(*) Current answers are either obsolete (no longer valid for macOS El Capitan or Sierra), or only address a single JDK, or do not address the system-wide aspect. When working in a shell with alternate JDK, pick your method among existing answers ( jenv, or custom aliases/scripts around /usr/libexec/java_home, etc). System launcher will use the JDK with highest version among those that have an ist file. It will simply be ignored by system's java command. That JDK can still be used when $JAVA_HOME points to it, or explicitly referenced in a script or configuration.

To exclude a JDK from being picked by default, rename its Contents/ist to.

The system will pick the highest version by default.

leave all JDKs at their default location, under /Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines.

The following approach works with Java 7 to 12 at least (early access at the time of this writing), with Oracle JDK or OpenJDK (including builds by AdoptOpenJDK produced after mid-October 2018). I want to control system's default, and that should be latest stable. when I start my IDE) to use the latest 'early access' version I have for now.

Usually I have the latest stable one for general use, and others for tests. As far as I can tell, none of the current answers do that (*).Īs a developer, I use several JDKs, and I want to switch from one to the other easily. This answer is an attempt to address: how to control java version system-wide (not just in currently running shell) when several versions of JDK are installed for development purposes on macOS El Capitan or newer (Sierra, High Sierra, Mojave). Press Y to save your changes source ~/.zshrc zshrc file should work: nano ~/.zshrcĮxport JAVA_HOME=$(/usr/libexec/java_home -v 1.8.0) Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM (build 20.65-b04-462, mixed mode)Īdd the export JAVA_HOME… line to your shell’s init file.įor Bash (as stated by antonyh): export JAVA_HOME=$(/usr/libexec/java_home -v 1.8)įor Fish (as stated by ormurin) set -x JAVA_HOME (/usr/libexec/java_home -d64 -v1.8) Now when you run java -version you will see: java version '1.6.0_65' Or you can specify just the major version, like: export JAVA_HOME=`/usr/libexec/java_home -v 1.8` Pick the version you want to be the default ( 1.6.0_65-b14-462 for arguments sake) then: export JAVA_HOME=`/usr/libexec/java_home -v 1.6.0_65-b14-462`

Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/jdk1.8.0_05.jdk/Contents/Home First run /usr/libexec/java_home -V which will output something like the following: Matching Java Virtual Machines (3):ġ.8.0_05, x86_64: 'Java SE 8' /Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/jdk1.8.0_05.jdk/Contents/Homeġ.6.0_65-b14-462, x86_64: 'Java SE 6' /System/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/1.6.0.jdk/Contents/Homeġ.6.0_65-b14-462, i386: 'Java SE 6' /System/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/1.6.0.jdk/Contents/Home

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