5. Configuring GBS for GemStone/S 64 Bit
This chapter describes how to configure or update your client Smalltalk application using GemBuilder for Smalltalk (GBS) on Linux to run with GemStone/S 64 Bit version 3.5.
This chapter describes Linux clients only; for GBS clients running on Windows, see the GemStone/S 64 Bit Windows Client Installation Guide. GBS clients are not supported on Solaris, AIX, or Macintosh. For a table of all supported GBS and client Smalltalk platforms, see the GemStone/S 64 Bit Release Notes for v3.5.
The GemStone/S 64 Bit v3.5 server requires a compatible version of GBS; versions of GBS earlier than 8.4 (or GBS v5.4.5 for VA Smalltalk, which is supported on Windows only), are not supported with GemStone/S 64 Bit v3.5 or later.
In addition to using the appropriate version of GBS, you must use GemStone/S 64 Bit 3.5 client libraries with your GBS client application, to be able to log in to the v3.5 server. These libraries are specific to the GemStone/S 64 Bit server version and to the client platform.
GemStone/S 64 Bit provides both 64-bit libraries and 32-bit libraries.
- With 64-bit VisualWorks environments, you must use the 64-bit GemStone client libraries, and it is possible to login either RPC or linked.
- With 32-bit VisualWorks Smalltalk environments, you must use 32-bit libraries, and can only login in RPC. 32-bit processes cannot load 64-bit libraries.
For instructions on installing and configuring GBS, see the GemBuilder for Smalltalk Installation Guide for the appropriate version of GBS.
Supported GBS client Smalltalk Platforms with Linux
GBS version 8.4 or later is required for use with GemStone/S 64 Bit v3.5 or later servers.
The following VisualWorks client Smalltalk versions are supported:
GemBuilder for Smalltalk v8.4
- VisualWorks 8.3.2 (32-bit and 64-bit)
- RedHat Linux 6.9 and 7.4; Ubuntu 16.04 and 18.04
- VisualWorks 7.10.1 (32-bit)
- RedHat Linux 6.9 and 7.4; Ubuntu 16.04
- VisualWorks 7.10.1 (64-bit)
- RedHat Linux ES 6.9 and 7.4
For supported client Smalltalk versions on Windows, refer to the GemStone/S 64 Bit Windows Client Installation Guide.
GBS Setup or Upgrade Procedure
Shared Libraries for GBS Client Node
The GBS client requires a set of shared libraries (.so files) that are provided as part of the GemStone server product distribution. When these are loaded into the VisualWorks image in which GBS code is installed, the GBS client can log into the GemStone server.
The shared libraries must be the same version as the GemStone server. Since they are loaded into the client smalltalk VM, they must the appropriate for the client platform and client executable bit size (32-bit or 64-bit).
If your GBS client is on a different platform than your GemStone/server, you will need to download the version-specific libraries for the platform that the GBS client is running on.
You can either install the full GemStone/S 64 Bit Server on your GBS client node, or copy just the specific shared libraries you need.
Install full GemStone/S 64 Bit on client
If your clients run on the same machine as the server, you have no need to do anything further – you can use the libraries in their locations in the existing server installation.
Otherwise, you may find it useful to install the full GemStone/S 64 Bit Server on the client.
If you will run linked sessions on the GBS client, or other configurations in which the gem is on the same node as the GBS client, you will need much of the GemStone server installation. The GemStone/S 64 Bit installation also includes tools such as topaz, gslist, and VSD, that may be useful to run on your client.
Install GemStone/S 64 Bit on the client machine following the instructions in the Installation Guide for the client platform. You do not need to configure an extent or perform similar server tasks.
Copy only specific client libraries
If you will only be running RPC sessions, and do not require tools such as gslist, vsd, or topaz on the client, you do not need to install the full GemStone/S 64 Bit Server on the client node. You may copy only the small set of library files that GBS requires. If you want to run linked sessions as well as RPC, you will need a full server installation on the client.
The files that are required depend on the bit size of the Client smalltalk application.
32-bit VisualWorks clients, RPC only
With 32-bit VisualWorks, the following files are needed:
$GEMSTONE/lib32/libgcirpc-3.5.0-32.so
$GEMSTONE/lib32/libssl-3.5.0-32.so
$GEMSTONE/lib32/libkrb5-3.5.0-32.so
64 bit VisualWorks clients, RPC only
With 64-bit VisualWorks, the following files are needed:
$GEMSTONE/lib/libgcirpc-3.5.0-64.so
$GEMSTONE/lib/libssl-3.5.0-64.so
$GEMSTONE/lib32/libkrb5-3.5.0-64.so
GBS provides a number of options as to where on the client machine to place the shared libraries. Refer to the GemBuilder for Smalltalk Installation Guide for details on these options
Upgrade GBS to a version that supports v3.5
Versions of GBS/VW earlier than 8.4 are not supported with GemStone/S 64 Bit v3.5.
If you are currently running with an older version of GBS, you should upgrade the GBS client, and possibly also upgrade VisualWorks, to a more recent version for v3.5.
See the GemBuilder for Smalltalk Installation Guide for installation instructions, and the GemBuilder for Smalltalk Release Notes for details on the changes in these versions.
Update GBS to reference v3.5 libraries
Once you have installed the GemStone server on the GBS client machine, or copied the appropriate shared libraries, you need to ensure that the client Smalltalk executable – a VisualWorks application – will load the v3.5 libraries.
Determining library name to specify
Whether or not you have a full server installation on the client or have copied a few libraries, there is a specific library name you will specify to have GBS load using the libraryName: parameter.
Setup GBS to load the new libraries
- If you have set the GBS configuration parameter libraryName:, update this to the new library name, and save your image.
- If you have set the GBS configuration parameter libraryName: to an empty string, ensure that no other client libraries of the same name are in the current working directory or the bin directory or subdirectory of your VisualWorks image’s VISUALWORKS directory.
- For a new GBS application, refer to the GemBuilder for Smalltalk Installation Guide for details on the library loading setup options.