JAVA_HOME and PATH are set but java -version still shows the old one

Question

I am using Linux Mint Cinnamon 14. I have set the $JAVA_HOME and $PATH environment variables in ~/.profile as follows:

export JAVA_HOME=/home/aqeel/development/jdk/jdk1.6.0_35
export PATH=/home/aqeel/development/jdk/jdk1.6.0_35/bin:$PATH

I then did source ~/.profile to make the proper changes.

When I execute java -version command to check the active java version, it shows the default (already installed open-jdk) java version. How can I override the default open-jdk with the one I downloaded?

UPDATE:

which java says /usr/bin/java

$JAVA_HOME/bin/java -version says 'Permission Denied'

sudo $JAVA_HOME/bin/java -version (asks for password, then) says Command not found

but cd $JAVA_HOME/bin, and ls shows that it is right directory.

may be reverse the PATH defenition `export PATH=$PATH:/home/aqeel/development/jdk/jdk1.6.0_35/bin` — Subin Sebastian, Jan 02 '13 at 10:00
if you are still in the same session then you'll have to reload profile `source ~/.profile` — Manish, Jan 02 '13 at 10:10

score 70 · Accepted Answer · edited Jan 14 '19 at 18:43

70

While it looks like your setup is correct, there are a few things to check:

The output of env - specifically PATH.
command -v java tells you what?
Is there a java executable in $JAVA_HOME\bin and does it have the execute bit set? If not chmod a+x java it.

I trust you have source'd your .profile after adding/changing the JAVA_HOME and PATH?

Also, you can help yourself in future maintenance of your JDK installation by writing this instead:

export JAVA_HOME=/home/aqeel/development/jdk/jdk1.6.0_35
export PATH=$JAVA_HOME/bin:$PATH

Then you only need to update one env variable when you setup the JDK installation.

Finally, you may need to run hash -r to clear the Bash program cache. Other shells may need a similar command.

Cheers,

edited Jan 14 '19 at 18:43

jww

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answered Jan 02 '13 at 10:06

Anders R. Bystrup

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I see, no file in the $JAVA_HOME/bin directory is marked as executable. Please tell me what other files I have to mark as executable? (Also please see the question I have edited it) Thanks a lot – Jan 02 '13 at 10:17
See my bullet 3 above. `chmod a+x *` in the `bin` directory will probably do the trick. Also read `man chmod` and something on permissions on unix/linux in general. – Anders R. Bystrup Jan 02 '13 at 10:20
Ok, after doing `chmod a+x *` in the `bin` directory, the `$JAVA_HOME/bin/java` -version outcome is received, but `java -version` is still the old default one. – Jan 02 '13 at 10:25
Close the shell, open a new one, make sure the `PATH` is set correctly, try again. – Anders R. Bystrup Jan 02 '13 at 10:32
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When exporting the PATH, place the $PATH itself as last parameter. Otherwise you will probably still reference the old one. – magiccrafter Mar 22 '15 at 00:21

Ciro Santilli OurBigBook.com · Answer 2 · 2018-03-15T10:03:31.503

update-java-alternatives

The java executable is not found with your JAVA_HOME, it only depends on your PATH.

update-java-alternatives is a good way to manage it for the entire system is through:

update-java-alternatives -l

Sample output:

java-7-oracle 1 /usr/lib/jvm/java-7-oracle
java-8-oracle 2 /usr/lib/jvm/java-8-oracle

Choose one of the alternatives:

sudo update-java-alternatives -s java-7-oracle

Like update-alternatives, it works through symlink management. The advantage is that is manages symlinks to all the Java utilities at once: javac, java, javap, etc.

I am yet to see a JAVA_HOME effect on the JDK. So far, I have only seen it used in third-party tools, e.g. Maven.

[update-alternative command not found](https://askubuntu.com/a/93713/915076) helped — Stalin Gino, Jan 17 '19 at 18:55

Gerardo Roza · Answer 3 · 2020-04-03T14:46:08.287

If you want to use JDKs downloaded from Oracle's site, what worked for me (using Mint) is using update-alternatives:

I downloaded the JDK and extracted it just anywhere, for example in /home/aqeel/development/jdk/jdk1.6.0_35

I ran:

sudo update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/java java /home/aqeel/development/jdk/jdk1.6.0_35/bin/java 1

Now you can execute sudo update-alternatives --config java and choose your java version.

This doesn't set the JAVA_HOME variable, which I wanted configured, so I just added it to my ~/.bashrc, including an export JAVA_HOME="/home/aqeel/development/jdk/jdk1.6.0_35" statement

Now, I had two JDKs downloaded (let's say the second has been extracted to /home/aqeel/development/jdk/jdk-10.0.1).

