Guide to Install GraalVM Community Edition on Ubuntu

1. Download the latest release of GraalVM and unpack it anywhere in your filesystem:

Note: GraalVM Community Edition 19.3.0 and later releases can be found here

$ tar -xvzf graalvm-ce-java11-linux-amd64-20.0.0.tar.gz

1. Move the unpacked dir to /usr/lib/jvm/ and create a symbolic link to make your life easier when updating the GraalVM version:

# mv graalvm-ce-java11-linux-amd64-20.0.0/ /usr/lib/jvm/
# cd /usr/lib/jvm
# ln -s graalvm-ce-java11-linux-amd64-20.0.0 graalvm

1. Add a new alternatives configuration. First grab the priorization number by listing the already installed JVMs and then use this number to configure the new one:

# update-alternatives --config java
There are 2 programs which provide 'java'.
Selection    Path                                            Priority   Status
------------------------------------------------------------
  0            /usr/lib/jvm/java-11-openjdk-amd64/bin/java      1111      auto mode
  *1           /usr/lib/jvm/java-11-openjdk-amd64/bin/java      1111      manual mode

In this case I have 2 java alternatives installed, so I’m going to install the third.

$ sudo update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/java java /usr/lib/jvm/graalvm/bin/java 2

Testing

To make sure everything is working fine, set the new JVM on your environment:

$ sudo update-alternatives --config java
There are 3 programs which provide 'java'.
Selection    Path                                            Priority   Status
------------------------------------------------------------
  0            /usr/lib/jvm/java-11-openjdk-amd64/bin/java      1111      auto mode
 *1            /usr/lib/jvm/java-11-openjdk-amd64/bin/java      1111      manual mode
  2            /usr/lib/jvm/graalvm-ce-java11-20.0.0/bin/java   4         manual mode
Enter to keep the current selection[+], or type selection number: 2

To verify, just check the version number:

$ java -version
openjdk version "11.0.6" 2020-01-14
OpenJDK Runtime Environment GraalVM CE 20.0.0 (build 11.0.6+9-jvmci-20.0-b02)
OpenJDK 64-Bit Server VM GraalVM CE 20.0.0 (build 11.0.6+9-jvmci-20.0-b02, mixed mode, sharing)

And you’re set.

Note

The native-image executable is not bundled in the GraalVM distribution anymore. Install it manually using $GRAALVM_HOME/bin/gu install native-image.

Unable to use gu command??

Solution: Export path in bashrc file

Steps:

• Open bashrc file: sudo nano ~/.bashrc
• At the end add this: export PATH=$PATH:/usr/lib/jvm/graalvm-ce-java11-20.0.0/lib/installer/bin
• Note: You may use the suitable path as per your installation

After that, you may try running gu again: gu install native-image

Still Unable to use native-image??

Do the same for native-image:Add this to bashrc file for native-image

export PATH=$PATH:/usr/lib/jvm/graalvm-ce-java11-20.0.0/lib/svm/bin

To use the commands as Super User:

Add this to /root/.bashrc and /root/.profile:

• Open bashrc file for root sudo nano /root/.bashrc
• Add these at the end :

export PATH=$PATH:/usr/lib/jvm/graalvm-ce-java11-20.0.0/lib/installer/bin
export PATH=$PATH:/usr/lib/jvm/graalvm-ce-java11-20.0.0/lib/svm/bin

• Do the same for profile: sudo nano /root/profile