OpenJDK Life Cycle and Support Policy
Index
Overview
OpenJDK Life Cycle and Support Policy
OpenJDK Update Release Dates
OpenJDK Lifecycle Dates and RHEL versions
OpenJDK Lifecycle Dates and Windows versions
OpenJDK EntitlementsRed Hat support for Eclipse Temurin
Eclipse Temurin Life Cycle and Support Policy
Entitlements for Eclipse Temurin support
Information in this article is subject to change as necessary.
Overview
OpenJDK (Open Java Development Kit) is an open source implementation of the Java Platform, Standard Edition (Java SE). The upstream community project OpenJDK is currently sponsored and led by Oracle and is released under the GNU General Public License (GNU GPL 2 and 2+) with a linking exception.
OpenJDK is the Java Development Kit (JDK) and Java Runtime Environment (JRE) in Red Hat Enterprise Linux. Packages for OpenJDK are made available in Red Hat Enterprise Linux in the same manner as the rest of the content set. OpenJDK packages for Microsoft Windows are also distributed via the JBoss downloads section of the support portal. OpenJDK is also shipped as the JDK and JRE in many containers in the Red Hat Container Catalog
Oracle leads development of the Java Platform SE and contributes heavily to the OpenJDK project. Red Hat is one of the top non-Oracle contributors to the project. See Overview and Development model of Java Platform SE for more details.
The following section outlines the scope of support for OpenJDK from Red Hat.
OpenJDK Life Cycle and Support Policy
A major version of OpenJDK is supported for at minimum a period of six years from the time it is first introduced by Red Hat. OpenJDK versions can fall out of support on versions of RHEL if the retirement date of the underlying RHEL platform precedes the retirement date of the OpenJDK version. There are currently three active major versions available in RHEL, but customers are advised to migrate to the newest version of OpenJDK as soon as practical to continue to receive updates and support.
OpenJDK Updates
Red Hat will deliver four updates per year, approximately three months apart, for the OpenJDK 8, 11, and 17 distributions.
OpenJDK Lifecycle Dates and RHEL versions
| RHEL 5 Support Added | RHEL 6 Support Added | RHEL 7 Support Added | RHEL 8 Support Added | RHEL 9 Support Added | End of Support for OpenJDK version | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OpenJDK 6 (1.6) | 5.3 | 6.0 | 7.0 | N/A | N/A | December 2016 |
| OpenJDK 7 (1.7) | 5.9 | 6.3 | 7.0 | N/A | N/A | June 2020 |
| OpenJDK 8 (1.8) | N/A | 6.6* | 7.1 | 8.0 | see note below^ | Nov 2026* |
| OpenJDK 11 | N/A | N/A | 7.6 | 8.0 | 9.0 | October 2024 |
| OpenJDK 17 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 8.4 | 9.0 | October 2027 |
- Why is OpenJDK 8 supported for longer than OpenJDK 11?
- OpenJDK 8 is now retired on RHEL 6 since its end of life so 1.8.0_275 was the last and final OpenJDK 8 update made available for RHEL 6. RHEL 7, 8 or 9 must be used for continued OpenJDK support and its latest updates moving forward.
- OpenJDK8 is supported on RHEL 9 subject to the OpenJDK 8 lifecycle date shown above. Please note though that the system-default OpenJDK in RHEL 9 is OpenJDK 11 and all Java applications that are part of the RHEL 9 distribution work with OpenJDK 11 only. OpenJDK 8 in RHEL 9 is usable with any self-contained Java applications (that work with OpenJDK 8) and that do not rely on Java components from base RHEL 9.
OpenJDK Lifecycle Dates and Windows versions
| Windows Server 2012 R2 Support Added | Windows Server 2016 Support Added | Windows 10 and 11 Support Added | Windows Server 2019 Support Added | Windows Server 2022 Support Added | End of Support for OpenJDK version | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OpenJDK 8 (1.8) | August 2018 | August 2018 | December 2018 | February 2020 | September 2021 | November 2026 |
| OpenJDK 11 | October 2018 | October 2018 | December 2018 | February 2020 | September 2021 | October 2024 |
| OpenJDK 17 | November 2021 | November 2021 | November 2021 | November 2021 | November 2021 | October 2027 |
OpenJDK Entitlements
Entitlements for Java workloads on OpenJDK are included in a Red Hat Enterprise Linux subscription. Red Hat Middleware subscriptions include OpenJDK entitlements for Windows when used with Red Hat Middleware. For other Java workloads on Windows (non-Red Hat Middleware), an additional subscription for OpenJDK on Windows is required.
