67 Comments

1. Adam / November 9, 2010

   Thanks for publishing this java installation guide.

   Reply
2. Joshua Garcia / December 10, 2010

   Hey good guide. just one suggestion. Oracle puts out an rpm.bin file. if you install that then it will make a folder in /usr/java called jdk-something and another called latest which will point at that one. you should use the rpm and then always upgrade that way. have alternatives point to /usr/bin/latest and youll never have to change it again if you want to use Oracles Java

   Reply
3. Joshua Garcia / December 10, 2010

   Err. edit from previous post it should be /usr/java/latest *

   Reply
4. JR / December 10, 2010

   Hi Joshua,

   I still use just .bin file on this guide, because I can’t get Oracles rpm.bin file working. I just got following error message when trying to install rpm.bin file:

   Do you agree to the above license terms? [yes or no]
   yes
   Unpacking...
   Checksumming...
   Extracting...
   UnZipSFX 5.52 of 28 February 2005, by Info-ZIP (http://www.info-zip.org).
     inflating: jdk-7-ea-linux-i586.rpm  
   Failed to extract the files.  Please refer to the Troubleshooting section of
   the Installation Instructions on the download page for more information.

   Do you get it to work normally?

   Reply
5. roy / February 22, 2011

   Hi JR,

   I am new to linux but I have just installed jdk7 using rpm.(I think).

   Just like you described I also got the “Failed to extract the files” message, but a jdk-7-ea-linux-i586.rpm was left in my dowload directory.
   I used this with rpm and it ran to conclusion.

   When I enter ‘java -version’ it responds with ’1.7.0-ea’. same for javac.

   When I enter “alternatives –config javac” nothing happens.

   Is there any other way I can check if all is installed correctly?

   Thanks
   Roy

   Reply
   • JR / February 24, 2011

     Hi roy,

     Sounds, it appears that your java and javac is the correct version.

     Did you completed alternatives commands?

     Reply
6. Francisco / June 22, 2011

   good tutorial man thx

   Reply
7. NKmhr / July 3, 2011

   Thanks for sharing.

   Reply
8. khourt / July 8, 2011

   Guia super chingona !!

   Thanks !! This Java Guide is great

   Reply
9. Aphelion / August 3, 2011

   Would this break the existing alternatives “slave” system? Normally when you switch the link to java, it also switches the link to a number of other utilities as well as making sure the correct man pages are used. I’m too lazy to type out a version with all of the man pages and so forth, but wouldn’t something like this be more in line with the usual alternatives flow?

   alternatives \
   –install /usr/bin/java java /usr/java/jdk1.7.0/jre/bin/java 17000 \
   –slave /usr/lib/jvm/jre jre /usr/java/jdk1.7.0/jre \
   –slave /usr/lib/jvm-exports/jre jre_exports /usr/java/jdk1.7.0/jre/lib \
   –slave /usr/bin/keytool keytool /usr/java/jdk1.7.0/jre/bin/keytool \
   –slave /usr/bin/orbd orbd /usr/java/jdk1.7.0/jre/bin/orbd \
   –slave /usr/bin/pack200 pack200 /usr/java/jdk1.7.0/jre/bin/pack200 \
   –slave /usr/bin/rmid rmid /usr/java/jdk1.7.0/jre/bin/rmid \
   –slave /usr/bin/rmiregistry rmiregistry /usr/java/jdk1.7.0/jre/bin/rmiregistry \
   –slave /usr/bin/servertool servertool /usr/java/jdk1.7.0/jre/bin/servertool \
   –slave /usr/bin/tnameserv tnameserv /usr/java/jdk1.7.0/jre/bin/tnameserv \
   –slave /usr/bin/unpack200 unpack200 /usr/java/jdk1.7.0/jre/bin/unpack200

   It makes me wonder why the oracle jdk 1.7 RPM doesn’t do this for you during post-install…

   Reply
10. Joe Klemmer / August 6, 2011

    One thing that can be done if you don’t want to install both the jdk and jre is to change the mozilla plugin line for the alternatives –install to
    
