The Java Tutorials have been written for JDK 8. Examples and practices described in this page don't take advantage of improvements introduced in later releases and might use technology no longer available.
See Dev.java for updated tutorials taking advantage of the latest releases.
See Java Language Changes for a summary of updated language features in Java SE 9 and subsequent releases.
See JDK Release Notes for information about new features, enhancements, and removed or deprecated options for all JDK releases.
To start Policy Tool, simply type the following at the command line:
policytool
This brings up the Policy Tool window. Whenever Policy Tool is started, it tries to fill in this window with policy information from what is sometimes referred to as the "user policy file," which by default is a file named .java.policy in your home directory. If Policy Tool cannot find the user policy file, it reports the situation and displays a blank Policy Tool window (that is, a window with headings and buttons but no data in it, as shown in the following figure.
You will create and work on a policy file other than the user policy file, since the lessons of this trail don't expect modifications to be made to your official user policy file.
Assuming that you see the blank Policy Tool window (if not, select New in the File menu), you can immediately proceed to create a new policy file.
