Geronimo is a pure-Java product, and should therefore run on any platform with the appropriate Java Virtual Machine.

As Geronimo implements J2EE 1.4, and J2EE 1.4 requires J2SE 1.4, Geronimo will run under Java 1.4 or higher. However, the CORBA features currently used by Geronimo require a Sun 1.4.x JVM. That means the best option for Geronimo is currently the Sun 1.4.2 JVM. Broader compatibility with other JVM vendors and versions is a goal for future releases.

As far as operating systems go, Geronimo has been successfully run on:

Geronimo requires a Java compiler in order to handle JSP compilation. That means that in most cases a full Java Development Kit is required, though in special circumstances (with pre-compiled JSPs, no JSPs at all, or a third-party compiler) it can be run on a Java Runtime Environment instead. The next milestone release should eliminate this requirement by switching to a bundled compiler.

Tip

Geronimo itself can run on a headless machine (that is, a server with no windowing system or GUI available, such as some UNIX machines). In many cases, even applications dealing with printing and graphics can be run by starting Geronimo with the -Djava.awt.headless=true option. However, certain rare applications may require a working X-Windows environment to run (or at least a simulated environment such as can be provided by xvfb).