Setting the JAVA_HOME variable for Liberty collective members and controllers

All Liberty collective members must have a Java™ Runtime Environment (JRE) installed that meets the minimum requirements of the Liberty server. After a JRE is installed on the host computer, you can set the JAVA_HOME variable so that the Liberty operation can locate the JRE.

About this task

In order for the collective controller to perform remote operations on Windows members such as starting or stopping a member server, the collective controller must run with an IBM® JRE. Third-party JREs do not contain the required security classes. You can get a JRE that supports Liberty products and SSL from Installation Manager offerings or developerWorks®:

You can set the JAVA_HOME variable in operating system settings or at a command line. Setting set the JAVA_HOME variable enables remote operations to locate the JRE.

Procedure

  • For Windows platforms To set JAVA_HOME on a Windows system, perform the following actions.
    1. On the Control panel:
      • Click System.
      • Click Advanced system settings.
      The System Properties window opens.
    2. Click the Environment Variables button.
    3. Click the New button in the system-variables section.
    4. Add the JAVA_HOME variable name and specify a path to the jre directory. For example: C:\wlp_16002\IBM\WebSphere\Liberty\java\java_1.8_64\jre

      Some collective controller commands require that the path to the Java installation jre\bin directory is available in the System path, so also add a path to the jre\bin directory.

    5. Save the changes. You might need to restart the computer for the changes to take effect.
    6. To verify the changes, at a command line enter set JAVA_HOME. The command displays the JAVA_HOME settings: 
      JAVA_HOME=C:\wlp_16002\IBM\WebSphere\Liberty\java\java_1.8_64\jre
    Note: Rather than change the operating system settings, you can set JAVA_HOME at a command line by entering set JAVA_HOME=path_to_jre. A limitation is that the JAVA_HOME setting applies to commands entered in the same command window only.
  • For LINUX platformsFor Solaris platformsFor HP UNIX platformsFor AIX platforms If you are running bash shell, you can add the JAVA_HOME environment variable to the .bashrc file in the user's home directory.
  • For z/OS platformsOne option for setting JAVA_HOME is to create a server.env file in the ${server.config.dir} where server.xml file is, and add JAVA_HOME there: 
    JAVA_HOME=/java/jre
    For z/OS platformsNote: The server.env file must be in EBCDIC.

    For LINUX platformsSome collective controller commands require that the path to the Java installation jre/bin directory is available in the .bashrc file, so set a path to jre/bin in the .bashrc file.