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2. Installation

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Client package installation

Prerequisites

Unpacking the software

This document explains how to install the command-line client library. This program allows you to perform operations on the GRIA services by giving commands at a command line (Unix shell or Windows DOS prompt).

Unpack the gria-client-<version>.zip or gria-client-<version>.tar.gz archive into a new directory. The archive contains the following items:

conf
The configuration files go here. This can be set to another directory be setting an environment variable GRIA_CONF_DIR
gridcli (Linux) or gridcli.bat (Windows)
Scripts to run the command-line client easily.
lib
All the .jar files needed to run the client.
doc
The documentation files.
README.html
A file telling you where the documentation files are.
LICENSE.txt
License terms.

Upgrading

To upgrade from a GRIA Client 5.x simply set the GRIA_CONF_DIR directory environment variable to the location of your old configuration directory . There is then no need to generate a keystore but you should edit the gridcli or gridcli.bat if by default your system uses an unoffical version of Java as described Configuring the client.

Generating a Key Store

To set up a GRIA client you will need to create a private key and certificate. The certificate needs to be signed by a Certificate Authority (CA) which your service providers trust.

If you wish to access the GRIA demo systems you should generate a keystore by following the process described in Getting Started. Otherwise, you should create yourself a new keypair as described below.

The first step is to create a new keypair as described below.

  1. Download and install the KeyTool GUI application.
  2. Run KeyTool GUI from the directory containing the jar: 
    $ java -jar ktg-17.jar
    On Windows, KeyTool GUI can also be run using the Start menu.
  3. Create a new Java keystore (select JKS as the type).
  4. Click on the Generate Key Pair button, and create a new RSA key. Use the default key size if unsure.
  5. Choose SHA1withRSA as the signature algorithm.
  6. Enter your details.
  7. The alias and key password can be anything.
  8. Save the keystore with a .ks extension (e.g., as gria.ks). The keystore password must be the same as the key password (due to a limitation of Java's SSL support).
  9. Right-click on the new key and choose Generate CSR (Certificate Signing Request).
  10. Save the .csr file and send it to a respected Certificate Authority to get it signed.

The CA will sign it using a program such as XCA. They will send you two .crt files: the CA's own certificate, and your newly-signed certificate. Don't get these two confused!

  1. Import the CA's own certificate into your keystore using the Import Trusted Certificate button.
  2. Right click on your key and choose Import CA Reply to import your signed certificate into the keystore.
  3. Save the keystore. If you save it as keystore.ks in the client's conf directory then the client will find it automatically in the next step.

Configuring the client

You should already have a keystore set up, as described in the keystore setup instructions. To test the client, try running it with the following command, from within the installation directory:

Windows
c:\grid-client-<version> gridcli
Linux
$ ./gridcli

Note that you must use an official Sun version of Java. On systems which default to their own version (such as Fedora Core), you may need to edit the gridcli script to run the Sun version rather than the system default. For example, if you have installed java in /opt then modify 

java -Dgrid.config.dir=$CLIDIR/conf -jar $CLIDIR/lib/itinnov-grid-client-cli-4.jar "$@"
to 
/opt/java/bin/java -Dgrid.config.dir=$CLIDIR/conf -jar $CLIDIR/lib/itinnov-grid-client-cli-4.jar "$@"

A configuration box will then appear asking for the location of the keystore:


  1. Click on the keystore location button and select your keystore using the browser.
  2. Enter the keystore password.
  3. Click on Accept and the client GUI will be presented to you.

Creating an alias

You'll probably want to use the gridcli command from other directories. To do this:

Windows
Copy gridcli.bat into a directory in your path and then edit gridcli.bat to set the original installation path as explained in the file. Alternatively, set your Path system variable (Control Panel -> System -> Advanced -> Environment Variables).
Linux or Unix
Copy the shell script called gridcli to your /usr/local/bin directory and edit it as described in the comments inside the file. You may have to type rehash before your shell will notice the new command.

Configuring a web-proxy

In some network configurations, the site firewall prevents you from connecting to services directly. Instead, all requests must go via a proxy, which is set up by your network administrator. In this case, you need to edit the conf/HTTP-proxy.properties file and set the indicated values.

If you are not sure whether you are using a proxy, consult your network adminstrator. You may be able to find out whether you are using a proxy by checking your browser's settings:

Checking settings (Firefox browser)

  1. Open then Edit menu and choose Preferences (use Tools -> Options on Windows).
  2. In the General section, click on Connection Settings....
  3. The hostname and port for SSL Proxy are the values you need.
Next: Client User's Tutorial