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Java SE Installation Instructions

Table of contents

Audience............................................................................................................................2

Purpose...............................................................................................................................2

Prerequisites.......................................................................................................................2

Installing Java on a Windows Box.....................................................................................2

4.1

Download Java.............................................................................................................. 2

4.2

Install Java.....................................................................................................................3

4.3

Appendix: Setting Environment Variables (PATH and CLASSPATH).......................4

1. Audience

Windows users who do not have the Java SE (Java Platform, Standard Edition) JDK (JavaDevelopment Kit) installed on their workstation; or those who want to install a differentversion of Sun'sJava SE.

2. Purpose

To install the Java SE JDK as a foundation for running Java applications and developingJ2EE components.

3. Prerequisites

These are the basics; if your machine isn't running these, please install or upgrade asappropriate:

•

Operating System

: Upgrade to latest

stable

, high-encryption releases of Windows

•

Web Browser

: It will be useful to have acurrent version of FireFox. If you also use otherbrowsers, they should also be upgraded to recent, stable versions.

4. Installing Java on a Windows Box

These instructions will help you to install the Java SE JDK on a Windows workstation. Theseinstructions describe installation of Java SE v. 5.0, but may be generalizable to otherversions.

4.1. Download Java

Download the version of Java you plan to install from Sun's website.

•

TheJava(TM) 5 Standard Edition(J2SE) Development Kit (JDK) installation includes anenormous library of Java classes, and the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) that allowscompiled Java classes to run.

•

On the J2SEdownload page, click the "Download" link for the latest JDK release - JDK5.0 Update 8 as of 7 Sep 2006 - then (after accepting the license agreement), click thelink for the Windows (offline installation, multi-language)

•

Save the executable file to a temporary directory on your local disk.• the filename will be something like:

jdk-1_5_0_08-windows-i586-p.exe

• it's a big file -- about 50 MB

Java SE Installation Instructions

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4.2. Install Java

Warning:

It is

strongly

advised that you choose an installation directory that does

not

include spaces in the path name (e.g., do NOTinstall in

C:\Program Files\

). If Java is installed in such a directory, it is critical to set the

JAVA_HOME

environmentvariable to a path that does not include spaces (e.g.,

C:\Progra~1\

); failure to do this will result in exceptions thrown bysome programs that depend on the value of

JAVA_HOME

•

Run the executable downloaded above.

•

Change the installation directory to a path with no spaces in it, such as

C:\jdk_1.5.0_08

(

recommended; cf. warning, above

•

Accept all other installation defaults.

•

When the installer gets to the stage of installing the J2SE Runtime Environment it is okayto accept the default, e.g.,

C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.5.0_08

. During thisstage of the installation, it may be necessary to close some applications - e.g., Eclipse -that are running in a previously-installed version of the JRE; the installation programshould prompt appropriately.

•

Instructions for setting PATH and CLASSPATH and JAVA_HOME are given insummary below; in more detail in anappendixto this document; and also onSun's site. • Add Java's bin directory (e.g.,

C:\jdk_1.5.0_08\bin

) to your PATHenvironment variable (more info in theEnvironment Variablesappendix on thispage). Make sure that references to older Java installations do not conflict with thenew version you have installed (e.g., if installation of an Oracle client placed areference to an old version of Java in your path you may need to do some carefulexperimentation and tweaking to appropriately set your path so all the applicationsyou need will run).• Set your CLASSPATH environment variable:• CLASSPATH should be set to "." (a period, and nothing more), unless you knowthat for some reason you need additional items in your CLASSPATH.• The theory here is that to include any user classes, you can use the -classpathcommand line switch with java, javac, javadoc and other tools; and CLASSPATHis not forced for multiple applications; alternately you can add more paths toCLASSPATH as necessary.• More about how to set the CLASSPATH can be found in theEnvironmentVariablesappendix on this page.• An environment variable called

JAVA_HOME

should be set to the root directory of your Java installation, e.g.,

C:\jdk_1.5.0_08

Please refer to the warning,above, re: installations to directories with spaces in the path name!

Java SE Installation Instructions

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