The contents of this DIY has been tested on Windows 7 Ultimate x64 with GridSim 5.2 beta and JDK8u11 x64. It should work similarly on other Windows OS and for different version of JDK as long as you use Java version 1.5 or newer. The text shown in RED in the DIY represents the values that will differ depending upon your JDK version and locations.
GridSim is a simulation toolkit for simulating resource modelling and application scheduling for parallel and distributed computing. Simulation is the only feasible way to analyse algorithms on large-scale distributed systems of heterogeneous resources. In this DIY we will see how to install GridSim in Windows easily and efficiently. A more detailed description, APIs and research papers related to GridSim can be found here. Let us begin.
Step 1: Setting up the Prerequisites
1. First of all we need to download the GridSim and latest version of the Java Development Toolkit (JDK). These can be found here:
Note: It is advisable that you must download the appropriate version of the JDK for your system i.e. x86 version for x86 systems and x64 version for x64 systems.
2. GridSim requires a working JRE so install the JDK.
3. Now its time to install the GridSim. Unpack the downloaded 'GridSim5-2.zip' (let the name of the unpacked folder be 'GridSim'). As you can see there is no executable file inside the folder so there is no special program to install the GridSim. Later if you want to remove GridSim, then remove the whole 'GridSim' directory.
Step 2: Setting up the Environment
Now comes the critical part, the most important part of the GridSim setup is the setting up the paths to different classes and jar files correctly or you won't be able to run your programs efficiently.
1. The first path to be set is the 'Path' variable which will contain the location of executable java files such as 'javac' and 'java' and will be used by the GridSim while compiling and running a GridSim or Java program.
2. The second path to be set is the 'CLASSPATH' variable which will contain the location of the class files and will be used by the GridSim while executing an application. So we have to set three consecutive values first one for location of JDK executables, second one is the location of gridsim.jar file provided in the GridSim and is used exclusively by the GridSim applications and third one is the location where we have stored our programs.
3. The third path 'GRIDSIM' is optional, it will specify the location of our GridSim programs. You can set this to avoid typing the lengthy location of your programs again and again.
To set the paths go to the properties of 'My Computer' —> 'Advanced system settings' —> 'Advanced' tab —> 'Environment Variables...' —> under the 'System variables' —> 'New...' —> in the popped up box set the 'Variable name' and 'Variable Value' as shown and click 'OK'.
Note: We have to close all the opened command prompt windows, if any.
Step 3: Testing the Setup (Compiling and Executing a GridSim Application)
Finally now we can test whether our installation is successful or not. GridSim includes some test example programs in the 'GridSim\examples\gridsim\' folder that we can use to test our setup.
1. Compiling a GridSim program: If you have followed this DIY then compiling a GridSim program is pretty straightforward; the basic syntax for compilation is just similar to that of Java programs i.e. javac filename.java or javac file_location\filename.java. Let us compile the Example2.java included in 'GridSim\examples\gridsim\example02\' folder. We will now run the following command in a new command prompt
Alternatively you can also run the following command if you have set the 'GRIDSIM' variable in the previous step.
2. Running the compiled program: The syntax for running a compiled GridSim program is similar to that of running a program in Java i.e. java filename. In our case we have to type (see image 1)
OR if you want to save the output of your program to a file you can use the following
Note: The examples given in the GridSim uses the concept of packages hence it is advisable to go through the basics of packages in Java for a better understanding of the above stated commands.
Some Important Points
Goodluck !
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GridSim is a simulation toolkit for simulating resource modelling and application scheduling for parallel and distributed computing. Simulation is the only feasible way to analyse algorithms on large-scale distributed systems of heterogeneous resources. In this DIY we will see how to install GridSim in Windows easily and efficiently. A more detailed description, APIs and research papers related to GridSim can be found here. Let us begin.
Step 1: Setting up the Prerequisites
1. First of all we need to download the GridSim and latest version of the Java Development Toolkit (JDK). These can be found here:
Note: It is advisable that you must download the appropriate version of the JDK for your system i.e. x86 version for x86 systems and x64 version for x64 systems.
