Manual Installation and Registration of Java Plugin for Linux

See JDK 7 and JRE 7 Installation Guide for general information about installing JDK 7 and JRE 7.

When you install the Java platform, the Java plugin file is included as part of that install. If you want to use Java within Firefox, you need to manually create a symbolic link from the plugin file in the release to one of the locations that Firefox expects. To make the plugin available to all users, create the link inside of the Firefox application's directory, in the plugins subdirectory. Alternatively, you can create the symbolic link in your home directory, in ~/.mozilla/plugins. In the remainder of this document, the text, "Firefox plugins directory", implies either of these locations.

Note: For Firefox version 21 and higher, you must create the symbolic link in your home directory, ~/.mozilla/plugins. Beginning with Firefox version 21, creating the symbolic link in the plugins subdirectory of the Firefox application's directory is not supported.

This release provides the Next-Generation Java plugin. If you have been using the classic plugin, see the Notes for further information.

The locaton of the plugin file for Linux varies according to the chip architecture of the underlying platform.

Chip Architecture Location of File
32-bit jre1.7.0_<version>/lib/i386/libnpjp2.so
64-bit jre1.7.0_<version>/lib/amd64/libnpjp2.so

If you are using a 32-bit Firefox, you should use the 32-bit Java Plugin (from the lib/i386 directory). To determine which version of Firefox you are running, launch the application, and select the menu item Help -> About Mozilla Firefox. At the bottom of the window is a version string line that contains either "Linux i686" (32-bit) or "Linux x86_64" (64-bit).

To install the Java Plugin follow these steps:

1. Exit Firefox.

2. Uninstall any previous installations of Java Plugin.

Only one Java Plugin can be used at a time. When you want to use a different plugin, or version of a plugin, remove the symbolic links to any other versions and create a fresh symbolic link to the new one.

Remove the symbolic links (or move them to another directory) to javaplugin-oji.so and libnpjp2.so from the Firefox plugins directory.

3. Create a symbolic link to the Java Plugin in the Firefox plugins directory.

Create a symbolic link to the Java Plugin libnpjp2.so file in the Firefox plugins directory. For a 32-bit Plugin:

    cd  <Firefox>/plugins
    ln -s <JRE>/lib/i386/libnpjp2.so .

For a 64-bit Plugin:

    cd <Firefox>/plugins
    ln -s <JRE>/lib/amd64/libnpjp2.so .

4. Start the Firefox browser.

Type about:plugins in the Location bar to confirm that the Java Plugin is loaded. You can also click the Tools menu to confirm that Java Console is there.

Notes

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