Red Hat support for Eclipse Temurin
Eclipse Temurin is an OpenJDK distribution produced by Eclipse Adoptium. OpenJDK (Open Java Development Kit) is an open source implementation of the Java Platform, Standard Edition (Java SE). The upstream community project OpenJDK is currently sponsored and led by Oracle and is released under the GNU General Public License (GNU GPL 2 and 2+) with a linking exception.
Eclipse Temurin is distributed by Adoptium through their website, API, and marketplace for a variety of platforms as binaries and installers, as well as distributed on DockerHub as official Docker images.
Oracle leads development of the Java Platform SE and contributes heavily to the OpenJDK project. Red Hat is one of the top non-Oracle contributors to the project. See Overview and Development model of Java Platform SE for more details.
The following sections outline the scope of support for Eclipse Temurin from Red Hat.
Eclipse Temurin Life Cycle and Support Policy
A major version of Eclipse Temurin is supported for at least a period of six years from the time it is first introduced. Red Hat provides enterprise support for select Eclipse Temurin binaries, Linux x86_64, Linux aarch64, Windows 32-bit, and Windows 64-bit as well as developer support for macOS x64 & aarch64. These are respectively supported on specific Linux, Windows, and Mac platforms outlined below.
OpenJDK versions can fall out of support on platforms if the retirement date of the underlying platform precedes the retirement date of the OpenJDK version. There are currently three active major versions available, but customers are advised to migrate to the newest version of OpenJDK as soon as practical to continue to receive updates and support.
Eclipse Temurin Life Cycle Linux x86_64 and aarch64 versions
| RHEL 8.x Support | RHEL 9.x Support | Ubuntu 22.04.x Support | Ubuntu 20.04.x Support | Ubuntu 18.04.x Support | SLES 15 Support | End of Support for Eclipse Temurin | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OpenJDK 8 | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Nov 2026 |
| OpenJDK 11 | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Oct 2024 |
| OpenJDK 17 | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Oct 2027 |
Eclipse Temurin Life Cycle for Windows 32-bit and 64-bit versions
| Windows Server 2012 R2 Support Added | Windows Server 2016 Support Added | Windows 10 and 11 Support Added | Windows Server 2019 Support Added | Windows Server 2022 Support Added | End of Support for Eclipse Temurin | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OpenJDK 8 | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Nov 2026 |
| OpenJDK 11 | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Oct 2024 |
| OpenJDK 17 | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Oct 2027 |
Eclipse Temurin Life Cycle for macOS versions
| macOS 11 | macOS 12 | End of Support for Eclipse Temurin | |
|---|---|---|---|
| OpenJDK 8 | x64 only | x64 only | Nov 2026 |
| OpenJDK 11 | Y | Y | Oct 2024 |
| OpenJDK 17 | Y | Y | Oct 2027 |
Entitlements for Eclipse Temurin support
Entitlements for Eclipse Temurin are the same as the Red Hat build of OpenJDK: Entitlements for Java workloads on OpenJDK are included in a Red Hat Enterprise Linux subscription. Red Hat Middleware subscriptions include OpenJDK entitlements for Windows when used with Red Hat Middleware. For other Java workloads on Windows (non-Red Hat Middleware), an additional subscription for OpenJDK on Windows is required. For workloads on non-RHEL or Mac, an additional subscription for OpenJDK is required.
Frequently Asked Questions and References
What's the Service Level Agreement and Scope of Coverage for OpenJDK
The Service Level Agreement (SLA) and Scope of Coverage (SoC) for OpenJDK is determined by the use case.
The SoC for Developer Support is defined here and the SLA is defined here.
For production deployments of OpenJDK on RHEL and Windows the SoC is defined here and the SLA is defined here.
Can Red Hat patch OpenJDK?
Yes. Red Hat has the ability to provide updates to OpenJDK software shipped in Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Windows distributions subject to the lifecycle guidance provided in this article and subject to the availability of fixes in the upstream distributions. Red Hat can also backport fixes from newer OpenJDK versions to older supported versions when a fix is not provided in the older upstream version.
What support is provided for Windows?
See this article
Can we install multiple versions of OpenJDK on the same RHEL server?
Yes, it is possible to have multiple versions of OpenJDK on the same Red Hat Enterprise Linux server as long as they are available on the media (DVD) or Red Hat Network channels. These packages are separate packages with the version number clearly identified in the name of the RPM. It is also possible for a third-party Java JDK/JRE to be installed concurrently with OpenJDK. For customer convenience, Red Hat also bundles the IBM JDK via the Supplementary channels. Note that the IBM JDK is not integral to the RHEL content set and follows IBM's guidance on updates and life cycle. We recommend you use the alternatives tool[1] to configure OpenJDK or a third-party Java.
How can I install multiple minor releases on the same server?
RHEL has a proven track record of maintaining binary compatibility of key components for the life of the (major) release. OpenJDK is no exception to this rule. Users are free to stay at a particular release (e.g. "1.41.1.10.4.el6"). However, we strongly recommend that you update to the most recent release that is available. This ensures that you receive fixes to the most recent critical bugs and security fixes.
While Red Hat will make a commercially reasonable effort to support the earlier release, it may become necessary to update to the most recent release to help reproduce and identify a problem. Red Hat will treat any binary incompatibility between releases as a bug and will attempt to provide a fix as per the SLA. The exceptions to this include and are not limited to our need to patch security vulnerabilities in the package with no option to avoid binary compatibility breakage. These cases are very rare and are clearly documented in the errata.
How to install multiple minor versions of OpenJDK on a Red Hat Enterprise Linux system?
Can we install multiple versions of OpenJDK on the same Windows server?
Red Hat provides both OpenJDK 8 and OpenJDK 11 distribution for Windows servers. And running both versions on a single Windows system is fully supported.
Are the binary plugs that Oracle did not release the source code for supported?
The binary plugs are no longer used in OpenJDK at all as of 2010, so we do not ship any of them in OpenJDK.
Does Red Hat perform the TCK compliance testing?
Yes, we run the TCK test suite, which is a set of tests that we received from Oracle. Anytime there is a code change, we run the TCK to ensure that OpenJDK is in compliance with the Java specification.
Is Red Hat releasing OpenJDK 9, 10, or 11?
Our intent is to support Long Term Support Releases so Red Hat skipped Java SE 9 and 10, and shipped an OpenJDK distribution based on Java SE 11. See the Red Hat OpenJDK 11 Advice article for additional information.
Does Red Hat provide a 32 bit distribution?
Red Hat provides 32 bit distributions for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 and 7. Red Hat has no plans to support a 32 bit distribution in any other OpenJDK distributions.
What hardware architectures are supported by the Red Hat build of OpenJDK for RHEL?
The following architectures are supported for OpenJDK 8 and 11 and packaged in RPMs.
-x86_64
-PPC64 (starting wth RHEL 7)
-PPC64LE (starting with RHEL 7)
-i686
-AARCH64
The OpenJDK 11 lifecycle appears short in comparison older versions, why is that?
Red Hat ships OpenJDK versions with an initial commitment of 6 years of support. We review the lifecycle regularly and can extend the lifecycle if we determine there is sufficient demand. The OpenJDK 8 lifecycle has been reviewed and extended already, and OpenJDK 11 will receive the same review later in its lifecycle.
How does the OpenJDK lifecycle relate to the lifecycles of JBoss Middleware products?
The OpenJDK 7 and 8 lifecycles have been updated to better align with the product lifecycles of the products in the JBoss Middleware portfolio. In general, JBoss products support more than one JVM version, and we define lifecycles to ensure that users have a fully supported stack for the lifetime of the JBoss product. Users may have to upgrade from one Java version to a newer version within the lifetime of the JBoss product. JBoss lifecycles are defined on the Red Hat JBoss Middleware Product Update and Support Policy page.
Is OpenJDK included in the Extended Life Cycle Support (ELS) Add-on for RHEL 6?
No. The inclusion list is documented in this article, and OpenJDK is excluded.
Do the lifecycle dates apply to the OpenJDK images available in OpenShift?
Yes.
Is the OpenJDK for Windows available in the customer portal the same binary as what's on developers.redhat.com?
They are not guaranteed to be the same, and generally the binaries on the developer portal and on the customer portal are not the same. For production support users must use the binaries from the customer support portal.
Does Red Hat's OpenJDK distribution included JavaFX?
No. Red Hat does not have plans to deliver JavaFX or the OpenJFX project in our distribution.
Does Red Hat’s build of OpenJDK included Java Web Start?
Yes, the Red Hat's build of OpenJDK version 8 for RHEL and Windows includes Java Web Start support.
Does Red Hat provide support for Applets?
No, Red Hat does not test nor provide support for Applets with its OpenJDK distribution. Applets have been determined to be a security risk, were deprecated with Java 9, and are unsupported by current browsers.
Is Shenandoah GC supported on Red Hat build of OpenJDK for Windows?
Yes, the Red Hat's build of OpenJDK for Windows supports the Shenandoah Garbage Collector. To know which versions are included, please check above where all the configurations are listed.
