The cleanest way to manage multiple java versions on Mac is to use Homebrew
.
And within Homebrew
, use:
homebrew-cask
to install the versions of java
jenv
to manage the installed versions of java
As seen on http://hanxue-it.blogspot.ch/2014/05/installing-java-8-managing-multiple.html , these are the steps to follow.
- install homebrew
- install homebrew jenv
- install homebrew-cask
- install a specific java version using cask (see "homebrew-cask versions" paragraph below)
- add this version for jenv to manage it
- check the version is correctly managed by jenv
- repeat steps 4 to 6 for each version of java you need
homebrew-cask versions
Add the homebrew/cask-versions
tap to homebrew using:
brew tap homebrew/cask-versions
Then you can look at all the versions available:
brew search java
Then you can install the version(s) you like:
brew cask install java7
brew cask install java6
And add them to be managed by jenv as usual.
jenv add <javaVersionPathHere>
I think this is the cleanest & simplest way to go about it.
Another important thing to note, as mentioned in Mac OS X 10.6.7 Java Path Current JDK confusing :
For different types of JDKs or installations, you will have different
paths
You can check the paths of the versions installed using /usr/libexec/java_home -V
, see How do I check if the Java JDK is installed on Mac?
On Mac OS X Mavericks, I found as following:
1) Built-in JRE default: /Library/Internet\
Plug-Ins/JavaAppletPlugin.plugin/Contents/Home
2) JDKs downloaded from Apple: /System/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/1.6.0.jdk/Contents/Home/
3) JDKs downloaded from Oracle: /Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/jdk1.8.0_11.jdk/Contents/Home
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