Scott Granneman

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Home > Tech Info > Linux > Install Software > Install Java

Install Java on Linux

If you're running a Debian-based distro, just do the following:

# apt-get install java-common j2re1.4

If you're not running Debian, and are instead running a different distro, then follow the following directions.

The lastest Java Runtime Environment as of this writing is 1.4.2. To download your JRE, go to ftp://ftp.tux.org/pub/java/JDK-1.4.2/i386/rc1/ and download j2re-1.4.2-rc1-linux-i586-gcc3.2.bin (note that this distribution is for Linux running on Intel processors).

The following instructions are taken from the Blackdown README, located at ftp://ftp.tux.org/pub/java/JDK-1.4.2/i386/rc1/INSTALL-j2re .

Install the JRE

Login as root, cd to the directory that contains the JRE you just downloaded, move the downloaded file j2re-1.4.2-rc1-linux-i586-gcc3.2.bin to /usr/local, and then cd to that directory:

# mv j2re-1.4.2-rc1-linux-i586-gcc3.2.bin
# cd /usr/local

Extract the contents of the JRE & follow the instructions:

# ./j2re-1.4.2-rc1-linux-i586-gcc3.2.bin

Once you're finished, add j2re1.4.2/bin to your PATH:

# export PATH=/usr/local/j2re1.4.2/bin:$PATH

As you, and not root, do the same thing:

$ export PATH=/usr/local/j2re1.4.2/bin:$PATH

Install the Java Plug-In

For Netscape & Mozilla, do the following.

Login as root and create a symbolic link from your JRE installation to one of the directories Mozilla/Netscape 6 searches for plug-ins.

# ln -s /usr/local/j2re1.4.2/plugin/i386/mozilla/javaplugin_oji.so /usr/lib/mozilla/plugins/

Close all running instances of Netscape/Mozilla, open the browser back up, and head to http://www.javasoft.com to see if the applet on the home page comes up.

For Konqueror, do the following.

Settings menu > Configure Konqueror > Konqueror Browser > Java tab

Check the box next to Enable Java globally.

For the "Path to Java executable", enter: /usr/local/j2re1.3.1/bin/java

Click OK to close the Settings window. Close all running instances of Konqueror, open the browser back up, and head to http://www.javasoft.com to see if the applet on the home page comes up.

For more info:

See http://www.mozilla.org/oji/

See http://www.gerbilbox.com/newzilla/mozilla/usingmoz07.php