JDK Version Manager (JVMS) for Windows

Manage multiple installations of JDK on a Windows computer. JVMS, Download Now!

There are situations where the ability to switch between different versions of JDK can be very useful. For example, if you want to test a project you're developing with the latest bleeding edge version without uninstalling the stable version of JDK, this utility can help.

Installation

• Download Now
• decompression zip and copy jvms.exe to a path what you want
• run cmd or powershell as administrator
• cd to folder where jvms.exe in
• run jvms.exe init
• Setup is complete ! Switch and install jdk see Usage Section

Usage

NAME:
   jvms - JDK Version Manager (JVMS) for Windows

USAGE:
   jvms.exe [global options] command [command options] [arguments...]

VERSION:
   2.1.17

COMMANDS:
   tui, tui       Run the interactive TUI interface
   init           Initialize config file
   list, ls       List current JDK installations.
   install, i     Install available remote jdk
   switch, s      Activate an installed JDK by version or explicit index (#N).
   use, u         Switch to use the specified version and install it if not installed.
   remove, rm     Remove a specific version.
   rls            Show a list of versions available for download.
   config         Show or update configuration.
   proxy          Set a proxy to use for downloads.
   help, h        Shows a list of commands or help for one command

GLOBAL OPTIONS:
   --help, -h     show help
   --version, -v  print the version

how to install and switch jdk. see:

• run cmd or powershell as administrator
• jvms rls list available jdk version for download
• jvms install 1.8.0_31 install jdk 1.8.0_31
• jvms ls list installed jdk
• jvms switch 1.8.0_31 switch jdk version to 1.8.0_31
• jvms use 21.0.4 install (if missing) and switch to jdk 21.0.4
• jvms tui launch interactive TUI picker
• jvms tui -i launch TUI install picker
• jvms tui -s launch TUI switch picker

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JDK Sources and Version Policy

JVMS supports multiple JDK distributions to give you flexibility in choosing your preferred JDK:

Supported JDK Distributions

1. Oracle JDK - Included in default index (LTS versions only)
2. Amazon Corretto - Included in default index (LTS versions only)
3. Adoptium (Eclipse Temurin) - Available via API, dynamically fetched
4. Azul Zulu - Available via API, dynamically fetched

LTS-Only Policy

The default jdkdlindex.json only includes LTS (Long-Term Support) versions:

• Java 8
• Java 11
• Java 17
• Java 21
• Java 25

Non-LTS versions (Java 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 22, 23, 24, etc.) are not included in the default index as they reach end-of-life in 6 months.

However, you can still install non-LTS versions if needed:

• Use jvms rls to see all available versions (including non-LTS from Adoptium and Azul)
• Add your own local JDK versions (see below)
• Set up a custom download server with your preferred versions

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What's the big difference?

First and foremost, this version of jvms has no dependency on other lib. It's written in Go, which is a much more structured approach than hacking around a limited .bat file. It does not rely on having an existing jdk installation.

The control mechanism is also quite different. There are two general ways to support multiple jdk installations with hot switching capabilities. The first is to modify the system PATH any time you switch versions, or bypass it by using a .bat file to mimic the jdk executable and redirect accordingly. This always seemed a little hackish to me, and there are some quirks as a result of this implementation.

The second option is to use a symlink. This concept requires putting the symlink in the system PATH, then updating its target to the jdk installation directory you want to use. This is a straightforward approach, and seems to be what people recommend.... until they realize just how much of a pain symlinks are on Windows. This is why it hasn't happened before.

In order to create/modify a symlink, you must be running as an admin, and you must get around Windows UAC (that annoying prompt). As a result, JVMS for Windows maintains a single symlink that is put in the system PATH during jvms init only. Switching to different versions of JDK is a matter of switching the symlink target. As a result, this utility does not require you to run jvms switch x.x.x every time you open a console window. When you do run jvms switch x.x.x, the active version of jdk is automatically updated across all open console windows. It also persists between system reboots, so you only need to use jvms when you want to make a change.

Overall, this project brings together some ideas, a few battle-hardened pieces of other modules, and support for newer versions of JDK.

I also wrote a simple data feed containing a list of jdk versions. It's free for anyone to use.

Configuration flags

Use the same java_home and originalpath names with init and config:

jvms config --java_home="C:/Program Files/jdk"
jvms config --originalpath=https://example.com/index.json
jvms config --cache_toggle=true --cache_ttl=24h
jvms switch --as_path "C:/Java/jdk-21"

jvms config displays the current settings. jvms rls refreshes the provider's catalog before listing available versions.

Bare values, including numbers such as 17, are always version identifiers. Use jvms install "#17" or jvms use "#17" to select row 17 from jvms rls. switch uses the installed list: jvms switch "#1" selects its first row. Quote explicit indexes so PowerShell passes them as arguments.

Older configuration files containing resolution_priority still load. The retired setting is ignored and omitted when the configuration is saved.

add a local jdk version

e.g: add the jdk 17.0.1

1. copy jdk home folder to jvms/store
2. rename folder to 17.0.1
3. jvms list check this
4. jvms switch 17.0.1
5. java -version check jdk verison

Existing folder names containing spaces also work: quote the name, for example jvms switch "jdk 17" or jvms rm "jdk 17", or switch by its explicit installed index.

Create own local download server

• create a json file. eg. index.json
• add you jdk download link to it. The format is like this:

  [
    {
      "version":"1.9.0",
      "url":"http://192.168.1.101/files/jdk/1.9.0.zip"
    }
  ]
  

• copy this file to a static file server like nginx, apache etc.
• run jvms init --originalpath http://192.168.1.101/files/index.json by the way, jvms init --java_home can modify default JAVA_HOME
• the run jvms rls or jvms install x will list or install your jdk version

create a jdk zip file

• open jdk_home folder
• compression all file to *.zip file
• copy zip file to your server
• add this zip file link to index.json

Development: install the Git hook

From the repository root, tell Git to use the hooks included in this checkout:

git config --local core.hooksPath .githooks

On macOS or Linux, ensure the hook is executable:

chmod +x .githooks/pre-commit

License

MIT.