How To Install Java on CentOS 8

In this tutorial, we will show you how to install Java on CentOS 8. For those of you who didn’t know, Java is a programming language and computing platform. It was first released by Sun Microsystems in 1995. Many programs and scripts require Java to run it, but usually, Java is not installed by default on a VPS or Dedicated Server.

This article assumes you have at least basic knowledge of Linux, know how to use the shell, and most importantly, you host your site on your own VPS. The installation is quite simple and assumes you are running in the root account, if not you may need to add ‘sudo‘ to the commands to get root privileges. I will show you the step-by-step installation of Java on CentOS 8.

Prerequisites

• A server running one of the following operating systems: CentOS 8.
• It’s recommended that you use a fresh OS install to prevent any potential issues.
• A non-root sudo user or access to the root user. We recommend acting as a non-root sudo user, however, as you can harm your system if you’re not careful when acting as the root.

Install Java on CentOS 8

Step 1. First, let’s start by ensuring your system is up-to-date.

sudo dnf clean all
sudo dnf update

Step 2. Installing Java on CentOS 8.

Currently, there are two LTS versions of OpenJDK – OpenJDK 8 and OpenJDK 11. You can also install both Java version on any system and use them as per your requirements.

• Installing OpenJDK 11.

sudo dnf install java-11-openjdk-devel

• Installing OpenJDK 8.

sudo dnf install java-1.8.0-openjdk-devel

Verify Java version:

java -version

Step 3. Setting the Default Java Version.

You might have 2 different versions of Java on your system. To set one as the default, use the command:

sudo alternatives ––config java

The output will look something like the below:

There are 2 programs which provide 'java'.

  Selection    Command
-----------------------------------------------
   1           java-11-openjdk.x86_64 (/usr/lib/jvm/java-11-openjdk-11.0.4.11-0.el8_0.x86_64/bin/java)
*+ 2           java-1.8.0-openjdk.x86_64 (/usr/lib/jvm/java-1.8.0-openjdk-1.8.0.222.b10-0.el8_0.x86_64/jre/bin/java)

Enter to keep the current selection[+], or type selection number:

After change again check the current active Java version:

java -version

Congratulations! You have successfully installed Java. Thanks for using this tutorial for installing Oracle Java on CentOS 8 system. For additional help or useful information, we recommend you check the official Java website.