How do I switch java 8 to the default java, instead of java 7

Question

I started getting errors on my pi from running a java program that should run on java 8, which i thought i had on my pi, so i did java -version on my pi and it turns out I have java 7 installed (java version "1.7.0_131"). Any idea how to use java 8 on it?

Answer 1

You can install oracle java8 jdk following this guide:

1. modify /etc/apt/sources.list file

   sudo nano /etc/apt/sources.list
   

   adding this lines:

   deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/webupd8team/java/ubuntu trusty main 
   deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/webupd8team/java/ubuntu trusty main
   

2. install jdk

   sudo apt-get update
   sudo apt-get install oracle-java8-installer
   

3. verify installation

   java -version
   

   output should be:

   java version "1.8.0_131"
   

Answer 2

Oops... I did some digging and found that you can do "sudo update-alternatives --config java", and select the number corresponding to java 8. It will probably have jdk8 in its path.