How to downgrade JRE/JDK on Mac OSX?

Question

Does anyone know how to downgrade the version for JRE/JDK from 1.6.0_24 to 1.6.0_18 on a Mac OSX thru Terminal? I need to downgrade in order to get a Java applet working in Firefox. Any help would be much appreciated.

I should point out that now (2022) you should not be using Java 6 at all, and you should not be using applets at all. Java 6 is many years past EOL, and applets are not supported by modern JVMs or modern web browsers. — Stephen C, Jun 28 '22 at 05:39

score 31 · Answer 1 · answered May 23 '14 at 00:10

That does not seem to be accurate any more.

I just managed to downgrade both JRE and compiler from Java 8 to 7 by looking into /Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines, and moving away the directory with the highest version number, e.g.

sudo mv jdk1.8.0.jdk ~/Desktop/

score 10 · Answer 2 · answered Jun 11 '13 at 23:50

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That's easy. You have to remove de .jdk directory of the JDK 7 in /Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines. Now you only have to install the version you like. =)

More info: http://docs.oracle.com/javase/7/docs/webnotes/install/mac/mac-jdk.html#uninstall

answered Jun 11 '13 at 23:50

David

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I found that in /Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines older versions of JDK was not removed even after new version installed, so I just removed new version (JDK11) on my side and older version took over automatically. – Amit Bravo Nov 22 '18 at 08:57

score 6 · Accepted Answer · answered Jun 20 '11 at 13:49

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If the older JDK isn't on your machine, you'd need to use the GUI and download the Java updater. The one closest to yours I could find was for Java 1.6.0_15 for Mac OS 10.5 (you didn't mention which Mac OS X version you were running):

Java for Mac OS X 10.5 Update 5

I didn't see any for Mac OS X 10.6. For that, you would probably have to download the updaters for each 10.6 release, and extract the JDK installer from the updater (using something like Pacifist

Oh, and if you haven't already, try running /Applications/Utilities/Java Preferences.app, which lets you change the default Java on your machine amongst the ones you have installed.

Hope this helps...

answered Jun 20 '11 at 13:49

Eric

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Thanks! I was able to download the JRE from the link, but when I try to install it, I get an alert saying you cannot install this because a later version is already installed. Not sure what I can do? Im on Leopard 10.6.7 – jrutter Jun 20 '11 at 14:21
The problem may be that you're using Mac OS X 10.6.7, but the download in the link is for Mac OS X 10.5. I couldn't find a specific JVM upgdate for Mac OS X 10.6.*, so you may have to download a combo updater for 10.6 (as @Stefan mentions) and use Pacifist to extract the JVM updater. Unfortunately, I don't know which 10.6.* release will have the version you're seeking. You might want to sign up for the java-dev mailing list at [Apple Mailing Lists](http://lists.apple.com) and ask there. – Eric Jun 20 '11 at 18:13

score 4 · Answer 4 · answered Dec 24 '15 at 23:27

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I removed the JavaAppletPlugin: /Library/Internet Plug-Ins/JavaAppletPlugin.plugin

and all 1.8 JDKs: /Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/jdk1.8.0_45.jdk /Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/jdk1.8.0_60.jdk

Then I was able to re-install 1.7.

answered Dec 24 '15 at 23:27

Randy

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score 3 · Answer 5 · answered Jun 20 '11 at 15:24

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To downgrade your JDK you will need the JDK installation package and an app called Pacifist, available from http://www.charlessoft.com/ . The usage is pretty straight forward. I have used it to downgrade my JDK before.

answered Jun 20 '11 at 15:24

Stefan

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Thank you! This was the only thing that worked for me to downgrade to Java 6 on Lion (I wanted to try out Java 7 but it made my backup application [CrashPlan] stop working). BUT...the 10.7 package did NOT work to downgrade...I got it working using the 10.6 package here: http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1573 – Matt Browne Feb 07 '13 at 02:28
One other note - it was only necessary to copy two folders from the package, then when I ran "java -version" from the command line, it opened up Software Update which asked me if I wanted to install the Java runtime...after it was done I was successfully downgraded. The two folders I copied were /System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework and /System/Library/Java. – Matt Browne Feb 07 '13 at 02:31
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On the off-chance that someone reading this is trying to get CrashPlan to work after upgrading to Java 7, I found an easier method: https://crashplan.zendesk.com/entries/22199717-crashplan-client-does-not-start-under-java-1-7-on-os-x – Matt Browne Feb 07 '13 at 22:16

Avi · Answer 6 · 2016-06-02T15:55:54.807

These days MAC OS comes with latest java version(8 or later).

Even if you install the old versions, it points to the Newest version. All it need is just pointing to the old version. To downgrade to any version that is preinstalled is to create a symlink of that version.

Follow these simple steps to downgrade your java version.

   (1) cd /System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions

   (2) sudo bash

   (3) rm Current

   (4) ln -s 1.6.0/Contents/ Current

   (5) java -version

This will point the java to last update in java6. And now update all the paths.

Hope it might be helpful and let me know if it works...:)

score 1 · Answer 7 · edited May 23 '17 at 12:32

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Which version of firefox are you running?

I believe you can have more than one version of jdk/jre on a machine as long as you specify the path when compiling/running. However, the jvm is bundled with mac which makes this problematic.

This post may be helpful

How to install a specific JDK on Mac OS X?

edited May 23 '17 at 12:32

Community

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answered Jul 21 '11 at 04:07

JJRutter

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score 0 · Answer 8 · answered Jun 20 '11 at 13:35

There is no downgrade mechanism for what you want to do.

The typical suggestion is to roll back to the version you want either through Time Machine or by reinstalling and only update selectively to the version you need by downloading explicitly from Apple and not updating Java through software update.

I'd recommend you look into the problem instead. If you cannot run this in Firefox, then try with Chrome or Safari. If it is the mixed code issue, then this is changed in the Java Settings panel in Programs -> Utilities in the Advanced panel.

Can you point me to the location on the Apple website to download the version I need? — jrutter, Jun 20 '11 at 13:43

score 0 · Answer 9 · answered Jan 11 '12 at 10:01

I've had the very same problem. You can open the JRE 1.6.0_20 image file with Pacifist software and extract all the folders with the framework into the \System\Library\Frameworks\JavaVM.framework\Versions folders. After that the JRE should appear in your Applications/Utilities/Java Preferences JRE selection menu, where you can switch between the running JRE's.

How to downgrade JRE/JDK on Mac OSX?

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