Install JDK 7 on Ubuntu

Install JDK 7 on Ubuntu

Install JDK 7 on Ubuntu

Task: Install JDK 7 on Ubuntu desktop.
Problem 1: Java version 7 is not available from Ubuntu repositories for your Ubuntu version (prior to 11.10 Oneiric). You don’t see it neither via "Ubuntu Software Center" nor via "Synaptic Package Manager".
What to do: Download JDK 7 binaries from the official Java site.
Problem 2: You are Debian/Ubuntu user and don’t see applicable .deb package.
What to do: Again, download JDK 7 binaries from the official Java site, install and configure it manually.
Step by step instructions to install and manual configure JDK 7 on the Ubuntu 10.04 LTS (the Lucid Lynx) desktop follow:
– For my X64 Ubuntu 10.04 LTS Desktop installation I downloaded Linux x64 – Compressed Binary file named jdk-7-linux-x64.tar.gz.
– Unpack it with command
gzip -d jdk-7-linux-x64.tar.gz
You will get jdk-7-linux-x64.tar file.
– Extract files from tar archive with command
tar -xvf jdk-7-linux-x64.tar
JDK 7 package is extracted into ./jdk1.7.0 directory.
– Move JDK 7 directory to place where it should be. Right, to the /usr/lib/jvm/jdk1.7.0 directory. Use this command for that
sudo mv ./jdk1.7.0/ /usr/lib/jvm/jdk1.7.0
– Execute this command
sudo update-alternatives --config java
to know under what number you will config you new Java installation. You will get output as:

$sudo update-alternatives –config java
There are 2 choices for the alternative java (providing /usr/bin/java).

Selection Path Priority Status
————————————————————
* 0 /usr/lib/jvm/java-6-openjdk/jre/bin/java 1061 auto mode
1 /usr/lib/jvm/java-6-openjdk/jre/bin/java 1061 manual mode
2 /usr/lib/jvm/java-6-sun/jre/bin/java 63 manual mode

Press enter to keep the current choice[*], or type selection number:

Remember the last number and press enter to exit this utility.
– Execute this command
sudo update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/java java /usr/lib/jvm/jdk1.7.0/jre/bin/java 3
to add your new JDK 7 installation into alternatives list. I put 3 there as 2 was last number for my configuration. You should use your own number from the previous step increased by 1.
– Execute this command
sudo update-alternatives --config java.
You will see output similar one below:

$sudo update-alternatives –config java
There are 3 choices for the alternative java (providing /usr/bin/java).

Selection Path Priority Status
————————————————————
* 0 /usr/lib/jvm/java-6-openjdk/jre/bin/java 1061 auto mode
1 /usr/lib/jvm/java-6-openjdk/jre/bin/java 1061 manual mode
2 /usr/lib/jvm/java-6-sun/jre/bin/java 63 manual mode
3 /usr/lib/jvm/jdk1.7.0/jre/bin/java 3 manual mode

Press enter to keep the current choice[*], or type selection number: 3
update-alternatives: using /usr/lib/jvm/jdk1.7.0/jre/bin/java to provide /usr/bin/java (java) in manual mode.

In case you have other answer from update-alternatives --config java command, e.g. ‘no alternatives for java’, try this command:

sudo update-alternatives –install /usr/bin/java java /usr/lib/jvm/jdk1.7.0/jre/bin/java 0

This will select needed java version in case you had not any previous java version installed before.

The job is done. Task is completed and work is finished. Just check version of your new JDK 7 installation typing this command java -version. You should see something like this:

~$ java -version
java version “1.7.0”
Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.7.0-b147)
Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM (build 21.0-b17, mixed mode)

Please be aware that we changed alias just for one java binary only – “java” itself. There are a lot of others in Java package, e.g. “javac” compiler, etc. If you try to check javac version with “javac -version” command the most probably you will get that it still has 1.6 version, e.g. on my box:

~$ javac -version
javac 1.6.0_26

To update it, make the same as you did for java runtime environment:
sudo update-alternatives –config javac // Check the java compilers you have
sudo update-alternatives –install /usr/bin/javac javac /usr/lib/jvm/jdk1.7.0/bin/javac [-number]
Pay attention on the change of file location at the end of command. It is needed as there’s NO “javac” in the directory
“/usr/lib/jvm/jdk1.7.0/jre/bin/”
we used for JRE configuration in previous command.
Apply this technique for other Java binaries you use.

Do not forget to change the PATH and JAVA_HOME to
JAVA_HOME=/usr/lib/jvm/jdk1.7.0_11
and
PATH=/usr/lib/jvm/jdk1.7.0_11/bin:$PATH in /etc/profile.d/java.sh
according to your java version of course.

Thanks to Nikolavp’s blog for the hints about manual JDK 7 installation and configuration.


This post was written for Ubuntu 10.04 some time ago. These days with Ubuntu 12.04 and even 12.10 we have alternative, more convenient way to install original Java 7 package from Oracle.
Use this comprehensive manual about installation of Oracle JDK 7 via PPA repository. Recently, I installed JDK 7 via PPA on my fresh Ubuntu 12.04 using this manual without any problem. Thanks to Andrew for his brilliant support.


In order to configure Java Plugin from latest installed Java for your favorite Mozilla FireFox browser make this:
– Exit Firefox browser if it is already running.
– Uninstall any previous installations of Java Plugin, just remove all old symbolic links from the browser plugins directory.
– Create a symbolic link to the libnpjp2.so file in the browser plugins directory
Go to the plugins sub-directory under the Firefox installation directory
cd <Firefox installation directory>/plugins
– Create the symbolic link
ln -s <Java installation directory>/lib/i386/libnpjp2.so

For example, if Firefox is installed at this directory /usr/lib/firefox-10.0.2 and if Java is installed at this directory /usr/lib/jvm/jdk1.7.0 then type in the terminal window to go to the browser plug-in directory:
cd /usr/lib/firefox-10.0.2/plugins
Enter the following command to create a symbolic link to the Java Plug-in for the Mozilla browser.
sudo ln -s /usr/lib/jvm/jdk1.7.0/jre/lib/i386/libnpjp2.so
replace ‘i386’ with ‘amd64’ if you have 64 bit Ubuntu installation.

Start the Firefox browser. In Firefox, type about:plugins in the Location bar to confirm that the Java Plugin is loaded.

To test that Java plugin is installed and working properly on your FireFox browser, run this test applet.

Original source of information is Configure and Enable Java Plugin for FireFox.

You can make this decision even more universal. Place symbolic link for Java browser plugin to /usr/lib/mozilla/plugins/ folder. This way it will work not for the FireFox browser only, but for the Google Chrome browser too, as it uses the same /usr/lib/mozilla/plugins/ directory to get its plugins.

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