Fixing Oracle Java Alternatives Links on Linux Mint 17.1

A colleague of mine, after reading my blog on installing Oracle's Java (and updating it later) on Linux Mint 17.1, asked me several questions on the 'update-alternatives' command used to set the proper links after installing Java. After answering the queries, it occurred to me that it would be helpful for users of Oracle's Java to know this as my blog did not explain this command in detail.

What is the 'update-alternatives' command? The best way to answer this question the Linux way is, of course, by reading the 'man' documents. So go ahead and open a terminal and type the 'man update-alternatives' command. To quote the document - "update-alternatives creates, removes, maintains and displays information about the symbolic links comprising the Debian alternatives system" which about sums up the command. For more details, read the man document in full, making a note that the list of links is found in the /etc/alternatives file.

On a newly installed Linux Mint 17.1 system, only the OpenJDK 7 JRE is present by default. You can see what Java-related packages are installed by launching the Synaptic Packet Manager, then searching for 'openjdk'. The following files are installed (you may have to scroll down the list shown by Synaptic to see all the files):

  openjdk-7-jre-lib
  openjdk-7-jre
  openjdk-7-jre-headless
  icedtea-7-jre-jamvm
  icedtea-7-plugin
  default-jre

Another method to verify that only the JRE is installed, execute the following command in a terminal:

  update-alternatives --list java

You should see an output similar to the one shown below:

  /usr/lib/jvm/java-7-openjdk-amd64/jre/bin/java

As another verification, execute the following command:

  ls -la /etc/alternatives/java

You should see the following output:

  lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 46 Jan 24 08:18 /etc/alternatives/java -> /usr/lib/jvm/java-7-openjdk-amd64/jre/bin/java

This should verify what is being said in the 'man' document. If you have the 'mc' (Midnight Commander) file manager installed on your system, launch it and take a look in the /etc/alternatives directory. In this directory, you will find all the alternative links already set up in the system. By browsing all the links in this directory, it can be determined that the following items are directly related to the currently installed OpenJDK 7 Java - i.e., those referring to files in the /usr/lib/jvm/java-7-openjdk-amd64 directory as the target.

  itweb-settings
  itweb-settings.1.gz
  java
  java.1.gz
  javaws
  javaws.1.gz
  jexec
  jexec.binfmt
  keytool
  keytool.1.gz
  mozilla-plugin.so
  orbd
  orbd.1.gz
  pack200
  pack200.1.gz
  policytool
  policytool.1.gz
  rmid
  rmid.1.gz
  rmiregistry
  rmiregistry.1.gz
  servertool
  servertool.1.gz
  tnameserv
  tnameserv.1.gz
  unpack200
  unpack200.1.gz

Note the files with the '.1.gz' in their names - these are 'man' (manual) files for the items - they are 'slave' links. You can test out these by executing 'man itemname', where itemname is the name of the command that you wish to view the 'man' pages for. The only two exceptions are for the 'jexec' command and the 'mozilla-plugin.so' plugin.

If you plan to install Oracle's Java on the system in order to carry out Android software development using Google's Android Studio, then you have to first download the latest version of the Java SE (aka JDK) package and install it. To do this, first point your web browser to the Oracle SE download page here and download the latest version of the  32-bit or 64-bit JDK (not Server JRE or the JRE) - currently at version 8u31 (or 1.8.0_31). It is also recommended that you download the API docs and demos (+samples) for the JDK - although this is not required for Android development on Android Studio. Once the packages have been downloaded, execute the following commands:

  cd Downloads
  tar xzvf jdk-8u31-linux-x64.tar.gz
  tar xzvf jdk-8u31-linux-x64-demos.tar.gz
  unzip jdk-8u31-docs-all.zip -d jdk1.8.0_31
  sudo mv jdk1.8.0_31/ /usr/lib/jvm/
  sudo chown -R root:root /usr/lib/jvm/jdk1.8.0_31
  cd ~

Note that the 'man' files are also supplied by Oracle and they are found in the /usr/lib/jvm/jdk1.8.0_31/man/man1 directory but, unfortunately, they are not compressed files. If you wish to compress them to save disk space, go ahead and do it, but note this is not required by the /etc/alternatives links.

Then you have to decide what to do with the OpenJDK 7 JRE. Do you, if at all possible, remove OpenJDK 7 JRE, or keep it and use the 'update-alternatives' command to set the proper links so that the system will use Oracle's Java as the default Java?

It is not advisable, however, to remove OpenJDK 7 JRE totally from Linux Mint 17.1 as the author found out by trying it using the Synaptic Packet Manager. Trying to remove OpenJDK 7 JRE will only result in the system installing the OpenJDK 6 JRE instead. This was probably due to the fact that the default web browser Firefox uses the IcedTeaPlugin for running Java applets.

