How to install Java 8 on Mac

Oracle has a poor record for making it easy to install and configure Java, but using Homebrew, the latest OpenJDK (Java 14) can be installed with:

brew install --cask adoptopenjdk8

For the many use cases depending on an older version (commonly Java 8), the AdoptOpenJDK project makes it possible with an extra step.

brew tap adoptopenjdk/openjdkbrew install --cask adoptopenjdk8

Existing users of Homebrew may encounter Error: Cask adoptopenjdk8 exists in multiple taps due to prior workarounds with different instructions. This can be solved by fully specifying the location with brew install --cask adoptopenjdk/openjdk/adoptopenjdk8.

Note: Oracle Java 8/9/10 is no longer available for public download (license change).

First install and update brew from Terminal:

/usr/bin/ruby -e "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/master/install)"brew tap homebrew/cask-versionsbrew update

NEW as of June 2019

To install the JDKs from AdoptOpenJDK:

brew tap adoptopenjdk/openjdkbrew install --cask adoptopenjdk8brew install --cask adoptopenjdk9brew install --cask adoptopenjdk10brew install --cask adoptopenjdk11

OLD

Java 8:

brew install --cask java8

Java Latest:

brew install --cask java

Java8 is no longer available on homebrew, brew install java8 will not work.

Instead, use:

brew cask install adoptopenjdk/openjdk/adoptopenjdk8

See this commit for technical details.

Please note as well you may see issues around Cask adoptopenjdk8 exists in multiple taps. This is a known issue, currently being worked on, which you can see here:

https://github.com/AdoptOpenJDK/homebrew-openjdk/issues/106

For those who don't want to run through the details, here is a summary:

# To install JDK8brew cask install adoptopenjdk/openjdk/adoptopenjdk8# To be able to safely run 'brew cleanup'brew untap adoptopenjdk/openjdkbrew untap caskroom/versionsbrew cleanup