## Java Browser (Mozilla) Plugin 32-bit ##
alternatives --install /usr/lib/mozilla/plugins/libjavaplugin.so libjavaplugin.so /usr/java/jdk1.7.0/lib/i386/libnpjp2.so 20000


    Reply
    • JR / August 6, 2011

      Hi Joe,

      I use normally /usr/java/jdk1.7.0/jre/lib/i386/libnpjp2.so and it’s also on this guide. It works nice for me… :)

      Reply
11. Bart / August 23, 2011

    Hi All,

    In the JRE 6 release you had the possibility to download a rpm.bin (for example jre-6u27-linux-i586-rpm.bin) package. This Package seems to have been removed from JRE 7. Anyone any idea?

    Reply
    • JR / August 23, 2011

      Hi Bart,

      I don’t know reason why rpm.bin packages are removed but plain RPM packages also works nicely… :)

      Reply
12. Ahsan / September 10, 2011

    An excellent post…!

    I was afraid that I may waste time in setting up JDK on my newly installed Fedora 15.

    Through this post, I installed it successfully within 15 minutes.

    Reply
13. max / September 21, 2011

    thank you, thank you, thank you

    Reply
14. asker / October 5, 2011

    why do we need the

    ## export JAVA_HOME JDK ##
    export JAVA_HOME=”/usr/java/jdk1.7.0″

    ## export JAVA_HOME JRE ##
    export JAVA_HOME=”/usr/java/jre1.7.0″

    after installation?
    what’s the intention?

    Reply
    • JR / October 5, 2011

      Hi asker,

      By using environment variables you can easily change a configuration setting for one or more applications. Example JAVA_HOME is widely used environment variable on Java programs. So setting the JAVA_HOME environment variable is not mandatory, but I recommend it… :)

      Reply
15. DaVince / October 25, 2011

    I found that Oracle’s Java 7 release wasn’t really working for me. Any way to revert the settings to their defaults (so my system will be using the already-installed OpenJDK version instead)?

    Reply
    • JR / October 25, 2011

      Hi DaVince,

      You can actually use both OpenJDK and Oracle’s Java 7 simultaneously.

      You can run following commands and select OpenJDK instead of Oracle’s Java 7:

      alternatives --config java
      alternatives --config javaws
       
      ## 32 Bit ##
      alternatives --config libjavaplugin.so
       
      ## 64-bit ##
      alternatives --config libjavaplugin.so.x86_64
       
      ## JDK ##
      alternatives --config javac

      Check more from this guide 6. Swap between OpenJDK and Sun/Oracle Java JDK/JRE 6 and 7 versions

      Then if you want / you have to use Java 7 later then you can switch it back same way or use directly like following:

      /usr/java/jdk1.7.0_01/jre/bin/java -jar some_java_application.jar

      Reply
16. Napo / October 25, 2011

    What happens after an upgrade of either openjdk or sun jdk? Does one have to go through all these again?

    Reply
    • JR / October 25, 2011

      Hi Napo,

      Actually yes, but there is of course workaround for that…you could also use /usr/java/default or /usr/java/latest and then after upgrade it’s work with any other actions following commands should work smoothly.
      JDK

      ## java ##
      alternatives --install /usr/bin/java java /usr/java/latest/jre/bin/java 20000
      ## javaws (32-bit only) ##
      alternatives --install /usr/bin/javaws javaws /usr/java/latest/jre/bin/javaws 20000
       
      ## Java Browser (Mozilla) Plugin 32-bit ##
      alternatives --install /usr/lib/mozilla/plugins/libjavaplugin.so libjavaplugin.so /usr/java/latest/jre/lib/i386/libnpjp2.so 20000
       
      ## Java Browser (Mozilla) Plugin 64-bit ##
      alternatives --install /usr/lib64/mozilla/plugins/libjavaplugin.so libjavaplugin.so.x86_64 /usr/java/latest/jre/lib/amd64/libnpjp2.so 20000
       
