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Building the JDK requires specific hardware resources, native compilers, build tools, external libraries, and a boot JDK. This page details all requirements.

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Hardware Requirements

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Building on x86

Minimum requirements:
  • CPU: 2-4 cores
  • RAM: 2-4 GB (more memory needed with more cores)
  • Disk: At least 6 GB of free space
  • Storage: SSD strongly recommended for best performance
Even for 32-bit builds, use a 64-bit build machine and create a 32-bit target using --with-target-bits=32.

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Building on aarch64

Minimum requirements:
  • CPU: 8 cores minimum
  • RAM: 8 GB (more memory needed with more cores)
  • Disk: At least 6 GB of free space
  • Storage: SSD strongly recommended
If you don’t have sufficiently powerful hardware, consider using cross-compilation.

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Branch Protection

To use Branch Protection features in the VM, use --enable-branch-protection. This requires:
  • GCC 9.1.0+ or Clang 10+
  • Linux target platform only
  • The build can run on machines with or without hardware branch protection support

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Building on 32-bit ARM

Building on 32-bit ARM is not recommended. Use cross-compilation instead.

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Native Compiler (Toolchain) Requirements

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GCC (Linux)

Minimum version: 10.0
Tested version: 14.2.0 
# Install on Debian/Ubuntu
sudo apt-get install build-essential autoconf

# Install on Fedora/Red Hat
sudo yum groupinstall "Development Tools"

# Install on Alpine Linux
sudo apk add build-base bash grep zip
To use clang instead of gcc on Linux: 
bash configure --with-toolchain-type=clang
The minimum accepted clang version is 13.

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Apple Xcode (macOS)

Minimum version: 13.0
Recommended version: 15.4 or later
macOS version: 14 or later recommended Download Xcode from:
You can keep multiple Xcode versions and select one for building:Option 1: System-wide (using xcode-select)
xcode-select -s /Applications/Xcode13.1.app
bash configure
Option 2: Per-build (using configure option)
bash configure --with-xcode-path=/Applications/Xcode13.1.app
The second option is recommended as it doesn’t affect other builds.
Starting with Xcode 26 (macOS 26), the Metal toolchain must be installed separately:
xcodebuild -downloadComponent metalToolchain

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Microsoft Visual Studio (Windows)

Minimum version: Visual Studio 2019 version 16.8 (MSVC 14.28, cl.exe 19.28)
Maximum version: Visual Studio 2026
Tested version: Visual Studio 2022 version 17.13.2
1

Install US English language pack

The US English language pack is required. You can add it during installation or modify an existing installation:GUI Method:
  1. Click “Visual Studio Installer” in Start menu
  2. Click “Modify”
  3. Select “Language packs” tab
  4. Choose “English”
  5. Click “Modify”
2

Select toolchain version (if multiple installed)

bash configure --with-toolchain-version=2022
If Visual Studio is installed but not detected, it may be due to spaces in the installation path. See the troubleshooting section.

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Windows POSIX Support Layer

Windows requires a POSIX support layer. Supported options:

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IBM Open XL C/C++ (AIX)

Minimum version: 17.1.1.4 (essentially clang 15)

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Boot JDK Requirements

Building the JDK requires a pre-existing JDK called the “boot JDK”.

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Version Rule

To build JDK major version N, use a boot JDK of major version N-1.
  • Building JDK 18 → Use JDK 17 as boot JDK
  • Building JDK 23 → Use JDK 22 as boot JDK
Early in the release cycle, if version N-1 isn’t released yet, use version N-2.
The JDK can “build itself”, so an up-to-date build of the current JDK source is also acceptable.

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Locating Boot JDK

The configure script attempts to auto-detect a suitable boot JDK. If detection fails or selects the wrong JDK: 
bash configure --with-boot-jdk=/path/to/jdk

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Getting JDK Binaries

Debian/Ubuntu:
sudo apt-get install openjdk-21-jdk
Fedora/Red Hat:
sudo yum install java-21-openjdk-devel

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External Library Requirements

External libraries are platform-specific. Use --with-<LIB>=<path> or split options --with-<LIB>-include=<path> and --with-<LIB>-lib=<path>.

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FreeType

Required on Unix-based platforms when referencing a system-installed library. 
sudo apt-get install libfreetype6-dev

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CUPS (Common UNIX Printing System)

Required on all platforms except Windows. 
# Debian/Ubuntu
sudo apt-get install libcups2-dev

# Fedora/Red Hat
sudo yum install cups-devel

# Alpine Linux
sudo apk add cups-dev

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ALSA (Advanced Linux Sound Architecture)

Required on Linux. Minimum version: 0.9.1 
# Debian/Ubuntu
sudo apt-get install libasound2-dev

# Fedora/Red Hat
sudo yum install alsa-lib-devel

# Alpine Linux
sudo apk add alsa-lib-dev
ALSA is needed even for headless JDK builds.

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X11 Libraries

Required on Linux (not needed for headless builds on other platforms). 
# Debian/Ubuntu
sudo apt-get install libx11-dev libxext-dev libxrender-dev \
  libxrandr-dev libxtst-dev libxt-dev

# Fedora/Red Hat
sudo yum install libXtst-devel libXt-devel libXrender-devel \
  libXrandr-devel libXi-devel

# Alpine Linux
sudo apk add libx11-dev libxext-dev libxrender-dev \
  libxrandr-dev libxtst-dev libxt-dev

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Fontconfig

Required on all platforms except Windows and macOS. 
# Debian/Ubuntu
sudo apt-get install libfontconfig-dev

# Fedora/Red Hat
sudo yum install fontconfig-devel

# Alpine Linux
sudo apk add fontconfig-dev

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libffi

Required when building the Zero version of Hotspot. 
# Debian/Ubuntu
sudo apt-get install libffi-dev

# Fedora/Red Hat
sudo yum install libffi-devel

# Alpine Linux
sudo apk add libffi-dev

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Build Tools Requirements

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Autoconf

Required version: 2.69 or later 
# Debian/Ubuntu
sudo apt-get install autoconf

# Fedora/Red Hat
sudo yum install autoconf

# Alpine Linux
sudo apk add autoconf

# macOS
brew install autoconf

# Windows (Cygwin)
<path-to-setup>/setup-x86_64.exe -q -P autoconf
If configure can’t locate autoconf: 
AUTOCONF=/path/to/autoconf bash configure

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GNU Make

Minimum version: 3.81
Recommended version: 4.0 or later (for better parallel building)
Only GNU Make is supported. No other make flavors will work.
Override the detected make: 
bash configure MAKE=/opt/gnu/make

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GNU Bash

Minimum version: 3.2
No other shells are supported for the build system.

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Graphviz and Pandoc (Optional)

Required for building man pages and full documentation with --enable-full-docs. Oracle uses:
  • Graphviz 9.0.0
  • Pandoc 2.19.2
Any recent versions should work.

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