1. MSI Enterprise JRE Installer Guide
  2. Installing the JRE With the JRE MSI Installer

1 Installing the JRE With the JRE MSI Installer

You can use the Oracle Java SE 8 JRE MSI Installer (MSI Enterprise JRE Installer) to install and uninstall the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) for Windows.

The Oracle Java SE 8 JRE MSI Installer is delivered as a Microsoft Software Installer (MSI) file, and is only available to customers for download through My Oracle Support (MOS). For simplicity, this guide refers to the Oracle Java SE 8 JRE MSI Installer as the JRE MSI Installer.

The JRE MSI Installer enables you to install the JRE across your enterprise. The JRE MSI Installer is packaged as a "pure" .msi installer and runs with minimal dialogs. It can be used with system management software, such as Systems Management Server (SMS) and Systems Center Configuration Manager (SCCM). These software management suites enable you to deploy software across your enterprise. In addition to the features and options that you can specify with the JRE MSI Installer, you can specify a Java Usage Tracker configuration file and a deployment rule set. It supports silent installation of the JRE, and is customizable by using command line parameters, a parameter file, or third-party MSI customization tools.

This section includes the following topics:

Prerequisites and System Requirements

Before installing the JRE, verify that your system meets the system requirements and you are aware of the prerequisites for installation.

Review the Consolidated Release Notes for JDK 8 and JDK 8 Update Releases for New Features, Removed Features and Options, Known Issues, and Other Notes of importance about the version that you are installing.

See Oracle JDK 8 and JRE 8 Certified System Configurations for information about supported platforms, operating systems, and browsers.

Note:

If you need additional help when using the JRE MSI Installer to install the JDK 8 JRE, such as assistance for a unique or exceptional use case or situation, contact My Oracle Support.

Downloading the JRE MSI Installer

You can install JRE 8 updates and patches by downloading the appropriate Oracle JRE 8 Enterprise Installer (JRE MSI Installer) for your system from My Oracle Support (MOS).

Note:

The JRE MSI Installers for JRE 8u371 and later removed the ability to retain older JRE versions already installed on disk (the REMOVEOLDERJRES option was disabled in these versions). Customers that need to retain older JRE versions should get 8u381 b32 or later from My Oracle Support and use the RETAIN_ALL_VERSIONS option when running the JRE MSI Installer.
  1. Go to the page Supported Java SE and Java Component Downloads on MOS (Doc ID 1439822.2) on My Oracle Support (MOS).
  2. Click the JDK 8 tab in Supported Java SE and Java Component Downloads on MOS (Doc ID 1439822.2) to open the list of supported JDK 8 downloads. The most recent updates appear at the top of the list.
  3. In the list of descriptions, locate the installer for the JRE version and build that you need to install and click the Patch ID link. The Patches & Updates tab opens and displays a Patch Simple Search Results table containing detailed information about the patch.
  4. Verify the version and build in the Description are for the JRE MSI Installer that you need and then click the Patch Name link to open the patch download panel.
  5. In the Platform drop-down list, select your operating system and then click the Download button.
  6. A new dialog box appears that contains the download link to the JRE MSI Installer .zip file. Click the link and choose Save As from the pop-up menu to download the file to the directory of your choice.

Running the JRE MSI Installer

Run the JRE MSI Installer downloaded from My Oracle Support (MOS) to install JRE 8 updates and patches.

Note:

You must have administrator permissions to install JRE 8 updates.
  1. Extract the contents of the .zip file downloaded from MOS to a directory of your choice.
  2. Identify the JRE MSI Installer options and default values that you need to install the JRE have been identified. The options are listed in JRE MSI Installer Configuration Options. You can also use standard Windows Installer options (see Microsoft Standard Installer command-line options).
  3. If a configuration file is needed, verify that the configuration file has either been created or an existing configuration file has been updated with the options that you need. See Creating a JRE MSI Installer Configuration File.
  4. Navigate to the directory in which you unzipped the .msi installer, and, in the Command Prompt, run the installer in either Basic UI mode or in Silent (or unattended) mode. 8u371 and later installers do not allow you to install the same or older JRE 8 versions of the one already installed. To install an older version of the JRE, you must uninstall the current JRE before running the JRE MSI Installer for the older version. When you use an older version's installer (earlier than 8u371), the options for that version are still available.
    • Basic UI mode: Use this mode to have the installer display prompts and dialog boxes as it runs. This is the default setting and using /qb in the command line is optional.
      msiexec.exe /i installer.msi [INSTALLCFG=configuration_file_path] [options] /qb
    • Silent (unattended) mode: Use this mode to have the installer run without displaying prompts and dialog boxes as it runs. The /qn setting at the end of the command line is required to run the installer in this mode.

      Note:

      If you have a service running using Java, Java will not be updated. You must stop the service to update Java.

      msiexec.exe /i installer.msi [INSTALLCFG=configuration_file_path] [options] /qn

    Both the Basic UI mode and the Silent (unattended) mode command lines above contain the following variables:

Creating a Log File

You can use a log file to verify that an installation succeeded.

To create a log file describing the installation, append /L C:\path\setup.log to the install command and scroll to the end of the log file to verify. Additional logging information is also added to %TEMP%\jusched.log. The log file for the JRE MSI Installer follows standard MSI processes. Logged error conditions and events collected in the log file are documented in Windows Installer Logging documentation.

The following is an example of creating a log file:

msiexec.exe /i installer.msi /L C:\path\setup.log

This example causes the log to be written to the C:\path\setup.log file.