BlueJ installation (generic)

These are the instructions for the generic BlueJ installer (the installer "for other operating systems"). This installer can be used on most Unix-like operating systems as well as Mac OS X and Windows. However, it is generally preferable to use the "native" installer when available.

The generic installer requires that a Java JDK be installed separately. There are two possibilites depending on the version of BlueJ:

  • For BlueJ 5.4.0 and later, OpenJDK 21 and OpenJFX 21 are required, which are only available for 64-bit operating systems. You can download the OpenJDK from Adoptium: choose version "21 - LTS" and then your operating system and architecture. You also need OpenJFX 21 -- download the "SDK" download for your operating system from Gluon. This is a zip which you should unzip locally. The BlueJ installer will ask you for the path of the JDK and unzipped JavaFX.
  • For BlueJ 5.1.0 and later, OpenJDK 17 and OpenJFX 17 are required, which are only available for 64-bit operating systems. You can download the OpenJDK from Adoptium: choose version "17 - LTS" and then your operating system and architecture. You also need OpenJFX 17 -- download the "SDK" download for your operating system from Gluon. This is a zip which you should unzip locally. The BlueJ installer will ask you for the path of the JDK and unzipped JavaFX.
  • For BlueJ 4.2.0 and later, OpenJDK 11 and OpenJFX 11 are required, which are only available for 64-bit operating systems. You can download the OpenJDK from the official site, which is a zip which you must unzip locally. You also need OpenJFX 11 -- download the SDK download for your operating system from Gluon. Again, this is a zip which you should unzip locally. The BlueJ installer will ask you for the path of the unzipped directories.
  • For BlueJ 4.0.0 to 4.1.4 a Java 8 JDK is required, and we recommend installing the latest JDK 8 update -- you can download the Oracle JDK from the Oracle website. Make sure to get the JDK (not the JRE) and to download the correct version.

Installation Procedure

  1. Download the installer, making sure to keep track of where it is in the filesystem.
  2. Start your Command Prompt or Terminal application. You will complete the installation by typing some commands into this application. (For Windows users, see these instructions for how to start the Command Prompt).

  3. Run the following command:

    java -jar <path-to-bluej-installer>

    ... replacing <path-to-bluej-installer> with the correct path to the installer .jar file that you downloaded.

    If you receive a "command not found" or similar error, you may need to specify the full path to the Java executable. For example:

    "C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.8.0_144\bin\java.exe" -jar "C:\Users\Sarah\Downloads\bluej-411.jar"

    (this example is for Windows; other operating system paths normally use '/' as a path separator!).

  4. The installer should start and present a window where you can specify both the path to the JDK, and for BlueJ 4.2.0 the path to OpenJFX, (make sure it is correct!) and where you want BlueJ to be installed. It is usually best to install BlueJ somewhere under your home folder. Take note of the path as you will need it to run BlueJ later.

Running BlueJ

To run BlueJ:

  • On Windows:

    1. Start the Command Prompt application.

    2. Change into the directory where you installed BlueJ:

      cd <path-to-bluej-installation>

      ... replacing <path-to-bluej-installation> with the path you chose to install BlueJ to.

    3. Start the BlueJ batch file: 
      bluej.bat

  • On other operating systems:

    1. Start the Terminal application.

    2. Change into the directory where you installed BlueJ:

      cd <path-to-bluej-installation>

      ... replacing <path-to-bluej-installation> with the path you chose to install BlueJ to.

    3. Start the BlueJ shell script file: 
      ./bluej

Support

Please see the support links on the main page.