      ## Install javac only if you installed JDK (Java Development Kit) package ##
      alternatives --install /usr/bin/javac javac /usr/java/latest/bin/javac 20000
      alternatives --install /usr/bin/jar jar /usr/java/latest/bin/jar 20000

      JRE

      ## java ##
      alternatives --install /usr/bin/java java /usr/java/latest/bin/java 20000
       
      ## javaws (32-bit only) ##
      alternatives --install /usr/bin/javaws javaws /usr/java/latest/bin/javaws 20000
       
      ## Java Browser (Mozilla) Plugin 32-bit ##
      alternatives --install /usr/lib/mozilla/plugins/libjavaplugin.so libjavaplugin.so /usr/java/latest/lib/i386/libnpjp2.so 20000
       
      ## Java Browser (Mozilla) Plugin 64-bit ##
      alternatives --install /usr/lib64/mozilla/plugins/libjavaplugin.so libjavaplugin.so.x86_64 /usr/java/latest/lib/amd64/libnpjp2.so 20000

      You could easily check where your default and latest point with following command:

      ls -la /usr/java
      ...
      lrwxrwxrwx.  1 root root   16 Oct 15 13:59 default -> /usr/java/latest
      drwxr-xr-x.  3 root root 4096 Oct 25 23:44 jdk1.7.0
      drwxr-xr-x. 10 root root 4096 Oct 25 23:44 jdk1.7.0_01
      lrwxrwxrwx.  1 root root   21 Oct 25 23:44 latest -> /usr/java/jdk1.7.0_01

      Of course this latest should always point to latest java so if you want to use OpenJDK 6 and Oracle’s JDK/JRE 7 then you should do some manual work anyways. I personally prefer this absolute method (I change between Java versions using alternatives –config command), because I want to be sure what version I’m using, but actually for many users (who just use Java especially JRE) it might be better use latest version always…and this is good point and I will add that also this guide. Thanks! :)

      Reply
17. Jose / November 23, 2011

    Hi and thanks for your guide. I have followed your instructions to the best of my knowledge but I must have made a mistake somewhere I cannot identify. I’ll copy here my config just in case you can help. Thanks again,

    
which java
/usr/bin/java


    
which javaws
/usr/bin/which: no javaws in (/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/root/bin)


    
update-alternatives --config javaws
error al leer enlace /usr/bin/javaws: No existe el fichero o el directorio


    
However, there is a /usr/bin/javaws.itweb


    
update-alternatives --config libjavaplugin.so.x86_64
Hay 5 programas que proporcionan 'libjavaplugin.so.x86_64'.
Selección Comando
-----------------------------------------------
* 1 /usr/java/default/lib/amd64/libnpjp2.so
2 /usr/lib64/IcedTeaPlugin.so
3 /usr/java/latest/jre/lib/amd64/libnpjp2.so
4 /usr/java/latest/lib/amd64/libnpjp2.so
+ 5 /usr/java/jdk1.7.0_01/jre/lib/amd64/libnpjp2.so
Presione Intro para mantener la selección actual[+], o escriba el número de la selección: 5


    
which javac
/usr/bin/javac


update-alternatives --config javac
Hay 3 programas que proporcionan 'javac'.
Selección Comando
-----------------------------------------------
1 /usr/lib/jvm/java-1.6.0-openjdk.x86_64/bin/javac
* 2 /usr/java/latest/bin/javac
+ 3 /usr/java/jdk1.7.0_01/bin/javac
Presione Intro para mantener la selección actual[+], o escriba el número de la selección: 3


    
update-alternatives --config java
Hay 5 programas que proporcionan 'java'.
Selección Comando
-----------------------------------------------
1 /usr/lib/jvm/jre-1.5.0-gcj/bin/java
2 /usr/lib/jvm/jre-1.6.0-openjdk.x86_64/bin/java
* 3 /usr/java/latest/jre/bin/java
4 /usr/java/latest/bin/java
+ 5 /usr/java/jdk1.7.0_01/jre/bin/java
Presione Intro para mantener la selección actual[+], o escriba el número de la selección: 5


