Java (Applets) in Fedora 18

After some applets wouldn't run in either Chrome or Firefox on my Fedora 18 system, it was time for some investigation.
First I tried installing Oracle Java as some applets might be requiring it explicitely.

Oracle Java

Download Java from here. Follow the instructions for installing, from here.
Then, open "about:plugins" in your browser and check if the Java plugin is displayed there.

Verify Java installation here. Test applet support here or on JavaTester.
Remove old versions, as specified here.

While I first installed 32-bit version of Java, as suggested on Oracle's site, this is not correct. The proper version to install, even for applet support, is 64-bit, if on 64-bit system. After installing 64-bit version and setting it to be the active one, using 'alternatives', applets worked in both browsers!

Kernel 3.7.2 and VMWare Workstation 9

After upgrading kernel to version 3.7.2 on Fedora 18, VMWare Workstation 9 requires recompilation and installation of kernel-level modules required for its operation. This is normally transparent and done automatically. However, with this update the source code structure has changed and the automatic recompilation does not succeed. Fortunately, the solution is simple. Create the symbolic link as below


sudo ln -s /usr/src/kernels/3.7.2-201.fc18.x86_64/include/generated/uapi/linux/version.h /usr/src/kernels/3.7.2-201.fc18.x86_64/include/linux/version.h


and then run

sudo vmware

so that permissions are available for recompilation and installation of the modules.

More info: Linux Kernel 3.7, VMWare Workstation and NVidia Driver (link)