Java 6 and Java 7

Ignition
1

I have some customers who are running Ignition v7.2 and others who are running v7.5. I have Java 6 and Java 7 installed on my laptop. I do not understand how to correctly launch a Designer (or a Client) session that uses Java 6 when connecting to a Gateway running v7.2. By default my Designer will start in Java 7. To get around this, on Windows, I create a shortcut with this as the Target, e.g.:

“C:\Program Files\Java\jre6\bin\javaws.exe” “http://192.168.2.11:8088/main/system/launch/designer/designer.jnlp”

with Start In set to:

“C:\Program Files\Java\jre6\bin”

But it does not work correctly. I get a startup message saying Java 6, but it runs like Java 7 and FUBARs my windows when I edit them. When uninstall Java 7 everything works fine again.

2

You can check the ignition.conf file to make sure it is pointed at Java 6 Vs Java 7

Ignition.conf is located at Program Files\Inductive Automation\Ignition\Data

In that file you want to look at

wrapper.java.command=C:/Program Files/Java/jre6/bin/java.exe

It may be different depending on your file paths. As long as you see jre6 it is correct.

Next you want to go to C:\users\username and delete the .ignition folder. This will delete the Ignition cache that is stored on your machine. Now you should be able to have both Java 6 and Java 7 on your machine and Ignition should only launch with Java 6.

A quick edit: This may still cause the designer and clients to launch with Java 7. Discussing it here, we don’t have a solid answer as to making it choose one version of Java over the other. I think the only real fix is to pick which version of Java you want to run and stick with it. I know that isn’t always the answer considering that some other third party software may depend on a certain version of Java.

3

I am not following this.

[i]You can check the ignition.conf file to make sure it is pointed at Java 6 Vs Java 7

Ignition.conf is located at Program Files\Inductive Automation\Ignition\Data

In that file you want to look at

wrapper.java.command=C:/Program Files/Java/jre6/bin/java.exe
[/i]

Are you saying to check the ignition.conf file on the Gateway? I am not trying to run the Designer on the Gateway. I am trying to run it on my laptop which does not have Ignition installed.

…I think the only real fix is to pick which version of Java you want to run and stick with it. I know that isn’t always the answer considering that some other third party software may depend on a certain version of Java.

I can get by with just running Java 6 on my laptop, for now. However, I have no practical way to stop other users from installing Java 7. They are just running Vision clients, not the Designer. The Vision clients seem to work OK running Java 7 when connecting to a Gateway running Ignition 7.2/Java 6. Is this just good luck, or is there really no problem with this situation?

4

I missed the part where your connecting to the gateway with a laptop.

Realistically you should not have any problems with launching the gateway or the client with either Java 6 or 7. This is why there is no problem launching vision clients with Java 7. As far as controlling what version of Java your customers are using you can make sure automatic updates are disabled for 32 bit versions.

But again, we don’t have a clear answer as to what version of Java will be used if you have multiple versions installed.