That leaves only one method left and that is to fix all the links using the 'update-alternatives' command - including the slave links to the 'man' pages. This means that we have to install all the necessary links to Oracle's Java, using all the items in the list above, except for 'itweb-settings', 'itweb-settings.1.gz' and 'mozilla-plugin.so' (these are for the Firefox web browser only, so it will be safe to keep those links untouched). Then execute the following commands in a terminal:

  sudo update-alternatives --install "/usr/bin/java" "java" "/usr/lib/jvm/jdk1.8.0_31/bin/java" 1500 --slave "/usr/share/man/man1/java.1" "java.1" "/usr/lib/jvm/jdk1.8.0_31/man/man1/java.1"
  sudo update-alternatives --install "/usr/bin/javaws" "javaws" "/usr/lib/jvm/jdk1.8.0_31/bin/javaws" 1500 --slave "/usr/share/man/man1/javaws.1" "javaws.1" "/usr/lib/jvm/jdk1.8.0_31/man/man1/javaws.1"
  sudo update-alternatives --install "/usr/bin/keytool" "keytool" "/usr/lib/jvm/jdk1.8.0_31/bin/keytool" 1500 --slave "/usr/share/man/man1/keytool.1" "keytool.1" "/usr/lib/jvm/jdk1.8.0_31/man/man1/keytool.1"
  sudo update-alternatives --install "/usr/bin/orbd" "orbd" "/usr/lib/jvm/jdk1.8.0_31/bin/orbd" 1500 --slave "/usr/share/man/man1/orbd.1" "orbd.1" "/usr/lib/jvm/jdk1.8.0_31/man/man1/orbd.1"
  sudo update-alternatives --install "/usr/bin/pack200" "pack200" "/usr/lib/jvm/jdk1.8.0_31/bin/pack200" 1500 --slave "/usr/share/man/man1/pack200.1" "pack200.1" "/usr/lib/jvm/jdk1.8.0_31/man/man1/pack200.1"
  sudo update-alternatives --install "/usr/bin/policytool" "policytool" "/usr/lib/jvm/jdk1.8.0_31/bin/policytool" 1500 --slave "/usr/share/man/man1/policytool.1" "policytool.1" "/usr/lib/jvm/jdk1.8.0_31/man/man1/policytool.1"
  sudo update-alternatives --install "/usr/bin/rmid" "rmid" "/usr/lib/jvm/jdk1.8.0_31/bin/rmid" 1500 --slave "/usr/share/man/man1/rmid.1" "rmid.1" "/usr/lib/jvm/jdk1.8.0_31/man/man1/rmid.1"
  sudo update-alternatives --install "/usr/bin/rmiregistry" "rmiregistry" "/usr/lib/jvm/jdk1.8.0_31/bin/rmiregistry" 1500 --slave "/usr/share/man/man1/rmiregistry.1" "rmiregistry.1" "/usr/lib/jvm/jdk1.8.0_31/man/man1/rmiregistry.1"
  sudo update-alternatives --install "/usr/bin/servertool" "servertool" "/usr/lib/jvm/jdk1.8.0_31/bin/servertool" 1500 --slave "/usr/share/man/man1/servertool.1" "servertool.1" "/usr/lib/jvm/jdk1.8.0_31/man/man1/servertool.1"
  sudo update-alternatives --install "/usr/bin/tnameserv" "tnameserv" "/usr/lib/jvm/jdk1.8.0_31/bin/tnameserv" 1500 --slave "/usr/share/man/man1/tnameserv.1" "tnameserv.1" "/usr/lib/jvm/jdk1.8.0_31/man/man1/tnameserv.1"
  sudo update-alternatives --install "/usr/bin/unpack200" "unpack200" "/usr/lib/jvm/jdk1.8.0_31/bin/unpack200" 1500 --slave "/usr/share/man/man1/unpack200.1" "unpack200.1" "/usr/lib/jvm/jdk1.8.0_31/man/man1/unpack200.1"

The commands listed above install the links for the items and points to the files in the 'jdk1.8.0_31' directory as well as a slave link for the 'man' files. Note that the 'priority' option is set to 1500, a much higher number of the default value of 1071 for the OpenJDK 7 JRE. This was done to ensure that Oracle's Java has a higher priority than the OpenJDK Java. Note that the 'jexec' item was not installed. It most likely that this command is not needed for Android development as 'jexec' is mainly used by the system to allow execution of JAR files. Also note that 'jexec' is a wrapper and is invoked remotely through SSH. More information can be found here.

In order to avoid typing mistake while entering the above commands, it is suggested that you cut and paste the commands above. Of course, this is assuming that you have installed Oracle's Java in the /usr/lib/jvm directory - you may have to modify the commands above if you installed Java into a different directory.

Now that we have installed the links, we still have to tell the system which Java to use. Since we have used a priority of 1500 to install the links - which is higher than OpenJDK's 1071, we have already selected to use Oracle's Java in 'auto' mode. To verify this, execute the following command:

  sudo update-alternatives --config java

If you see an output similar to the one shown below, then you are set to use Oracle's Java. Note the asterisk (*) to the left of the first item - this denote the current selection.



