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I tried sudo yum update but it just keeps java "1.7.0_75". I need 1.8 for it to work with another application but can't figure out how to upgrade it.
Do I need to manually install it somehow? There's not much information on this on the internet as far as I can see.
Specs:

java version "1.7.0_75"
OpenJDK Runtime Environment (amzn-2.5.4.0.53.amzn1-x86_64 u75-b13)
OpenJDK 64-Bit Server VM (build 24.75-b04, mixed mode)

When I try update now:

[ec2-________]$ sudo yum update
Loaded plugins: priorities, update-motd, upgrade-helper
amzn-main/latest                                         | 2.1 kB     00:00
amzn-updates/latest                                      | 2.3 kB     00:00
No packages marked for update

Is there anything else I need to do?
Thanks.

0

3 Answers 3

238

To remove java 1.7 and install java 1.8:

sudo yum install java-1.8.0
sudo yum remove java-1.7.0-openjdk
7
  • 1
    This is correct, thank you. I'm new to this as you can see.
    – K_dar
    Feb 3, 2015 at 16:30
  • 8
    Changed the order of installation so that it doesn't remove the aws-apitools. May 9, 2016 at 14:41
  • 1
    Note this will only install the Java Runtime.
    – johnnieb
    Jan 28, 2017 at 18:35
  • 2
    @johnnieb you can get the full JDK with this: yum install java-1.8.0-openjdk-devel.x86_64
    – orange80
    May 17, 2017 at 5:09
  • 5
    @orange80 I believe the command is yum install java-1.8.0-openjdk-devel -y
    – johnnieb
    May 17, 2017 at 16:23
153

Install Java Runtime 1.8

sudo yum install java-1.8.0

or if you need a java compiler and other developer tools:

sudo yum install java-1.8.0-openjdk-devel

Then use the alternatives command to make Java 1.8 the default.

sudo /usr/sbin/alternatives --config java
sudo /usr/sbin/alternatives --config javac
# etc

If you prefer you can remove Java 1.7 with

sudo yum remove java-1.7.0-openjdk

but remove it after you installed Java 1.8 or the aws-apitools will also be removed as they depend on Java on being installed.

3
  • 16
    This is the most correct answer. If you follow the accepted answer you will lose aws-apitools. Mar 23, 2016 at 23:01
  • 8
    +1 for sudo /usr/sbin/alternatives --config java Jul 17, 2016 at 6:51
  • I have found some other packages to depend on Java 1.7.0 even though they work with Java 1.8.0, so it might be better to keep the original packages installed. Sep 3, 2020 at 12:22
5
yum install java-1.8.0 -y
/usr/sbin/alternatives --set java /usr/lib/jvm/jre-1.8.0-openjdk.x86_64/bin/java
/usr/sbin/alternatives --set javac /usr/lib/jvm/jre-1.8.0-openjdk.x86_64/bin/javac
yum remove java-1.7.0-openjdk

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