Java requirements Jatos 3.5 and up

Daniel

Hi @kri,

I'm currently running Jatos 3.4.2 on my server and I get the following message about upgrading to 3.5.1:

You're not using the latest JATOS version. Do you want to automatically update to version 3.5.1? The new JATOS needs a different version of Java than yours. So you'll need JATOS bundled with Java 1.8.

The server is running Java 11 (or OpenJDK 11, which comes with the Ubuntu 18.04 distro), which worked well with the current version of Jatos. Is it no longer compatible with the newer version of Jatos? I'd rather use the system Java than use the one bundled with Jatos.

Thanks!

kri

Hi Daniel,

Java 11 is fine and Java 8 is fine too.

I'm not sure right now why JATOS shows you this 'JATOS needs a different version of Java than yours ...' - it should't. But anyway, I wouldn't worry, both Java versions are fine.

But do a backup ;)

Best,

Kristian

Daniel

Thanks @kri

I've stored all the data in an external mysql database so that should be safe. I always backup the conf file as well and the rest can safely be overwritten I assume.

kri

Actually, you probably want to backup the other folders too:

• study_assets_root (folder where your study's files (HTML, JS, pictures etc) are saved)
• result_uploads (only since v3.5.1 and the folder where file uploads are stored)
• study_logs (folder for your study logs)
• database (only if you do not have an MySQL database)
• conf (your configuration)

There is also a doc about it: http://www.jatos.org/Updating-a-JATOS-server-installation.html#second-option-keeping-everything

(I put this here more detailed then you need for others as reference. Nothing is more annoying than lost data.)

Daniel

Thanks again.

I think I already placed my study_assets_root folder outside the folder where I keep Jatos's main code. Apart from the conf file, I can simply do a drop-in replacement of the new Jatos folder. Good thing you mentioned result_uploads though; didn't know about that one.

NatMac16303

Hello brains trust. Our instance is running quite an old version of Jatos, and we are going to do a refresh of the server so I am wanting to know what would be considered your most stable current release we should try? The new features may be good, but stability is important to our studies.

kri

Hi!

Just a little hint at the start: It is always better to start a new question in the forum. It might be overlooked otherwise.

First two points of advice:

• Do backups of everything JATOS related before doing the update of JATOS.
• You can also get professional help for JATOS at https://professional.cogsci.nl/.

Now to your question: "what would be considered your most stable current release". So, v3.9.1 came out a couple days ago and was tested thoroughly before. It has a complete overhaul of the GUI - but barely touches the backend. That is a good thing stability-wise because the 'critical' changes are usually in the backend and the GUI just displays what is delivered by the backend. But if you want to be on the absolute safe side go with v3.8.6. You can always update later to v3.9.1.

Best,

Kristian