setup-java/docs/advanced-usage.md

Usage

• Selecting a Java distribution
  • Eclipse Temurin
  • Adopt
  • Zulu
  • Liberica
  • Microsoft
  • Amazon Corretto
  • Oracle
  • Alibaba Dragonwell
• Installing custom Java package type
• Installing custom Java architecture
• Installing custom Java distribution from local file
• Testing against different Java distributions
• Testing against different platforms
• Publishing using Apache Maven
• Publishing using Gradle
• Hosted Tool Cache
• Modifying Maven Toolchains
• Java-version file

See action.yml for more details on task inputs.

Selecting a Java distribution

Inputs java-version and distribution are mandatory and needs to be provided. See Supported distributions for a list of available options.

Eclipse Temurin

steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v4
- uses: actions/setup-java@v4
  with:
    distribution: 'temurin'
    java-version: '21'
- run: java -cp java HelloWorldApp

Adopt

NOTE: Adopt OpenJDK got moved to Eclipse Temurin and won't be updated anymore. It is highly recommended to migrate workflows from adopt to temurin to keep receiving software and security updates. See more details in the Good-bye AdoptOpenJDK post.

steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v4
- uses: actions/setup-java@v4
  with:
    distribution: 'adopt-hotspot'
    java-version: '11'
- run: java -cp java HelloWorldApp

Zulu

steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v4
- uses: actions/setup-java@v4
  with:
    distribution: 'zulu'
    java-version: '21'
    java-package: jdk # optional (jdk, jre, jdk+fx or jre+fx) - defaults to jdk
- run: java -cp java HelloWorldApp

Liberica

steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v4
- uses: actions/setup-java@v4
  with:
    distribution: 'liberica'
    java-version: '21'
    java-package: jdk # optional (jdk, jre, jdk+fx or jre+fx) - defaults to jdk
- run: java -cp java HelloWorldApp

Microsoft

steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v4
- uses: actions/setup-java@v4
  with:
    distribution: 'microsoft'
    java-version: '21'
- run: java -cp java HelloWorldApp

Using Microsoft distribution on GHES

setup-java comes pre-installed on the appliance with GHES if Actions is enabled. When dynamically downloading the Microsoft Build of OpenJDK distribution, setup-java makes a request to actions/setup-java to get available versions on github.com (outside of the appliance). These calls to actions/setup-java are made via unauthenticated requests, which are limited to 60 requests per hour per IP. If more requests are made within the time frame, then you will start to see rate-limit errors during downloading that looks like: ##[error]API rate limit exceeded for....

To get a higher rate limit, you can generate a personal access token on github.com and pass it as the token input for the action:

uses: actions/setup-java@v4
with:
  token: ${{ secrets.GH_DOTCOM_TOKEN }}
  distribution: 'microsoft'
  java-version: '21'

If the runner is not able to access github.com, any Java versions requested during a workflow run must come from the runner's tool cache. See "Setting up the tool cache on self-hosted runners without internet access" for more information.

Amazon Corretto

NOTE: Amazon Corretto only supports the major version specification.

steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v4
- uses: actions/setup-java@v4
  with:
    distribution: 'corretto'
    java-version: '21'
- run: java -cp java HelloWorldApp

Oracle

NOTE: Oracle Java SE Development Kit is only available for version 17 and later.

steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v4
- uses: actions/setup-java@v4
  with:
    distribution: 'oracle'
    java-version: '21'
- run: java -cp java HelloWorldApp

Alibaba Dragonwell

NOTE: Alibaba Dragonwell only provides jdk.

steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v4
- uses: actions/setup-java@v4
  with:
    distribution: 'dragonwell'
    java-version: '8'
- run: java -cp java HelloWorldApp

Installing custom Java package type

steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v4
- uses: actions/setup-java@v4
  with:
    distribution: '<distribution>'
    java-version: '11'
    java-package: jdk # optional (jdk or jre) - defaults to jdk
- run: java -cp java HelloWorldApp

Installing custom Java architecture

steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v4
- uses: actions/setup-java@v4
  with:
    distribution: '<distribution>'
    java-version: '11'
    architecture: x86 # optional - default value derived from the runner machine
- run: java -cp java HelloWorldApp

