Installing JSim on Mac OS X

NOTE: JSim's Macintosh version 2.05 requires Snow Leopard or better. JSim's Macintosh version 2.03 and above run only on Intel-based Macs. Version 2.02 and below run on both Intel-based and PowerPC-based Macs under OS X.

  1. Move the JSim_macos_*.zip file to your desktop and double-click it to unzip it. You should now find a folder called JSim_macos on your desktop.
  2. To run JSim, open the JSim_macos folder and double-click on the JSim application icon to launch JSim. If double-click launch does not work, see paragraph above.

    Apple Mac OS 10.8 (Mountain Lion): By default Mountain Lion does not run unsigned applications as the new Gatekeeper functionality is on. Gatekeeper must be set to allow 'Applications downloaded from anywhere' to be run on the computer. See below for further details. The next version of JSim will address this issue.

    Apple Mac OS 10.7 (Lion): By default Lion does not have Java installed. When starting JSim for the first time, a popup window will appear stating Java is not installed, and would you like to install it. If you click 'yes' Java will then be installed on your Lion machine. After the Java install you will have to restart JSim.
    Please see: Apple Knowledge Base Ref DL1421 for more information regarding Java installation on Mac Lion OS.

    If you do not find the JSim_macos folder on your desktop, check the configuration of your browser. If you use Safari , you can find where downloaded files are saved by choosing Preferences from the Safari menu and clicking General. The Open "safe" files after downloading box has to be checked. If it is not, you should find a file named JSim_macos.zip; double-click on its icon to create the JSim_macos file.

  3. JSim 2.07 and above requests 1500MB of heap memory by default. If your system has less than 2GB of memory, you will probably need to reconfigure JSim to use less memory before JSim can launch properly.

  4. Most Macintosh users do not require running JSim from the command-line, which requires some additional setup. If you do, do as follows (familiarity with Unix is assumed). Inside your installation directory, the sub-directory macos/bin contains the various programs in the JSim suite:

    • jsim : the JSim GUI application;
    • jsbatch : the JSim text-based batch application;
    • jsfim : command-line based functional imaging application;
    • jsserver : the JSim remote server computational engine.

    You should either add this sub-directory to your PATH or copy the program suite to a path-searchable directory on your system. You must also set the environment variable JSIMHOME to the absolute path JSim.app/Contents/Resources (to the absolute path of JSim_macos for version 1.6.93 and lower) before starting one of these program. Consult a Unix tutorial (for example, here) to learn how to set environment variables.

Getting JSim installed on Apple OS 10.8 (Mountain Lion)
  1. After unzipping JSim, double click the JSim app.
    If you do not have Java installed then you will see this message:
    To open "JSim," you need a Java SE 6 runtime. Would you like to install one now?
    Pick 'Install' and go through the Java installation.You will need to restart JSim.

  2. If you have not changed the default behavior of Gatekeeper, then you will see this message after clicking the JSim icon:
    "JSim" is damaged and can't be opened. You should move it to the Trash.
    Pick 'cancel', do not move to trash.

    This message is apparently caused by JSim's distribution of JavaApplicationStub be improperly signed. Normally, unsigned applications get a nicer message like: "This app is from an unknown developer, go change your preferences to allow unsigned apps to be run".

  3. On your computer, Open up 'System preferences' -> 'Security & Privacy'
  4. Under 'General' in the section titled 'Application downloaded from:' Check 'Anywhere'
  5. Now go back and double click the JSim app icon. You should see the message:
    "JSim" is an application downloaded from the Internet. Are you sure you want to open it?
    Select 'Open' and JSim will start up.
  6. After opening up and using JSim for the first time you can change the Gatekeeper security settings back to "Mac App Store and identified developers" and still be able to use the installed version of JSim.