MIRC Installation on Vista
This article describes how to install MIRC on a Vista system. The procedure is a little different from that for XP because Vista requires privileges to be elevated before certain functions can be performed. Two methods of installation are described. The first allows Tomcat to be run as a Windows service. This is the recommended approach. The second requires that Tomcat be run manually. This approach is included here only because it was the only method known until recently.
1 Installing Tomcat as a Windows Service under Vista
1.1 Install Java
When Tomcat is run as a Windows service, it requires only the Java Runtime Environment (JRE), not the Java Developer's Kit (JDK). Download the latest standard edition JRE for Windows from http://java.sun.com/javase/downloads/index.jsp. Be sure to select the correct JRE for you Windows platform (Windows, Windows Intel Itanium, or Windows x64).
If you obtained a MIRC Installation CD at the 2008 RSNA annual meeting, the JRE for 32-bit systems is in the MIRC_Installation/Java/Windows_except_Vista folder. (That is not a typo; it is Windows_except_Vista.)
Run the file. The installer will provide a page for selecting which components to install. It is safe to accept the defaults, but you can save space by deselecting the documentation and the source code. The other components in the selection list are required.
1.2 Install the JAI ImageIO Tools
Download the latest release of the Java Advanced Imaging (JAI) ImageIO Tools for the JRE from http://java.sun.com/products/java-media/jai/downloads/download-iio-1_0_01.html. Select the JRE Install version. It will have a name like jai_imageio-1_1-lib-windows-i586-jre.exe. (There is no special version for 64-bit systems.) Note that the ImageIO Tools are separate from the JAI, so be careful to obtain the ImageIO Tools. The JAI itself is not required.
If you obtained a MIRC Installation CD at the 2008 RSNA annual meeting, the ImageIO Tools file is in the MIRC_Installation/JAI/Windows_except_Vista folder.
Run the file and accept all the defaults.
1.3 Install Tomcat
Download the latest Tomcat 5.5 Core Windows Service Installer from http://tomcat.apache.org/download-55.cgi. Be careful to obtain 5.5 rather than 5.0, which may also be available on the same page.
If you obtained a MIRC Installation CD at the 2008 RSNA annual meeting, the Tomcat 5.5 Core zip file is in the MIRC_Installation/Tomcat/Windows_except_Vista folder.
- IMPORTANT: Right-click the Windows Service Installer and select Run as administrator. The program will start and display a welcome screen. Click Next.
- On the license agreement page, accept the terms.
- The installer will now display the component selection page shown below. This page is VERY important. First, click the plus sign beside "Tomcat" to expand it into its three subcomponents, Core, Service, and Native. Make sure that Tomcat and all three subcomponents are checked. (Core is not selectable, but it should be already checked.) Next, uncheck the remaining components. Then click Next.
- The program will now display the install location page. This page is also VERY important. If you have multiple disk drives on your system, or multiple partitions (C, D, E, ...) on your drive, you should install Tomcat on a partition that has lots of space. All the documents and images that you will store on your MIRC site will be stored within the Tomcat folder, so you should put Tomcat where there is as much room as possible. If you wish to change the location of your Tomcat installation, click browse and select the directory you want to put it in. When you're happy with the installation directory location click Next.
- Next, the installer will display the page shown below, allowing you to select the port on which the server will listen for connections. The default Tomcat port is 8080. If you don’t have any other web servers running on your computer, you could decide to run on the default port for the world wide web, which is 80, but generally it is fine to stay with 8080. This page also allows you to define the administrator's username and password. You should choose something you can remember. Better yet, although I will deny ever suggesting this, write it down. After you make whatever selections you want, click Next.
- Next, the installer will find the Java JRE. Click Install and the process will proceed to the end. When the final page is displayed, uncheck the two checkboxes and click the Finish button.
1.4 Configure Tomcat
When Tomcat is installed as a Windows service, a configuration program called Tomcat5w.exe is placed in the Tomcat/bin directory. To run this program under Vista, you must right-click it and select Run as administrator.
The standard Tomcat memory pool is not large enough for handling large medical images. To configure the memory pool, start the configuration program and click the <v>Java tab. You will see a window like this:
The values shown in the picture above, 128 and 256, should be large enough for all applications, but if you plan to handle of mammo images, you might even double them, especially if your computer has several gigabytes of memory. After setting the memory allocation parameters, click OK.
2 Installing Tomcat NOT as a Windows Service under Vista
treats Windows services differently from XP. Currently, Tomcat cannot run under Vista as a Windows service. This means that Tomcat cannot be installed using the Tomcat service installer for Windows. Instead, it must be installed by expanding the Tomcat zip file. This in turn requires that the Java Developer's Kit (JDK) be installed rather than just the JRE, which is sufficient for running as a Windows service.
3 Install the Java Developer's Kit
Download the latest standard edition JDK for Windows from http://java.sun.com/javase/downloads/index.jsp. It will have a name like jdk-6u1-windows-i586-p.exe.
