VNCRobot 1.2 Install Notes
(C) 2006 Robert Pes. All rights reserved. Last update: July 2,
2006
Table of contents:
- System Requirements
- Prerequisities and Dependencies
- Installation
- Upgrade From Previous Versions
- VNCRobot Startup
- Windows Notes
- Troubleshooting
1. System Requirements
VNCRobot is a Java application and runs on all platforms supported by
Java. As VNCRobot requires Java 1.4.2_04 or higher, you can run it
either with Java 1.4 or 5.0. Lists of supported system configurations
are maintained at http://java.sun.com:
As Java is known for high memory consumption, 128 MB RAM or higher is
recommended to execute VNCRobot 1.2.
2. Prerequisities and Dependencies
VNCRobot depends on two software packages:
- Java Runtime Environment (JRE) or Java Development Kit (JDK, also
J2SE) - required
- VNC Server - optional
Java Runtime Environment
VNCRobot requires Java Runtime Environment (JRE) version 1.4.2_04 or
higher. To verify whether Java is installed on your machine, open a
terminal window (Unix/Linux) or a comand line window (Windows) and run
the following command:
If Java is present on your machine, it displays its version. On
Unix/Linux systems also check if your /usr directory contains a folder
like 'java' or 'jdk' and look for the java
executable in
there. If Java is not present, you may download JRE for free from the
following location:
VNC Server
You also need to install a VNC server. If someone else is providing a
server for you, you may skip this step. If you use Unix or Linux, you
may run a VNC server on the same machine as VNCRobot. As Windows XP are
not capable of running multiple window servers, you can't run a server
and a client (i.e. VNCRobot) on the same machine.
You may download the VNC server software for free from one of the
following locations:
3. VNCRobot Installation
VNCRobot binaries are distributed as a ZIP archive which contains all
necessary files. There's no installer. All you have to do is to unzip
the file into a folder on your hard drive. There should be at least the
following files:
File
Name
|
Description
|
vncrobot.jar |
Java archive with VNCRobot classes. |
jh.jar |
JavaHelp Java archive. |
vncrobot.sh |
Start script for Unix/Linux. |
vncrobot.bat |
Start script for Windows. |
install.html |
A copy of this VNCRobot 1.2 Install Notes document. |
LICENSE.txt |
Freeware license text. Please
read carefully before you start using VNCRobot. |
4. Upgrade From Previous Versions
If you are already using an older version of VNCRobot, simply overwrite
the old installation with the new build. Only the files listed in the
table above will be replaced. Your test scripts and configuration file config.properties
located in your home directory will not be affected.
5. VNCRobot Startup
Change to the directory where you installed VNCRobot and run one of the
wrapper scripts vncrobot.sh
(for Unix/Linux) or vncrobot.bat
(for Windows). For help on CLI commands run vncrobot.sh -h
,
resp. vncrobot.bat --help
. If VNCRobot doesn't start,
review the Troubleshooting chapter at the
end of this document. If you meet an issue which is not described in
this document, review open bugs at http://vncrobot.com/docs/bugs.html
or eventually report a new bug using the contacts at http://vncrobot.com/docs/contacts.html.
The wrapper scripts actually just start java with proper options.
Please note that the wrapper can't handle more than 9 parameters. If you
need to pass more parameters or customize the VNCRobot start command,
use the following command syntax:
Linux/Unix: |
java -jar vncrobot.jar <VNCRobot
CLI parameters>
or
java -classpath jh.jar:vncrobot.jar com.vncrobot.VNCRobot <VNCRobot
CLI parameters>
|
Windows: |
java -jar vncrobot.jar <VNCRobot
CLI parameters>
or
java -classpath jh.jar;vncrobot.jar
com.vncrobot.VNCRobot <VNCRobot CLI parameters> |
VNCRobot can be run in two modes:
- GUI Mode - Displays the graphical interface in your window
system (MS Windows, X-Windows). This is the default mode when you start
VNCRobot without any CLI options.
- CLI Mode - No GUI is displayed. VNCRobot starts in this
mode only when invoked with the
-n
or --nodisplay
option. Use this way for automated execution of test scripts. Other
parameters like -c/--connect
and -r/--run
must
be supplied. Please see the CLI Options Specification document available
in the VNCRobot Help or online in the VNCRobot 1.2 GUI Reference
document on http://www.vncrobot.com/docs.
Once the GUI is up and running, open Help for instructions on how to
use VNCRobot. There should be at least three document collections there:
- This VNCRobot 1.2 Install Notes document,
- VNCRobot 1.2 GUI Reference (description of GUI components and
features),
- VNCRobot 1.2 Language Reference (specification of the VNCRobot
scripting language).
All these documents/document collections are also available online on http://www.vncrobot.com/docs.
6. Windows Notes
It is recommended that you run VNC server on Windows as a service. This
will allow you to restart Windows from VNCRobot and access the login
screen after the system restarts. To send system reserved key
combinations like Ctrl+Alt+Delete
use the Keys tab situated
in the top left corner of the VNCRobot GUI.
If you connect VNCRobot to a Windows server running TightVNC, you may
experience a refresh problem. Application windows sometimes display on
the remote desktop without content and pieces of the window image appear
as user moves the mouse pointer over the window. To prevent this
behavior open the TightVNC settings window and select the 'Poll full screen' check box.
Note that Windows specific keys like 'Windows'
and 'Properties'
are not supported in this version and they cannot be used in the scripts.
7. Troubleshooting
1. vncrobot.sh
or vncrobot.bat
script
fails with a message "java: command not found"
There's no Java installed on your machine
or the path to the Java executable is not included in your OS path. Read
chapter 2. Prerequisities and Dependencies of this
document.
2. vncrobot.sh
or vncrobot.bat
script
fails with a message "Exception in thread
"main" java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError: com/vncrobot/VNCRobot"
This indicates that the VNCRobot JAR
(Java ARchive) file vncrobot.jar
is not correctly included
in the Java class path.
- Switch to the directory where you unzipped VNCRobot and make
sure that the
vncrobot.jar
file is there and that you have
permission to read it.
- Re-run the
vncrobot.sh
or vncrobot.bat
from this directory.
3. vncrobot.sh
or vncrobot.bat
script
fails with a message "JavaHelp libraries
not found. Please make sure that file jh.jar is included in the Java
class path."
This indicates that the JavaHelp JAR file jh.jar
is not correctly included in the Java class path.
- Switch to the directory where you unzipped VNCRobot and make
sure that the
jh.jar
file is there and that you have
permission to read it.
- Re-run the
vncrobot.sh
or vncrobot.bat
from this directory.
4. vncrobot.sh
or vncrobot.bat
script
fails with a NoClassDefNotFoundError, NoSuchFieldError or any other
severe Java error
These problems are typically met when you
use Java of version lower than required 1.4.2_04. Run java
-version
to find out.
5. The vncrobot.sh
or vncrobot.bat
script fails to pass some CLI options
The wrapper script can't handle more
than 9 options. All options above this limit are ignored. You must run
Java directly as is described in chapter
5. VNCRobot
Startup.