My previous post about installing Java on OS X received quite a bit of traffic, and I felt that some of the information was outdated, and it became a little unclear after all the edits, so I’ve endeavoured to create a much easier to understand set of instructions.

The instructions for installing the JDK (Java Development Kit) are a subset of the instructions for installing just the JRE, because Oracle provides an installer for the JDK.

1. Go to the Oracle Java downloads page and download the JDK installer. You should end up with a file named something similar to jdk-8u60-macosx-x64.dmg, but perhaps a newer version.
2. Open the .dmg Disk Image and run the installer.
3. Open Terminal
4. Edit the JDK’s newly installed Info.plist file to enable the included JRE to be used from the the command line, and from bundled applications:

   The third line fixes a permissions issue create by using defaults write. The fourth line is not required, but makes the file more user-friendly if you open it again in a text editor.

5. Create a link to add backwards compatibility for some applications made for older Java versions:
6. Optional: If you’re actually using the JDK for software development, you may want to set the JAVA_HOME environment variable. The recommended way is to use /usr/libexec/java_home program, so I recommend setting JAVA_HOME in your .bash_profile like Jared suggests:

   This will get the latest installed Java’s home directory by default, but check out man java_home for ways to easily get other Java home directories.
   

1. Install the Java 8 JRE or Java SE 8. How do I run ImageJ on El Capitan? Unfortunately, El Capitan has some new java-related issues. If you upgraded to El Capitan and your Java 8 installation is not being detected properly: Try installing the Java SE JDK. If that does not work, see this guide for steps which could get things working again.
2. If you don’t care what Java you have installed, the easiest solution for novices is to just install the legacy Java 6 runtime for OS X 10.11 El Capitan from Apple. Instead of offering to pay someone to get Adobe CS5.5 working, I think your money would be better spent upgrading to a newer version of Adobe’s Creative Suite/Cloud.

Oct 01, 2015 After installed the OS X El Capitan I get the message: to open 'CS5ServiceManager' you need to install the legacy Java SE 6 runtime. Java for OS X 2015-001 installs the legacy Java 6 runtime for OS X 10.11 El Capitan, OS X 10.10 Yosemite, OS X 10.9 Mavericks, OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion, and OS X 10.7 Lion. This package is exclusively intended for. How to fix this application requires the legacy Java SE 6 runtime which is unavailable for this version of the OS XIf anyone is using the beta version of El.

You should be done now, so try and open the application. If it does not work, some applications require legacy Java 6 to be installed. You can have it installed without actually using it, however, it’s possible to trick the applications into thinking legacy Java 6 is installed, without actually doing so.

If you’re running El Capitan, this is actually a little difficult now, because Apple added SIP (System Integrity Protection) to OS X. I have written a post explaining how to disable and enable SIP.

If you’ve disabled SIP, or are not running El Capitan yet, you can trick some applications into thinking legacy Java 6 is installed by creating two folders with the following commands in Terminal:

Java El Capitan Free

Don’t forget to enable SIP again after creating these directories.

'Great tutorial. Thank you for concise directions to get me running with Java on my new iMac.'A.M., May 3, 2010

'Thank you so much for this tutorial! I am new to programming and have never written any code on my mac before now. This was very helpful!'M.A., August 29, 2010

'Great tutorial.'W.C., October 8, 2009

'Great tutorial! Many thanks, this is really helpful for a programming assignment in a computer network class I'm taking.'Z.L., October 6, 2009

'Great tut omg thanks so much!'S., October 4, 2009

'I love this tutorial! Thank you!'S.R., March 4, 2009

'Fantastic!!!!! Thank you very muchhhhh!! I can start mac programing now. The tutorial is great!!!'F., November 8, 2008

'Incredibly clear to follow, Thanks very much'J.G., October 1, 2008

'Très bon tutorial, merci beaucoup'K., November 7, 2007

Java El Capitan Mac

'This is exactly the information I was looking for!! Great job explaining how to use the Jar Bundler. I always wondered how to group my files into a single 'app' file.'J.L.M., July 6, 2007

'Thanks for the tutorial.'D.W., June 6, 2007

'Great tutorial! Thank You very much!'T., May 19, 2007

'This is a very good developement friendly site'A.K., March 18, 2007

'Thankyou, I am very happy to read your content for MacJava. Thankyou very much'A., January 12, 2007

'Very Good!!!!'D.A., August 10, 2006

'Great article - I found it very helpful! Thanks!'J.T., August 1, 2006

'Hello, Great information, thank you very much! Can I translate your article in french?'P.T., January 21, 2006

'Great article!'D., December 9, 2005

'Thank you so much. Your instructions are perfectly concise. There is plenty of information about programming, but not nearly enough about installing and packaging. This page is a blessing.'S.B., October 21, 2005

'This is a great info on mac application builder'S.S., October 11, 2005

'sweet article! one of the clearest and simplest ive seen and everything just works!!'J.B., September 9, 2005

'Amazing, I would never have thought it was that easy... You are truely the best!'M.F., September 7, 2005

'Couldn't be more clearer!'M.H., August 13, 2005

'THX a lot - very helpful and direct to the point'T.W., August 9, 2005

Java Se 6 El Capitan Download

'Cool -- you solved the mystery!'C.M., June 27, 2005