Basic Operations

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Installing, updating, and removing software

There are four main ways to install software on ArcaOS:

Generally, software which is installed using a particular method may (and should) be updated or removed using the same method. That is to say, if WarpIN was used to install a package, then WarpIN should be used to uninstall the package, instead of randomly deleting files from a command prompt. Most uninstallers will properly handle the removal of various user-created INI files, system INI file entries and CONFIG.SYS parameters specific to the application being removed, and other cleanup.

Likewise, updating packages using the same method as the original install ensures that proper safeguards are followed and that no files are unnecessarily duplicated in the process. If a different version (or vendor’s packaging) for a given application is available, the recommended procedure is to uninstall the existing package first (using the original method used to install that version), and then the new package should be installed – following a reboot of the system.

Some packages are specifically designed not to be removed. Examples here include kernel updates and anything else which if removed may render the system non-bootable. Such packages should only be reinstalled or updated.

Some packages being updated advise to not install over an existing installation. In this case, the recommended procedure is to uninstall the existing package first (using the original method used to install that version), and then install the new package – following a reboot of the system.

Important: Beware of packages with proprietary installers (see IBM Installer or Application-specific installers, below) which were specifically designed for OS/2 versions before Warp 4.0 (content typically dated pre-1995). While there should be nothing in ArcaOS to specifically preclude running software written for OS/2 2.0 or even 1.0, the installer itself may not have been written to anticipate some of the later changes introduced in system critical configuration files, such as CONFIG.SYS. An example of this might be a package which adds a line to CONFIG.SYS and erroneously deletes a line or unwisely re-orders CONFIG.SYS entries. In ArcaOS, UNICODE.SYS is normally the first DEVICE= statement in CONFIG.SYS. Removing it can cause difficulty reading or writing filenames on JFS volumes (among other issues). An errant installer written for OS/2 2.0 (pre-JFS availability) might remove (or overwrite) this first line.

It is a good practice to review the changes made to CONFIG.SYS and other system critical files before rebooting following any software installation. One tool to assist in the analysis is ConfigSysCheck, available here:

https://88watts.net/software.html

Download the latest version from the page linked above, extract the zip to a convenient place, and from a command prompt run:

[c:\] ConfigSysCheck -?

for syntax. Heed any errors or warnings it produces when run against CONFIG.SYS.

Specific package manager guidelines

WarpIN

WarpIN may be found in the WarpIN folder located in Install/Remove in the Computer folder on the ArcaOS desktop. WarpIN packages are provided either as .WPI (WarpIN Installer) files or .EXE (self-extracting WarpIN Installer files).

To install or update a WarpIN package, the easiest method is to open the Drives object in the Computer folder on the ArcaOS desktop (or the Drives object on the XCenter) and browse to the location of the desired package (.WPI or .EXE). The package will be displayed with a WarpIN icon for easy identification. Double-click the package to launch WarpIN in Install mode (or Add/Remove mode, if at least one of the components contained in the package is already installed). Follow the prompts to install, update, or add components.

To remove (“de-install” in WarpIN’s terminology) a package, start WarpIN directly from its object located in Computer | Install/Remove | WarpIN. This will launch WarpIN in Global database mode. Depending upon the View option selected in WarpIN, installed packages may be listed in Tree view (with “+” buttons available to the left of each package to expand the tree) in the Packages window or in Package detail view, with each package’s component listed on a separate line in the Packages window. Either select the package name (Tree view) with the left mouse button or each of the package’s components to be removed (by expanding the tree in Tree view and Ctrl-clicking each one, or by Ctrl-clicking each one in Package detail view. From WarpIN’s main menu, select Package | De-install package… and in the De-install Packages dialog, select file deletion and undo configuration options as desired. Finally, click OK in the De-install Packages dialog to begin the process.

WarpIN has help available from the main menu and by pressing F1.

WarpIN is a Netlabs project, and not produced by Arca Noae.

ANPM

ANPM may also be found in the Arca Noae Package Manager folder in Install/Remove in the Computer folder on the ArcaOS desktop. Currently, ANPM manages only RPM (Red Hat Package Manager) packages. RPMs are usually downloaded from a remote repository and installed upon successful download.

ANPM is a graphical front end to YUM, which itself is a dependency resolver and package downloader enhancement for RPM (and thus, RPM packages). As installed, ArcaOS configures the Netlabs stable repository for downloading new and updated packages. More repositories may be added. See the ANPM wiki or the online help for assistance in adding new repositories to your configuration.

To install an RPM, select it from the Available packages list, and from the main menu, select Selected | Install or click the “Install or update package to latest version” button on the toolbar. Follow the prompts to download and install the package.

To downgrade an already-installed package to an earlier version, select the installed package from the Installed packages list, and from the main menu, select Selected | Get specific release… Select the desired earlier release from the Select Version dialog and click Continue to downgrade the package.

To update a package, note the package’s icon. Packages with updates available have a distinct icon. Alternatively, set the package filter dropdown above the list to “Packages with updates” to list only those packages which may be updated. Select one or more packages for updating (Ctrl-click or Shift-click for a range of packages), and from the main menu, select Selected | Update or click the “Install or update package to latest version” button on the toolbar. Follow the prompts to download and update the package.

To uninstall a package, select one or more packages to be uninstalled (Ctrl-click or Shift-click for a range of packages), and from the main menu, select Selected | Uninstall or click the “Uninstall package” button on the toolbar. Follow the prompts to uninstall the package.

In addition to ANPM’s context-sensitive help, Arca Noae provides several wiki pages with helpful tips and procedures for using the tool.

