For distributed platforms

Installing, updating, and uninstalling IBM SDK, Java Technology Edition

You can install IBM® SDK, Java™ Technology Edition by using IBM Installation Manager Version 1.8.5 or later. Liberty can run with any compliant Java runtime environment (JRE) or Java software development kit (SDK).

About this task

[16.0.0.4 and later]Note: Support for using Java SE 6 with WebSphere® Liberty ends in September 2017. After the end of support, the Liberty kernel will be recompiled and can no longer run with Java SE 6. If you continue to use Java SE 6 on earlier fix packs after the end of support date, you could expose your environment to security risks.

Java SE 8 is the recommended Java SDK because it provides the latest features and security updates. You can install it by installing the IBM SDK, Java Technology Edition, Version 8 package to the package group that contains WebSphere Liberty.

New: Installation Manager now supports two types of Java SDK offerings:
  • Common IBM Java SDKs: These offerings, which are denoted by com.ibm.java.jdk IDs, are available for the latest Java versions. Because these offerings do not follow the WebSphere fix pack schedule, you can receive Java security updates faster, as they become available. These offerings are also used by WebSphere Application Server traditional V9.0.
  • WebSphere Java SDKs: These offerings, which are denoted by com.ibm.websphere.liberty.IBMJAVA IDs, are available for older Java versions. Updates to these offerings are delivered according to the WebSphere fix pack schedule.

The following table lists the Java SDK offering names and IDs.

Table 1. IBM Java SDK offerings
Java SDK offering name Offering ID
IBM SDK, Java Technology Edition, Version 8 com.ibm.java.jdk.v8
IBM SDK, Java Technology Edition, Version 7 Release 1 com.ibm.java.jdk.v71
IBM WebSphere SDK, Java Technology Edition, Version 7 com.ibm.websphere.liberty.IBMJAVA.v70
IBM WebSphere SDK, Java Technology Edition, Version 6 com.ibm.websphere.liberty.IBMJAVA.v60
Note: Liberty Version 8.5.5 supported the com.ibm.websphere.liberty.IBMJAVA.v80 and com.ibm.websphere.liberty.IBMJAVA.v71 offerings. Although you can continue to install these offerings, consider installing the common Java SDK instead for both new and existing installations. Note that these WebSphere Java SDK offerings cannot be used with the versionless Liberty offerings, such as com.ibm.websphere.liberty.BASE, which were introduced in Version 9.0. For these Liberty offerings, you must install the IBM Java SDKs.

The Java SDK offerings are installed by using the standard Installation Manager procedures. The architecture of the Java SDK offering is automatically selected based on your operating system.

Procedure

What to do next

After you install, update, or uninstall a Java SDK, you can change the Java runtime environment that Liberty uses by setting the JAVA_HOME variable. Set the JAVA_HOME environment variable to the jre directory of the Java version that you want to use.For Windows platforms
JAVA_HOME=C:\IBM\WebSphere\Liberty\java\java_1.8_64\jre

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