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The OpenOffice.org Installation

Installation Types

This chapter gives you general information on the different types of installation, the prerequisites for installation and the installation process. Information on how to modify an existing OpenOffice.org installation can be found in the Appendix under Modifying the OpenOffice.org Installation.

The following table explains the different types of installation and when they are applicable.

Installation Type

Usage

Single-User Installation

OpenOffice.org is installed on one computer for a single specific user only (NOT recommended for Unix/ Linux).

Multi-User or Network Installation

OpenOffice.org is installed for multiple users on a computer or installed on a network computer for collective use.

This installation consists of two phases, in the first phase (typically done by root or admin) all shared components are installed on a single computer, and the second phase, a Workstation Installation in which user specific files and configurations are installed.

The Single-User Installation is most suited for use with single-user operating systems and should typically NOT be used for Unix.

A simple installation script that helps to simplify the process of installation is available for Unix users.

Examples of its use:

./install # do a multi-user installation into /usr/local

./install --prefix=/opt # do a multi-user installation into /opt

Type ./install --help for syntax and see Automated Installation under Unix in the Appendix

In the Appendix, we describe how the OpenOffice.org Printer Administration Utility spadmin for Unix is used to set up printers, faxes and fonts for OpenOffice.org.


General Installation Tips

System Requirements

General System Requirements
  • 250 MB available hard-disk space
  • Graphics capabilities of at least 800 x 600 resolution and 256 colors

Special System Requirements for the Solaris™ Operating Environment on the SPARC™ Platform

  • Operating Environment Solaris 7 or 8 (for support of Asian languages, Solaris 8 is recommended)
  • Solaris 8 requires patches 108434-01 and 108435-01 (64 bit)
  • For the support of Asian languages, the additional patch 108773-12 is required for Solaris 8.
  • Solaris 7 requires patches 106327-08, 106300-09 (64 bit)
  • XServer (with at least 800x600, 256 colors) with window manager (e.g. OpenWindows™, CDE, GNOME)
  • 128 MB RAM

Patches for the Solaris Operating Environment can be found at http://sunsolve.sun.com.

Special System Requirements for the Solaris™ Operating Environment on the Intel Platform

  • PC with Pentium or compatible processor
  • Operating Environment Solaris 7 or 8 (for support of Asian languages, Solaris 8 is recommended)
  • Solaris 8 requires patch 108436-01
  • For the support of Asian languages, the additional patch 108774-12 is required for Solaris 8.
  • Solaris 7 requires patches 106328-08
  • XServer (with at least 800x600, 256 colors) with window manager (e.g. OpenWindows™, CDE, GNOME)
  • 64 MB RAM

Patches for the Solaris Operating Environment can be found at http://sunsolve.sun.com.

Special System Requirements for Linux (x86 and PPC)

  • PC with Pentium or compatible processor, or PowerPC processor
  • Linux Kernel 2.2.13 or higher
  • XServer (with at least 800x600, 256 colors) with window manager (e.g. GNOME)
  • 64 MB RAM
  • glibc2 version 2.1.3 or higher (glibc2 version 2.2.1 or higher for PPC Linux)

Special System Requirements for Windows

  • Windows 95 or higher. For the support of Asian languages, Windows 98 or higher is required. (Windows 2000 is recommended)
  • PC with Pentium or compatible processor
  • 64 MB RAM


Preparing the Installation

  • Expand the compressed installation file for your operating system into a temporary directory of your choice. This will create a subdirectory called install containing all files of the installation set and the setup routine.

You can find important installation tips in the files: readme.txt (Windows) or README (Solaris and Linux) in the installation directory. We strongly recommend that you read these files because they may contain information that only became available after this guide was printed.

The installation process can be stopped at any time by clicking the Cancel button. You will then not be able to run OpenOffice.org. You can have the installation directory automatically removed after you cancel the installation. Please note, however, that in that case all files and subfolders contained therein will also be removed.

For Windows NT / 2000 and for Win9x versions which have been setup for multi-user operation: In these versions the sversion.ini file will not be written into the Windows directory but rather into the user data directory set up for each user (for example, in C:\Documents and Settings\Username\Application Data).

There is a special installation script called install available to help automate the installation procedure under Unix which is described in detail in Automated Installation under Unix in the Appendix.