Set Up for Java Development

You must set up your Java development environment to create extensions to the Service Layer.

You might already have the Java platform installed on your development machine. To check the version of your Java installation, open a command prompt and enter java -version.

Procedure

  1. From the Oracle Web site at http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/downloads/index.html, download the Java SE Development Kit installer.
    For developing HTML plug-ins, download JDK 1.8.x.
    Download the 64-bit version of the JDK installer if you need to allocate more memory.
  2. Install the JDK following the instructions of Oracle for the operating system of your development machine.
  3. Specify the location of the JDK.
    Operating System Java Location
    Windows Use the JAVA_HOME environment variable to specify the location of the JDK. For example, set the environment variable to C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.8.0_10.
    Mac OS Open the Terminal application and enter the following command: echo export "JAVA_HOME=\$(/usr/libexec/java_home)" >> ~/.bash_profile. In case you have more than one Java Development Kits installed, you can specify only the version you want by using a command like the following: echo export "JAVA_HOME=\$(/usr/libexec/java_home -v 1.8.0_17)" >> ~/.bash_profile.

What to do next

Set the Java compiler compliance level to Java 1.7 in your automation build scripts or in Eclipse, so that your plug-in will generate code compatible with older versions of vCenter Server .