Chapter 5. Configuring the JAVA_HOME environment variable on RHEL

Some applications require you to set the JAVA_HOME environment variable so that they can find the OpenJDK installation.

Prerequisites

  • You know where you installed OpenJDK on your system. For example, /opt/jdk/11.

Procedure

  1. Set the value of JAVA_HOME. 

    $ export JAVA_HOME=/opt/jdk/11

  2. Verify that JAVA_HOME is set correctly. 

    $ printenv | grep JAVA_HOME
JAVA_HOME=/opt/jdk/11
    Note

    You can make the value of JAVA_HOME persistent by exporting the environment variable in ~/.bashrc for single users or /etc/bashrc for system-wide settings. Persistent means that if you close your terminal or reboot your computer, you do not need to reset a value for the JAVA_HOME environment variable.

    The following example demonstrates using a text editor to enter commands for exporting JAVA_HOME in ~/.bashrc for a single user: 

    > vi ~/.bash_profile

export JAVA_HOME=/opt/jdk/11
export PATH="$JAVA_HOME/bin:$PATH"

Additional resources