If you obtained a MIRC Installation CD at the 2008 RSNA annual meeting, the JDK is in the MIRC_Installation/Java/Windows_Vista folder.
Run the file. The installer will provide a page for selecting which components to install. It is safe to accept the defaults, but you can save space by deselecting the documentation and the source code. The other components in the selection list are required.
4 Install the JAI ImageIO Tools
Download the latest release of the Java Advanced Imaging ImageIO Tools for the JDK from http://java.sun.com/products/java-media/jai/downloads/download-iio-1_0_01.html. Select the JDK Install version. It will have a name like jai_imageio-1_1-lib-windows-i586-jdk.exe. Note that the ImageIO Tools are separate from the JAI, so be careful to obtain the ImageIO Tools. The JAI itself is not required.
If you obtained a MIRC Installation CD at the 2008 RSNA annual meeting, the ImageIO Tools file is in the MIRC_Installation/JAI/Windows_Vista folder.
Run the file and accept all the defaults.
5 Define a System Variable for Java
After installing the JDK and the these files, you must define a system variable which points to the JDK. This will allow Tomcat to find Java when it starts. If you install the JDK is the standard place, it will be in a director with a path like: C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.6.0_01, where the numbers after jdk depend on the release which you installed.
- Click the Start button.
- Right-click the Computer button in the Start menu.
- Select Properties in the pop-up menu.
- In the Tasks pane, click Advanced System Settings.
- If the User Account Control dialog appears, click Continue.
- In the System Properties dialog, click the Advanced tab.
- Click the Environment Variables button.
- In the lower part of the next window, click New....
- In the Variable name field, enter: JAVA_HOME
- In the Variable value field, enter the path to the JDK.
- Finally, click OK on all the dialogs.
6 Install Tomcat
Obtain the latest Tomcat 5.5 Core zip file from http://tomcat.apache.org/download-55.cgi. Be careful to obtain 5.5 rather than 5.0, which is also available on the same page. It will have a name like apache-tomcat-5.5.23.zip.
If you obtained a MIRC Installation CD at the 2008 RSNA annual meeting, the Tomcat 5.5 Core zip file is in the MIRC_Installation/Tomcat/Vista_and_Linux folder.
Expand the zip file. A convenient place to put it is in the root of the C drive.
7 Install the Apache Portable Runtime
This step is optional, but it is highly recommended. It will give Tomcat the speed of a native implementation using the Apache server code.
Obtain the Apache Portable Runtime from http://mirc.rsna.org/APR/tc-native-1.dll.
If you obtained a MIRC Installation CD at the 2008 RSNA annual meeting, the Apache Portable Runtime file is in the MIRC_Installation/Tomcat/Windows_except_Vista/Portable_Runtime folder. (That is not a typo: Windows_except_Vista.)
Put the file in Tomcat's bin directory.
8 Configure the Memory Settings
This step is optional. It is recommended if you plan to support large (CR) images.
After installation, there will be a folder with a name like apache-tomcat-5.5.23 containing numerous subfolders, including one called bin.
Open the bin directory and then open the catalina.bat file with a text editor like NotePad or TextPad. The top part of the file is a set of comments. About 55 lines from the top, the comments section ends. The last few lines of the comments section and the first few lines that follow it look like this:
# # $Id: catalina.sh 498126 2007-01-20 15:38:39Z markt $ # ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- rem Guess CATALINA_HOME is not defined set CURRENT_DIR=%cd%
Paste the line below into the file just after the comments section and then save the file.
- set CATALINA_OPTS=-Xms256m -Xmx512m
The result should look like this:
# # $Id: catalina.sh 498126 2007-01-20 15:38:39Z markt $ # ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- set CATALINA_OPTS=-Xms256m -Xmx512m rem Guess CATALINA_HOME is not defined set CURRENT_DIR=%cd%
9 Define a System Variable for Tomcat
Use the procedure described above for the JAVA_HOME system variable to define another system variable named CATALINA_HOME. If the top-level Tomcat folder is located at C:\apache-tomcat-5.5.23, then set the value of the variable to C:\apache-tomcat-5.5.23.
10 Starting and Stopping Tomcat
To start Tomcat, open a command window, and enter: %CATALINA_HOME%\bin\startup.bat. Tomcat will start and open its own command window. You can close the original command window, but do not close Tomcat's window while Tomcat is running.
To stop Tomcat, open a command window, and enter: %CATALINA_HOME%\bin\shutdown.bat.
You may find it convenient to create a shortcut which starts a command window in the %CATALINA_HOME%\bin directory. This would allow you to start and stop Tomcat just by typing startup and shutdown.
11 Install MIRC
To install and configure MIRC, follow the instructions available on the Downloads page of the wiki. The link is also shown in the navigation pane at the top left of this page. The instructions provide a link to the latest version of the MIRC installer.
If you obtained a MIRC Installation CD at the 2008 RSNA annual meeting, the MIRC installer is in the MIRC_Installation/MIRC folder. (There may be a newer version in the official release directory indicated in the instructions.)