    
ls -la /usr/java
total 12
drwxr-xr-x. 3 root root 4096 nov 15 02:17 .
drwxr-xr-x. 14 root root 4096 oct 3 10:56 ..
lrwxrwxrwx. 1 root root 16 nov 15 00:33 default -> /usr/java/latest
drwxr-xr-x. 10 root root 4096 nov 15 00:33 jdk1.7.0_01
lrwxrwxrwx. 1 root root 21 nov 15 00:33 latest -> /usr/java/jdk1.7.0_01


    
echo $JAVA_HOME
/usr/java/jdk1.7.0_01


    
cat /etc/profile.d/sunjava.sh
# export JAVA_HOME=/usr/java/default
# export PATH=$JAVA_HOME/bin:$PATH
## export JAVA_HOME JDK ##
export JAVA_HOME="/usr/java/jdk1.7.0_01"


    
grep -r JAVA_HOME /etc/* | grep JAVA
/etc/init.d/jetty:export JAVA_HOME
/etc/java/java.conf:#JAVA_HOME=$JVM_ROOT/jre
/etc/java/java.conf:#JAVA_HOME=$JVM_ROOT/java
/etc/profile.d/sunjava.sh~:# export JAVA_HOME=/usr/java/default
/etc/profile.d/sunjava.sh~:# export PATH=$JAVA_HOME/bin:$PATH
/etc/profile.d/sunjava.sh~:## export JAVA_HOME JDK ##
/etc/profile.d/sunjava.sh~:export JAVA_HOME="/usr/java/jdk1.7.0_01"
/etc/profile.d/sunjava.sh:# export JAVA_HOME=/usr/java/default
/etc/profile.d/sunjava.sh:# export PATH=$JAVA_HOME/bin:$PATH
/etc/profile.d/sunjava.sh:## export JAVA_HOME JDK ##
/etc/profile.d/sunjava.sh:export JAVA_HOME="/usr/java/jdk1.7.0_01"
/etc/rc0.d/K20jetty:export JAVA_HOME
/etc/rc1.d/K20jetty:export JAVA_HOME
/etc/rc2.d/K20jetty:export JAVA_HOME
/etc/rc3.d/K20jetty:export JAVA_HOME
/etc/rc4.d/K20jetty:export JAVA_HOME
/etc/rc5.d/K20jetty:export JAVA_HOME
/etc/rc6.d/K20jetty:export JAVA_HOME
/etc/rc.d/rc3.d/K20jetty:export JAVA_HOME
/etc/rc.d/rc6.d/K20jetty:export JAVA_HOME
/etc/rc.d/rc2.d/K20jetty:export JAVA_HOME
/etc/rc.d/init.d/jetty:export JAVA_HOME
/etc/rc.d/rc4.d/K20jetty:export JAVA_HOME
/etc/rc.d/rc5.d/K20jetty:export JAVA_HOME
/etc/rc.d/rc1.d/K20jetty:export JAVA_HOME
/etc/rc.d/rc0.d/K20jetty:export JAVA_HOME
/etc/rpm/macros.jpackage:%java_home %(. %{_javadir}-utils/java-functions; set_jvm; echo $JAVA_HOME)
/etc/rpm/macros.jpackage:%ant JAVA_HOME=%{java_home} ant
/etc/sysconfig/hsqldb:JAVA_HOME=${JAVA_HOME:-/usr/lib/jvm/jre}
/etc/sysconfig/hsqldb:JAVA_EXECUTABLE=${JAVA_HOME}/bin/java


    Reply
    • JR / November 23, 2011

      Hi Jose,

      So your problem is javaws?

      Could you post output of following command:

      ls -la /usr/java/jdk1.7.0_01/jre/bin/

      Reply
      • joan a / January 31, 2012

        i also have the same problem. it seems javaws is not working. :(

        Reply
18. inukaze / December 1, 2011

    Hi there , i try to install “Wakfu” and “Play it” , but , i have Fedora 16 64 Bits , with the lastest kernel , and lastest Nvidia Drivers .

