Update Azul Zulu
It’s important to keep your Azul Zulu runtime up-to-date, as it guarantees you have the latest bug and security fixes.
Update Versus Upgrade
This document helps you to update your Java runtime, which is different compared to an upgrade:
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Update: An update contains security fixes and improvements of an existing Java version, for instance going from Azul Zulu 21.32.18 (January 2024) to 21.34.20 (April 2024).
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Upgrade: Upgrades are new versions of OpenJDK. Since version 9, there are two new releases per year. You can, for instance, upgrade from any version of Azul Zulu 21 to Azul Zulu 22. For an upgrade, we advise you to uninstall your current version, and install the new version.
How to Update Azul Zulu
Uninstall the Current Version
You can have multiple Java versions on your system. Because a system PATH environment variable is used to link the java command to the installation directory when you start a program with, for example, java -jar my_app.jar, multiple installed versions don’t cause conflicts.
If you want or need to uninstall the existing version, follow one of these guidelines:
Finding Installed Versions
You can find which versions are installed by checking these most used installation locations:
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MacOS:
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/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/ -
When using SDKMAN:
/Users/<YOUR_NAME>/.sdkman/candidates/java
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Windows:
C:\Program Files\Java\ -
Linux:
/usr/lib/jvm
A handy tool to monitor the installed Java versions on a macOS 14+ system is JDK Updater by Gerrit Grunwald.
How To Perform an Update
Windows and macOS
You can update to a newer version by executing the installation steps as described on one of the following links. When you update an already installed version, for example, from 21.0.1 to 21.0.2, the existing installation gets overwritten.
When you upgrade to a newer major version, for example, installing version 22 on a computer that already has 21, the already installed version is not be removed. Still, it is no longer used by the java command and takes up storage space that can be freed by uninstalling it first.
Special Cases
There are a few cases where it’s advised to uninstall the existing installation.
Packages Installed with RPM and DEB Installers
In October 2023, the package names and installation paths have changed for the RPM and DEB installers of all the Zulu versions as described here. RPM and DEB upgrades and downgrades of zre-hl-… packages between any modified version (e.g. zulu11.67) and any old version (zulu11.66 or earlier) don’t work properly. You need to uninstall the previous version and then install the new one if you want to upgrade or downgrade.