Compatibility Matrixes Application Pack 3 (Release 6.3) Blackboard Learning System Blackboard Community System Blackboard Learning System - Basic Edition (Release 2.3) Blackboard Content System
PRODUCT COMPATIBILITY MATRIX Product Compatibility Matrix Blackboard Learning System (Release 6.3) is compatible with Blackboard Content System (Release 2.3). This means that, for clients running Blackboard Content System, they must update to Blackboard Learning System (Release 6.3), then update to Blackboard Content System (Release 2.3). The following is a table describing the compatibility between Blackboard Learning System Application Packs and Blackboard Content System releases. Application Pack 1 (Release 6.1) Application Pack 2 (Release 6.2) Application Pack 3 (Release 6.3) Blackboard Content System (Release 2.0) Blackboard Content System (Release 2.3) Not supported Supported Not Supported Not Supported Not Supported Supported 2005 Blackboard Inc. Proprietary and Confidential page 2
SERVER COMPATIBILITY MATRIX Overview The tables listed under the Server Compatibility heading identify the supported and compatible operating systems and databases that can be used to host the Blackboard Academic Suite. Important Information for Windows 2003 Users Service Pack 1 for Windows 2003 is compatible with Application Pack 3 (Release 6.3). Blackboard recommends Service Pack 1 for those clients running the Blackboard Academic Suite on the Windows 2003 operating system in a one or two server environment. Service Pack 1 fixes a problem in IIS 6 that results in slower than normal download speeds when the end-user is running the Internet Explorer browser. Those clients that are running the Blackboard Academic Suite in a load-balanced environment should not install Service Pack 1 for Windows 2003. Service Pack 1 is not compatible with the DFS file shares used to connect the Web/application servers to the file server. Blackboard Academic Suite, Release 7.0 updates the configuration of load-balanced environments to use UNC shares rather than DFS. Release 7.0 will require that clients go through a simple process to switch from DFS to UNC shares. Once the change is made to UNC shares, clients can safely install Service Pack 1 for Windows 2003. Server Compatibility Server software must meet certain requirements before installing the Blackboard Academic Suite (Release 6.3). The following are important to keep in mind when setting up the server software: The database is run on a separate server when using two or more servers. Thus, appropriate client tools for the database must be installed on the Web/Application server or servers when using a configuration with two or more servers. Certified configurations are fully tested and supported. Compatible configurations are partially tested but should function properly. 2005 Blackboard Inc. Proprietary and Confidential page 3
Certified Server Configurations WINDOWS SUN SOLARIS RED HAT LINUX Microsoft Windows 2003 Server Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Enterprise Edition (SP3a) or Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Standard Edition (SP3a) Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS) 6* (not included with Blackboard) Version 5.0** Sun Solaris 9 Oracle 9i version 9.2.0.6 Version 5.0** Red Hat Linux Advanced Server 3.0 Oracle 9i version 9.2.0.6 Version 5.0** *Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS) 6 must be running in IIS 5 compatibility mode **Please ensure that no spaces appear in the path to the J2SE. UNIX systems running Blackboard Learning System Basic must use small-scale Oracle. Please see the UNIX Setup Guide for information on setting up Red Hat Linux Advanced Server 3.0 with the Blackboard Academic Suite. 2005 Blackboard Inc. Proprietary and Confidential page 4
Compatible Server Configurations WINDOWS Microsoft Windows 2000 Server Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Enterprise Edition (SP3a) Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS) 5 (not included) Version 5.0 RED HAT LINUX Red Hat Linux Advanced Server 2.1 Oracle 9i version 9.2.0.6 Version 5.0 2005 Blackboard Inc. Proprietary and Confidential page 5
END USER CONFIGURATION MATRIX End User Configuration Guidelines End users must use a certified or compatible operating system and browser configuration with the Blackboard Academic Suite. WINDOWS OPERATING SYSTEMS M AC OPERATING SYSTEMS**** MICROSOFT INTERNET EXPLORER WEB BROWSERS 2000** XP 10.2 10.3 5.2 N/A N/A C 5.5 C C N/A N/A 6.0 N/A N/A NS 4.78 C C C C NETSCAPE AND MOZILLA WEB APPLE SAFARI WEB BROWSERS BROWSERS NS 7.1*** C C C C Firefox 1.0.x*** 1.0 N/A N/A C N/A 1.1 N/A N/A N/A C 1.2 N/A N/A N/A C C KEY C N/A Certified fully tested and supported Compatible key application areas tested Not tested specified Browser is not supported for the Operating System 2005 Blackboard Inc. Proprietary and Confidential page 6
* All configurations marked as Compatible and have undergone a limited engineering analysis to test areas of the Blackboard Academic Suite that may have browser issues. Additional information on known browser issues may be found in the Knowledge Base. ** Microsoft Windows 2000 supported configurations are considered compatible when run on Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows ME. *** Gecko is the shared rendering engine at the heart of the Firefox 1.0.x, Netscape 7.1 and Mozilla 1.5 browsers, which are all considered compatible browsers. Only Firefox has undergone testing that qualifies it as Certified. **** The Safari Web browser and the Gecko browsers for Mac do not currently fully support the Live Connect technology used by some features in the Blackboard Learning System. The Equation Editor, Collaboration tool and SCORM Content type may experience issues when these browsers are used. See the Knowledge Base articles 181-2429, 181-2428, 181-2431, 181-2432 for detailed information. ***** The Visual Text Box Editor is only available to users with Microsoft Internet Explorer running on Windows Operating Systems. 2005 Blackboard Inc. Proprietary and Confidential page 7