IM FAQ

What is Java Web Start?

Java Web Start provides a platform-independent, secure, and robust deployment technology. It enables developers to deploy full-featured applications to end-users by making the applications available on a standard web server. With any web browser, end-users can launch the applications and be confident they always have the most-recent version.

Look at the online documentation for Java Web Start .

System requirement for Java™ Web Start:

Java Web Start supports primarily Internet Explorer 4 or higher and Mozilla. However any browser can launch JNLP files if you have set the MIME-type association correctly. Java Web Start uses the browser's settings and may launch a browser to show a URL; this feature may not work with unsupported browsers. The NIC MAIL application however require IE version 6 SP 2+ or Mozilla 1.74

Download Java™ Web Start from following link:

http://java.sun.com/products/javawebstart/download.jsp

Download Java Runtime Environment (JRE) 5.0 from following link:

http://java.sun.com/javase/downloads/index_jdk5.jsp

Install instructions for Java Runtime Environment (JRE) 5.0:

http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.5.0/jre/install.html

Why does my browser shows JNLP file as plain text ?

This is most likely happening because your web server is not aware of the proper MIME type for JNLP files. Java Web Start requires only one change to your web server, that is creating an association between the file extension, typically jnlp, and the MIME type, application/x-java-jnlp-file. The steps for doing this vary depending upon the web server you are using.

Furthermore, if your corporation uses a proxy server, ensure that the update versions of the files are returned, by updating the time stamp of the resources on the web server such that the proxies will update their caches.

How can I launch Java Web Start from the command line?

You can launch Java Web Start from the command line as follows:

javaws [options] your-app-JNLP-URL

where your-app-JNLP-URL is the location of your application's JNLP file.  For example:

javaws http://java.sun.com/products/demos/swingset2.jnlp 

For complete command line syntax see: the Developer's Guide
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