vfox-java

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Java plugin for vfox.

It installs JDKs from 31 distributions, among them Temurin, Zulu, Liberica, Corretto, Microsoft and GraalVM, looked up through Foojay. On Linux loong64 it installs from the Loongnix archive instead.

Install

After installing vfox, install the plugin and a JDK, and select the JDK:

vfox add java
vfox install java@21-tem
vfox use --global java@21-tem
java -version

java -version shows the JDK that is selected. For java to be on the PATH, vfox has to be hooked into your shell, see its quick start.

vfox search java tem lists the Temurin releases, and in an interactive terminal it lets you pick one and installs it.

Versions and names

A version is <version>-<distribution>, such as 21.0.8-tem, with -fx after it for JavaFX:

vfox install java@21-tem          # newest Temurin 21
vfox install java@21.0.8-tem      # Temurin 21.0.8
vfox install java@21-zulu-fx      # Zulu 21 with JavaFX

Without a distribution you get OpenJDK from jdk.java.net, which has nothing newer than 17.0.2 for 17 and 21.0.2 for 21, so name a distribution. See docs/versions.md for installing, using, searching and early-access builds.

Distributions

Short name	Distribution
open	OpenJDK builds from jdk.java.net, the default
tem	Temurin (Eclipse Adoptium)
zulu	Zulu (Azul)
librca	Liberica (BellSoft)
amzn	Corretto (Amazon)
ms	Microsoft Build of OpenJDK
oracle	Oracle JDK
sem	Semeru (IBM)
sapmchn	SapMachine (SAP)
kona	Kona (Tencent)
albba	Dragonwell (Alibaba)
bsg	BiSheng (Huawei)
graal	Oracle GraalVM
graalce	GraalVM Community Edition
nik	Liberica Native Image Kit (BellSoft)
mandrel	Mandrel (Red Hat)
jb	JetBrains Runtime
trava	TravaOpenJDK
adpt, adptj9	AdoptOpenJDK with HotSpot, with OpenJ9
eliya	Eliya JDK (Asymm Systems)
ojdkbld	OJDKBuild
opnlgc	OpenLogic OpenJDK
rdht	Red Hat build of OpenJDK
semcrt	Semeru, certified edition (IBM)
gln	Gluon GraalVM
grl8, grl11, grl16, grl17, grl19	GraalVM CE for JDK 8 to 19
lnxabi1, lnxabi2	Loongnix, Linux loong64 only

The short names follow the identifiers of SDKMAN, with these differences:

• JetBrains Runtime is jb and BiSheng is bsg, which SDKMAN calls jbr and bisheng.
• SDKMAN wrote the virtual machine or JDK of AdoptOpenJDK and GraalVM CE into the version (11.0.10.j9-adpt, 22.3.3.r17-grl). The plugin has a name for each (adptj9, grl17).
• Eliya, OJDKBuild, OpenLogic, Red Hat and Semeru certified have no SDKMAN identifier, so their short names are the plugin's own.

See docs/distributions.md for all the differences and for what each distribution is, and docs/loongnix.md for the last row.

Platforms

Not every distribution has builds for arm64, Alpine or Windows on ARM. Only Temurin, Zulu, Liberica, Microsoft and JetBrains Runtime have Windows ARM64 builds, 11 of the 31 have Alpine x64 builds and 7 have Alpine arm64. GraalVM has neither Windows ARM64 nor Alpine. See docs/platforms.md for the table.

JavaFX

Zulu, Liberica, Liberica NIK and Corretto (Java 8 only) have builds with JavaFX bundled. Add -fx after the distribution, as in java@21-zulu-fx. See docs/javafx.md for details.

Native Image

A GraalVM installs and runs like any other JDK. Only native-image, which builds native executables, needs a C compiler and zlib's headers on top, and a minimal Ubuntu, such as its container image, has neither. Install them once, before the first native build:

sudo apt install --assume-yes build-essential zlib1g-dev

GraalVM CE 8 to 19 come without native-image and need it added first. See docs/native-image.md for what native-image prints without these packages, for other systems, and for adding it.

.sdkmanrc

vfox reads the java= line of SDKMAN's .sdkmanrc through this plugin and selects a JDK that is already installed. See docs/sdkmanrc.md for details.

GitHub mirror

Most distributions download from GitHub. If that is slow where you are, export VFOX_JAVA_GITHUB_MIRROR=https://gh-proxy.org/ sends these downloads through a mirror. See docs/mirror.md for details.

Coming from SDKMAN

SDKMAN installs several JDKs side by side and switches between them for one shell, for a project or for every new shell. So does this plugin, with SDKMAN's short names, and it reads .sdkmanrc, so SDKMAN users and vfox users can share a project.

It also works where SDKMAN does not. SDKMAN is a set of bash scripts, so on Windows it needs WSL or Git Bash and cannot be used in PowerShell, not even in the Windows PowerShell 5.1 that comes with Windows. vfox is a native program with a hook for PowerShell, and there the plugin takes SDKMAN's place. The commands side by side:

	SDKMAN	vfox
Install	sdk install java 21.0.8-tem	vfox install java@21.0.8-tem
Use in the current shell only	sdk use java 21.0.8-tem	vfox use java@21.0.8-tem
Use in every new shell	sdk default java 21.0.8-tem	vfox use --global java@21.0.8-tem

See docs/sdkman.md for when to use the plugin, the other commands and what differs.

Documentation

Using the plugin

• Versions and names: how to write a version, and installing, using, searching and early-access builds
• Distributions: what each distribution is, its long name, and how GraalVM, Mandrel and Liberica NIK are numbered
• Platforms: which distribution has builds for which operating system and CPU
• Querying Foojay: asking Foojay yourself which JDKs exist for your platform, what the plugin asks it, and how downloads are verified
• JavaFX: the -fx builds and where they exist
• Native Image: the C compiler and zlib that native-image needs
• .sdkmanrc: which JDK a SDKMAN project file selects
• SDKMAN and vfox: when to use the plugin, the commands side by side, what differs
• GitHub mirror: downloading through a mirror when github.com is slow
• Loongnix: JDKs for Linux loong64
• Troubleshooting: the messages the plugin and native-image print, proxies and where the JDK is
• Changes: what each release changed

Working on the plugin

• Install from source: trying main before the next release
• Development: how the plugin works, how to change it and how to release it
• E2E tests: the container tests

Thanks

• SDKMAN, whose identifiers the short names and .sdkmanrc support follow
• Foojay, where the JDK data comes from