Linux Novice - Ubuntu Java instuction

[tomlithgow]

I decide recently to upgrade the PC I'm using for AM to Win10. This was a complete disaster and I have decided to bring forwards my plan to use linus for AM as it is less resource greedy than windows.

I opted for Ubuntu linux. I am now trying to get AM installed....first requiremen....Java.

I printed off the installation instructions for Java in an Ubuntu system, but found when I came to download Java that it differs from the one given in the instructions (ie jdk1.8.0_102 rather than jdk1.7.0_45).

I think I managed to make appropriate changes to the commands, but now I've got to the bit about telling the system that the new Oracle Java is available for use. I've typed in the first command and got a whole stream on stuff on screen. Because there is so much, the initial message is gone of the top of the screen. But what's there looks remarkably similar to what happens when you enter an unrecognised command.

I had some UNIX many yeas ago, but for practical purposes, I know really nothing. I realise that there are many flavours of linux, but Ubuntu is one of the popular ones...has anyone done anything to automate this process so numbties like me can get AM going without have a degree in computer science?

[WillemijnL]

Ubuntu is a good choice. I'm running AM and X-Plane on Ubuntu. The first time installing Oracle Java took some time to figure how to do it. I put all together in a script to make installing (updates) easy. My script installs both jre (Java runtime environment) and jdk (Java development kit). But if you are not a Java developer you only need jre. I've made a jre only install script (install-java-jre.sh), but I was not able to test it, But give it a try. In the attached archive you can find install-java-jre.sh and also the original script install-java.sh (both jre and jdk).

How to install:

1. Go to java.com and click on the "free download" button to download the latest java jre version.
2. On the next page choose "Linux" (32 bit) or "Linux x64" (64 bit), depending on the Ubuntu version you have installed. You will download a "tar.gz" file.
3. Make the install script executable.
4. Edit the first three lines in the install script to set your download directory and the java version you have just downloaded.

With current Java version 8u101 the first three lines should be:
DOWNLOAD_DIR="your_download_directory"
ARCHIVE_JRE="${DOWNLOAD_DIR}jre-8u101-linux-x64.tar.gz"
SUBDIR_JRE="jre1.8.0_101"

4. If you don't use firefox, remove the last part from the script.
5. Run the install script: sudo ./install-java-jre.sh

You can also use the install script to install an update of java.