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Installing Aptana on Ubuntu 8.04

May 05, 2008, 37 Comments

Quick install guide for Aptana on Ubuntu 8.04. Modeled after the Installing Aptana Studio on Debian guide found at the Aptana page for Installing Aptana on Linux. The issue with the guide provided by Aptana (at least for Ubuntu) is that Ubuntu comes with FF 3 Beta 5 (as of the time of this writing) by default. Aptana doesn’t play nicely with FF 3 Beta 5, and after what appears to be a successful install, spits back an “embedded browser not available” error. Note: you don’t have to worry about uninstalling FF 3!

Install Java (sudo apt-get install sun-java6-jre sun-java6-plugin sun-java6-fonts)
Install Firefox 2 (sudo apt-get install firefox-2)
Download and unzip aptana to /usr/local/aptana
Save the following script as runAptana.sh to /usr/local/aptana
#!/bin/bash
export MOZILLA_FIVE_HOME=/usr/lib/firefox
/usr/local/aptana/AptanaStudio
Make runAptana.sh executable (sudo chmod a+x runAptana.sh)
Create a desktop launcher for Aptana and point it at runAptana.sh
- Right click on your desktop
- Click on Create Launcher
- Name: Aptana
- Command: browse for runAptana.sh
Open firefox-2 Profile Manager (sudo firefox-2 -ProfileManager)
Create ff Profile “aptana” dedicated for Aptana debugging.
Start ff with the aptana Profile: (sudo firefox-2 -P aptana)
Download from here http://update.aptana.com/update/firebug.xpi and install the firebug extension, modified for Aptana debugging. Close Aptana Profile of firefox.
Start Aptana.
- Go to Run -> Debug…
- click on the Web Browser within the left pane
- Press the ‘New’ button.
- Within the right pane: Name the new configuration “Firefox”
- Fill within:
  - Browser executable: /usr/bin/firefox-2
  - Arguments: -P aptana -no-remote

Tagged in : Aptana, Linux

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37 Comments for "Installing Aptana on Ubuntu 8.04"

Comment 1 Matthew Hartman

Great post, I was searching for a while why Aptana was playing up with Ubuntu 8.04.

It's the Firefox 3 Beta 5 issue.

Thanks for sharing.
2008-05-12 20:03:26 Link

Comment 2 leveille

No problem Matthew. I hope you had a much easier time with this than I initially had.
2008-05-13 08:04:00 Link

Comment 3 Ricardo de Oliveira Saldanha

Great post !! Direct, simple, objective .
Congratulations!
2008-05-14 07:47:39 Link

Comment 4 Alan Andrade

Hey! THANK You very much for this post. It was really helpful for me. Congrats.
2008-05-21 01:48:04 Link

Comment 5 leveille

I find it interesting that the last two comments have ended with congrats. Have I won something?

Anyway, no problem Alan.
2008-05-21 07:46:25 Link

Comment 6 Alex IgnÃ¡cio da Silva

Worked like a charm, thank you very much!
2008-05-25 19:08:06 Link

Comment 7 JoÃ£o Batista

Thanks!
2008-06-03 00:20:37 Link

Comment 8 Ed Dos Santos

Does anyone know if Aptana works okay with Firefox 3, as Ubuntu has updated ff from 3b5 to 3.0
2008-06-11 10:05:21 Link

Comment 9 leveille

I just took a look and it appears that Aptana now plays nicely with FF3.0 as the debugger. I could be wrong.
2008-06-11 10:59:49 Link

Comment 10 Ed Dos Santos

Thanks. That is what I have found, but i am new to Aptana and Ubuntu hardy herron, so just wanted to check.
2008-06-11 11:09:52 Link

Comment 11 r0b

Have FF3 and Hardy 64 and cant get sun-java6-plugin....

"sun-java6-jre is already the newest version.
Package sun-java6-plugin is not available, but is referred to by another package.
This may mean that the package is missing, has been obsoleted, or
is only available from another source"

........have all repositories enabled....get this error on launch:

!STACK 1
java.lang.UnsatisfiedLinkError: /usr/local/aptana/configuration/org.eclipse.osgi/bundles/98/1/.cp/libswt-pi-gtk-3236.so: /usr/local/aptana/configuration/org.eclipse.osgi/bundles/98/1/.cp/libswt-pi-gtk-3236.so: wrong ELF class: ELFCLASS32 (Possible cause: architecture word width mismatch)
2008-07-20 22:45:12 Link

Comment 12 leveille

Sorry I had to edit your comment Rob, but it was a bit long. It looks like you are running the 64 bit version of Hardy. I am running the 32 bit version. I couldn't tell you exactly why you are having issues with the installation of the java plugin, however you might have better luck searching for solutions at the Ubuntu forums.

Best of luck.
2008-07-21 06:56:26 Link

Comment 13 Kristoffer Berg

Ah man. Thanks! This solved my issues with the "Browser Inside"!
2008-08-06 20:44:09 Link

Comment 14 playalpha

For 64 bit, you need to download the 32 bit jvm and tell aptana to use that when it launches.

Add this to the script after the export line

/usr/local/aptana/AptanaStudio -vm /usr/lib/jvm/ia32-java-6-sun-1.6.0.06/jre/bin/java

Of course this depends on where those executables live...
-playalpha
2008-08-08 14:18:22 Link

Comment 15 leveille

Thanks for the tip!
2008-08-08 14:21:59 Link

Comment 16 applehead

Thank you for this guide.. Very helpful and works perfectly on my Hardy install.
Important:

1. Firefox 2 is REQUIRED by aptana.. So, if you have FF3, you need to do an apt-get install firefox2 (otherwise you will get tons of SWT error messages after launching aptana).

