3. Installation
This document describes how to install and configure Apache Karaf for both Unix and Windows' platforms.
Here you will find information about what are pre requisite software, where to download Karaf from and how to customize the installation to use custom ports other than the defaults.
This article contains the following sections:
Pre-Installation Requirements
Hardware:
- 5 MB of free disk space for the Apache Karaf x.y binary distribution.
- 3 MB of free disk space for the Apache Karaf x.y source distributions or SVN checkout. The Maven build requires roughly 57 MB disk space and for the dependencies Maven downloads during building further 76 MB are required. As a lot of small files are produced, the exact space demands depend greatly on your cluster utilization ratio.
Operating Systems:
- Windows: Windows XP SP2, Windows 2000.
- Unix: Ubuntu Linux, Powerdog Linux, MacOS, AIX, HP-UX, Solaris, any Unix platform that supports Java.
Environment:
- Java Developer Kit (JDK) 1.5.x or greater (http://java.sun.com/).
- The JAVA_HOME environment variable must be set to the directory where the JDK is installed, e.g., c:\Program Files\jdk.1.5.0_06. To accomplish that, press Windows key and Break key together, switch to "Advanced" tab and click on "Environment Variables". Here, check for the variable and, if necessary, add it.
- Apache Maven 2.0.9 (http://maven.apache.org/download.html).
Installation Procedure for Windows
This section of the Getting Started guide explains how to install binary and source distributions of Karaf on a Windows system.
![]() | Handy Hint
In case you have to install Karaf into a very deep path or a path containing illegal characters for Java paths, e.g. !, % etc., you may add a bat file to start -> startup that executes
so your Karaf root directory is S: — which works for sure and is short to type. |
Windows Binary Installation
This procedure explains how to download and install the binary distribution on a Windows system.
- From a browser, navigate to http://karaf.apache.org/download.html.
- Scroll down to the "Apache Karaf" section and select the desired distribution.
For a binary distribution, the filename will be similar to: apache-karaf-x.y.zip.
- Extract the files from the ZIP file into a directory of your choice. Please remember the restrictions concerning illegal characters in Java paths, e.g. !, % etc.
- Proceed to the Starting Karaf section of this document.
- Following start-up, go to the Testing the Installation section of this document.
- Optional: see 7.1. Enabling Colorized Console Output On Windows
Windows Source Installation
This procedure explains how to download and install the source distribution on a Windows system. NOTE: Karaf requires Java 5 is compile, build and run.
- From a browser, navigate to http://karaf.apache.org/download.html.
- Scroll down to the "Apache Karaf" section and select the desired distribution.
For a source distribution, the filename will be similar to: apache-karaf-x.y-src.zip.
- Extract Karaf from the ZIP file into a directory of your choice. Please remember the restrictions concerning illegal characters in Java paths, e.g. !, % etc.
- Build Karaf using Maven 2.0.9 or greater and Java 5.
The recommended method of building Karaf is the following:
cd [karaf_install_dir]\\src
where [karaf_install_dir] is the directory in which Karaf was installed.
Both steps take around 10 to 15 minutes.
- Unzip the distribution using your favorite zip tool. The windows distribution is available at
\[karaf_install_dir\]\assembly\target\apache-karaf-x.y.zip
- Proceed to the Starting Karaf section of this document.
- Following start-up, go to the Testing the Installation section of this document.
- Optional: see 7.1. Enabling Colorized Console Output On Windows
Installation Procedure For Unix
Unix Binary Installation
This procedure explains how to download and install the binary distribution on a Unix system.
- From a browser, navigate to http://karaf.apache.org/download.html.
- Scroll down to the "Apache Karaf" section and select the desired distribution.
For a binary Unix distribution, the filename will be similar to: apache-karaf-x.y.tar.gz.
- Extract the files from the gzip file into a directory of your choice. For example:
gunzip apache-karaf-x.y.tar.gz
tar xvf apache-karaf-x.y.tar
Please remember the restrictions concerning illegal characters in Java paths, e.g. !, % etc.
- Proceed to the Starting Karaf section of this document.
- Following start-up, go to the Testing the Installation section.
Unix Source Installation
This procedure explains how to download and install the source distribution on a Unix system. This procedure assumes the Unix machine has a browser. Please see the previous Unix Binary Installation section for ideas on how to install Karaf without a browser. NOTE: Karaf requires Java 5 to compile, build and run.
- From a browser, navigate to http://karaf.apache.org/download.html.
- Scroll down to the "Apache Karaf" section and select the desired distribution.
For a source distribution, the filename will be similar to: apache-karaf-x.y-src.tar.gz.
- Extract the files from the ZIP file into a directory of your choice. For example:
gunzip apache-karaf-x.y-src.tar.gz
tar xvf apache-karaf-x.y-src.tar
Please remember the restrictions concerning illegal characters in Java paths, e.g. !, % etc.
- Build Karaf using Maven 2.0.8 or greater and Java 5:
The preferred method of building Karaf is the following:
cd [karaf_install_dir]/src
where [karaf_install_dir] is the directory in which Karaf was installed.
mvn
- Uncompress the distribution that has just been created
cd [karaf_install_dir]/assembly/target
gunzip apache-karaf-x.y.tar.gz
tar xvf apache-karaf-x.y.tar
- Proceed to the Starting Karaf section of this document.
- Following start-up, go to the Testing the Installation section.
Starting Karaf
On Windows
From a console window, change to the installation directory and run Karaf. For the binary distribution, go to
and for the source distribution go to the target directory, for example:
cd [karaf_install_dir]\src\assembly\target\apache-karaf-x.y-SNAPSHOT
where karaf_install_dir is the directory in which Karaf was installed, e.g., c:\Program Files\apache-karaf-x.y.
Then type:
Note: Working directories get created relative to the current directory. For the working directories to be created in the proper place, Karaf must be launched from its home/installation directory.
On Unix
From a command shell, change to the installation directory and run Karaf. For the binary distribution, go to
and for the source distribution go to the target directory, for example:
cd [karaf_install_dir]/src/assembly/target/apache-karaf-x.y
where karaf_install_dir is the directory in which Karaf was installed, e.g., /usr/local/apache-karaf-x.y.
Then type:
![]() | Warning
Do NOT close the console or shell in which Karaf was started, as that will terminate Karaf (unless Karaf was started with nohup). |
Testing the Installation
If Karaf is up and running without problems, the Window's console window or the Unix command shell will display something similar to the following log line:
__ __ ____
/ / ,< / __ `/ ___/ __ `/ /_
/ /| |/ /_/ / / / /_/ / __/
/_/ |_|\__,_/_/ \__,_/_/
Apache Felix Karaf (2.0.0)
Hit '<tab>' for a list of available commands
and '[cmd] --help' for help on a specific command.
ka...@root>
Stopping Karaf
For both Windows and Unix installations, you can perform a clean shutdown of Karaf by using the following command:
If Karaf was started in the background on Unix, the process can be killed, with the following:
ps -ef | grep karaf
kill [PID]
where [PID] is the process id of the Karaf process.
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