# Uninstall Java 17 from Linux (CentOS 8)

Paul Tomoiu

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Installations,

Linux

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Published 2022-12-23

There are two ways to uninstall Java. Please use the method that you used when you installed Java:

if you used RPM to install Java, then use the RPM uninstall method
if you unzipped a tar file, you can simply remove the directory where Java was installed.

# See if Java is installed using RPM

as root:
   rpm -aq | grep openjdk

as root:
   rpm -aq | grep jdk

If you see something like

[root@linux1 ~]# rpm -aq | grep openjdk
java-17-openjdk-17.0.5.0.8-2.el8.x86_64
java-17-openjdk-devel-17.0.5.0.8-2.el8.x86_64
java-17-openjdk-headless-17.0.5.0.8-2.el8.x86_64

it means that java is installed by RPM. In this case Java will be uninstalled using rpm.

# Uninstall Java 17 from Linux (CentOS 8) using RPM

For this we need to run the following command:

as root:
   rpm -e java-17-openjdk-devel
   rpm -e java-17-openjdk
   rpm -e java-17-openjdk-headless

You can also remove Java from Linux (CentOS 8) using dnf command:

as root:
dnf -y remove java-17-openjdk java-17-openjdk-devel

When you run this command you will see something like this:

[root@linux1 ~]# dnf -y remove java-17-openjdk java-17-openjdk-devel
Dependencies resolved.
======================================================================================
 Package                  Arch   Version                             Repository  Size
======================================================================================
Removing:
 java-17-openjdk          x86_64 1:17.0.5.0.8-2.el8                  @appstream 1.2 M
 java-17-openjdk-devel    x86_64 1:17.0.5.0.8-2.el8                  @appstream 8.9 M
Removing unused dependencies:
 copy-jdk-configs         noarch 4.0-2.el8                           @appstream  19 k
 java-17-openjdk-headless x86_64 1:17.0.5.0.8-2.el8                  @appstream 196 M
 javapackages-filesystem  noarch 5.3.0-1.module_el8.0.0+11+5b8c10bd  @appstream 1.9 k
 lksctp-tools             x86_64 1.0.18-3.el8                        @baseos    252 k
 ttmkfdir                 x86_64 3.0.9-54.el8                        @appstream 140 k
 tzdata-java              noarch 2022d-1.el8                         @appstream 346 k
 xorg-x11-fonts-Type1     noarch 7.5-19.el8                          @appstream 863 k

Transaction Summary
======================================================================================
Remove  9 Packages

Freed space: 207 M
Running transaction check
Transaction check succeeded.
Running transaction test
Transaction test succeeded.
Running transaction
  Preparing        :                                                              1/1
  Erasing          : java-17-openjdk-devel-1:17.0.5.0.8-2.el8.x86_64              1/9
  Running scriptlet: java-17-openjdk-devel-1:17.0.5.0.8-2.el8.x86_64              1/9
  Erasing          : java-17-openjdk-1:17.0.5.0.8-2.el8.x86_64                    2/9
  Running scriptlet: java-17-openjdk-1:17.0.5.0.8-2.el8.x86_64                    2/9
  Erasing          : xorg-x11-fonts-Type1-7.5-19.el8.noarch                       3/9
  Running scriptlet: xorg-x11-fonts-Type1-7.5-19.el8.noarch                       3/9
  Erasing          : java-17-openjdk-headless-1:17.0.5.0.8-2.el8.x86_64           4/9
  Running scriptlet: java-17-openjdk-headless-1:17.0.5.0.8-2.el8.x86_64           4/9
  Erasing          : copy-jdk-configs-4.0-2.el8.noarch                            5/9
  Erasing          : javapackages-filesystem-5.3.0-1.module_el8.0.0+11+5b8c10bd   6/9
  Erasing          : tzdata-java-2022d-1.el8.noarch                               7/9
  Erasing          : lksctp-tools-1.0.18-3.el8.x86_64                             8/9
  Running scriptlet: lksctp-tools-1.0.18-3.el8.x86_64                             8/9
  Erasing          : ttmkfdir-3.0.9-54.el8.x86_64                                 9/9
  Running scriptlet: ttmkfdir-3.0.9-54.el8.x86_64                                 9/9
  Verifying        : copy-jdk-configs-4.0-2.el8.noarch                            1/9
  Verifying        : java-17-openjdk-1:17.0.5.0.8-2.el8.x86_64                    2/9
  Verifying        : java-17-openjdk-devel-1:17.0.5.0.8-2.el8.x86_64              3/9
  Verifying        : java-17-openjdk-headless-1:17.0.5.0.8-2.el8.x86_64           4/9
  Verifying        : javapackages-filesystem-5.3.0-1.module_el8.0.0+11+5b8c10bd   5/9
  Verifying        : lksctp-tools-1.0.18-3.el8.x86_64                             6/9
  Verifying        : ttmkfdir-3.0.9-54.el8.x86_64                                 7/9
  Verifying        : tzdata-java-2022d-1.el8.noarch                               8/9
  Verifying        : xorg-x11-fonts-Type1-7.5-19.el8.noarch                       9/9

Removed:
  copy-jdk-configs-4.0-2.el8.noarch
  java-17-openjdk-1:17.0.5.0.8-2.el8.x86_64
  java-17-openjdk-devel-1:17.0.5.0.8-2.el8.x86_64
  java-17-openjdk-headless-1:17.0.5.0.8-2.el8.x86_64
  javapackages-filesystem-5.3.0-1.module_el8.0.0+11+5b8c10bd.noarch
  lksctp-tools-1.0.18-3.el8.x86_64
  ttmkfdir-3.0.9-54.el8.x86_64
  tzdata-java-2022d-1.el8.noarch
  xorg-x11-fonts-Type1-7.5-19.el8.noarch

Complete!

Warning

The removal of Java was done under the root account, but generally another user is used in order to avoid the over utilization of the root account. This account must be defined as a sudoer user.

# Remove Java when installed from a tar file

If you unzipped a tar file when installed, you can simply remove the directory where Java was installed.

Info

Also, be aware that some environment variable might be modified or removed (for example, JAVA_HOME, PATH).

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