Oracle Java for Linux

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JRE

JRE on 32-bit and 64-bit Debian / Ubuntu / Mint Linux operating systems.

End users looking for java to run software are looking for JRE. OpenJRE / OpenJDK is an alternative to Oracle Java that is the default on packaged linux systems such as Ubuntu / Kbuntu / Mint.

Are you 32 or 64 bit? Type: 

uname -m

Have you downloaded Oracle Java? as of TOR you could find it [ here ] and the file you need is/was called [ jre-8u181-linux-x64.tar.gz ]

note: jre-8u181-linux-x64.tar.gz for 64 bit, jre-8u181-linux-i586.tar.gz 32 bit, and adjust the version number or build number for what is current at the time you are reading this. (as of 2018 there is a jre 10, however, many software recommends jre 8). Companies like Oracle tend to move things around on their website unnecessarily often, so more than a week after TOR that link is probably defunct.

Adjust any version numbers to accommodate your system, otherwise instructions assume currents as of TOR: typically OpenJDK version 7. To REMOVE OpenJDK and install Oracle Java JRE do the following.

1. remove OpenJDK 

sudo apt-get autoremove openjdk-7-jre

2. confirm complete removal (other instructions online do not accomplish this ie WikiHow) 

sudo java -version

You should see the error: No such file or directory <- that is good!

3. make a home 

sudo mkdir /usr/local/java

4. have the oracle installation file ready in the path /usr/local/java

5. set permissions 

sudo chmod a+x jre-8u181-linux-x64.tar.gz

6. decompress archive 

sudo tar xzvf jre-8u181-linux-x64.tar.gz

7. as an alternative to setting a bunch of path env variables, just use a symlink 

sudo ln -s /usr/local/java/jre1.8.0_181/bin/java /usr/bin/java

Trying to Keep Them Both: Newer Distributions Based on Debian

Update: If you are running a modern Debian variant such as Ubuntu or Mint you should not go hacking away at symlinks from the command line. Instead safely use "update-alternatives" which is explained on the Default Java on Mint Linux page. This applies to Linux versions such as Mint 19.2 as an example (for time release reference).

  1. Download the version you wish to run, for our example Oracle 8 from the file jre-8u181-linux-x64.tar.gz
  2. Extract jre-8u181-linux-x64.tar.gz to /usr/local - you end up the the java binary in the path: /usr/local/jre1.8.0_181/bin
  3. Add the java to the update-alternatives link group - sudo update-alternatives --install "/usr/bin/java" "java" "/usr/local/jre1.8.0_181/bin/java" 8
  4. Then run update-alternatives

Examples: 

sudo update-alternatives --install "/usr/bin/java" "java" "/usr/local/jre1.8.0_181/bin/java" 8
sudo update-alternatives --config java
java -version
java -jar ./program.jar

Don't have "update-alternatives" as a utility in your distribution? Read on...

Trying to Keep Them Both: Other and older Distributions

Warning! This (the process below) is problematic and requires more than doing the symlinks, however, here ya go... If you didnt delete OpenJDK then when you type: 

file /usr/bin/java
/usr/bin/java: symbolic link to /etc/alternatives/java

Do this: 

rm /usr/bin/java
ln -s /usr/local/java/jre1.8.0_181/bin/java /usr/bin/java

See also: Default Java on Mint Linux

other guides

Here are some other installation guides that differ however accomplish the same task

Some Related Pages

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