IBM Installer

The IBM Installer is application specific. If a given package includes this installer, the package itself is usually contained in some type of archive file (zip, 7z, rar, exe, etc.) or is on physical media of some type. The installer is usually named INSTALL.EXE. Simply run this to install the application. You may need to select various options as to which features you would like to install, the target location, etc. When complete, the application’s desktop folder should include an Uninstall object. Use this to launch the IBM Installer in uninstall mode to remove the application and/or change its features.

The IBM Installer is an IBM component separate and apart from ArcaOS. No direct support is provided for the IBM Installer by Arca Noae.

Application-specific installers

Various applications may be bundled with their own single-purpose installers. Like applications utilizing the IBM installer, these will usually be packaged in some type of archive file, and once unpacked, should contain something named INSTALL.EXE, INSTALL.CMD, SETUP.EXE, SETUP.CMD, or similar. Read the included documentation before launching any of these to understand what to expect (not all installers provide the ability to pause and read directions once they are launched).

Arca Noae does not provide direct support for application-specific installers, with rare exceptions. Check with the application developer or vendor for support with these components.

Compressed archive files (zip, 7z, rar, exe, etc.)

Often, the developer may not provide an actual install/uninstall utility for his application, and instead, may simply package the executable program and (hopefully) some documentation in a single, transportable archive.

ArcaOS provides Archive Tool to view the contents of these files and to extract them. Launch Archive Tool from Utilities in the Programs folder on the ArcaOS desktop. Open the archive either from the main menu by selecting File | Open or the “Open archive” button on the toolbar. Browse to the location of the archive, select it, and click OK. You may examine its content and even read included documentation from within Archive Tool.

When you are ready to extract the contents of the archive, select the top-level folder (usually recommended) and from the main menu select File | Extract files to… or click the “Extract files to” button on the toolbar. Select a suitable directory (or create one) from the Extract dialog, set other options as desired, and click Extract to begin the process.

Once the contents have been extracted, you may either access the files from the desktop by opening the folder (or the folder may have been opened for you – see the “Show destination folder after extracting” checkbox) or by opening a command prompt and navigating to it from the command line.

Support for Archive Tool is provided by the developer through Arca Noae’s ticketing system.

Wireless networking (WiFi)

If your system has a supported wireless networking adapter, it should have been detected during installation. If so, and if there is also a supported wired networking adapter, the wired adapter should have been configured as the first logical network adapter (lan0) and the wireless as the second (lan1).

During system boot, both drivers (assuming wired and wireless adapters are supported) should load, making both network interfaces available for use. To enable and configure the wireless adapter, right-click on the XWLAN widget on the XCenter and select Properties.

The Radio page refers to the transceiver in the wireless networking adapter. In order for the adapter to locate and connect to a wireless network, the radio must be enabled. Sometimes, it is desirable for the radio to remain off unless manually switched on. In this case, the option Deactivate radio on startup should be selected. If the system will normally connect to the wireless network (e.g., no wired network connection is normally available), it may be more convenient to change this setting to Activate radio on startup.

Connection Scan is useful to survey detected wireless networks for a matching connection profile. If you normally connect to a single, known access point (or perhaps a limited, but known, set of wireless networks), then you may create a profile for it specifically (see Profiles, later). If the option is set to Scan for connections on startup, then each time the radio is activated, XWLAN will attempt to automatically connect to the first matching profile.

The Device page should show the driver selected by the installer for the wireless networking adapter. If not, use the drop button to select the proper driver for the device.

The first TCP/IP page allows setting various options when connecting to or disconnecting from a wireless network. As OS/2 does not allow more than one logical network interface to share the same logical IP network (i.e., both lan0 and lan1 may not both be on the 192.168.1.0/24 subnet), when switching between a wired connection and a wireless one on the same logical network, the unused interface must be logically disconnected to avoid conflicts. By default, XWLAN will prompt to deactivate the previously-used interface, and this is the recommended setting. Other options include Keep configuration of wireless interface, Keep configuration of other interface, or Automatic.

The second TCP/IP page refers to configuration of dhclient. the DHCP client daemon used by XWLAN to configure dynamic addresses for wireless devices. Generally, no special configuration is needed for this component, but logging may be useful for troubleshooting.

Scripts are generally not required by most users, but may be used for special situations. Refer to the XWLAN online help for more information regarding the use of scripts and their syntax.

Mouse Actions configure widget behavior when single or double-clicked, such as toggling the radio on and off with a double-click of the left mouse button. So, in the default configuration, when the system boots with the radio disabled, double-clicking the XWLAN widget on the XCenter should enable the radio, and with a default profile configured, that connection should automatically be attempted. This makes connecting to the wireless network a simple double-click operation.

Before you may interact with the XWLAN widget (or any other widget on the XCenter, you must close the Properties notebook.

Profiles

Each known wireless network may be stored in a profile. The profile stores the name of the wireless network (SSID), the TCP/IP configuration behavior, and encryption (WEP, WPA, WPA2). Instead of scanning for available wireless networks, you may use the Add/Edit Profile… widget menu item to add one or more profiles to use.

Profiles may be selected automatically (see the Connection Scan page of the Properties notebook, as discussed above) or may be manually selected from the Select Profile > submenu of the widget.

Scanning

When traveling, it is often useful to scan the area for wireless networks within range. Use the Public hotspot > Scan for hotspots… menu item to open the public hotspots window, where you may select a hotspot for your connection.

This entry last updated: by Lewis Rosenthal