Software and hardware requirements

Software

IGMAS+ is platform-independent¹ thanks to Java implementation.

However, in order to install and run IGMAS+ the system should have the up-to-date version of Java SE Runtime Environment 8 and graphics card driver.

Java Runtime Environment

Runtime environment is a common name for piece of software that is designed to run other software.

Java Runtime Environment (JRE) contains the Java class libraries, the Java class loader, and the Java virtual machine (JVM), as well as other components to run applications written in the Java programming language.

The JVM is a program that has two primary functions: to allow Java programs to run on any device or operating system (known as the “Write once, run anywhere” principle), and to manage and optimize program memory.

The JRE creates the JVM and ensures dependencies are available to the Java programs. Unlike a true virtual machine, the JVM doesn’t create a virtual operating system. There are many JVM implementations, both open source and proprietary.

It is recommended to use either Amazon Corretto or Adoptium Eclipse Temurin OpenJDK 8 implementations.

The reason for the following error:

can be that the version of JRE is wrong. See troubleshooting for more information.

On Linux systems the shell-command

update-alternatives --config java

shows you all available Java Environments and allows you to choose the active one. To switch the active JRE, you will need root-permissions or you have to ask your system-administrator.

On Debian or Ubuntu the OpenJDK 8 can be installed as follows:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install openjdk-8-jdk

One can verify the version of the JDK:

java -version

it should give version 1.8, for instance:

openjdk version "1.8.0_242"

Graphics cards driver

It is highly recommended to use up-to-date driver for your graphics card.

If your machine has two graphic cards (e.g., an integrated and a dedicated one), it is better to use the dedicated one for IGMAS+.

Driver updates for Windows are normally automatically downloaded and installed through Windows Update.

To manually update the graphics card driver:

1. In the search box on the taskbar, type in “device manager”, then select “Device Manager”.
2. Select the “Display adapters” category to see names of devices, then right-click the one you’d like to update.
3. Select “Search automatically for updated driver software”.
4. Select “Update Driver”.
5. If Windows doesn’t find a new driver, you can try looking for one on the device manufacturer’s website and follow their instructions.

To reinstall the device driver:

1. In the search box on the taskbar, type in “device manager”, then select “Device Manager”.
2. Right-click the name of the device, and select “Uninstall”.
3. Restart your PC.
4. Windows will attempt to reinstall the driver.

To enable the dedicated graphic card for IGMAS+ on Windows:

1. Open the Settings app in Windows 10 using WIN+I shortcut.
2. In the “Find a setting” textbox, type graphics and select Graphics settings from the list.
3. In “Choose an app to set preference” find the Java binary that is used by IGMAS+, e.g. "C:\Program Files\Amazon Corretto\jdk1.8.0_342\bin\java.exe"

Hardware

to be added