How to Install Java on Debian 9

In this tutorial, we will walk through installing Java on Debian 9. Java is one of the most popular programming languages used to build different kinds of applications and systems. Applications developed in Java are scalable, flexible, and maintainable.

There are two different Java packages, Java Runtime Environment (JRE) and Java Development Kit (JDK). If you only want to run Java programs, then you need JRE, and if you are Java developer, then you will need JDK, which includes JRE and development/debugging tools and libraries.

There are also two different implementations of Java, OpenJDK and Oracle Java, with almost no differences between them except that Oracle Java has a few additional commercial features.

If you are not sure which Java implementation and version to use, the general recommendation is to stick to the default OpenJDK version available on Debian 9.

Prerequisites #

Before continuing with this tutorial, make sure you are logged in as a user with sudo privileges .

Install OpenJDK 8 #

OpenJDK 8, the open-source implementation of the Java Platform, is the default Java development and runtime in Debian 9. The installation is simple and straightforward.

Use the following command to install OpenJDK 8 JDK from the standard Debian repositories:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install default-jdk

Once the installation is complete, you can verify it by checking the Java version:

java -version

The output should look something like this:

openjdk version "1.8.0_212"
OpenJDK Runtime Environment (build 1.8.0_212-8u212-b01-1~deb9u1-b01)
OpenJDK 64-Bit Server VM (build 25.212-b01, mixed mode)

That’s it! At this point, you should have successfully installed Java on your Debian system.

Install OpenJDK 11 #

At the time of writing, the latest LTS version of Java is version 11. This version is available from the Debian Backports repository.

First, add Backports to your system’s software repository list:

echo 'deb https://ftp.debian.org/debian stretch-backports main' | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/stretch-backports.list

Once the repository is enabled, update apt sources and install Java 11 using the following commands:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install openjdk-11-jdk

Installing Oracle Java #

Before installing Oracle Java, make sure you read the Oracle JDK License . The license permits only non-commercial use of the software, such as personal use and development use.

Oracle Java 11 can be installed from the Linux Uprising PPA.

The following steps describe how to install Oracle Java 11 on Debian 9:

1. Start by installing the necessary packages:

   Terminal

   sudo apt install dirmngr gnupg

2. Import the PPA public key and enable the repository with the following command:

   Terminal

   sudo apt-key adv --keyserver hkp://keyserver.ubuntu.com:80 --recv-keys 73C3DB2A
   echo 'deb https://ppa.launchpad.net/linuxuprising/java/ubuntu bionic main' | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/linuxuprising-java.list

3. Once the repository is added, update the packages list and install the oracle-java11-installer package by typing:

   Terminal

   sudo apt update
   sudo apt install oracle-java11-installer

   You will be prompted to accept the Oracle license.

4. Verify the installation by running the following command which will print the R version:

   Terminal

   java -version

   output

   java version "11.0.2" 2019-01-15 LTS
   Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment 18.9 (build 11.0.2+9-LTS)
   Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM 18.9 (build 11.0.2+9-LTS, mixed mode)

Set the default version #

If you have multiple Java versions installed on your Debian machine to check what version is set as the default Java version type:

java -version

The output should look something like this:

openjdk version "11.0.3" 2019-04-16
OpenJDK Runtime Environment (build 11.0.3+1-Debian-1bpo91)
OpenJDK 64-Bit Server VM (build 11.0.3+1-Debian-1bpo91, mixed mode, sharing)

To change the default version, use the update-alternatives system command:

sudo update-alternatives --config java

There are 2 choices for the alternative java (providing /usr/bin/java).

  Selection    Path                                            Priority   Status
------------------------------------------------------------
* 0            /usr/lib/jvm/java-11-openjdk-amd64/bin/java      1111      auto mode
  1            /usr/lib/jvm/java-11-openjdk-amd64/bin/java      1111      manual mode
  2            /usr/lib/jvm/java-8-openjdk-amd64/jre/bin/java   1081      manual mode

Press <enter> to keep the current choice[*], or type selection number: 

You will be presented with a list of all installed Java versions on your Debian system. Enter the number of the version you want to be used as a default and press Enter.

Uninstall Java #

If for any reason you want to uninstall the Java package, you can uninstall it like any other package installed with apt.

For example, if you want to uninstall the default-jdk package simply run:

sudo apt remove default-jdk

Conclusion #

Now that you have learned how to install and manage different Java versions on your Debian server, your next step could be to install one of the many applications which run on Java, such as Tomcat , JBoss/WildFly , Apache Maven , Glassfish, Elasticsearch , Cassandra , Jenkins , etc.

If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment.

About the authors

Dejan Panovski

Dejan Panovski is the founder of Linuxize, an RHCSA-certified Linux system administrator and DevOps engineer based in Skopje, Macedonia. Author of 800+ Linux tutorials with 20+ years of experience turning complex Linux tasks into clear, reliable guides.

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