How to install the IBM Real Time VM Support for Flexible Task Graphs

This page explains how to install the IBM Flexible Task Graphs Runtime for WebSphere Real Time, which is available on the IBM alphaWorks site and the IBM WebSphere Real Time Virtual Machine itself, available on the IBM developerWorks site. If you haven't already installed the open-source software from this site, following these instructions will give the open-source software as well. The three components cooperate to provide real-time execution. You do not need all three (only the open source portion, which runs on any platform) to develop and test Flexible Task Graphs. Furthermore, the open source software defines interfaces that could be implemented on other Java Virtual Machines to achieve the same goals.

Prerequisites for the IBM Components

• An appropriate Linux kernel for running the IBM WebSphere Real Time (WRT) VM. You need a Linux kernel at version 2.6.21 or later. Version 2 of WRT was tested with Red Hat Enterprise MRG V1 (2.6.24.7-74.el5rt) and with SUSE Linux Enterprise Real Time 10 (2.6.22.19-0.12-rt). Later versions of the same kernels are likely to work and other kernel versions may work but the details are beyond the scope of this document. If you are already developing Flexible Task Graphs on Eclipse on some other platform, there is no need to switch to the Linux machine for development; there will be a procedure for exporting runtimes to the target Linux platform for testing.

Prerequisites for Open Source Software (if not already installed)

1. A Java JRE at level 1.5 or later. If you don't have one, the Eclipse site provides some guidance.
2. Eclipse 3.3.1 or later. If you don't have Eclipse or your current Eclipse is too old visit the Eclipse download site. If you have never used Eclipse before, we recommend you start with the Eclipse IDE for Java Developers, but you can use other versions like Eclipse Classic or the Eclipse IDE for Java EE Developers if they suit your other needs better.
3. Make sure that your Eclipse 3.3.1 (or later) actually runs on your Java JRE 1.5 (or later). If you have multiple versions of Java and are not sure which one your Eclipse is running on, then, with Eclipse running, choose Help->About Eclipse and then Configuration Details. Scroll down to the java.version property. By default, Eclipse runs on the JRE that is in the PATH. If this does not give the desired result, either change the PATH or arrange to start Eclipse with the -vm option as described in the eclipse/readme/readme_eclipse.html document that comes with your Eclipse installation. There are also Eclipse feature prerequisites but the handling of these differs between Eclipse 3.3.x and Eclipse 3.4 or later. Follow the explicit instructions below depending on your version.

There are also Eclipse feature prerequisites but the handling of these differs between Eclipse 3.3.x and Eclipse 3.4 or later. Follow the explicit instructions you will receive after downloading the starter package from IBM AlphaWorks.

Steps

1. Obtain a copy of the IBM WebSphere Real Time VM from IBM DeveloperWorks. In doing this, you will necessarily establish an IBM ID, which you can also use for AlphaWorks. Choose either WebSphere Real Time V2.0 32-bit xSeries (Intel compatible) (SR1 version, under the Java 6 SE category, but not the "soft" real time version) or WebSphere Real Time V1.0 32-bit xSeries (Intel compatible) (SR3 version, under the J2SE Version 5.0 category). We have done most of our testing on V1.0 SR3 (and that version was used to collect the data for our latest published paper). However, our support emphasis will be on the newer V2.0 SR1 version.
2. Visit the Flexible Task Graph site on IBM AlphaWorks. Follow the download instructions there. You will be guided through the rest of the installation, which will include both material from the IBM AlphaWorks site and from (this) sourceforge open source site (if you haven't already installed it).