How to install Java Development Kit (JDK) on CentOS, Red Hat and Fedora

Java Development Kit (JDK) is used for developing and compiling Java applications. Installing a JDK will also install the Java Runtime Environment (JRE), which is necessary for running Java applications.

Some of the JDKs you can choose to install are those provided by OpenJDK or Oracle. OpenJDK JDK is an open-source implementation of the Java SE platform, while Oracle JDK is the official version from Oracle. Both versions are similar, but Oracle JDK may have some additional features that are not available in OpenJDK JDK. This guide will show you how to install OpenJDK's JDK.

You can install OpenJDK's JDK on CentOS, Red Hat, and Fedora using yum or dnf at the terminal. There are also multiple versions of JDK available in the default yum repository that you can choose to install.

1. Launch terminal.
2. Search for available JDK versions for your distribution and version.

   $ dnf search openjdk-devel
   Last metadata expiration check: 0:00:17 ago on Thu 26 Jan 2023 03:29:49 PM +08.
   ========================= Name Matched: openjdk-devel ==========================
   java-1.8.0-openjdk-devel.aarch64 : OpenJDK 8 Development Environment
   java-11-openjdk-devel.aarch64 : OpenJDK 11 Development Environment
   java-17-openjdk-devel.aarch64 : OpenJDK 17 Development Environment

3. Install preferred OpenJDK's JDK version for your system.

   $ sudo dnf install --assumeyes java-1.8.0-openjdk-devel
   [sudo] password for user: 
   CentOS Stream 9 - BaseOS                        256 kB/s | 4.7 MB     00:18    
   CentOS Stream 9 - AppStream                     689 kB/s |  13 MB     00:19    
   CentOS Stream 9 - Extras packages               644  B/s |  10 kB     00:15    
   Dependencies resolved.
   ================================================================================
    Package                     Arch    Version                    Repo       Size
   ================================================================================
   Installing:
    java-1.8.0-openjdk-devel    aarch64 1:1.8.0.362.b01-0.3.ea.el9 appstream 9.3 M
   Installing dependencies:
    copy-jdk-configs            noarch  4.0-3.el9                  appstream  28 k
    ibus-gtk2                   aarch64 1.5.25-2.el9               appstream  27 k
    java-1.8.0-openjdk          aarch64 1:1.8.0.362.b01-0.3.ea.el9 appstream 456 k
    java-1.8.0-openjdk-headless aarch64 1:1.8.0.362.b01-0.3.ea.el9 appstream  33 M
    javapackages-filesystem     noarch  6.0.0-3.el9                appstream  14 k
    lksctp-tools                aarch64 1.0.19-2.el9               baseos     93 k
    lua                         aarch64 5.4.2-7.el9                appstream 185 k
    lua-posix                   aarch64 35.0-8.el9                 appstream 149 k
    mkfontscale                 aarch64 1.2.1-3.el9                appstream  32 k
    ttmkfdir                    aarch64 3.0.9-65.el9               appstream  51 k
    tzdata-java                 noarch  2022g-2.el9                appstream 229 k
    xorg-x11-fonts-Type1        noarch  7.5-33.el9                 appstream 505 k
   Installing weak dependencies:
    adwaita-gtk2-theme          aarch64 3.28-14.el9                appstream 213 k
    gtk2                        aarch64 2.24.33-8.el9              appstream 3.4 M
    libcanberra-gtk2            aarch64 0.30-26.el9                appstream  25 k
   
   Transaction Summary
   ================================================================================
   Install  16 Packages
   
   Total download size: 48 M
   Installed size: 182 M
   ##### snipped

4. Check installed javac version.

   $ javac -version
   javac 1.8.0_362-ea

5. Install other available JDK version if required.

   $ sudo dnf install --assumeyes java-17-openjdk-devel
   [sudo] password for user: 
   Last metadata expiration check: 0:04:43 ago on Thu 26 Jan 2023 03:32:34 PM +08.
   Dependencies resolved.
   ================================================================================
    Package                   Arch     Version                    Repository  Size
   ================================================================================
   Installing:
    java-17-openjdk-devel     aarch64  1:17.0.6.0.9-0.3.ea.el9    appstream  4.7 M
   Installing dependencies:
    java-17-openjdk           aarch64  1:17.0.6.0.9-0.3.ea.el9    appstream  430 k
    java-17-openjdk-headless  aarch64  1:17.0.6.0.9-0.3.ea.el9    appstream   41 M
   
   Transaction Summary
   ================================================================================
   Install  3 Packages
   
   Total download size: 46 M
   Installed size: 206 M
   ##### snipped

6. Set default javac version if multiple versions are installed.

   $ sudo alternatives --config javac
   
   There are 2 programs which provide 'javac'.
   
     Selection    Command
   -----------------------------------------------
   *+ 1           java-1.8.0-openjdk.aarch64 (/usr/lib/jvm/java-1.8.0-openjdk-1.8.0.362.b01-0.3.ea.el9.aarch64/bin/javac)
      2           java-17-openjdk.aarch64 (/usr/lib/jvm/java-17-openjdk-17.0.6.0.9-0.3.ea.el9.aarch64/bin/javac)
   
   Enter to keep the current selection[+], or type selection number: 2

7. Check current default JDK version to verify.

   $ javac -version
   javac 17.0.6-ea