What are the differences between Red Hat's OpenJDK distribution and the Oracle JVM?
The known differences are detailed in this article.
[1] Using alternatives to manage different JDKs: What is the alternatives system and how do I configure it?
45 Comments
Hi, I do not think the question "How can I install multiple minor releases on the same server?" was answered. Isn't the question about how to install for example Java 8u45 and 8u65 on the same server?
Hello Fred,
If you want to install multiple minor release versions of the same major release, you will need to use the RPM command rather than the yum command.
yum update java-1.8.0-openjdkThis command will update the package, leaving you with only a single, most recent version of the package installed.rpm -ivh java-1.8.0-openjdk-1.8.0.65-2.b17.el7_1.x86_64.rpmThis command should install an additional version of the package65-2.b17.el7_1and not update or remove a previously installed version. Note that you must first download this package to the system asrpmwill not auto download it for you. You can use theyumdownloadertool from theyum-utilspackage to do this for you.In the mean-time, they published an article on how to do this by updating yum config to keep older versions of openjdk:
How to install multiple minor versions of OpenJDK on a Red Hat Enterprise Linux system? https://access.redhat.com/solutions/3508401
I tested, works.
Hi, I can't understand the latest changes on 20/June/2016. What is difference?
Why does the end of support date for OpenJDK 8 (EOS Oct 2010) occur 8 years before the end of support date for OpenJDK 7 (EOS Jun 2018) on RHEL6? Is this a typo? I'm assuming OpenJDK 8 EOS should be Oct 2020 on RHEL6?
Hi Rudolf, You were right: https://access.redhat.com/articles/1299013 (sorry for the delay).
Hi ,Can i install OpenJDK at before RHEL 6.6 version, such as RHEl6.1,6.2?
Hi Jerry, It is possible for you to install the version of OpenJDK that shipped with 6.1 or 6.2 but you should be aware that 6.1 has not been supported since 31 May, 2013 and 6.2 has not been supported since 7 Jan, 2014. A lot of bug fix and security errata have been release since then. Red Hat suggests you use 6.7 which is supported until 31 Dec, 2018 or use 6.9 which is supported until 6.10 releases late Spring of 2018.
Does RHEL kernel use the system java which installed along with OS for its internal use
Was the "End of Support" date for java-1.7.0-openjdk on RHEL 6 just extended to June 2020? I've reviewed this page several times over the past 6months and my notes indicated an "End of Support" date as June 2018. Will Red Hat provide security patches to the java-1.7.0-openjdk software package up to the June 2020 date?
Yes, it was extended yesterday.
Do we still have no dates for OpenJDK 11?
OpenJDK will be delivered with the upcoming RHEL 7.6 update. Users will have to upgrade to RHEL 7.6 to access OpenJDK 11.
Obvious follow-up question :-) Do we still have no dates for RHEL 7.6?
I'm sorry, but that's not something I can comment on.
Really soon now... 7.6 has been in beta since sometime in August. This is just based on my past experience with this. Red Hat folks are very hush hush on things like release dates or even names (is it called RHEL 8? who knows).
Well...Is there no schedule to be able to install OpenJDK 11 from yum repository on the environment of RHEL 7.5?
If we want to use OpenJDK11, we need to update our RHEL environment from 7.5 to 7.6 or install the binary from official...Isn't it?
But at the present I think that on 7.5, to continue using OpenJDK 8 is better, because of its support till June 2023.
OpenJDK11 has become to be able to install from yum repository as of November 2, 2018. My desktop environment might be upgraded from 7.5 to 7.6 by previous update.
If your desktop environment is still 7.5, please use this command in your shell.
and then, type below...you can confirm OpenJDK11 at yum repository.
Here is the announcement updated Nov 1, 2018 by Red Hat.
Red Hat OpenJDK 11 Advice:
https://access.redhat.com/articles/3409141
Here is the way to upgrade OpenJDK.
How to upgrade java openJDK 1.6 to openJDK 1.7 in RHEL6? :
https://access.redhat.com/solutions/2042263
Thank you Red Hat staff!
Ah...Red Hat has still been supporting OpenJDK 8...Stupidly, I installed the binary of OpenJDK 11 from oracle official. There have been another easyway... Thanks!
Hi, will RedHat continue to support Java 8 on windows for development, as per the dates for support on RHEL ? (We develop on windows but deploy on RHEL 7)
thanks
Hi, I see that the "OpenJDK Update Release Dates" are exactly the same as Oracle. Do you mean that RH typically have their openjdk packages available for deployment or download (Win) on that date? My experience is that the security advisory and packages trickle in a few days later (first RHEL7, then RHEL 6, etc . . ) . If that is the case, then it would be cleaner to list these RH dates instead.