Installing Java from local file

If your use-case requires a custom distribution or a version that is not provided by setup-java, you can download it manually and setup-java will take care of the installation and caching on the VM:

steps:
- run: |
    download_url="https://github.com/AdoptOpenJDK/openjdk11-binaries/releases/download/jdk-11.0.10%2B9/OpenJDK11U-jdk_x64_linux_hotspot_11.0.10_9.tar.gz"
    wget -O $RUNNER_TEMP/java_package.tar.gz $download_url    
- uses: actions/setup-java@v4
  with:
    distribution: 'jdkfile'
    jdkFile: ${{ runner.temp }}/java_package.tar.gz
    java-version: '11.0.0'
    architecture: x64
    
- run: java -cp java HelloWorldApp

If your use-case requires a custom distribution (in the example, alpine-linux is used) or a version that is not provided by setup-java and you want to always install the latest version during runtime, then you can use the following code to auto-download the latest JDK, determine the semver needed for setup-java, and setup-java will take care of the installation and caching on the VM:

   steps:
      - name: fetch latest temurin JDK
        id: fetch_latest_jdk
        run: |
          major_version={{ env.JAVA_VERSION }} # Example 16 or 21 or 22
          cd $RUNNER_TEMP
          response=$(curl -s "https://api.github.com/repos/adoptium/temurin${major_version}-binaries/releases")
          latest_jdk_download_url=$(echo "$response" | jq -r '.[0].assets[] | select(.name | contains("jdk_x64_alpine-linux") and endswith(".tar.gz")) | .browser_download_url')
          curl -Ls "$latest_jdk_download_url" -o java_package.tar.gz
          latest_jdk_json_url=$(jdk_download_url "$response" | jq -r '.[0].assets[] | select(.name | contains("jdk_x64_alpine-linux") and endswith(".tar.gz.json")) | .browser_download_url')
          latest_semver_version=$(curl -sL $latest_jdk_json_url | jq -r 'version.semver')
          echo "java_version=$latest_semver_version" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"          

      - uses: actions/setup-java@v4
        with:
          distribution: 'jdkfile'
          jdkFile: ${{ runner.temp }}/java_package.tar.gz
          java-version: {{ steps.fetch_latest_jdk.outputs.java_version }}
          architecture: x64
       - run: java -cp java HelloWorldApp

Testing against different Java distributions

NOTE: The different distributors can provide discrepant list of available versions / supported configurations. Please refer to the official documentation to see the list of supported versions.

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-20.04
    strategy:
      matrix:
        distribution: [ 'zulu', 'temurin' ]
        java: [ '8', '11' ]
    name: Java ${{ matrix.Java }} (${{ matrix.distribution }}) sample
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - name: Setup java
        uses: actions/setup-java@v4
        with:
          distribution: ${{ matrix.distribution }}
          java-version: ${{ matrix.java }}
      - run: java -cp java HelloWorldApp

Testing against different platforms

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ${{ matrix.os }}
    strategy:
      matrix:
        java: [ '8', '11' ]
        os: [ 'ubuntu-latest', 'macos-latest', 'windows-latest' ]
    name: Java ${{ matrix.Java }} (${{ matrix.os }}) sample
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - name: Setup java
        uses: actions/setup-java@v4
        with:
          distribution: 'temurin'
          java-version: ${{ matrix.java }}
      - run: java -cp java HelloWorldApp

Publishing using Apache Maven

Yaml example:

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

    steps:
    - uses: actions/checkout@v4
    - name: Set up JDK 11
      uses: actions/setup-java@v4
      with:
        distribution: '<distribution>'
        java-version: '11'

    - name: Build with Maven
      run: mvn -B package --file pom.xml

    - name: Publish to GitHub Packages Apache Maven
      run: mvn deploy
      env:
        GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ github.token }} # GITHUB_TOKEN is the default env for the password

    - name: Set up Apache Maven Central
      uses: actions/setup-java@v4
      with: # running setup-java again overwrites the settings.xml
        distribution: 'temurin'
        java-version: '11'
        server-id: maven # Value of the distributionManagement/repository/id field of the pom.xml
        server-username: MAVEN_USERNAME # env variable for username in deploy
        server-password: MAVEN_CENTRAL_TOKEN # env variable for token in deploy
        gpg-private-key: ${{ secrets.MAVEN_GPG_PRIVATE_KEY }} # Value of the GPG private key to import
        gpg-passphrase: MAVEN_GPG_PASSPHRASE # env variable for GPG private key passphrase

