JRE Installer Options

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

This information discusses options for installation of the Java SE Runtime Environment (JRE) on Windows 32-bit platform. It is intended for:

JRE installations are built using Microsoft Window Installer (MSI) 2.0 technology. MSI contains built-in support for silent installations. This section explains how to manually install the JRE using the .exe file that runs the MSI.

The following topics are covered:

Command-Line Installation

The Java SE 7 Windows Offline Installer command has the following syntax:

<jre>.exe [/s] [INSTALLDIR=<drive>:\<JRE_install_path>] [STATIC=1] [WEB_JAVA=0/1] [WEB_JAVA_SECURITY_LEVEL=VH/H/M] [SPONSORS=0]

Note:

Command-line installation does not provide the option to restore security prompts that were previously hidden for applets and Java Web Start applications. Security prompts that were hidden remain hidden. The Restore Security Prompts button on the Security tab of the Java Control Panel can be used to restore prompts after the JRE is installed.

Java Runtime Environment Configuration

This section covers the following topics:

In the past, when a user installed different versions of a Java Runtime Environment (JRE), the user would be left with multiple installation directories and several entries in the Add/Remove Programs dialog in the Control Panel. This resulted in unnecessary proliferation of unused JREs.

The JRE can now be installed in two configurations: patch-in-place and static. JRE updates may be configured to patch a pre-existing installation or do a brand new installation.

The JRE may be installed in silent (unattended) or non-silent modes. For more information on silent install and uninstalling a silent installation, see the section Command-Line Install.

Patch-in-Place Configuration

The patch-in-place mode implies that when a version of the JRE exists on a machine, any updates belonging to the same JRE family will be done in place, meaning, the existing JRE will be patched with changes. A JRE is installed in patch-in-place mode by default. The default installation directory is c:/Program Files/Java/jre<n> where <n> is the Java SE minor version number (for example, <n> = 7 for version 1.7.0_10).

For example, if a user has previously installed JRE 7u10 in the c:/Program Files/Java/jre7 directory, and now attempts to install JRE 7u14, the version 7u14 installer does not create a new directory. Instead, it updates the pre-existing c:/Program Files/Java/jre7 directory with the new 7u14 content. The user is left with the 7u14 JRE only. The 7u10 JRE no longer exists.

Static Configuration

When a JRE is installed in the static mode, it will not be updated in place by newer versions. A later version of the same JRE family will be installed in a separate directory. This mode ensures that vendors, who require a specific version of the JRE for their product, can be certain that the JRE will not be overwritten by a newer version.

Some of the characteristics of a static JRE installation are as follows:

The default installation directory of a static JRE is of the form c:/Program Files/Java/jre<version>. For example, by default, a static JRE for Java SE 7u10 will be installed in the directory c:/Program Files/Java/jre1.7.0_10.

See Java Runtime Environment Update Scenarios to see examples of how the installer behaves.

Creating a Log File

Use a log file to verify if 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.

The following is an example of creating a log file:

jre-7-windows-i586.exe /s /L C:\<path>setup.log

The prior command causes the log to be written to the setup.log file.

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