MacOS – How to uninstall Java

javamacos

I have several Java installations on my machine:

$ /usr/libexec/java_home -V
Matching Java Virtual Machines (6):
    1.6.0_24-b07-334, x86_64: "Java SE 6"   /Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/1.6.0_24-b07-334.jdk/Contents/Home
    1.6.0_24-b07-334, i386:   "Java SE 6"   /Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/1.6.0_24-b07-334.jdk/Contents/Home
    1.6.0_24-b07-334, x86_64: "Java SE 6"   /System/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/1.6.0.jdk/Contents/Home
    1.6.0_24-b07-334, i386:   "Java SE 6"   /System/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/1.6.0.jdk/Contents/Home
    1.6.0_22-b04-307, x86_64: "Java SE 6"   /Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/1.6.0_22-b04-307.jdk/Contents/Home
    1.6.0_22-b04-307, i386:   "Java SE 6"   /Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/1.6.0_22-b04-307.jdk/Contents/Home

I don't need them all. For example I don't need update 22 version. How can I uninstall it cleanly?

I would also like to get rid of those 'duplicate' JVMs, but I need to have sources around, since I do lot of Java developement, so that may not be possible. Why are there so many of them anyway?

Best Answer

After some reading:

JVM in /System is system-wide installation of Java, which is always installed on Snow Leopard, and is updated through standard Software Update mechanism. I don't think it would be good idea to remove this JVM, but haven't tried it ... maybe nothing bad will happen (if you don't use Java).

My JVMs in /Library are from Java Developer Package, which also contain sources and documentation. It seems that it is OK to simply remove them. After I have removed them, java_tool is no longer showing them.

(After this, I've updated my Java to latest one available from Apple, and also installed latest Java Developer Package, which added new JVM into /Library again. Since I use Java sources and documentation in my IDE, I will let it live).

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