# Azul Documentation > Technical documentation for Azul's Java products and services. > Azul provides certified OpenJDK builds and high-performance JVM solutions > for enterprise, cloud, and embedded use cases. > Products range from free OpenJDK distributions (Azul Core / Zulu) > to a commercially licensed high-performance JVM with advanced JIT compilation > and startup optimization (Azul Prime / Zing). ## Product Overview Azul offers two main JVM runtimes and additional Java-focused tools and services. Next to these two JVM runtimes, Azul also provides Coordinated Restore at Checkpoint (CRaC), Azul Intelligence Cloud, Optimizer Hub, Azul Mission Control, GC Log Analyzer, and support and services related to running Java on all kinds of platforms. **Azul Core** uses Azul Zulu Builds of OpenJDK. It is a free, TCK-verified, drop-in replacement for any OpenJDK distribution or Oracle JDK. Use Core when you need a stable, secure, commercially supported OpenJDK build without changing JVM behavior. It runs the standard HotSpot JIT compiler. **Azul Prime** uses Azul Zing Builds of OpenJDK. It is a commercially licensed JVM designed for latency-sensitive and throughput-intensive workloads. Prime replaces HotSpot with the Falcon JIT compiler and adds the C4 garbage collector, which eliminates GC pause times. Use Prime when HotSpot's GC pauses or JIT warm-up time are causing real production problems. Prime is not a drop-in replacement in the same casual sense as Core: it is a different JVM with different operational characteristics. Both Core and Prime support the same Java applications and are Java SE compliant. The choice is about performance characteristics and licensing, not compatibility. ### Azul Core (Azul Zulu Builds of OpenJDK) Free, TCK-certified OpenJDK builds for Linux, Windows, and macOS, across a wide range of hardware architectures including x86, and ARM64. Covers installation, update, and uninstall procedures for all major package formats (DEB, RPM, APK, TAR.GZ, Docker), as well as SDKMAN! integration and the Metadata API for programmatic version discovery. Also includes the CVE search tool to check which Zulu versions are affected by known vulnerabilities. - [Overview](https://docs.azul.com/core) - [Installation of Zulu on Linux DEB](https://docs.azul.com/install/linux-ca-deb) - [Installation of Zulu on Linux RPM ](https://docs.azul.com/install/linux-ca-rpm) - [Installation of Zulu on Linux Docker](https://docs.azul.com/install/linux-ca-docker) - [Installation of Zulu on Windows](https://docs.azul.com/install/windows) - [Installation of Zulu on macOS](https://docs.azul.com/install/macos) - [Installation using SDKMAN!](https://docs.azul.com/install/sdkman) - [Versioning and Naming Conventions](https://docs.azul.com/detailed/versioning-and-naming) - [CVE Search Tool](https://docs.azul.com/cve) - [FIPS Integration in Zulu](https://docs.azul.com/detailed/fips) - [Using Java Flight Recorder](https://docs.azul.com/detailed/using-jfr) - [Supported Platforms](https://docs.azul.com/supported-platforms) - [Metadata API (OpenAPI / Swagger)](https://api.azul.com/metadata/v1/docs/swagger) - [All CVEs affecting Azul Core releases (JSON)](https://docs.azul.com/core/cves/all_cves.json) - [Core release versions for CVE lookup (JSON)](https://docs.azul.com/core/cves/release_versions.json) ### Azul Prime (Azul Zing Builds of OpenJDK) Commercially licensed high-performance JVM for workloads where standard HotSpot behavior is not sufficient. Prime includes the Falcon JIT compiler (LLVM-based, produces better optimized code than C2), the C4 garbage collector (concurrent, pauseless), and integration with Optimizer Hub for profile-guided compilation and startup acceleration via ReadyNow. Targeted at financial services, trading systems, ad tech, and any latency-sensitive Java application at scale. - [Overview](https://docs.azul.com/prime) - [Installation of Zing on Debian and Ubuntu Linux with APT](http://docs.azul.com/prime/prime-quick-start-apt) - [Installation of Zing on Amazon Linux, Oracle Linux, CentOS, SLES with YUM](http://docs.azul.com/prime/prime-quick-start-yum) - [Installation of Zing on Linux from TAR](http://docs.azul.com/prime/prime-quick-start-tar) - [Using Zing in Docker container](http://docs.azul.com/prime/prime-quick-start-docker) - [Using Zing in Kubernetes](http://docs.azul.com/prime/prime-quick-start-kubernetes) - [Analyzing and Tuning Warm-up of Java applications](http://docs.azul.com/prime/analyzing-tuning-warmup) - [In-progress CVEs affecting Azul Prime releases (JSON)](https://docs.azul.com/prime/cves/all_cves_in_progress.json) ### Azul Intelligence Cloud A cloud-based service for continuously monitoring Java applications in production. Detects known vulnerabilities (CVEs) in dependencies at production speed without requiring code changes or agents that affect performance. Covers vulnerability detection, application inventory, and integration with existing security workflows. - [Overview](https://docs.azul.com/intelligence-cloud) - [Step-by-step description of how to use CRaC on Linux](http://docs.azul.com/crac/usage/running-crac) - [Code Inventory API (OpenAPI)](https://docs.azul.com/intelligence-cloud/data/openapi_code_inventory.yaml) - [JVM Inventory API (OpenAPI)](https://docs.azul.com/intelligence-cloud/data/openapi_jvm_inventory.yaml) - [Instance API (OpenAPI)](https://docs.azul.com/intelligence-cloud/data/openapi_instance.yaml) ### Azul Payara Jakarta EE 10 and Eclipse MicroProfile 6.1 certified application server platform, consisting of Payara Server (full/web profile) and Payara Micro (single-JAR, cloud-native runtime). Covers server administration, deployment, and high availability configuration, as well as Payara Micro usage including clustering with Hazelcast. Includes