How to install Java 8 on Mac

java macos java-8 installation
user3763100 picture user3763100 · Jun 21, 2014 · Viewed 911.9k times · Source

I want to do some programming with the latest JavaFX, which requires Java 8. I'm using IntelliJ 13 CE and Mac OS X 9 Mavericks. I ran Oracle's Java 8 installer, and the files look like they ended up at 

/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/jdk1.8.0_05.jdk

but previous versions are at 

/System/Library/Java/JavaFrameworks/jdk1.6....

Not sure why the latest installer puts this in /Library instead of /System/Library (nor what the difference is). But /usr/libexec/java_home doesn't find 1.8, so all the posts I've found on how to set your current java version don't work. I've tried adding a symbolic link to make it look like 1.8 is in the /System/Library... path, but it doesn't help. /usr/libexec/java_home -V still only lists the old Java 1.6.

Ironically, the "Java" control panel under System Preferences shows only Java 1.8!

Why doesn't Oracle's installer put it where it really goes? And how can I work around this problem?

Answer

l3x picture l3x · Feb 20, 2015

Oracle has a poor record for making it easy to install and configure Java, but using Homebrew, the latest OpenJDK (Java 14) can be installed with:

brew cask install java

For the many use cases depending on an older version (commonly Java 8), the AdoptOpenJDK project makes it possible with an extra step.

brew tap adoptopenjdk/openjdk
brew cask install adoptopenjdk8

Existing users of Homebrew may encounter Error: Cask adoptopenjdk8 exists in multiple taps due to prior workarounds with different instructions. This can be solved by fully specifying the location with brew cask install adoptopenjdk/openjdk/adoptopenjdk8.

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