Can one assume that the latest OpenJDK version available for RHEL is the same as what is available for download on the Windows page?
I have not been able to locate a place to download an RPM for OpenJDK...is it possible to install openJDK offline?
Yes, Windows binaries are built from the RHEL RPM source packages.
You should be able to download if from the Red Hat Customer Portal if you have a proper entitlement (e.g. RHEL).
Is there a way to see what change(s) occurred? I'm following this article and get frequent notices that a change was made but don't have a clear way to see what changed unless it's a comment where I can see an actual date.
Does this RedHat support mean that OpenJDK will be supported in both RHEL and CentOS?
Red Hat supports OpenJDK only on RHEL and Windows, like it is described in this document.
Hi May be stupid but yes I have a question. How can we install OpenJDK provided by RHEL on Ubuntu or Debian ? Is this possible ? Please answer. Thanks
What are the charges for OpenJDK1.8 on Windows and Linux like Ubuntu CentOS or SUSE..
Red Hat supports OpenJDK only on RHEL and Windows, like it is described in this document. For pricing ask your account manager or your Red Hat partner.
How can I install Red Hat Open JDK 8 on Ubuntu?
When will OpenJDK 12 be supported with JBOSS EAP 7.x ?
Hi Ranga, Our plan in Red Hat OpenJDK is to have Long Term Supported versions. When a new LTS see the light Middleware products should run the certification process to verify it.
maybe we should have link on the FAQ for openjdk errata as trying to find the latest can be painful ?
aka Errata per openjdk version and os rhel , windows , maybe mac would RFE the ux / usable of this page even more
mac port of openjdk /BSDPort/Main
As IBM has one of the largest osx install in the world maybe a RFE for osx support may not be a bad idea for openjdk ?
IBM seeing great returns on over 277,000 Macs and iOS devices issued to employees
IBM says it is 3X more expensive to manage PCs than Macs
Hi,
RHEL 8 compatibility with OpenJDK is missing.
Thanks and regards, Adishesh
Hi Adishesh, Page is updated with RHEL 8.
Regards, Ezequiel
Hello, I would like to know if redhat openjdk is free to be used by development team, as well as in production environment in case we don't have a red-hat license for support. I'm bit confused after reeding this on stackoverflow: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/5991508/openjdk-availability-for-windows-os/54195622#54195622 Red Hat's license states that the services are for "development purposes only" and that using the services provided under the Program for a production installation is a violation of the terms. So presumably we can't distribute this installer to our paying customers or even have them install it themselves for production purposes? Read here. The GitHub binaries seem to have much clearer terms. – Casey B. Jan 14 '17 at 1:59
Hi Victor, You can choose this bits for development purpose: https://developers.redhat.com/products/openjdk/download where you can develop, play, test, etc.
But in the case you need enterprise support for your production workloads I suggest to contact our Sales Department to acquire a subscription to be covered and also we can help you to clarify further questions. Here at the bottom of the page there is a form to be filled: https://developers.redhat.com/products/openjdk/overview?extIdCarryOver=true&intcmp=701f2000001OEGrAAO&sc_cid=701f2000001Css5AAC
As a follow up to Ezequiel's response, If you don't know who your sales contact is, open a support case at https://access.redhat.com/support/cases/#/case/new so the support team can help you with that.
@Lami Akagwu, There was no response form @Exequiel.
It's private, I've asked him to change that.
To meet a customer request, we would like to certify our software on RHEL 6.x with RedHat's OpenJDK 11 build. Is this available for free for development and testing purposes? If so, can you please provide a pointer about how to download it? The download link provided in one of the previous posts (https://developers.redhat.com/products/openjdk/download) only lists OpenJDK downloads for Windows. Thanks.
Hi Venka, please contact our customer support team for further instructions. They for sure can help you to solve this issue. https://access.redhat.com/support/contact/customerService/
Hi, is it correct that OpenJDK 8 will now be supported for longer than OpenJDK 11? According to the table above, JDK 11 will go out of support in October 2024, but JDK 8 will not go out of support until May 2026 (nearly two years later). Previous notes I made from this page suggest that it used to say that JDK 8 was going out of support in June 2023 - what caused it to change?
Hi, a very good question. Please see the following knowledgebase solution, inspired by your question: Why is OpenJDK 8 supported for longer than OpenJDK 11?
Hellow,i want to know whether our company's production environment can use openjdk as the basis of Java framework for free.
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