How can we change the JAVA_HOME dynamically based on the current java being used?

My solution is not very elegant, I'm pretty sure there are better options out there, but anyway:

To change the JAVA_HOME dynamically based on the chosen java alternative, I added this snippet to the ~/.bashrc:

export JAVA_HOME=$(update-alternatives --query java | grep Value: | awk -F'Value: ' '{print $2}' | awk -F'/bin/java' '{print $1}')

Finally (this is out of the scope) if you have to change the java version constantly, you might want to consider:

Adding an alias to your ~./bash_aliases:

alias change-java="sudo update-alternatives --config java"

(You might have to create the file and maybe uncomment the section related to this in ~/.bashrc)

It seems the last character should be removed, no? sudo update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/java java /home/aqeel/development/jdk/jdk1.6.0_35/bin/java 1` — Cleber Jorge Amaral, Apr 03 '20 at 06:05
right, the command is `sudo update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/java java /home/aqeel/development/jdk/jdk1.6.0_35/bin/java 1`, just fixed that thanks for the heads up @CleberJorgeAmaral — Gerardo Roza, Apr 03 '20 at 14:47

score 4 · Answer 4 · answered Jan 02 '13 at 10:25

4

$JAVA_HOME/bin/java -version says 'Permission Denied'

If you cannot access or run code, it which be ignored if added to your path. You need to make it accessible and runnable or get a copy of your own.

Do an

ls -ld $JAVA_HOME $JAVA_HOME/bin $JAVA_HOME/bin/java

to see why you cannot access or run this program,.

answered Jan 02 '13 at 10:25

Peter Lawrey

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Ooops, It was not marked as executable (as @Anders R. Bystrup pointed out in his answer). After doing `chmod a+x *` in the `bin` directory, the `$JAVA_HOME/bin/java` -version outcome is received, but `java -version` is still the old default one. – Jan 02 '13 at 10:29
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try calling `hash -r` to cause the shell remove it's remembered locations. – Peter Lawrey Jan 02 '13 at 10:33

score 4 · Answer 5 · answered May 25 '14 at 12:10

When it searches for java it looks from left to right in path entries which are separated by : so you need to add the path of latest jdk/bin directory before /usr/bin, so when it searches it'll find the latest one and stop searching further.

i.e. PATH=/usr/java/jdk_1.8/bin:/usr/bin:..... and so on.

then initialize user profile using command: source ~/.bash_profile

and check with: [which java]

you'll get the right one.

score 2 · Answer 6 · answered Jan 24 '19 at 05:59

check available Java versions on your Linux system by using update-alternatives command:

 $ sudo update-alternatives --display java

Now that there are suitable candidates to change to, you can switch the default Java version among available Java JREs by running the following command:

 $ sudo update-alternatives --config java

When prompted, select the Java version you would like to use.1 or 2 or 3 or etc..

Now you can verify the default Java version changed as follows.

 $ java -version

score 2 · Answer 7 · answered Jun 06 '19 at 17:05

Try this:

export JAVA_HOME=put_here_your_java_home_path
type export PATH=$JAVA_HOME/bin:$PATH (ensure that $JAVA_HOME is the first element in PATH)
try java -version

Reason: there could be other PATH elements point to alternative java home. If you put first your preferred JAVA_HOME, the system will use this one.

score 1 · Answer 8 · answered Nov 20 '13 at 12:18

1

There is an easy way, just remove the symbolic link from "/usr/bin". It will work.

answered Nov 20 '13 at 12:18

Bineeth

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score 1 · Answer 9 · edited Dec 29 '15 at 18:58

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Updating the ~/.profile or ~/.bash_profile does not work sometimes. I just deleted JDK 6 and sourced .bash_profile.

Try running this:

sudo rm -rd jdk1.6.0_* #it may not let you delete without sudo

Then, modify/add your JAVA_HOME and PATH variables.

source ~/.bash_profile #assuming you've updated $JAVA_HOME and $PATH

edited Dec 29 '15 at 18:58

Pavel Bucek

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answered Jul 13 '15 at 18:13

javaProgrammer

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score 0 · Answer 10 · answered Dec 09 '17 at 20:23

In Linux Mint 18 Cinnamon be sure to check /etc/profile.d/jdk_home.sh I renamed this file to jdk_home.sh.old and now my path does not keep getting overridden and I can call java -version and see Java 9 as expected. Even though I correctly selected Java 9 in update-aternatives --config java this jdk_home.sh file kept overriding the $PATH on boot-up.

JAVA_HOME and PATH are set but java -version still shows the old one

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