Trying to install STS 3.1.0 in OS X 10.8 - JDK situation...

Dear Members

First experience with Mac, I have OS X 10.8

When I executed the command java -version the OS prompted me to install the JRE 6, well I ignored or cancelled, because I want use the JDK 7 available by Oracle. Well I have and installed the jdk-7u10-macosx-x64.dmg file. Now java -version returns the expected result

About the IDE, I have the spring-tool-suite-3.1.0.RELEASE-e4.2-macosx-cocoa-x86_64-installer.dmg file. When I do double click in the file it appear like a device and then I do again double click to really install, but.... the OS again prompted me to install the JRE 6, practically the JDK 7 was ignored.

Since it is my first time with Mac, what I should do?

Thanks in advanced

I can't help you, sorry.

But, why don't you install a JDK 6, besides your currently installed JDK 7?

STS in Windows (and maybe in Linux, I don't remember right now) asks you for a JDK path.

So it's weird that the installer asks you for a JRE.

However, in OS X, at least from Snow Leopard to Lion (sorry, but I don't have Mountain Lion yet), it never asks for a JDK path, so I presume it expects to find one already installed.

Maybe it has to be a JDK 6, the last published by Apple.

A short time ago, only an Apple JDK was allowed. Now Apple no longer supports Java, so you have to install JDKs from Oracle (or OpenJDK), but they say you can install multiple JDKs, and every JDK includes the corresponding JRE.

Here are some explanations of how to do that, along with other interesting commands: JDK 7 Installation for Mac OS X
.

Good luck, and let us know if this solves your problem.

I haven't yet installed java 7 (nor do I have mountain lion installed yet) on my mac so I cannot help you with that , but you might get some information on which java versions are installed/active.

From the commandline execute the following

Code:

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sudo /usr/libexec/java_home

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You could also check your system preferences and the installed java runtimes (can be found in Application -> Utilities) and enable them.

Finally it could be that the installer requires JDK 1.6 on a Mac (never tested it) but there is nothing preventing you from installing both JDK 1.6 and JDK 1.7..

Use /usr/libexec/java_home with -h for help, -V for a list of JDK installed, -X for a list in plist form.

Java Preferences is no longer installed by Oracle, they use a Java Option (in System Preferences) that launches an Applet. More or less like in Windows. But it doesn't manage the existing versions very well.

Another tip: try whereis java that will show /usr/bin/java, then try ls -la /usr/bin/java and you'll find the actual installations of the JDKs

As an advice, don't set JAVA_HOME to /usr/libexec/java_home, it comes with a lot of issues (that I currently don't remember, but I know that this is not the expected way of using java_home)

NOTE from Oracle: to install a lower version of the JRE, first uninstall the current version.