2. Remember to run:

sudo chown -R [user]:[user] runAptana.sh

after creating the runAptana.sh script (if runAptana is created as root, you may get 'permission' related errors when you attempt to run aptana under your login).
2008-08-14 03:51:45 Link

Comment 17 leveille

Thanks for the additional tips applehead.
2008-08-14 14:26:26 Link

Comment 18 wladston

thanks a lot.

I don't understand WHY they don't just release a DEB package .... they want to MAKE US SUFFER!!! :D
2008-08-17 19:25:50 Link

Comment 19 jayoshi

Quality! thank you for guide.
2008-08-23 12:56:17 Link

Comment 20 Mike Glaz

Ok, I got RadRails and Aptana running but when it starts it shows me a message saying that "We were unable to detect a ruby installation." But I have Ruby installed. I can run irb and it works...

mike
2008-08-26 22:15:01 Link

Comment 21 Cristobal Viedma

Thank you so much, great tutorial!
2008-08-31 14:27:46 Link

Comment 22 notanxious

R0b,

I too am running the 64 bit Hardy and experiencing the same issue as you are during lauch of APTAN. Has anyone identified a fix for this yet?

Have FF3 and Hardy 64 and cant get sun-java6-plugin….

“sun-java6-jre is already the newest version.
Package sun-java6-plugin is not available, but is referred to by another package.
This may mean that the package is missing, has been obsoleted, or
is only available from another source”

……..have all repositories enabled….get this error on launch:

!STACK 1
java.lang.UnsatisfiedLinkError: /usr/local/aptana/configuration/org.eclipse.osgi/bundles/98/1/.cp/libswt-pi-gtk-3236.so: /usr/local/aptana/configuration/org.eclipse.osgi/bundles/98/1/.cp/libswt-pi-gtk-3236.so: wrong ELF class: ELFCLASS32 (Possible cause: architecture word width mismatch)
2008-09-11 20:24:53 Link

Comment 23 notanxious

r0b,

I found a resolution to this issue... Seems as if you will have to result to installing a 32 bit version of Java... here is the link.. it worked for me just fine. Ubuntu has a great community.

http://www.aptana.com/docs/index.php/Installing_Aptana_on_Linux#Running_Aptana_Studio_on_64-bit_Linux
2008-09-11 20:29:58 Link

Comment 24 leveille

notanxious, thanks for sharing your resolution. It's very much appreciated!
2008-09-12 08:27:55 Link

Comment 25 vaibhav

Hey,

thanks for the great post. However, after following all the steps I still get the same message on aptana startpage:
embedded browser not available.

I've tried removing all firefox packages and installing them again. A java -version on terminal gives me:
java version "1.6.0_06"
Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.6.0_06-b02)
Java HotSpot(TM) Client VM (build 10.0-b22, mixed mode, sharing)

Any advise?
Thanks in advance!
2008-09-19 12:58:15 Link

Comment 26 leveille

Just to clarify, are you on a 32 or 64 bit machine?
2008-09-19 13:04:01 Link

Comment 27 vaibhav

Hi,

It worked when I changed the shell script where I had used iceape instead of firefox :)

Thanks!
2008-09-19 13:30:05 Link

Comment 28 machel

Thanks alot man. great work. really helped. :)
2008-10-01 09:40:57 Link

Comment 29 Lukas

Oh man... this post is worth nothing.

1. it didnt work with aptana.
2. you wrecked with these commands my nice ff 3!

When i want to start my ff 3 the "another ff process is already running."

I uninstalled ff 2 again, deleted the created profile etc.

You ought help me.
2008-10-06 04:38:22 Link

Comment 30 Sanjeev Kumar Dangi

when i run the following command
sudo firefox-2 -ProfileManager
My browser opens the website profilemanager.com in a new tab instead of opening Profile Manager. What should i do ? Could somebody help?
2008-11-19 07:04:47 Link

Comment 31 leveille

That definitely sounds strange. I'm not certain what would be causing your issue. I will say that at the time this post was written, Ubuntu shipped with FF3 Beta 5. Of course FF3 is now stable and out of Beta. As a matter of fact I would go so far as to say that these steps should not be used as Aptana now works without issue with FF3.
2008-11-19 08:41:29 Link

Comment 32 Sanjeev Kumar Dangi

I removed all the other versions except firefox 2. And to my relief my Profile Manager opened. I am happy now and thanks for the reply.
2008-11-21 11:38:52 Link

Comment 33 leveille

Great. I'm glad things are now working for you.
2008-11-21 11:41:47 Link

Comment 34 PJ

Well done. Saved hours of searching. Thank you.
2008-11-25 06:04:30 Link

Comment 35 Dan

Hey, I was having an issue with Aptana throwing an SWT workbench error. I had to edit your runAptana.sh script via these directions to fix it. It basically required me to install xulrunner and then point to it.

http://www.aptana.com/docs/index.php/Installing_Aptana_on_Linux
2009-01-10 16:19:54 Link

Comment 36 Zoran Kikic

Jason, thanks for sharing!

You don't have to install Firefox 2.

1. sudo aptitude install xulrunner

2. replace "export MOZILLA_FIVE_HOME=/usr/lib/firefox"
with
"export MOZILLA_FIVE_HOME=/usr/lib/xulrunner"

3. deinstall firebug

4. start aptana and click on the bug.

5. have fun!
2009-01-10 21:53:53 Link

Comment 37 Arif

This is really a great post.

I was looking for such a solution which clearly defines the problem and a straight solution as well.

Thanx to Jason who bring this to us and thanks to Zoran Kikic as well bcoz of which I did not installed ff2.
2009-03-13 10:06:21 Link