    But the Game requiere “openjdk / jre” of 32 Bits , but i need the 64 Bits openjdk / jre , installed too .

    Someone know how i can install both ???

    Thanks

    Reply
    • JR / December 1, 2011

      Hi inukaze,

      So you want to install OpenJDK 32-bit and 64-bit version and not Oracle JRE / JDK?

      Reply
19. gizmo / December 17, 2011

    All this doesn’t work for Fedora 16 and JRE – Java 7u2 :-(

    Reply
    • JR / December 17, 2011

      Hi gizmo,

      I just updated my Java 7 to latest version 7u2 and also updated this guide and yes it works for me.

      Could you tell more specific, what error messages you get? Or why it doesn’t work?

      Reply
20. gizmo / December 17, 2011

    What I do is;

    I download JRE rpm version 7u2
    then:

    sudo -i
    rpm -Uvh /path/to/binary/jre-7u2-linux-i586.rpm
    alternatives –install /usr/bin/java java /usr/java/latest/bin/java 20000
    alternatives –install /usr/bin/javaws javaws /usr/java/latest/bin/javaws 20000
    alternatives –install /usr/lib/mozilla/plugins/libjavaplugin.so libjavaplugin.so /usr/java/latest/lib/i386/libnpjp2.so 20000

    and after:
    java -version

    it says

    java version “1.7.0_02″
    Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.7.0_02-b13)
    Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM (build 22.0-b10, mixed mode)

    so OK.

    But after few minutes when trying:
    java -version

    it says Bash: java: command not found

    So I guess there is something wrong with my JAVA :-(
    Before I installed Libreoffice and it installed OpenJDK 1.6.0 and 1.7.0
    but I need Oracle’s one to print my internet invoices

    What am I doing wrong?

    Reply
    • gizmo / December 17, 2011

      Also I uninstalled jre (OpenJDK 1.6.0 and 1.7.0 with whole Libreoffice and Oracle 7u2), but this:

      alternatives –config java

      shows 2 alternatives to choose from:

      *+ 1 /usr/java/latest/jre/bin/java
      2 /usr/java/latest/bin/java

      So some trash still there?

      Reply
      • JR / December 17, 2011

        Thank you for good description. Let’s try to solve this problem… :)

        Could you first post output of following commands:

        ls -la /usr/bin/java
         
        ls -la /etc/alternatives/java
         
        ls -la /usr/java/latest/jre/bin/java
         
        ls -la /usr/java/latest/bin/java
         
        ls -la /usr/java/
         
        env |grep -i -e java -e path

        Reply
        • Gizmo / December 17, 2011

          I reinstalled Fedora 16 (since before it was also fresh install but after Libreoffice and some other software installed).
          And now it’s working.
          Thank you JR for your help and for great tutorial.
          It was definitely my fault.
          I just wish that now after installing Libreoffice it will still work.

          Reply
          • Gizmo / December 17, 2011

            I installed Libreoffice (which installed OpenJDK 1.6.0 and 1.7.0) and java still works (I mean Oracle Java 7u2).
            Once again – thank you.
            I’m sorry for the confusion.

            Reply
            • JR / December 18, 2011

              You are very welcome! Nice to hear that you got it working!

              I have also always OpenJDK installed all my systems and it works nicely with Oracle Java. :)

              And no problem at all!

              Reply
21. Glenn Lee Kian Giap / December 19, 2011

    errata “Select rpm.bin” should be “Select rpm”

    Reply
    • JR / December 19, 2011

      Thanks Glenn! I fixed it, yes it should be just “rpm” :)

      Reply
22. Sreeram / December 27, 2011

    Okay! Great post! Thanks a lot! Managed to get Java up and running. Although, I have one doubt. How do I keep this JDK up to date with future releases from Oracle ? Since they often release updates to their JDKs it is necessary to keep up to date. How do I go about this?

    Reply
    • JR / December 27, 2011

      Hi Sreeram,

      You have to download and install Oracle Java manually, because of Oracle Binary Code License Agreement for Java SE, but it’s easy process if you use this guide “latest” method.

      Reply
23. Ken S / January 1, 2012

    Many thanks. This worked perfectly. Fantastic!

    I appreciate your work.

    Reply
24. TAE / January 2, 2012

    Hi JR,

    Thanks for this very great guide. I followed step by step but at the end when checking the configuration I get:

    Java(TM) Web Start 10.0.0.13-fcs
    [...]

    after executing the javaws command.

    
ls -la /usr/java/jdk1.7.0_02/jre/bin/
total 396
drwxr-xr-x. 2 root root 4096 Jan 1 23:51 .
drwxr-xr-x. 5 root root 4096 Jan 1 23:51 ..
lrwxrwxrwx. 1 root root 8 Jan 1 23:51 ControlPanel -> jcontrol
-rwxr-xr-x. 1 root root 5654 Nov 17 16:47 java
-rwxr-xr-x. 1 root root 16017 Nov 17 16:47 java_vm
-rwxr-xr-x. 1 root root 79096 Nov 17 16:47 javaws
-rwxr-xr-x. 1 root root 6395 Nov 17 16:39 jcontrol
-rwxr-xr-x. 1 root root 5809 Nov 17 16:47 keytool
-rwxr-xr-x. 1 root root 5953 Nov 17 16:47 orbd
-rwxr-xr-x. 1 root root 5829 Nov 17 16:47 pack200
-rwxr-xr-x. 1 root root 5913 Nov 17 16:47 policytool
-rwxr-xr-x. 1 root root 5805 Nov 17 16:47 rmid
-rwxr-xr-x. 1 root root 5809 Nov 17 16:47 rmiregistry
-rwxr-xr-x. 1 root root 5825 Nov 17 16:47 servertool
-rwxr-xr-x. 1 root root 5981 Nov 17 16:47 tnameserv
-rwxr-xr-x. 1 root root 215415 Nov 17 16:47 unpack200


    
env |grep -i -e java -e path
PATH=/usr/lib/qt-3.3/bin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/local/sbin:
/usr/sbin:/sbin:/home/tae/.local/bin:/home/tae/bin
JAVA_HOME=/usr/java/latest
WINDOWPATH=1


    Reply
    • JR / January 2, 2012

      Hi TAE,

      Actually your output is just ok, it should Java(TM) Web Start 10.0.0.13-fcs. :)

      You could verify it with following command:

      alternatives --config javaws

      Reply
25. reza / January 4, 2012

    hi,
    i have openjdk 1.6.0 and jdk 7. i need jdk 6 on my box, do you know how to do remove jdk 7 from my fedora 16 box? thanks.

    Reply
    • JR / January 4, 2012

      Hi reza,

      So you want to install Oracle Java JDK 6 also? But I don’t understand why you want remove Oracle Java JDK 7? :)

      Reply
26. under2sea / January 5, 2012

    Oh yeah it’s very simple to install java on Linux !!!

    Reply
    • JR / January 5, 2012

      Hi under2sea,

      I agree, very simple setup… :)

      Reply
27. 3D_Kid / January 5, 2012

    Thanks! Great post & nice site for red eyed linux users.

    Reply
28. joan a / January 31, 2012

    when i try to type

    javaws

    the output is no such file or directory.

    what should i do? all else is successful except this one.

    Reply
    • JR / January 31, 2012

      Hi Joan a,

      Did you installed JAVA JRE or JDK and 32-bit or 64-bit?

      Reply
29. Newtype / February 7, 2012

    How do we fix symbolic links?

    For example, i got
    the primary link for libjavaplugin.so must be /usr/lib/mozilla/plugins/libjavaplugin.so

    Reply
    • JR / February 7, 2012

      Hi Newtype,

      Could you post exact command and full error message what you try to run?

      And please post also output of following commands:

      uname -a
       
      lsb_release -a

      Reply
      • Newtype / February 8, 2012

        Thanks Jr, the command was
        alternatives --install /usr/lib64/mozilla/plugins/libjavaplugin.so \ libjavaplugin.so.x86_64 /usr/java/latest/lib/amd64/libnpjp2.so 20000

        If I remove the “/”
        alternatives --install /usr/lib64/mozilla/plugins/libjavaplugin.so libjavaplugin.so.x86_64 /usr/java/latest/lib/amd64/libnpjp2.so 20000
        The libjavaplugin.so will appear as an broken symbolic link and the target it was trying to link becomes “/etc/alternatives/libjavaplugin.so.x86_64″
        which was trying to link
        “/usr/java/latest/jre/amd64/libnpjp2.so”
        which is wrong, as the file it was trying to locate is in fact
        “/usr/java/latest/lib/amd64/libnpjp2.so”
        However, even if the original “/etc/alternatives/libjavaplugin.so.x86_64″ is deleted. The new “/etc/alternatives/libjavaplugin.so.x86_64″ created by the command
        alternatives --install /usr/lib64/mozilla/plugins/libjavaplugin.so libjavaplugin.so.x86_64 /usr/java/latest/lib/amd64/libnpjp2.so 20000
        Will still attempt to link to “”/usr/java/latest/jre/amd64/libnpjp2.so”

        Well, what I did now is do a cp -a lib jre, but I am not sure is this what we are suppose to do.

        Reply
        • Newtype / February 8, 2012

          uname -a gives
          Linux 3.2.3-2.fc16.x86_64 #1 SMP Fri Feb 3 20:08:08 UTC 2012 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux
          lsb_release-a gives
          
LSB Version: :core-4.0-amd64:core-4.0-noarch
Distributor ID: Fedora
Description: Fedora release 16 (Verne)
Release: 16
Codename: Verne

          I am using the 64 bit version.

          Reply
          • JR / February 8, 2012

            Okay, this looks very messy. The first thing to do is forget all the cp -a jre lib style commands, because they are not really needed! With these you only get a problems.

            So are you installing Oracle Java JRE or JDK?

            Could you please post output of following commands:

            ls -la /usr/lib64/mozilla/plugins/libjavaplugin.so
             
            ls -la /etc/alternatives/libjavaplugin.so.x86_64
             
            ls -la /usr/java/
             
            ls -la /usr/java/latest/lib/amd64/libnpjp2.so
             
            ls -la /usr/java/latest/jre/lib/amd64/libnpjp2.so

            Reply
30. Newtype / February 9, 2012

    The copy -a command is just a compromised solution I can think of to fix the broken symbolic link. Mozilla do recognise the plugin afterwards and passed the java test, but I guess it only worked because java doesnt care about it.
    I only have JRE installed, since I dont really need the stuff in JDK.
    And for list command, here is what I got
    ls -la /usr/lib64/mozilla/plugins/libjavaplugin.so
    /usr/lib64/mozilla/plugins/libjavaplugin.so -> /etc/alternatives/libjavaplugin.so.x86_64
    ls -la /etc/alternatives/libjavaplugin.so.x86_64
    /etc/alternatives/libjavaplugin.so.x86_64 -> /usr/java/latest/jre/amd64/libnpjp2.so
    Obviously, something screwed up here.

    ls -la /usr/java
    total 40572
drwxr-xr-x. 3 root root 4096 Feb 7 18:45 .
drwxr-xr-x. 14 root root 4096 Nov 10 19:55 ..
lrwxrwxrwx. 1 root root 16 Nov 22 20:48 default -> /usr/java/latest
drwxr-xr-x. 8 root root 4096 Feb 8 17:29 jre1.6.0_30
-rw-r--r--. 1 root root 20904187 Oct 3 19:00 jre-6u29-linux-amd64.rpm
-rwxr-xr-x. 1 root root 20627096 Nov 21 18:11 jre-6u29-linux-x64-rpm.bin
lrwxrwxrwx. 1 root root 21 Feb 7 18:07 latest -> /usr/java/jre1.6.0_30

    ls -la /usr/java/latest/lib/amd64/libnpjp2.so
    -rwxr-xr-x. 1 root root 80592 Nov 10 17:49 /usr/java/latest/lib/amd64/libnpjp2.so
    ls -la /usr/java/latest/jre/lib/amd64/libnpjp2.so
    ls: cannot access /usr/java/latest/jre/lib/amd64/libnpjp2.so: No such file or directory
    ls -la /usr/java/latest/jre/amd64/libnpjp2.so
    -rwxr-xr-x. 1 root root 80592 Nov 10 17:49 /usr/java/latest/jre/amd64/libnpjp2.so

    Reply
    • JR / February 9, 2012

      Your problem is that the you have installed Java JRE 6, with Java JRE 7 guide…with Java JRE 6 64-bit right alternatives install command is:

      alternatives --install /usr/lib64/mozilla/plugins/libjavaplugin.so libjavaplugin.so.x86_64 /usr/java/jre1.6.0_30/lib/amd64/libnpjp2.so 20000
       
      ## OR ##
      alternatives --install /usr/lib64/mozilla/plugins/libjavaplugin.so libjavaplugin.so.x86_64 /usr/java/latest/lib/amd64/libnpjp2.so 20000

      More info from Java 6 install guide.

      Reply
      • Newtype / February 10, 2012

        I am afraid that the problem may not be caused by an incorrect command, because the command in question is exactly the same, word by word.
        I am using the “latest” method and from what I have gathered, the installation steps for Java 1.6 and 1.7 is exactly the same as well.

        Besides, for both 1.6 and 1.7 installation, the command
        
alternatives --install /usr/lib64/mozilla/plugins/libjavaplugin.so libjavaplugin.so.x86_64 /usr/java/latest/lib/amd64/libnpjp2.so 20000

        will generate the corrupted symbolic link libjavaplugin.so.x86_64 in
        “/etc/alternatives/”.

        In fact, I have done a bit research in regarding to this problem.
        The corrupt link can be linked to anywhere. For another instance, the link was incorrectly pointed to “/usr/lin64/mozilla/plugins/libjavaplugin.so” and in my case, it was “/usr/java/latest/jre/amd64/libnpjp2.so”.

        The cause of the problem is really caused by a typo when the symbolic link was first made. Unfortunately, after the link is made, it cannot be changed, even if the .so file is deleted and recreated; or perhaps this only occurs in fedora.

        The only way to “fix” it, is sadly, changing the java path.

        Reply
        • JR / February 10, 2012

          Of course you could change/remove link with alternatives –remove libjavaplugin.so.x86_64 command, like:

          alternatives --remove libjavaplugin.so.x86_64 /usr/java/latest/lib/amd64/libnpjp2.so

          If you remove original .so file then you have broken link(s) yes. So you can fix it simply, first remove wrong link and then create right link. One thing to remember, you should never touch (manually with mv, cp, rm, etc. commands) any files which are installed from RPM packages. Or you have soon a Linux system that can’t longer maintain and update.

          Reply
31. Vijay Bhaskar / March 7, 2012

    Steps provided was just what was needed for RHEL newbie learning Linux in more detail. Thanks much and keep up the great work!

    Reply
32. Dileep / March 19, 2012

    jdk7 installation is removing jdk6, how do i keep both?

    Reply
    • JR / March 20, 2012

      Hi Dileep,

      Try following method to keep both Java JDK 6 and JDK 7, you can of course use same method the other way round, because you have Java JDK 6 installed already.

      Reply
      • Dileep / March 20, 2012

        Thank You.

        Reply
        • JR / March 20, 2012

          You are welcome! :)

          Reply
33. Pranab / March 22, 2012

    Thanks for the instructions. Worked like a charm!!!

    Reply
34. Guilherme / March 28, 2012

    Thanks for this tutorial, I’m new user in Linux and finally found one that worked. :)

    Reply
35. Ben / April 27, 2012

    Thanks for this.

    Reply
36. r7 / May 8, 2012

    Thank You so much it just worked perfectly

    Reply