Install Multiple Versions of Java with SDKMAN

What is SDKMAN?

SDKMAN! is a tool for managing parallel versions of multiple Software Development Kits. This is very useful for managing Java versions as well as Gradle, Maven etc..

Installation

Open up a terminal and enter:

curl -s "https://get.sdkman.io" | bash

This will add the following to your .bashrc or .zshrc:

#THIS MUST BE AT THE END OF THE FILE FOR SDKMAN TO WORK!!!
export SDKMAN_DIR="/home/chris/.sdkman"
[[ -s "/home/chris/.sdkman/bin/sdkman-init.sh" ]] && source "/home/chris/.sdkman/bin/sdkman-init.sh"

Now you can open a new terminal and run the following to confirm installation:

sdk version

Install to a custom location

You can install to a custom location with the following command:

export SDKMAN_DIR="/usr/local/sdkman" && curl -s "https://get.sdkman.io" | bash

Using SDKMAN

SDKMAN will allow you to install a lot of different programs.

List all options to install

sdk ls

Installing Java

Install default version:

sdk install java

Find a specific version:

sdk ls java

Install a specific version based on identifier from list:

sdk install java 11.0.12-open

Using a specific version:

sdk use java 11.0.12-open

Default a specific version:

sdk default java 11.0.12-open

To update sdkman:

sdk update

NOTE All of the above commands will work for the other programs available such as:

• gradle
• maven
• groovy
• kotlin
• spark
• springboot

Getting help

sdk help

Optional Configuration

In ~/.sdkman/etc/config

sdkman_auto_answer=false
sdkman_auto_complete=true
sdkman_auto_env=false
sdkman_auto_update=true
sdkman_beta_channel=false
sdkman_checksum_enable=true
sdkman_colour_enable=true
sdkman_curl_connect_timeout=7
sdkman_curl_max_time=10
sdkman_debug_mode=false
sdkman_insecure_ssl=false
sdkman_rosetta2_compatible=false
sdkman_selfupdate_feature=true

References

SDKMAN!