How to Install Oracle Java 7 update 25 on Ubuntu 12.10 Linux

Abstract

This blog entry will guide you through the step-by-step installation of Java on Ubuntu. I selected Oracle Java 7 update 25 and Ubuntu Linux 12.10 32 bit for this post.

Introduction

Installing Java on Linux follows the download-extract-configure pattern. We will begin by downloading Oracle Java from Oracle’s website, extracting the download in the appropriate folder, and finally informing Ubuntu about the newly installed version of Java.

Step 1: Verify that you do not already have the correct version of Java installed.

Open your console window and enter the following command:

java –version

If you get the following result, you already have Java 7 update 25 installed and can ignore the rest of the steps:

java version 1.7.0_25 Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.7.0_25-b15) Java HotSpot(TM) Client VM (build 23.25-b01, mixed mode)

Step 2: Download Oracle Java.

New release of Java are featured on the main Java download page.
If Java 7 update 25 is no longer featured, you can find the download by following the Previous Releases link found on the main download page.
Open the Java download page in your browser and download jdk-7u25-linux-i586.bin.
Make a note of the folder to which you downloaded the file. For further reference in this blog, I will call this folder the “downloads folder”.

Step 3: Create the installation folder.

The usr/lib/jvm is the default installation location of the Java JDK. Enter the following command in your console to create this folder, if it does not already exist:

1	sudo mkdir -p /usr/lib/jvm

The –p option ensures that all folders in the mkdir path are created.

Step 4: Navigate to the “downloads folder”.

If you downloaded the file to your Home folder, you can use the following command:

cd ~/

or substitute "~/" with the path to the “downloads folder”.

Step 5: Move the downloaded archive to the installation folder.

sudo mv jdk-7u25-linux-i586.tar.gz /usr/lib/jvm

Step 6: Navigate to the “installation folder”.

cd /usr/lib/jvm

Step 7: Unpack the tarball archives.

sudo tar zxvf jdk-7u25-linux-i586.tar.gz

If you want to conserve space you may delete the tarball archives.

sudo rm jdk-7u25-linux-i586.tar.gz

Step 8: Display the contents of the installation folder.

ls -l

Response:

jdk1.7.0_25

Make a note of the newly created folder names.

Step 9: Inform Ubuntu where your Java installation is located.

sudo update-alternatives --install "/usr/bin/javac" "javac" "/usr/lib/jvm/jdk1.7.0_25/bin/javac" 1 sudo update-alternatives --install "/usr/bin/java" "java" "/usr/lib/jvm/jdk1.7.0_25/bin/java" 1

Step 10: Inform Ubuntu that this is your default Java installation.

sudo update-alternatives --set "javac" "/usr/lib/jvm/jdk1.7.0_25/bin/javac" sudo update-alternatives --set "java" "/usr/lib/jvm/jdk1.7.0_25/bin/java"

Step 11: Update your system-wide PATH.

Edit your /etc/profile file using:

sudo nano /etc/profile

Add the following entries to the bottom of your /etc/profile file:

JAVA_HOME=/usr/lib/jvm/jdk1.7.0_25 PATH=$PATH:$JAVA_HOME/bin export JAVA_HOME export PATH

Save your /etc/profile file using CTRL + X.

Step 12: Reload your system-wide PATH.

. /etc/profile

Step 13: Test your new installation.

java -version

Response:

java version 1.7.0_25Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.7.0_25-b15)Java HotSpot(TM) Client VM (build 23.25-b01, mixed mode)

javac -version

Response:

javac 1.7.0_25

Step 14: Congratulations! You have just installed Oracle Java on Ubuntu Linux!