DAMTP Computing News

1719) 18/12/12 New Java for Linux

SUMMARY: An updated Oracle Java system has been installed for the Linux machines. A common use of this is for web browser plugins. You should restart any Linux web browser to ensure that you are using the latest Java version.

NOTE: this is a bug and critical security update. To get the benefit of the security fixes you should restart all browsers, LibreOffice, Matlab, Maple or any other apps which may be using java.

An updated Oracle Java Runtime Environment (jre) and Java Development Kit (jdk) has been install on the Linux (x86 and x86_64) machines. The new version (1.6.0_38) is currently the latest release and replaces the previous version (1.6.0_37) which may be removed after a few weeks. The new version fixes various bugs and should improve performance and reliability.

For more details of the improvements please read:

Don't be surprised that the links above are to Oracle rather than Sun - Sun were bought by Oracle in 2010 - though Java still lists Sun as the Vendor.

Those wanting to use the latest Oracle JRE or JDK tools can now locate them under various paths.

For the 32-bit version even on 64-bit (x86_64) machines:

/opt/sunjava-32bit/
/opt/sunjava-32bit/jre1.6.0_38
/opt/sunjava-32bit/jdk1.6.0_38
/opt/sunjava-32bit/jre
/opt/sunjava-32bit/jdk

For the native version on the platform in question (32 or 64 bit):

/opt/sunjava-native/
/opt/sunjava-native/jre1.6.0_38
/opt/sunjava-native/jdk1.6.0_38
/opt/sunjava-native/jre
/opt/sunjava-native/jdk

The old paths e.g. /opt/sunjava/jre/ will also still work - referring to the 32bit version at the moment, but may be removed at some point in the future.

e.g. to run the native appletviewer the following path will work:

/opt/sunjava-native/jdk/bin/appletviewer

Anyone who believes that they need any of the older versions should contact help@maths.cam.ac.uk so we can find out why/if the latest version is not suitable.

The Firefox java plugin, LibreOffice, and recent versions of Matlab, IDL, Maple and Scilab setups all point at the centrally installed Oracle Java Runtime in one of /opt/sunjava-32bit/jre, /opt/sunjava-native/jre places. Hence they should automatically pick up the latest version next time they are started.

Browsers can be checked by looking the special URL about:plugins which lists all the installed plugins - now is should include the following for java:

     Java(TM) Plug-in 1.6.0_38

or you can point the browser at:

which should display the Java version detected as "Java SE 6 Update 38" or "Version 6 Update 38".

Those who use other or locally installed browsers using java plugins should ensure that the plugin links are pointed at the new version. If you don't know what that means then feel free to ask help@maths.cam.ac.uk for advice.

The older Java 1.6.0_30 (jre and jdk) has now been removed, other old java versions will be removed in a few weeks unless problems are found in the new version and reported to us - email help@maths.cam.ac.uk if you discover a problem.

If any of these changes cause problems please let us know as soon as possible. Complaints etc to help@maths.cam.ac.uk