Issue 1 – Using Java Web Start to run the online viewer:
This issue is only applicable to clients using the online viewer. This issue is not specifically an ARALOC issue, but would affect any Java Web Start program. The user clicks on the link to launch the viewer, and before they see the file dialog, they will encounter the following error:
Clicking on the details->Exception will show a variation of the following problem:
Mac Clients: Mac users have a different interface for Java errors, but will see a similar error message. "com.sun.deploy.net.FailedDownloadException: Unable to load resource: http://protected.araloc.com/viewer/ViewerMac.jar"
The key text to look for is “Unable to load resource.” This confirms that the problem is Java Web Start being unable to connect to the internet via the proxy.
Fixes:
1) Java Control Panel Settings - On a Windows PC, the Java Web Start settings are located in the Java control panel. Open the Java Control Panel and select “Network Settings.”
In many cases, the “Use browser settings” selection will work without any updates. “Use browser settings” actually means that Java will read its settings from the Internet Options control panel.
However, if the client is experiencing problems, it may be because they have proxy settings which Java cannot understand. We have seen this with some clients who use automatic configuration scripts or “Automatically detect settings.”
In this case, have the client manually set the proxy server as shown below, using the client’s proxy server and port:
If this solves the problem, then the issue has been identified as a proxy issue, and the client should be able to download the viewer.
2) Update Java Version – There are some known proxy bugs in extremely old versions of Java. If the client is using an old version of Java, they will need to update to the latest version at www.java.com. If the client is using a very old version of Java (1.5), then you may want to make the upgrade the first step before changing any settings, as this may resolve the problem.
Issue 2 – ARALOC Viewer connection to the internet
After the program has been launched via Java Web Start, OR if the offline version has been installed, a proxy problem would show an error after opening an ARALOC file for the first time:
This means that the ARALOC viewer itself cannot connect to admin.araloc.com to authenticate.
Fixes:
1) Ensure that the user can connect to admin.araloc.com via IE(Windows) or Safari (Mac) – This step verifies that the person’s internet connection is working properly.
2) Ensure that the user installed the ARALOC application after 8/9/2011 (Offline Viewer only) – After the TKL launch, Modevity released a hotfix version of the application to enable proxy support. If the client installed the viewer prior to that, the fix may not be in there. Uninstall the old version and reinstall the latest.
3) Manually configure proxy settings – ARALOC uses the Internet Options settings in control panel to connect to the internet. Similar to Issue 1, Java seems to have a problem interpreting certain automatic proxy settings. From Control Panel->Internet Options->Connections->LAN Settings, have the client manually set the proxy server as shown below, using the client’s proxy server and port:
At this point, the client should be able to activate and view ARALOC content.
Common Questions:
- Is there anything the ARALOC team can do to permanently fix this problem?
Unfortunately, we cannot write code which works around basic problems between Java and proxies. In many cases, clients are encountering problems downloading the viewer before a single line of ARALOC code is run.
- If a client can access the internet, how come they are having problems with ARALOC?
Proxy implementations in organizations may not have included tests for Java applications or Java Web Start. If an organization has already dealt with issues getting a Java application to run, then ARALOC will run as expected.
- What if the client is on a locked down machine and cannot access their settings?
In this case, we recommend that the client works with their IT department to add an exception for *.araloc.com, which will resolve the issue on locked down environments