Manage multiple installations of JDK on a Windows computer. JVMS, Download Now!
There are situations where the ability to switch between different versions of JDK can be very useful. For example, if you want to test a project you're developing with the latest bleeding edge version without uninstalling the stable version of JDK, this utility can help.
jvms.exe
injvms.exe init
NAME:
jvms - JDK Version Manager (JVMS) for Windows
USAGE:
jvms.exe [global options] command [command options] [arguments...]
VERSION:
2.0.0
COMMANDS:
init Initialize config file
list, ls List the JDK installations.
install, i Install remote available jdk
switch, s Switch to use the specified version.
remove, rm Remove a specific version.
rls Show a list of versions available for download.
proxy Set a proxy to use for downloads.
help, h Shows a list of commands or help for one command
GLOBAL OPTIONS:
--help, -h show help
--version, -v print the version
how to install and switch jdk. see:
jvms rls
list available jdk version for downloadjvms install 1.8.0_31
install jdk 1.8.0_31jvms ls
list installed jdkjvms switch 1.8.0_31
switch jdk version to 1.8.0_31First and foremost, this version of jvms has no dependency on other lib. It's written in Go, which is a much more structured
approach than hacking around a limited .bat
file. It does not rely on having an existing jdk installation.
The control mechanism is also quite different. There are two general ways to support multiple jdk installations with hot switching capabilities.
The first is to modify the system PATH
any time you switch versions, or bypass it by using a .bat
file to mimic the jdk executable and redirect
accordingly. This always seemed a little hackish to me, and there are some quirks as a result of this implementation.
The second option is to use a symlink. This concept requires putting the symlink in the system PATH
, then updating its target to
the jdk installation directory you want to use. This is a straightforward approach, and seems to be what people recommend.... until they
realize just how much of a pain symlinks are on Windows. This is why it hasn't happened before.
In order to create/modify a symlink, you must be running as an admin, and you must get around Windows UAC (that annoying prompt). As a result, JVMS for Windows
maintains a single symlink that is put in the system PATH
during jvms init
only. Switching to different versions of JDK is a matter of
switching the symlink target. As a result, this utility does not require you to run jvms switch x.x.x
every time you open a console window.
When you do run jvms switch x.x.x
, the active version of jdk is automatically updated across all open console windows. It also persists
between system reboots, so you only need to use jvms when you want to make a change.
Overall, this project brings together some ideas, a few battle-hardened pieces of other modules, and support for newer versions of JDK.
I also wrote a simple data feed containing a list of jdk versions. It's free for anyone to use.
e.g: add the jdk 17.0.1
jvms/store
17.0.1
jvms list
check thisjvms switch 17.0.1
java -version
check jdk verison
index.json
[
{
"version":"1.9.0",
"url":"http://192.168.1.101/files/jdk/1.9.0.zip"
}
]
jvms init --originalpath http://192.168.1.101/files/index.json
by the way, jvms init --java_home
can modify default JAVA_HOMEjvms rls
or jvms install x
will list or install your jdk version*.zip
fileMIT.