Deploying JavaTM Plug-in on an
Intranet Using the OBJECT/EMBED Tags
Contents
Introduction
Java Plug-in can be deployed in an intranet environment so that users
can download and install it without leaving the firewall. Deployment
details for Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator are described
below.
Note: You need to
understand the Java Plug-in tagging structure to understand the
discussion below. The tagging structure is explained in Java Plug-in HTML
Specification.)
Deploying Java Plug-in with Internet Explorer (IE)
To deploy Java Plug-in in intranet environments with IE, you need to
download and store the Java Plug-in binary file on a web server.
Then you need to modify the codebase attribute inside
the <OBJECT> tag in the HTML file to point to the
binary. For example, if you want to use the Java Plug-in binary file
in http://xyz.domain/plugin/, then you should specify
the codebase attribute as
"http://xyz.domain/plugin/j2re-1_3_1_01a-win.exe#Version=1,3,1,1"
(For Internet deployment the above might use a .cab file
rather than .exe. The .cab file points to
an .exe and provides a download progress bar.)
Note the version number in the above URL. For Java Plug-in 1.3.1_01,
the version number is 1,3,1,1. This version number
changes for each release, and you must change the version number
inside the <OBJECT> tag if you want to specify
the newest release of Java Plug-in.
The file j2re-1_3_1_01a-win.exe#Version=1,3,1,1 is the
same binary that can be download directly from the Java Software web
site. It is digitally signed with a VeriSign digital signature
signed by Sun Microsystems, Inc. If you are using the Java Plug-in
HTML Converter, you can simply change the conversion template file
to specify the latest Plug-in version (the
CabFileLocation variable) before the conversion. For
information about modifying the conversion template, consult the
README file in the Java Plug-in HTML Converter. Note that
CabFileLocation can be the location of the
.cab file or the .exe.
Once you have implemented these changes, when a machine that does not
have Java Plug-in installed browses an HTML page with IE, IE will
look into your predefined location
(http://xyz.domain/plugin in this case) and download
Java Plug-in. Notice that there is no need to download Java Plug-in
over the firewall if the web server is inside the intranet.
Deploying Java Plug-in with Navigator
To deploy Java Plug-in in intranet environments with Navigator, you
need to download and store the Java Plug-in binary file on one of
your web servers. Then you need to set up a Java Plug-in Download
page and modify the pluginspage attribute in the EMBED
tag to refer to this page. For example, if you have set up the Java
Plug-in Download page at
"http://xyz.domain/plugin/" and the page is
called plugin-install.html, you can specify the
pluginspage as
"http://xyz.domain/plugin/plugin-install.html".
The Download page should have options to download different versions
of Java Plug-in, such as for Windows and Solaris.
If you are using the Java Plug-in HTML Converter, you can simply
change the conversion template file to specify your download page
(the NSFileLocation variable) before the conversion.
For information about modifying the conversion template, please
consult the README file in the Java Plug-in HTML Converter.
Once you have implemented these changes, when a machine that does not
have Java Plug-in installed browses an HTML page with Navigator,
users will see a missing-plugin icon on the HTML page. When the user
clicks on this picture, Navigator directs the user to your
predefined Java Plug-in Download Page
(http://xyz.domain/plugin/plugin-install.html in this
example). Notice that there is no need to download Java Plug-in over
the firewall if the web server is inside the intranet.
Deploying Java Plug-in with Unix/Linux with Navigator
There are two ways that Java Plug-in might be installed in the
Intranet environment with Unix or Linux:
- It might be installed on a per-user-account basis on individual
machines, as it is installed in the Window environment.
- It might be installed by a system administrator on a shared NSF
drive for shared installation.
In either case the environmental variable NPX_PLUGIN_PATH must be set
to point to the Java Plug-in. When Java Plug-in is installed on the
local machine, then the user needs to set this variable to point to
the Java Plug-in in the JRE on the local machine. For a shared
installation, the system administrator needs to determine the shared
location of the Java Plug-in in the shared JRE on the NSF drive and
set the user profile for every machine to point to this via
NPX_PLUGIN_PATH.
Recommendations
The following is recommeded for long-term reliability:
- For the
codebase attribute in the OBJECT tag,
it is recommended that you use the .exe version, rather than
the .cab version, on java.sun.com. That .cab
version on java.sun.com may point to an updated version that
you do not want to use for your deployment.
- It is also recommend that you create your own download site for the versions
you need so that you do not rely on
java.sun.com. Downloads on
java.sun.com frequently change.
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