This page describes an older version of the product. The latest stable version is 16.4.

Advanced Scenarios


Customizing Java

Q. Can I configure XAP.NET to work with a different java version or location?

Yes. See Jvm Configuration for more information.

Customizing XAP

Q. Can I configure XAP.NET to work with an existing XAP installation?

GigaSpaces XAP.NET is bundled with GigaSpaces XAP components required at runtime. Developers engaged in interoperability solutions may prefer working with a full installation of the Java XAP, which contains additional documentation, examples and tutorials.

If you wish to modify your XAP.NET installation to use an existing XAP installation, edit the Settings.xml file (located in <ProductRoot>\Config) and change the value of <XapNet.Runtime.Path> to the new location.

Note

Mixing XAP.NET and XAP versions is not supported - always use the same version and build.

Automated Setup

Q. Can I run an automated, quiet install of XAP.NET from the command line?

Yes. From the command line, type the following:

C:\>msiexec /i GigaSpaces-XAP.NET-Premium-12.1.1-x86.msi /quiet
See also:

For more information about installing msi packages from command line, see http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa372024.aspx.

Manual configuration without setup

Q. Can I package XAP.NET as a zip file instead of Windows Installer (msi)?

XAP.NET installation is released as an msi file because simply copying the file to the target machine is not enough - a few machine settings need to be configured, and the preferred method of doing this to date is Windows Installer.

Sometimes, however, you may want to use XAP.NET without running setup (e.g. on a production server). To do that:

Step 1. Install XAP.NET on another machine (e.g. a developer’s machine).

Step 2. Package the installed files into a zip file (or any other compression tool you prefer).

Step 3. Unzip the package on the target machine(s) wherever you prefer.

Note

If you plan to use XAP.NET with .NET 4.0, make sure that the Visual C++ 2010 Redistributable Package x86 x64) is installed on the target machine (this is required only for manual installation - if the msi is installed the C++ redistribution package is installed automatically if needed).

Step 4. The final touch is to configure the location of XAP.NET.

This can be achieved in one of the following ways:

Environment variable

Create an environment variable named XapNet_<version>_SettingsPath which points to the settings file path. For example, for that same 12.1.1 version we would use:

XapNet_12.1.1.11600_SettingsPath=C:\GigaSpaces\XAP.NET 12.1.1 x64\NET v4.0\Config\Settings.xml

Windows Registry

Create a registry key named HKLM\SOFTWARE\GigaSpaces\XAP.NET\<version>\<clrversion>, with a String value named SettingsPath which points to the location of the Settings.xml file.

For example, the XAP.NET v12.1.1 x64 setup creates the following keys:

HKLM\SOFTWARE\GigaSpaces\XAP.NET\12.1.1.11600\CLR v2.0.50727\SettingsPath=C:\GigaSpaces\XAP.NET 12.1.1 x64\NET v3.5\Config\Settings.xml
HKLM\SOFTWARE\GigaSpaces\XAP.NET\12.1.1.11600\CLR v4.0.30319\SettingsPath=C:\GigaSpaces\XAP.NET 12.1.1 x64\NET v4.0\Config\Settings.xml

HKCU is supported as well, and is searched before HKLM.

Application configuration file:

Use the XapNetSettingsFile element to configure the location of the settings file. For example:

<configuration>
    <configSections>
        <section name="GigaSpaces" type="GigaSpaces.Core.Configuration.GigaSpacesCoreConfiguration, GigaSpaces.Core"/>
    </configSections>
    <GigaSpaces>
        <XapNetSettingsFile Path="C:\GigaSpaces\XAP.NET 12.1.1 x64\NET v4.0\Config\Settings.xml"/>
    </GigaSpaces>
</configuration>

Code:

Use the following code to set the location of the settings file at runtime:

    GigaSpacesFactory.Configuration.XapNetSettingsFile.Path = @"C:\GigaSpaces\XAP.NET 12.1.1 x64\NET v4.0\Config\Settings.xml"

Q. I need to minimize the installation size. Can I use a shared folder on a server to store part of the installation?

Yes. You can manually set the registry settings shown above to point both java and XAP to a shared folder on a remote server.

Note

In such scenarios, the shared folder that contains XAP must be mapped as a network drive. XAP will fail to load if a network path is used (e.g. \\server\share).

Using GAC (Global Assembly Cache)

Q. My application uses the Global Assembly Cache to locate 3rd party assemblies. Which XAP.NET assemblies do I need to register?

The following XAP.NET assemblies should be registered when working with the Global Assembly Cache:

  • Bin\GigaSpaces.Core.dll

  • Bin\GigaSpaces.NETToJava.dll