Where do I begin when troubleshooting a webMathematica installation?

Verify that Mathematica is working properly.

To do so, launch the kernel by typing the following in the Windows Run dialog that can be accessed through Start > Run on all Windows machines.

C:\Progra~1\Wolfra~1\Mathem~1\4.1\MathKernel.exe

If Mathematica launches successfully, the following text should be displayed in the window.

Mathematica 4.1 for Microsoft Windows Copyright 1988-2000 Wolfram Research, Inc. -- Terminal graphics initialized -- In[1]:=

Type in a simple addition, such as 2 + 2 and press Enter. If Mathematica returns the appropriate result, then you should test the next component of webMathematica to see if it is working properly. If this fails, please contact Technical Support.

Verify that your installation of Java was successful by compiling the following Java example.

Create a HelloWorld.java file that contains the following code.

public class HelloWorld { public static void main ( String[] args) { System.out.println( "Hello World!"); } }

Save it to your C:\ drive and then open a DOS prompt. Change directories to C:\ and then compile HelloWorld.java and run with the following commands.

C:\> javac HelloWorld.java C:\> java HelloWorld Hello World! C:\>

If Hello World! is not output or you receive error messages when attempting this, there is something wrong with your Java installation. Please refer to Sun's website for assistance. The Java Tutorial might prove quite useful in troubleshooting Java-related problems.

If you had no difficulties compiling HelloWorld.java, you are ready to test that J/Link was properly installed.

Verify that J/Link is working correctly.

Start Mathematica and then evaluate the following commands.

A window should quickly appear and then disappear and Mathematica should respond with output similar to what follows.

If you get no error messages, you are ready to test that your web server has been properly installed. If Mathematica does not act as described, then something is wrong with your installation of J/Link. It is recommended that you examine the J/Link documentation to make sure you performed all the necessary steps of installation. FAQs referring to specific J/Link installation issues can be found at the following URL and may also be useful.

http://support.wolfram.com/webmathematica/jlink/

Verify that your web server is working properly.

Start your web server. When using Tomcat, start a DOS prompt evaluate the following commands at the DOS prompt.

C:\> cd tomcat\bin C:\tomcat\bin> startup

Something similar to the following text should appear.

2001-03-30 03:22:15 - ContextManager: Adding context Ctx( /examples ) 2001-03-30 03:22:15 - ContextManager: Adding context Ctx( /MathKernel ) 2001-03-30 03:22:15 - ContextManager: Adding context Ctx( /admin ) Starting tomcat. Check logs/tomcat.log for error messages 2001-03-30 03:22:15 - ContextManager: Adding context Ctx( ) 2001-03-30 03:22:15 - ContextManager: Adding context Ctx( /test ) 2001-03-30 03:22:15 - Ctx( /MathKernel ): Mapping with unregistered servlet KernelMonitor 2001-03-30 03:22:17 - PoolTcpConnector: Starting HttpConnectionHandler on 80 2001-03-30 03:22:17 - PoolTcpConnector: Starting Ajp12ConnectionHandler on 8007

After this has occurred, open a web browser and go to http://machinename.domain.com. If the default Tomcat home page on your machine has not been loaded properly, then your web server has not been installed properly. The webMathematica Help Browser documentation has extensive information on setting up Tomcat. It is recommended that you review the installation and troubleshooting sections of this documentation to verify that everything has been installed as described in this documentation.

Verify that your servlet engine is working.

Tomcat doubles as both a web server and a servlet engine. If you have tested Tomcat already and it appears to be working correctly, you are ready to test a Mathematica Server Page (MSP) to see if they work properly.

Verify that the Mathematica Server Pages (MSP) examples work.

The webMathematica toolkit comes with a number of pre-built MSP examples. If all components of webMathematica are working up to this point, all that is left is to test it with some of the MSP examples.

To do so, enter the following URL into your web browser after you have verified Tomcat is running.

http://machinename.domain.com/MathKernel/MSP/Examples/Hello/

If this MSP loads correctly, it should include the current date and time using Mathematica's Date command.