Info: Java Compatibility

Author: dleinich
Publication Date: 9/27/2017 11:21

Update 2018-10-16: Our latest tests with the now released Java 11 show that the FirstSpirit server as well as the SiteArchitect and ServerManager are basically working. As some third party components integrated into FirstSpirit are officially not yet compatible with Java 11 we will continue supporting Java 11 as part of our early access program (EAP). Starting with the latest version FirstSpirit 2018-10 this also includes the SiteArchitect and ServerManager, before this version only the FirstSpirit server was part of the program. The recommended version to use with FirstSpirit is still Java 8.

We are working intensively on becoming more independent of Oracle Java in favour of OpenJDK. As Oracle changed the support plans not only for Java 11 but also for Java 8 we are currently evaluating alternatives of other vendors.

Please see chapter 1 "Java-Support" of the release notes of FirstSpirit 2018-10 for detailed information about the current state of support as well as our future plans.

Update 2018-09-24: The latest FirstSpirit release - FirstSpirit 2018-09​ - provides server-side support for Oracle Java 11 which will be officially release by Oracle at the end of September. The client-side support is currently being worked on and internal tests using a release candidate of Java 11 have already been successful. Please read chapter 1 "FirstSpirit, Java 11 and the Launcher" of the release notes for FirstSpirit 2018-09 for detailed information about the current state of support as well as our plans for future versions. This is especially important as we are trying to become less dependent on Java development by Oracle and will focus more on OpenJDK.

Update 2018-07-20: Please read the release notes of our latest release - FirstSpirit 2018-07 - for updated information about the state of Java support as well as an outlook into the future.

Update 2018-06-25: Support for Java 7 was discontinued with the latest release of FirstSpirit: FirstSpirit 2018-06. Additionally the support for Java 9 is ceased as Oracle stopped developing it. We recommend using Oracle Java 8 in production environments and are continuously working on supporting recent and coming versions of Java as described in chapter 2 "Java: Current status and outlook" of the release notes of FirstSpirit 2018-06.

Update 2018-05-17: As already announced in the deprecation notices of earlier release notes we are going to discontinue Java 7 support from the next release in June 2018 onwards. Java 7 is not publicly supported by Oracle anymore since the mid of 2015. Please see chapter 3 "Oracle Java: Discontinuing support for version 7 and other restrictions relating to version 9+" of the release notes of FirstSpirit 5.2.2108 for further details on the discontinuation of Java 7 support as well as the current state of Java 9+ support.

Update 2018-04-18: With the release of FirstSpirit 5.2R20, Oracle Java 9 is officially approved for the use with FirstSpirit. The technical differences between Java 8 and Java 9+ are significant so that an update of existing installations to Java 9 will present some challenges. Please see the release notes of FirstSpirit 5.2R20 for further information. For production systems we still recommend the use of Oracle Java 8 but evaluating a migration to Java 9 in your particular setup is advised as Oracle plans to cancel support for Java 8 in early 2019 (see the Oracle Java SE Support Roadmap). The release notes of FirstSpirit 5.2R20 also include information about the support for Java 10 which is now available as part of our early access program (EAP).

Update 2018-03-16: In addition to the Java 9 support we provided with FirstSpirit 5.2R18 (see below) in an early access program (EAP) we are also working on support for Oracle Java 10. On top of that we are preparing support for Java 11 which is set to be released in September of 2018 and is going to be the next Long-Term-Support (LTS) version of Oracle Java (see the Oracle Java SE Support Roadmap). Please see the release notes of FirstSpirit 5.2R19 for detailed and up-to-date information on where we are right now and what our plans and timeline are regarding support of Oracle Java.

Update 2018-02-15: Starting with FirstSpirit 5.2R18 we are providing Java 9 support in an early access program (EAP). Switching existing FirstSpirit installations to use Java 9 requires changes to the configuration. Due to extended security checks introduced in Java 9 you will likely experience a slower than usual behaviour of the system, especially during start-up and when using dynamically loaded functionality for the first time. Please also be aware that third-party software used in FirstSpirit may not yet be fully prepared for Java 9.

Detailed information on configuration changes required and Java 9 support in general can be found in chapter 3 "Oracle Java" of the release notes for FirstSpirit 5.2R18.

Update 2018-01-25: As announced in the release notes of FirstSpirit 5.2R15 we are planning to discontinue support for Java 7 in June 2018. We are still working on providing support for Java 9 as soon as possible and want to allow for a transition period where we are supporting Java 7, 8 and 9 in parallel.

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Oracle released Java 9 at the end of September 2017. Internal testing has shown that FirstSpirit is not yet compatible with Java 9 so please refrain from upgrading your Java environment. This is true for both the FirstSpirit server as well as the Java based clients.

We are working on supporting Java 9 in future versions of FirstSpirit. Until full Java 9 support is available, please continue operating FirstSpirit using the Java versions described in the corresponding "Technical Datasheet” as being supported. For version 5.2 of FirstSpirit these are Java 7 and Java 8 (recommended) at the time of writing.

Java 8 will be publicly supported by Oracle until September 2018 as you can see in the Oracle Java SE Support Roadmap. Java 7 is not publicly supported by Oracle anymore.

Tags: firstspirit, java10, java11, java7, java8, java9, server, sitearchitect