How to set JAVA_HOME environment variable on Mac OS X 10.9?

Question

If you're using bash, all you have to do is:

echo export "JAVA_HOME=\$(/usr/libexec/java_home)" >> ~/.bash_profile

If you're using zsh (which probably means you're running macOS Catalina or newer), then it should instead be:

echo export "JAVA_HOME=\$(/usr/libexec/java_home)" >> ~/.zshrc

In either case, restart your shell.

If you have multiple JDK versions installed and you want it to be a specific one, you can use the -v flag to java_home like so:

echo export "JAVA_HOME=\$(/usr/libexec/java_home -v 1.7)" >> ~/.bash_profile

I did it by putting

export JAVA_HOME=`/usr/libexec/java_home`

(backtics) in my .bashrc. See my comment on Adrian's answer.

In Mac OSX 10.5 or later, Apple recommends to set the $JAVA_HOME variable to /usr/libexec/java_home, just export $JAVA_HOME in file ~/. bash_profile or ~/.profile.

Open the terminal and run the below command.

$ vim .bash_profile

export JAVA_HOME=$(/usr/libexec/java_home)

save and exit from vim editor, then run the source command on .bash_profile

$ source .bash_profile

$ echo $JAVA_HOME

/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/1.7.0.jdk/Contents/Home

I just spent 2 hours setting this variable. The other answers did not work properly for me. I'm using macOS Catalina 10.15.4.

First, find your actual Java SDK Home directory:

/usr/libexec/java_home

Manually navigate there to make sure you don't have any mistakes due to incorrect versions, etc. For me, this was:

/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/jdk-13.0.2.jdk/Contents/Home

Next, edit your terminal's profile. If you're using zsh, this will be:

vim ~/.zshrc

If you're not using zsh, this will be:

vim ~/.bash_profile

Inside, add the following new line anywhere in the file:

export JAVA_HOME=/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/jdk-13.0.2.jdk/Contents/Home

Restart your terminal app (or source ~/.bash_profile), and it should work properly.

Set $JAVA_HOME environment variable on latest or older Mac OSX.

Download & Install install JDK

1. First, install JDK
2. Open terminal check java version

$ java -version

Set JAVA_HOME environment variable

1. Open .zprofile file

$ open -t .zprofile

Or create . zprofile file

$ open -t .zprofile

2. write in .zprofile

export JAVA_HOME=$(/usr/libexec/java_home)

Save .zprofile and close the bash file & then write in the terminal for work perfectly.

$ source .zprofile

Setup test in terminal

$ echo $JAVA_HOME  
/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/jdk-13.0.1.jdk/Contents/Home

It is recommended to check default terminal shell before set JAVA_HOME environment variable, via following commands:

$ echo $SHELL
/bin/bash

If your default terminal is /bin/bash (Bash), then you should use @Adrian Petrescu method.

If your default terminal is /bin/zsh (Z Shell), then you should set these environment variable in ~/.zshenv file with following contents:

export JAVA_HOME="$(/usr/libexec/java_home)"

Similarly, any other terminal type not mentioned above, you should set environment variable in its respective terminal env file.

I got it working by adding to ~/.profile. Somehow after updating to El Capitan beta, it didnt work even though JAVA_HOME was defined in .bash_profile.

If there are any El Capitan beta users, try adding to .profile