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Gaurav Agarwal
Asked: 2012-08-14 14:31:04 +0800 CST

How to set JAVA_HOME for Java?

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I've installed a version of Java. How can we set the $JAVA_HOME environment variable correctly?

java

3 Answers

  1. Best Answer

    You can set your JAVA_HOME in /etc/profile as Petronilla Escarabajo suggests. But the preferred location for JAVA_HOME or any system variable is /etc/environment.

    Open /etc/environment in any text editor like nano or gedit and add the following line:

    JAVA_HOME="/usr/lib/jvm/open-jdk"

    (java path could be different)

    Use source to load the variables, by running this command:

    source /etc/environment

    Then check the variable, by running this command:

    echo $JAVA_HOME

    Update

    Usually most linux systems source /etc/environment by default. If your system doesn't do that add the following line to ~/.bashrc (Thanks @pje)

    source /etc/environment
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  2. To set JAVA_HOME environment variable, do the following:

    1. Launch Terminal by pressing Ctrl+Alt+T on your keyboard.
    2. Enter the following command:
      $ gksudo gedit /etc/environment
    3. Depending on where you installed your Java, you will need to provide the full path. For this example, I installed Oracle JDK 7 in the /usr/lib/jvm/java-7-oracle directory.
      Scroll to the end of the file and enter the following:
      JAVA_HOME=/usr/lib/jvm/java-7-oracle
      export JAVA_HOME
    4. Save your file and exit gedit.
    5. Lastly, reload the system PATH with the following command:
      $ . /etc/environment

    The above method will save you the hassle in having to run the commands every time you log in to your computer.

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  3. If you do not know the path and you only have openJDK installed, you can type update-alternatives --config java and you should find the path. To set the variable you can write JAVA_HOME=<PATH> followed by export JAVA_HOME. Notice there's no space when declaring the variable. To check if the variable is stored you simply type echo $JAVA_HOME to verify.

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