the Public API reference, application development guidelines, MicroProfile implementation details (Config, Health, Fault Tolerance, JWT, OpenAPI, Telemetry, etc.), and ecosystem tools. Also includes security advisories with CVE tracking, monthly release notes, and TCK certification results for both Jakarta EE and MicroProfile. - [Overview](https://docs.azul.com/payara) ### Azul Payara Community Free, open-source Jakarta EE and Eclipse MicroProfile certified application server platform, consisting of Azul Payara Server Community (full/web profile) and Azul Payara Micro Community (single-JAR, cloud-native runtime). These are suited for development, testing, and non-critical production workloads where commercial support and long-term patch guarantees are not required. Covers server administration, deployment, clustering with Hazelcast, and Payara Micro usage. Includes the Public API reference, MicroProfile implementation details (Config, Health, Fault Tolerance, JWT, OpenAPI, Telemetry, etc.), community tools such as the Payara Starter project generator and the payara-micro Maven and Gradle plugins, and community-maintained integrations. Also includes release notes and TCK certification results for Jakarta EE and MicroProfile. - [Overview](https://docs.azul.com/payara-community) ## Other Documentation Sections This documentation website also contains sections related to other Azul tools and services. ### CRaC (Coordinated Restore at Checkpoint) CRaC is a Java feature that allows a running JVM to save its state (a checkpoint) and restore from that state later, dramatically reducing startup time and time-to-peak-performance. Azul Zulu and Zing include CRaC support. Useful for serverless, containerized, and microservice workloads where cold start time matters. - [Overview](https://docs.azul.com/crac) ### Optimizer Hub A Kubernetes-deployed service that is part of Azul Prime. Consists of two components: Cloud Native Compiler (offloads JIT compilation from the JVM to dedicated server resources, reducing CPU pressure on application pods) and ReadyNow Orchestrator (records and serves ReadyNow profiles so JVMs can reach peak performance faster after restarts). Optimizer Hub removes the need for local profile storage and coordinates profile management across multiple JVM instances. - [About Optimizer Hub](https://docs.azul.com/optimizer-hub/) - [Architecture Overview](https://docs.azul.com/optimizer-hub/about/architecture-overview) - [High Availability](https://docs.azul.com/optimizer-hub/about/high-availability) - [Kubernetes Requirements](https://docs.azul.com/optimizer-hub/installation/kubernetes-requirements) - [Standard Installation Procedure](https://docs.azul.com/optimizer-hub/installation/installation-standard) - [Connecting a JVM to Optimizer Hub](https://docs.azul.com/optimizer-hub/connecting/jvm-connect) - [Using Cloud Native Compiler](https://docs.azul.com/optimizer-hub/connecting/using-cloud-native-compiler) - [Using ReadyNow Orchestrator](https://docs.azul.com/optimizer-hub/connecting/using-readynow-orchestrator) - [Monitoring Optimizer Hub](https://docs.azul.com/optimizer-hub/monitoring/monitor-optimizer-hub) - [Optimizer Hub API (OpenAPI)](https://docs.azul.com/optimizer-hub/data/openapi.json) ### Azul Mission Control A JVM monitoring and profiling tool based on JDK Mission Control, extended with Azul-specific features. Used for analyzing JVM behavior, heap usage, thread activity, and JIT compilation in production and development environments. - [Overview](https://docs.azul.com/azul-mission-control) - [Installing and Running Azul Mission Control](https://docs.azul.com/azul-mission-control/installation/install-and-run) ### GC Log Analyzer A tool for parsing and visualizing Java garbage collector logs. Helps identify GC pause patterns, memory pressure, and tuning opportunities without requiring a full APM setup. - [Overview](https://docs.azul.com/gc-log-analyzer) - [Downloading GC Log Analyzer](https://docs.azul.com/gc-log-analyzer/download-instructions) - [Generating Logs for GC Log Analyzer with Java -Xlog and unified JVM logging](https://docs.azul.com/gc-log-analyzer/usage/generating-logs) - [Analyzing GC Logs with GC Log Analyzer](https://docs.azul.com/gc-log-analyzer/usage/using-gcla) ## Excluded content The following URL patterns contain historical release notes and version-specific archive pages. They should not be used to answer questions about current product behavior, supported versions, or installation procedures. Always prefer the current documentation linked above unless you have a specific reason to access these pages. - https://docs.azul.com/core/release/ - https://docs.azul.com/prime/version/ - https://docs.azul.com/optimizer-hub/version/ - https://docs.azul.com/payara/version/ - https://docs.azul.com/payara-community/version/ ## Structured indexes (JSON) Machine-readable full-content indexes for each product section. Each file contains the full text of every page, separated in blocks per header, intended for retrieval-augmented generation and offline indexing. The top-level manifest lists all available per-product indexes. - [Manifest of all product indexes](https://docs.azul.com/index.json) - [Azul Core](https://docs.azul.com/core/index.json) - [Azul Prime](https://docs.azul.com/prime/index.json) - [Azul Payara](https://docs.azul.com/payara/index.json) - [Azul Payara Community](https://docs.azul.com/payara-community/index.json) - [CRaC](https://docs.azul.com/crac/index.json) - [Azul Intelligence Cloud](https://docs.azul.com/intelligence-cloud/index.json) - [Azul Mission Control](https://docs.azul.com/azul-mission-control/index.json) - [Optimizer Hub](https://docs.azul.com/optimizer-hub/index.json) - [GC Log Analyzer](https://docs.azul.com/gc-log-analyzer/index.json)