option. However, the Unity desktop chews up a lot of RAM. If you want to run multiple VMs or have not very much RAM to spare, consider switching to a different desktop like LDXE after installation or install a smaller distro like Lubuntu or Debian 32 bit LDXE.

Ubuntu 32 bit

When installing openjdk and ia32-libs, you have the option to bypass using Synaptic.

Open Terminal and enter
Code:
sudo apt-get install ia32-libs-multiarch
sudo apt-get install openjdk-6-jdk

Proceed with the rest of the installation as posted in the 64 bit guide.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lubuntu

Follow the instructions as in the 64 bit guide. You might need to install "make." Open terminal and type

Code:
sudo apt-get install make
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Debian

Download the Version 7 i386 LDXE ISO file here
Use the installation method of your choice
Once Debian reboots, select "recovery mode" as you will need to add your username to the sudoer group
During reboot you will be given an option to sign on as root, enter your password at this time
next, enter the following

Code:
adduser yourusenamehere sudo

The .bashrc file in Debian looks different than the same file in Ubuntu. No worries.
 
You say that you want to try a different Linux Distro?

If you plan on installing DIMES on any other distro please keep the following in mind:

1) DIMES 0.5.5 is a 4 year old application. Adding the libraries mentioned in the guide will enable one to run DIMES (or improve one's odds of making DIMES work)
2) Logon to root using "sudo -s" when you edit the .bashrc file AND installing/running DIMES
3) Let the system perform the openjdk install.
 
Last edited:
Nice TJ! I'll see if I can get it to work on a new 13.10 VM I just made. If you want, I can send you instructions on making a desktop icon to start and a cron job to restart the client on a regular basis. Have you noticed increased memory usage over time on Linux?
 
Nice TJ! I'll see if I can get it to work on a new 13.10 VM I just made. If you want, I can send you instructions on making a desktop icon to start and a cron job to restart the client on a regular basis. Have you noticed increased memory usage over time on Linux?

Thank you!
Go ahead and send me those instructions, they both sound like some great additions. Let me know how 13.10 works out, I had a few issues with that version so I put testing it on the backburner until I got 12.04 dialed in.
I'll keep watch on the memory usage for a few days and see what happens.
 
I am trying to work with this guide for 14.04, and more recent versions of Java. The ia32 multiarch package does not seem to be available anymore. I managed to get the .6 and .7 jdks installed, I changed the .bashsh to my openjdk-7 directory. the DIMES agent even launches, but I get a blank green screen for the client. and I have no configure option. I manually edited the properties.xml file with nano. But I am stumped beyond this point. It is no further than I got without this guide.

John
 
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