Many Java applications that use shell scripts to configure their environment use the JAVA_HOME
environment variable to start the correct version of Java, locate JRE JARs, and so on.
In macOS X 10.6, the following paths seem to be valid for this variable
/Library/Java/Home
/System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Home
/System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/Current
Some of these are symlinks to the actual current VM (as defined in the Java Preference pane).
But which one should be used—or is it okay to use any of them?
I just set JAVA_HOME
to the output of that command, which should give you the Java path specified in your Java preferences. Here's a snippet from my .bashrc
file, which sets this variable:
export JAVA_HOME=$(/usr/libexec/java_home)
I haven't experienced any problems with that technique.
Occasionally I do have to change the value of JAVA_HOME
to an earlier version of Java. For example, one program I'm maintaining requires 32-bit Java 5 on OS X, so when using that program, I set JAVA_HOME
by running:
export JAVA_HOME=$(/usr/libexec/java_home -v 1.5)
For those of you who don't have java_home
in your path add it like this.
sudo ln -s /System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/Current/Commands/java_home /usr/libexec/java_home
References:
Oracle explains the java_home command
An article for configuring the JDK in Spring Tool Suite (Eclipse 2019) on MacOS
Also, it`s interesting to set your PATH to reflect the JDK. After adding JAVA_HOME (which can be done with the example cited by 'mipadi'):
export JAVA_HOME=$(/usr/libexec/java_home)
Add also in ~/.profile:
export PATH=${JAVA_HOME}/bin:$PATH
P.S.: For OSX, I generally use .profile in the HOME dir instead of .bashrc
.bash_profile
— why do you use than the generic .profile
?
.profile
is generic, it will work with sh
or bash
, while .bash_profile
is exclusive to bash
. Also this isolates settings from apps that use .bash_profile
, like MacPorts
. But you can safely use any of the two. See more about it here
.bash_profile
overrides .profile
.
.bash_profile
is specific, whereas .profile
is generic, for all sh
variations.
java
in your /usr/bin
there shouldn't be a need to explicitly add $JAVA_HOME
to your path.
I am having MAC OS X(Sierra) 10.12.2.
I set JAVA_HOME to work on React Native(for Android apps) by following the following steps.
Open Terminal (Command+R, type Terminal, Hit ENTER).
Add the following lines to ~/.bash_profile. export JAVA_HOME=$(/usr/libexec/java_home)
Now run the following command. source ~/.bash_profile
You can check the exact value of JAVA_HOME by typing the following command. echo $JAVA_HOME
The value(output) returned will be something like below. /Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/jdk1.8.0_131.jdk/Contents/Home
That's it.
$JAVA_HOME
refers $(/usr/libexec/java_home)
and $(/usr/libexec/java_home)
is internally referred as /Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/jdk1.8.0_131.jdk/Contents/Home
by the System.
I'm on Mac OS 10.6.8
The easiest solution works for me is simply put in
$ export JAVA_HOME=$(/usr/libexec/java_home)
To test whether it works, put in
$ echo $JAVA_HOME
it shows
/System/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/1.6.0.jdk/Contents/Home
you can also test
$ which java
Nowadays Java seems to be installed in /Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines
I tend to use /Library/Java/Home
. The way the preferences pane works this should be up to date with your preferred version.
That above works not any more in YOSEMITE for GRAPHICAL APPLICATIONS! Like eclipse, or anything started with Spotlight. (.bash_profile, launchd.conf works for terminal sessions only.) Before starting eclipse, just open a terminal window, and give out the following command:
launchctl setenv JAVA_HOME /Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/jdk1.7.0_45.jdk/Contents/Home
(With your installation path! Perhaps works with $(/usr/libexec/java_home) instead of the full path too.)
View the whole excellent article about the permanent solution here: Setting environment variables via launchd.conf no longer works in OS X Yosemite/El Capitan/macOS Sierra?
It is recommended to check default terminal shell before set JAVA_HOME environment variable, via following commands:
$ echo $SHELL
/bin/bash
If your default terminal is /bin/bash (Bash), then you should use @hygull method
If your default terminal is /bin/zsh (Z Shell), then you should set these environment variable in ~/.zshenv file with following contents:
export JAVA_HOME="$(/usr/libexec/java_home)"
Similarly, any other terminal type not mentioned above, you should set environment variable in its respective terminal env file.
This method tested working in macOS Mojave Version 10.14.6.
I've found this stack to help, i was having the same issue and i could fix:
My java path was here:
/Library/Internet Plug-Ins/JavaAppletPlugin.plugin/Contents/Home
and was needed to put into my .bash_profile
:
export JAVA_HOME=\"/Library/Internet Plug-Ins/JavaAppletPlugin.plugin/Contents/Home\"
Hope help
As other answers note, the correct way to find the Java home directory is to use /usr/libexec/java_home
.
The official documentation for this is in Apple's Technical Q&A QA1170: Important Java Directories on OS X: https://developer.apple.com/library/mac/qa/qa1170/_index.html
For me maven seems to work off the .mavenrc
file:
echo "export JAVA_HOME=$(/usr/libexec/java_home -v 1.8)" > ~/.mavenrc
I'm sure I picked it up on SO too, just can't remember where.
Create file ~/.mavenrc
then paste this into the file
export JAVA_HOME=$(/usr/libexec/java_home)
test
mvn -v
Skipping Terminal setup since you mentioned applications, permanent system environment variable set up (works for macOS Sierra; should work for El Capitan too):
launchctl setenv JAVA_HOME $(/usr/libexec/java_home -v 1.8)
(this will set JAVA_HOME to the latest 1.8 JDK, chances are you have gone through serveral updates e.g. javac 1.8.0_101, javac 1.8.0_131) Of course, change 1.8 to 1.7 or 1.6 (really?) to suit your need and your system
For Fish Shell users, use something like the following: alias java7 "set -gx JAVA_HOME (/usr/libexec/java_home -v1.7)"
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