Press the Enter key to keep the selection. If, later, you change your mind and wants to use OpenJDK instead of Oracle's Java, you can easily reverse the changes. This can be done using the 'update-alternatives' command with the '--set' or '--config' options - the only difference is that the '--set' option is non-interactive while the the '--config' option is interactive. It is up to you to use either option.

Notice that we have not set any links for the Java compiler 'javac'. If you do (or plan to do) a lot of Java programming at the command line, then it is suggested that you set up these links and tell the system which Java compiler to use as the default. To do this execute the following commands:

  sudo update-alternatives --install "/usr/bin/javac" "javac" "/usr/lib/jvm/jdk1.8.0_31/bin/javac" 1500 --slave "/usr/share/man/man1/javac.1" "javac.1" "/usr/lib/jvm/jdk1.8.0_31/man/man1/javac.1"

Since this is the only 'javac' item installed, it will be automatically set as the default 'javac'. You can, however, add another version of 'javac' - just make sure that the priority number is less than 1500, else you have to set the default 'javac' manually.

To test whether you have set up the links properly for both the 'java' and 'javac' commands, execute the following commands:

  java -version
  javac -version

If the output from the two commands above contains the string '1.8.0_31', then the links have been set up properly. The rest of the commands can only be tested if you use them directly - however, executing 'man' on these commands should display the proper 'man' pages.

Note that Oracle's SE (aka JDK) 8 have a lot more commands that were not installed using 'update-alternatives'. A peek into the /usr/lib/jvm/jdk1.8.0_25/bin directory should provide you with some idea of these commands. You can use the 'update-alternatives' command to install these if you so wish - just follow the same procedure listed above.

That's it - you now have a (somewhat) full systems that uses Oracle Java instead of the OpenJDK Java.

Upgrading Oracle JDK 8 on Windows

It was interesting to note that Oracle has just issued updates to their Java. What was NOT interesting to note, however, they STILL have not updated their documentations on HOW, exactly, does one goes about upgrading their present Java installation to their latest version. All I could find was instructions on INSTALLING their Java package and I searched their documentation very closely. Maybe I missed something but I swear that this is unbecoming of a major software vendor. What is wrong (and how much effort will it take) with issuing a simple note on how to upgrade their existing installation?

This article is specifically written to overcome the shortcoming of Oracle, and is targeted towards the Windows (specifically 7, 8 and 8.1) users of Oracle Java SE (or JDK) 8. It was written for users of Oracle JDK 8 Update 25 who wants to upgrade to Oracle JDK 8 Update 31 - the 64 bit version. With a little tweaking, it can also be used to update the 32 bit version as well.

I will assume that the user has installed Oracle's JDK 8 by following the instructions in my previous blog, which can be found here.

STEP 1: Point your web browser to Oracle's download site here and download the following files:

  jdk-8u31-windows-x64.exe
  jdk-8u31-windows-x64-demos.zip
  jdk-8u31-docs-all.zip

STEP 2: Double-click on the '.exe' file and follow the on screen instructions to install the JDK. Note that the previous version of the JDK (1.8.0_25 in this case) is still present on your system - just in case if you still want this - if not, you can go ahead and uninstall it using the Control Panel later. If you have downloaded the demos (and samples) and docs, now would be a good time to install them. First unzip the demos to a temporary directory - this will create a 'jdk 1.8.0_31' sub-directory in which there will be two more sub-directories - 'demo' and 'sample'. Then unzip the 'docs' file to the same 'jdk 1.8.0_31' sub-directory just created. This will create another sub-directory called 'docs'. Then move all these 3 sub-directories ('demo', 'docs' and 'samples') to the actual Java directory, i.e., 'C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.8.0_31'. You will have to give permission for this action since you are moving files into a 'system' type directory.

STEP 3: Next we have to edit the JAVA_HOME system variable. To do this, right-click on the 'This PC' icon on your desktop and select 'Properties'. On the next screen that appears, click on the 'Advanced system settings' item. On the 'System Properties' window that appears, click on the 'Environment Variables' button. The 'Environment Variables' window will appear - click on the JAVA_HOME item. Then click on the 'Edit...' button and change the '1.8.0_25' to '1.8.0_31'. Then click the 'OK' button.

Scroll down the 'System variables' window until you see the 'Path' item, then click on it. Then click on the 'Edit...' button. The 'Edit System Variable' window will appear. Click anywhere in the 'Variable value' field and then press the End key on your PC. Then edit the last item and change the '1.8.0_25' to '1.8.0_31'. Click on OK, followed by another OK and lastly by another OK to close the System Properties window. Then close the System window.

STEP 4: To make the new environment variables effective, log out from the system, then log in again. Open a Command Prompt and type the following commands:

  java -version
  javac -version
  echo %JAVA_HOME%
  echo %PATH%

If the output contains the string "1.8.0_31", then the update was successful. Now you can uninstall the old JDK using the Control Panel.

That's it - you are now using the updated Java. Happy computing!