    - name: Publish to Apache Maven Central
      run: mvn deploy
      env:
        MAVEN_USERNAME: maven_username123
        MAVEN_CENTRAL_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.MAVEN_CENTRAL_TOKEN }}
        MAVEN_GPG_PASSPHRASE: ${{ secrets.MAVEN_GPG_PASSPHRASE }}

The two settings.xml files created from the above example look like the following.

settings.xml file created for the first deploy to GitHub Packages

<settings xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/SETTINGS/1.0.0"
  xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
  xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/SETTINGS/1.0.0 https://maven.apache.org/xsd/settings-1.0.0.xsd">
  <servers>
    <server>
      <id>github</id>
      <username>${env.GITHUB_ACTOR}</username>
      <password>${env.GITHUB_TOKEN}</password>
    </server>
    <server>
      <id>gpg.passphrase</id>
      <passphrase>${env.GPG_PASSPHRASE}</passphrase>
    </server>
  </servers>
</settings>

settings.xml file created for the second deploy to Apache Maven Central

<settings xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/SETTINGS/1.0.0"
  xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
  xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/SETTINGS/1.0.0 https://maven.apache.org/xsd/settings-1.0.0.xsd">
  <servers>
    <server>
      <id>maven</id>
      <username>${env.MAVEN_USERNAME}</username>
      <password>${env.MAVEN_CENTRAL_TOKEN}</password>
    </server>
    <server>
      <id>gpg.passphrase</id>
      <passphrase>${env.MAVEN_GPG_PASSPHRASE}</passphrase>
    </server>
  </servers>
</settings>

NOTE: The settings.xml file is created in the Actions $HOME/.m2 directory. If you have an existing settings.xml file at that location, it will be overwritten. See below for using the settings-path to change your settings.xml file location.

If you don't want to overwrite the settings.xml file, you can set overwrite-settings: false

Extra setup for pom.xml:

The Maven GPG Plugin configuration in the pom.xml file should contain the following structure to avoid possible issues like Inappropriate ioctl for device or gpg: signing failed: No such file or directory:

<configuration>
  <!-- Prevent gpg from using pinentry programs -->
  <gpgArguments>
    <arg>--pinentry-mode</arg>
    <arg>loopback</arg>
  </gpgArguments>
</configuration>

GPG 2.1 requires --pinentry-mode to be set to loopback in order to pick up the gpg.passphrase value defined in Maven settings.xml.

GPG

If gpg-private-key input is provided, the private key will be written to a file in the runner's temp directory, the private key file will be imported into the GPG keychain, and then the file will be promptly removed before proceeding with the rest of the setup process. A cleanup step will remove the imported private key from the GPG keychain after the job completes regardless of the job status. This ensures that the private key is no longer accessible on self-hosted runners and cannot "leak" between jobs (hosted runners are always clean instances).

GPG key should be exported by: gpg --armor --export-secret-keys YOUR_ID

See the help docs on Publishing a Package for more information on the pom.xml file.

Apache Maven with a settings path

When using an Actions self-hosted runner with multiple shared runners the default $HOME directory can be shared by a number runners at the same time which could overwrite existing settings file. Setting the settings-path variable allows you to choose a unique location for your settings file.

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

    steps:
    - uses: actions/checkout@v4
    - name: Set up JDK 11 for Shared Runner
      uses: actions/setup-java@v4
      with:
        distribution: '<distribution>'
        java-version: '11'
        server-id: github # Value of the distributionManagement/repository/id field of the pom.xml
        settings-path: ${{ github.workspace }} # location for the settings.xml file

    - name: Build with Maven
      run: mvn -B package --file pom.xml

    - name: Publish to GitHub Packages Apache Maven
      run: mvn deploy -s $GITHUB_WORKSPACE/settings.xml
      env:
        GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ github.token }}

Publishing using Gradle

jobs:

  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

    steps:
    - uses: actions/checkout@v4

    - name: Set up JDK 11
      uses: actions/setup-java@v4
      with:
        distribution: '<distribution>'
        java-version: '11'

    - name: Build with Gradle
      run: gradle build

    - name: Publish to GitHub Packages
      run: gradle publish
      env:
        USERNAME: ${{ github.actor }}
        PASSWORD: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}

NOTE: The USERNAME and PASSWORD need to correspond to the credentials environment variables used in the publishing section of your build.gradle.

See the help docs on Publishing a Package with Gradle for more information on the build.gradle configuration file.

Hosted Tool Cache

GitHub Hosted Runners have a tool cache that comes with some Java versions pre-installed. This tool cache helps speed up runs and tool setup by not requiring any new downloads. There is an environment variable called RUNNER_TOOL_CACHE on each runner that describes the location of this tools cache and this is where you can find the pre-installed versions of Java. setup-java works by taking a specific version of Java in this tool cache and adding it to PATH if the version, architecture and distribution match.

Currently, LTS versions of Eclipse Temurin (temurin) are cached on the GitHub Hosted Runners.

The tools cache gets updated on a weekly basis. For information regarding locally cached versions of Java on GitHub hosted runners, check out GitHub Actions Virtual Environments.

Modifying Maven Toolchains

The setup-java action generates a basic Maven Toolchains declaration for specified Java versions by either creating a minimal toolchains file or extending an existing declaration with the additional JDKs.

Installing Multiple JDKs With Toolchains

Subsequent calls to setup-java with distinct distribution and version parameters will continue to extend the toolchains declaration and make all specified Java versions available.

steps:
- uses: actions/setup-java@v4
  with:
    distribution: '<distribution>'
    java-version: |
      8
      11      

- uses: actions/setup-java@v4
  with:
    distribution: '<distribution>'
    java-version: '15'

The result is a Toolchain with entries for JDKs 8, 11 and 15. You can even combine this with custom JDKs of arbitrary versions:

- run: |
    download_url="https://example.com/java/jdk/6u45-b06/jdk-6u45-linux-x64.tar.gz"
    wget -O $RUNNER_TEMP/java_package.tar.gz $download_url    
- uses: actions/setup-java@v4
  with:
    distribution: 'jdkfile'
    jdkFile: ${{ runner.temp }}/java_package.tar.gz
    java-version: '1.6'
    architecture: x64

This will generate a Toolchains entry with the following values: version: 1.6, vendor: jkdfile, id: Oracle_1.6.

Modifying The Toolchain Vendor For JDKs

Each JDK provider will receive a default vendor using the distribution input value but this can be overridden with the mvn-toolchain-vendor parameter as follows.

- run: |
    download_url="https://example.com/java/jdk/6u45-b06/jdk-6u45-linux-x64.tar.gz"
    wget -O $RUNNER_TEMP/java_package.tar.gz $download_url    
- uses: actions/setup-java@v4
  with:
    distribution: 'jdkfile'
    jdkFile: ${{ runner.temp }}/java_package.tar.gz
    java-version: '1.6'
    architecture: x64
    mvn-toolchain-vendor: 'Oracle'

This will generate a Toolchains entry with the following values: version: 1.6, vendor: Oracle, id: Oracle_1.6.

In case you install multiple versions of Java at once with multi-line java-version input setting the mvn-toolchain-vendor still only accepts one value and will use this value for installed JDKs as expected when installing multiple versions of the same distribution.

steps:
- uses: actions/setup-java@v4
  with:
    distribution: '<distribution>'
    java-version: |
      8
      11      
    mvn-toolchain-vendor: Eclipse Temurin

Modifying The Toolchain ID For JDKs

Each JDK provider will receive a default id based on the combination of distribution and java-version in the format of distribution_java-version (e.g. temurin_11) but this can be overridden with the mvn-toolchain-id parameter as follows.

steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v4
- uses: actions/setup-java@v4
  with:
    distribution: 'temurin'
    java-version: '11'
    mvn-toolchain-id: 'some_other_id'
- run: java -cp java HelloWorldApp

In case you install multiple versions of Java at once you can use the same syntax as used in java-versions. Please note that you have to declare an ID for all Java versions that will be installed or the mvn-toolchain-id instruction will be skipped wholesale due to mapping ambiguities.

steps:
- uses: actions/setup-java@v4
  with:
    distribution: '<distribution>'
    java-version: |
      8
      11      
    mvn-toolchain-id: |
      something_else
      something_other      

Java-version file

If the java-version-file input is specified, the action will try to extract the version from the file and install it. Action is able to recognize all variants of the version description according to jenv. Valid entry options:

major versions: 8, 11, 16, 17, 21
more specific versions: 1.8.0.2, 17.0, 11.0, 11.0.4, 8.0.232, 8.0.282+8
early access (EA) versions: 15-ea, 15.0.0-ea, 15.0.0-ea.2, 15.0.0+2-ea
versions with specified distribution: openjdk64-11.0.2

If the file contains multiple versions, only the first one will be recognized.