How to Set Up Your Java_Home Path in Ubuntu

Last Updated: May 6, 2021 Tested

This wikiHow teaches you how to set your JAVA_HOME Environment path. This is where Java Development Kit (JDK) is installed on your computer. Java is one of the most popular programming languages. It is used to run everything from desktop graphic user interfaces, mobile applications, web applications, as well as business and scientific applications. Many applications that run Java or are being developed in JDK need to know where the JAVA_HOME Environment path is located.

Steps

1
Launch the Terminal. To open the Terminal in Ubuntu, press Ctrl+Alt+T or open the Dash and click the icon that resembles a black screen with a text prompt on it.
2
Type in sudo su and press ↵ Enter. This gives you root privileges.

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3
Enter the root password. In order to get root access, you will need to enter the root password.
4
Type sudo updatedb and press ↵ Enter. This updates your database.
5
Type locate openjdk and press ↵ Enter. This command is used to identify where is Java installed on your Ubuntu machine.
- If Java has not been installed, type sudo apt-get install openjdk-9-jre-headless -y and press ↵ Enter
6
Look to see where Java is installed. You can use the install location to set the Java_Home path. For example, if most of the return outputs are "/usr/lib/jvm/java-9-openjdk-amd64", we would use this path to set the Java_Home pather.
7
Type export JAVA_HOME= followed by the Java installation path. In our previous example, we would type export JAVA_HOME="/usr/lib/jvm/java-9-openjdk-amd64". This temporarily sets the Java_Home path. However, if the system is restarted, it will be lost.
8
Press ↵ Enter. This executes the command.
9
Type echo "JAVA_HOME=' followed by the installation path. Using the above example, we would type echo "JAVA_HOME='/usr/lib/jvm/java-9-openjdk-amd64'".
10
Add >> /etc/environment to the end of the line and press ↵ Enter. This permanently sets the Java_Home path.
- Alternatively, if you do not have root access, you can type echo "JAVA_HOME='java installation path'" >> .bashrc and press ↵ Enter to set the Java_Home path.^{[1]
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Community Q&A

Question

Step 8 says to "export PATH ." Should I include the "."? There is no "." in Step 6.

Living Concrete

Top Answerer

You should not include the trailing period.
Question

What should I do if my path is showing JAVA_HOME=/usr/lib/jvm/java-8-oracle?

Community Answer

Then Java is already installed in your system. You can change the current JAVA_HOME if you want to update it.
Question

How do I update Java using a command?

Pingu

Top Answerer

If you installed Java from APT, as is usually done on Ubuntu, you need to find which exact Java package you installed first. It's usually either some Oracle JDK or GCJ. You can use "dpkg --get-selections" to list all packages and the "grep" command to find the package in it. Then, you should write "sudo apt-get install --only-upgrade packageName", with packageName being the name of the package you found.