2. GridSim requires a working JRE so install the JDK.
3. Now its time to install the GridSim. Unpack the downloaded 'GridSim5-2.zip' (let the name of the unpacked folder be 'GridSim'). As you can see there is no executable file inside the folder so there is no special program to install the GridSim. Later if you want to remove GridSim, then remove the whole 'GridSim' directory.
Step 2: Setting up the Environment
Now comes the critical part, the most important part of the GridSim setup is the setting up the paths to different classes and jar files correctly or you won't be able to run your programs efficiently.
1. The first path to be set is the 'Path' variable which will contain the location of executable java files such as 'javac' and 'java' and will be used by the GridSim while compiling and running a GridSim or Java program.
2. The second path to be set is the 'CLASSPATH' variable which will contain the location of the class files and will be used by the GridSim while executing an application. So we have to set three consecutive values first one for location of JDK executables, second one is the location of gridsim.jar file provided in the GridSim and is used exclusively by the GridSim applications and third one is the location where we have stored our programs.
3. The third path 'GRIDSIM' is optional, it will specify the location of our GridSim programs. You can set this to avoid typing the lengthy location of your programs again and again.
To set the paths go to the properties of 'My Computer' —> 'Advanced system settings' —> 'Advanced' tab —> 'Environment Variables...' —> under the 'System variables' —> 'New...' —> in the popped up box set the 'Variable name' and 'Variable Value' as shown and click 'OK'.
| Variable name | Variable value | |
| 1 | Path | C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.8.0_11\bin; |
| 2 | CLASSPATH | C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.8.0_11\bin; C:\Users\Dhyan\Desktop\GridSim\jars\*; C:\Users\Dhyan\Desktop\GridSim\examples; |
| 3 | GRIDSIM | C:\Users\Dhyan\Desktop\GridSim |
Note: We have to close all the opened command prompt windows, if any.
Step 3: Testing the Setup (Compiling and Executing a GridSim Application)
Finally now we can test whether our installation is successful or not. GridSim includes some test example programs in the 'GridSim\examples\gridsim\' folder that we can use to test our setup.
1. Compiling a GridSim program: If you have followed this DIY then compiling a GridSim program is pretty straightforward; the basic syntax for compilation is just similar to that of Java programs i.e. javac filename.java or javac file_location\filename.java. Let us compile the Example2.java included in 'GridSim\examples\gridsim\example02\' folder. We will now run the following command in a new command prompt
| 1 | javac C:\Users\Dhyan\Desktop\GridSim\examples\gridsim\example02\Example2.java |
Alternatively you can also run the following command if you have set the 'GRIDSIM' variable in the previous step.
| 1 | javac %GRIDSIM%\examples\gridsim\example02\Example2.java |
2. Running the compiled program: The syntax for running a compiled GridSim program is similar to that of running a program in Java i.e. java filename. In our case we have to type (see image 1)
| 1 | java gridsim.example02.Example2 |
OR if you want to save the output of your program to a file you can use the following
| 1 | java gridsim.example02.Example2 > output.txt |
Note: The examples given in the GridSim uses the concept of packages hence it is advisable to go through the basics of packages in Java for a better understanding of the above stated commands.
 |
| Image 1. Testing the Setup. |
Some Important Points
- It is important to set the CLASSPATH correctly, if you make any mistake you might get a class not found error and if you want to supply the classpath externally while compiling or executing using -cp or -classpath; then for some reason it might not work and you would still get the same errors.
- Remember to change the 2nd and 3rd CLASSPATH values if you later decide to move gridsim.jar file or location of your own programs to some other location, respectively and accordingly.
- Running GridSim requires a lot of memory since there are many objects to be created. Therefore, it is recommended to have at least 512 MB RAM or increase JVM heap size when running Java for large simulation experiments. For example to set max. heap size as 300 MB:
| 1 | java -Xmx300m gridsim.example02.Example2 |
- You can also use GridSim with the Eclipse IDE, JBuilder or JCreator. For more instructions you might want to head here.
- For more information kindly refer the readme.txt and faq.txt provided with the GridSim.
Goodluck !
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