System Requirements

See supported System Configurations for information about supported platforms, operating systems, desktop managers, and browsers.

On a 64-bit system, you can download either the 64-bit or the 32-bit version of the Java platform. However, if you are using a 32-bit browser and you want to use the plugin, then you need to install the 32-bit version of the Java platform. To determine which version of Firefox you are running, launch the application, and select the menu item Help -> About Mozilla Firefox. At the bottom of the window is a version string line that contains either "Linux i686" (32-bit) or "Linux x86_64" (64-bit). To setup the Java plugin, see step 6.

Installation Instructions

This procedure installs the Java Development Kit (JDK) for 64-bit Linux, using a self-extracting binary file. The JDK download includes the Java SE Runtime Environment (JRE) – you do not have to download the JRE separately.

For RPM-based Linux distributions, like Red Hat or SuSE, refer to the RPM installation instructions.

The name of the downloaded file has the following format:

    jdk-6u
        <version>-linux-x64.bin

<version>

jdk-6u18-linux-x64.bin

To install, download this file and use the following instructions.

1. Download and check the download file size.

   You can download to any directory that you can write to.

   This bundle can be installed by anyone (not only root users), in any location that the user can write to. However, only the root user can displace the system version of the Java platform supplied by Linux.

2. Make sure that execute permissions are set

   Run this command:

   % chmod +x 6u <version>-linux-x64.bin

3. Change directory to the location where you would like the files to be installed.

   The next step installs the JDK into the current directory.

4. Run the self-extracting binary.

   Execute the downloaded file, prepended by the path to it. For example, if the file is in the current directory, prepend it with " ./" (necessary if " ." is not in the PATH environment variable):

   % ./jdk-6u <version>-linux-x64.bin

   The binary code license is displayed, and you are prompted to agree to its terms.

   The Java Development Kit files are installed in a directory called jdk.6.0_<version> in the current directory. Follow this link to see its directory structure.

5. Delete the bin file if you want to save disk space.

Note about Root Access: Installing the software automatically creates a directory called jre1.6.0_ <version>. Note that if you choose to install the Java SE Runtime Environment into system-wide location such as /usr/local, you must first become root to gain the necessary permissions. If you do not have root access, simply install the Java SE Runtime Environment into your home directory, or a subdirectory that you have permission to write to.

Note about Overwriting Files: If you install the software in a directory that contains a subdirectory named jre1.6.0_ <version>, the new software overwrites files of the same name in that jre1.6.0_ <version> directory. Please be careful to rename the old directory if it contains files you would like to keep.

Note about System Preferences: By default, the installation script configures the system such that the backing store for system preferences is created inside the JDK's installation directory. If the JDK is installed on a network-mounted drive, it and the system preferences can be exported for sharing with Java runtime environments on other machines.

See the Preferences API documentation for more information about preferences in the Java platform.