How to install Java on CentOS 7

Objective

Java is one of the most famous programming languages in the world. Its wide adoption over the past years makes it an unavoidable language in the development world. To learn more about the full capabilities of the Java language refer to the official documentation.

How to download and install Java (JDK) on CentOS 7 Linux distribution with OpenJDK:

1. Install the latest JDK.

2.  Use curl to download the archive.

3. Extract the files from the archive.

4. Move the extracted folder to the /opt directory.

5. Manually add the Java setup to ‘alternatives’.

6. Verify the Java installation.

Requirements

This tutorial assume that you have a VPS, bare metal server, or as in our case, an OVHcloud Compute Instance running CentOS 7. You should also have basic knoweldge of the command line. If you need help setting up a Public Cloud instance with CentOS 7, follow this guide: Creating and connecting to your first Public Cloud instance.

Instructions

This tutorial uses OpenJDK. This is the open source version but there are many licensed versions provided by a variety of vendors (Oracle, Microsoft, AWS, …).

In this tutorial, you will install OpenJDK, use it, and learn how to switch between different installed versions.

Installation of the OpenJDK LTS version

Download the latest JDK: JDK18 Download page. Then, use curl to download the archive:

curl -O https://download.java.net/java/GA/jdk18.0.1.1/65ae32619e2f40f3a9af3af1851d6e19/2/GPL/openjdk-18.0.1.1_linux-x64_bin.tar.gz

$ curl -O https://download.java.net/java/GA/jdk18.0.1.1/65ae32619e2f40f3a9af3af1851d6e19/2/GPL/openjdk-18.0.1.1_linux-x64_bin.tar.gz
  % Total    % Received % Xferd  Average Speed   Time    Time     Time  Current
                                 Dload  Upload   Total   Spent    Left  Speed
100  179M  100  179M    0     0  27.6M      0  0:00:06  0:00:06 --:--:-- 29.1M

Extract the files from the archive:

tar xvf openjdk-18.0.1.1_linux-x64_bin.tar.gz

Move the extracted folder to the /opt directory:

sudo mv jdk-18.0.1.1 /opt/

Manually add the java setup to ‘alternatives’. Alternatives creates, removes, maintains, and displays information about the symbolic links comprising the alternatives system.

sudo alternatives --install /usr/bin/java java /opt/jdk-18.0.1.1/bin/java 99 sudo alternatives --install /usr/bin/javac java /opt/jdk-18.0.1.1/bin/javac 99

Now select the desired version of Java you want to use:

sudo update-alternatives --config java

$ sudo update-alternatives --config java

Il existe 1 programmes qui fournissent java.

  Sélection    Commande
-----------------------------------------------
*+ 1           /opt/jdk-18.0.1.1/bin/java

Entrez pour garder la sélection courante [+] ou saisissez le numéro de type de sélection :1

Verify the java installation:

java -version

$ java -version
openjdk version "18.0.1.1" 2022-04-22
OpenJDK Runtime Environment (build 18.0.1.1+2-6)
OpenJDK 64-Bit Server VM (build 18.0.1.1+2-6, mixed mode, sharing)

Manage two or more JDK installations

Imagine you have to use another JDK version for a specific project. First, install the specific version of OpenJDK, as described above.

curl -O https://download.java.net/java/early_access/jdk19/21/GPL/openjdk-19-ea+21_linux-x64_bin.tar.gz tar xvf openjdk-19-ea+21_linux-x64_bin.tar.gz sudo mv jdk-19 /opt/

Manually add the new version of java to alternatives:

sudo alternatives --install /usr/bin/java java /opt/jdk-19/bin/java 1 sudo alternatives --install /usr/bin/java javac /opt/jdk-19/bin/javac 1

Select the desired java version:

sudo update-alternatives --config java

$ sudo update-alternatives --config java

Il existe 2 programmes qui fournissent « java ».

  Sélection    Commande
-----------------------------------------------
*+ 1           /opt/jdk-18.0.1.1/bin/java
   2           /opt/jdk-19/bin/java

Entrez pour garder la sélection courante [+] ou saisissez le numéro de type de sélection :2

Verify the Java version:

java -version

$ java -version
openjdk version "19-ea" 2022-09-20
OpenJDK Runtime Environment (build 19-ea+21-1482)
OpenJDK 64-Bit Server VM (build 19-ea+21-1482, mixed mode, sharing)

You can add as many versions as needed by repeating these steps.

If you prefer using the JAVA_HOME environment variable to manage your java version, then create a new file /etc/profile.d/jdk18.0.1.1.sh and include the following:

export JAVA_HOME=/opt/jdk-18.0.1.1 export PATH=$PATH:$JAVA_HOME/bin

Apply the new file and verify the Java version:

$ source /etc/profile.d/jdk18.0.1.1.sh
$ echo $JAVA_HOME
/opt/jdk-18.0.1.1
$ java -version
openjdk version "18.0.1.1" 2022-04-22
OpenJDK Runtime Environment (build 18.0.1.1+2-6)
OpenJDK 64-Bit Server VM (build 18.0.1.1+2-6, mixed mode, sharing)

Test the JDK installation

To test your Java installation, write a Hello World application. Create a HelloWorld.java file and paste the following code into the file:

public class HelloWorld { public static void main(String[] args) { System.out.println("👋 Hello World!"); } }

Save and compile the file, then run it.

javac HelloWorld.java java HelloWorld

The output should look like this:

$ javac HelloWorld.java 
$ java HelloWorld.java 
👋 Hello World!

That’s it, you have successfully installed and configured OpenJDK on CentOS 7.