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Introduction

Java and the JVM (Java’s virtual machine) are required for many kinds of software, including Tomcat, Jetty, Glassfish, Cassandra and Jenkins.

In this guide, you will install various versions of the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) and the Java Developer Kit (JDK) using apt . You’ll install OpenJDK as well as official packages from Oracle. You’ll then select the version you wish to use for your projects. When you’re finished, you’ll be able to use the JDK to develop software or use the Java Runtime to run software.

Prerequisites

To follow this tutorial, you will need:

• One Ubuntu 18.04 server set up by following the the Ubuntu 18.04 initial server setup guide tutorial, including a sudo non-root user and a firewall.

Installing the Default JRE/JDK

The easiest option for installing Java is to use the version packaged with Ubuntu. By default, Ubuntu 18.04 includes OpenJDK version 11, which is an open-source variant of the JRE and JDK.

To install this version, first update the package index:

Next, check if Java is already installed:

If Java is not currently installed, you’ll see the following output:

Execute the following command to install the default Java Runtime Environment (JRE), which will install the JRE from OpenJDK 11:

The JRE will allow you to run almost all Java software.

Verify the installation with:

You’ll see the following output:

You may need the Java Development Kit (JDK) in addition to the JRE in order to compile and run some specific Java-based software. To install the JDK, execute the following command, which will also install the JRE:

Verify that the JDK is installed by checking the version of javac, the Java compiler:

You’ll see the following output:

Next, let’s look at how to install Oracle’s official JDK and JRE.

Installing Oracle JDK 11

Oracle’s licensing agreement for Java doesn’t allow automatic installation through package managers. To install the Oracle JDK, which is the official version distributed by Oracle, you must create an Oracle account and manually download the JDK to add a new package repository for the version you’d like to use. Then you can use apt to install it with help from a third party installation script.

The version of Oracle’s JDK you’ll need to download must match version of the installer script. To find out which version you need, visit the oracle-java11-installer page.

Locate the package for Bionic, as shown in the following figure:

In this image, the version of the script is 11.0.7. In this case, you’ll need Oracle JDK 11.0.7. You don’t need to download anything from this page; you’ll download the installation script through apt shortly.

Then visit the Downloads page and locate the version that matches the one you need.

Click the JDK Download button and you’ll be taken to a screen that shows the versions available. Click the .tar.gz package for Linux.

You’ll be presented with a screen asking you to accept the Oracle license agreement. Select the checkbox to accept the license agreement and press the Download button. Your download will begin. You may need to log in to your Oracle account one more time before the download starts.

Once the file has downloaded, you’ll need to transfer it to your server. On your local machine, upload the file to your server. On macOS, Linux, or Windows using the Windows Subsystem for Linux, use the scp command to transfer the file to the home directory of your sammy user. The following command assumes you’ve saved the Oracle JDK file to your local machine’s Downloads folder:

Once the file upload has completed, return to your server and add the third-party repository that will help you install Oracle’s Java.

Install the software-properties-common package, which adds the add-apt-repository command to your system:

Next, import the signing key used to verify the software you’re about to install:

You’ll see this output:

Then use the add-apt-repository command to add the repo to your list of package sources:

You’ll see this message:

Press ENTER to continue the installation. You may see a message about no valid OpenPGP data found, but you can safely ignore this.

Update your package list to make the new software available for installation:

The installer will look for the Oracle JDK you downloaded in /var/cache/oracle-jdk11-installer-local. Create this directory and move the Oracle JDK archive there:

Finally, install the package:

The installer will first ask you to accept the Oracle license agreement. Accept the agreement, then the installer will extract the Java package and install it.

Now let’s look at how to select which version of Java you want to use.

Managing Java

You can have multiple Java installations on one server. You can configure which version is the default for use on the command line by using the update-alternatives command.

This is what the output would look like if you’ve installed both versions of Java in this tutorial:

Choose the number associated with the Java version to use it as the default, or press ENTER to leave the current settings in place.

You can do this for other Java commands, such as the compiler (javac):

Other commands for which this command can be run include, but are not limited to: keytool, javadoc and jarsigner.

Setting the JAVA_HOME Environment Variable

Many programs written using Java use the JAVA_HOME environment variable to determine the Java installation location.

To set this environment variable, first determine where Java is installed. Use the update-alternatives command:

This command shows each installation of Java along with its installation path:

In this case the installation paths are as follows:

1. OpenJDK 11 is located at /usr/lib/jvm/java-11-openjdk-amd64/bin/java.
2. Oracle Java is located at /usr/lib/jvm/java-11-oracle/jre/bin/java.

Copy the path from your preferred installation. Then open /etc/environment using nano or your favorite text editor:

At the end of this file, add the following line, making sure to replace the highlighted path with your own copied path, but do not include the /bin portion of the path:

JAVA_HOME="/usr/lib/jvm/java-11-openjdk-amd64"

Modifying this file will set the JAVA_HOME path for all users on your system.

Save the file and exit the editor.

Now reload this file to apply the changes to your current session:

Verify that the environment variable is set:

You’ll see the path you just set:

Other users will need to execute the command source /etc/environment or log out and log back in to apply this setting.

Conclusion

In this tutorial you installed multiple versions of Java and learned how to manage them. You can now install software which runs on Java, such as Tomcat, Jetty, Glassfish, Cassandra or Jenkins.