Over-the-Air (OTA)

With OTA deployment, the MIDlet is installed on a Web server and then downloaded to a device via the device's Internet microbrowser. A JAR file and a JAD file are required for OTA installation.

The steps involved in a typical MIDlet suite installation are shown below.

Figure: Typical MIDlet installation process using OTA

In the figure, the process begins by browsing to a page that includes a link to a MIDlet suite. The link is then clicked, which causes the Web server to deliver the JAD file for the MIDlet suite to the browser.

On receipt of the JAD file, it is opened and its contents are displayed. The JAD file contains a description of the MIDlet suite, including its size, version number, and who provided it. A request is then sent for the JAR file and, finally, the Web server delivers the JAR file. Once the JAR file has been delivered to the device, the suite is installed and individual MIDlets can be selected and run.

To deploy a MIDlet on a device using OTA provisioning:

Edit the JAD file. Change the MIDlet-Jar-URL attribute so that it points to the JAR file using an absolute URL. For example, if the Web server is running on the local machine, the URL will look something like: http://localhost:8080/HelloWorld.jar. For more information JAR and JAD files, see section Packaging MIDlets.
Install the JAD file and JAR file on the Web server.
Create a Web page with a hypertext link to the JAD file. The hypertext link must also be an absolute URL. For example:
```
<xhtml>
<body>
<a href=http://localhost:8080/HelloWorld.jad>Click here to install</a>
</body>
</xhtml>
```
Configure the Web server's MIME types so that JAD files are returned with MIME type text/vnd.sun.j2me.app-descriptor and JAR files are returned with MIME type application/java-archive.
Point the device's Web browser (if a Web page has been created) or Web browser (if a Web page has been created) to the URL of the created page. Click on the link.
Every device that supports the Java platform will have a piece of software for application delivery and management. As this software is device specific, the term Application Management Software (AMS) is generally used to describe it. Once a link to a JAD file has been clicked, the device's AMS will activate and display the name, version, and origin of the MIDlet suite.
With the details of the suite displayed, the AMS should give an option to install the suite.
The AMS should now also provide the ability to run any of the installed MIDlets. Run the MIDlet that has just been installed.

For more information on OTA deployment, see the following documents on Nokia Developer: