java-home-on-windows-7-8-10-mac-os-x-linux

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6 years ago

Set JAVA_HOME on Windows 7, 8, 10, Mac OS X, Linux

1. Overview

In this quick article, we’ll take a look at how to set the JAVA_HOME variable on Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux.

2. Windows

==== 2.1. Windows 10 and 8

. Open Search and type advanced system settings
. In the shown options, select the View advanced system settings link
. Under the Advanced tab, click Environment Variables
. In the System variables section, click New (or User variables for single user setting)
. Set JAVA_HOME as the Variable name and the path to the JDK installation as the Variable value and click OK
. Click OK and click Apply to apply the changes

2.2. Windows 7

. On the Desktop, right-click My Computer and select Properties
. Under the Advanced tab, click Environment Variables
. In the System variables section, click New (or User variables for single user setting)
. Set JAVA_HOME as the Variable name and the path to the JDK installation as the Variable value and click OK
. Click OK and click Apply to apply the changes

Open Command Prompt and check the value of the JAVA_HOME variable:

echo %JAVA_HOME%

The result should be the path to the JDK installation:

C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.8.0_111

3. Mac OS X

==== 3.1. Single User – Mac OS X 10.5 or Newer

From OS X 10.5, Apple introduced a https://developer.apple.com/library/content/qa/qa1170/index.html[command line tool] (/usr/libexec/java_home_) which dynamically finds the top Java version specified in Java Preferences for the current user.

Open ~/.bash_profile in any text editor and add:

export JAVA_HOME=$(/usr/libexec/java_home)

Save and close the file.

Open a Terminal and run the source command to apply the changes:

source ~/.bash_profile

Now we can check the value of the JAVA_HOME variable:

echo $JAVA_HOME

The result should be the path to the JDK installation:

/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/jdk1.8.0_111.jdk/Contents/Home

3.2. Single User – Mac OS X Older Versions

For older versions of OS X, we have to set the exact path to the JDK installation:

Open ~/.bash_profile in any editor and add:

export JAVA_HOME=/path/to/java_installation

Save and close the file.

Open a Terminal and run the source command to apply the changes:

source ~/.bash_profile

Now we can check the value of the JAVA_HOME variable:

echo $JAVA_HOME

The result should be the path to the JDK installation:

/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/jdk1.8.0_111.jdk/Contents/Home

3.3. Global Setting

To set JAVA_HOME globally for all users, the steps are the same as for single user, but the file /etc/profile is used.

4. Linux

We’re going to manipulate the PATH here, of course – so, if you haven’t done that before, here are the detailed instructions on how to do it.

4.1 Single User

To set JAVA_HOME in Linux for a single user, we can use /etc/profile or /etc/environment (preferred for system-wide setting) or ~/.bashrc (user-specific setting).

Open ~/.bashrc in any text editor and add:

export JAVA_HOME=/path/to/java_installation

Save and close the file.

Run the source command to load the variable:

source ~/.bashrc

Now we can check the value of the JAVA_HOME variable:

echo $JAVA_HOME

The result should be the path to the JDK installation:

/usr/lib/jvm/java-8-oracle

4.2 Global Setting

To set JAVA_HOME in Linux for all users, we can use /etc/profile or /etc/environment (preferred).

Open /etc/environment in any text editor and add:

JAVA_HOME=/path/to/java_installation

Please note that /etc/environment is not a script, but a list of assignment expressions (that is why export is not used). This file is read at the time of login.

To set JAVA_HOME using /etc/profile, open the file and add:

export JAVA_HOME=/path/to/java_installation

Run the source command to load the variable:

source /etc/profile

Now we can check the value of the JAVA_HOME variable:

echo $JAVA_HOME

The result should be the path to the JDK installation:

/usr/lib/jvm/java-8-oracle

5. Conclusion

In this article, we have covered ways to set the JAVA_HOME environment variable on Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux.