How To Set up Java_Home Path on Debian 11

In this guide, we want to teach you How To Set up Java_Home and Path Environment Variables on Debian 11.

To compile and run Java applications successfully you’ll need to set up the JAVA_HOME and PATH environment variables.

The PATH environment variable consists of a list of directories containing executable programs on your system. So for easy access to a program, you need to add the directory that contains it to the PATH.

The JAVA_HOME environment variable is set to the JDK installation directory. The variable can then be used by any program that needs access to the JDK.

You can think of JAVA_HOME as a pointer. Any time you start a program that relies on the JDK in some way, the program uses that pointer to find it.

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Set up Java_Home and Path Environment Variables on Debian 11

Set up Java_Home and Path Environment Variables on Debian 11

To complete this guide, you must log in to your server as a non-root user with sudo privileges. To do this, you can follow our guide on Initial Server Setup with Debian 11.

Install OpenJDK on Debian 11

To set up your Java_Home and Path variables, you need to have OpenJDK installed on your server.

First, use the following command to update your local package index:

sudo apt update

Then, run the command below to install OpenJDK on your server:

sudo apt install openjdk-17-jdk

Set Java_Home Environment Variable on Debian 11

At this point, you need to find the installation path of OpenJDK on your system. Usually, it is in the /usr/lib/jvm/java-17-openjdk-amd64/.

To set the JAVA_HOME environment path, enter the following command:

export JAVA_HOME=/usr/lib/jvm/java-17-openjdk-amd64

Then, you can verify it by using the command below:

echo $JAVA_HOME

Output
/usr/lib/jvm/java-17-openjdk-amd64

Note: If JAVA_HOME isn’t set then programs that rely on it might not be able to locate the JDK. In the worst-case scenario, this will stop the program from executing.

Add JAVA bin directory to the PATH variable

Similar to the JAVA_HOME path, you need to add the $PATH variable as well on Debian 11. To do this, run the command below:

export PATH=$PATH:$JAVA_HOME/bin

You can verify it by using the command below:

echo $PATH

Output
/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/lib/jvm/java-17-openjdk-amd64/bin

Also, you can verify your Java installation on Debian 11 by using the command below:

java -version

Output
openjdk version "17.0.4" 2022-07-19
OpenJDK Runtime Environment (build 17.0.4+8-Debian-1deb11u1)
OpenJDK 64-Bit Server VM (build 17.0.4+8-Debian-1deb11u1, mixed mode, sharing)

That’s it you are done. From here you can easily develop and run JAVA applications on your system.