There has been much consternation about the changes that Oracle has introduced around Java recently. In a nutshell, commercial use of Oracle’s Java Standard Edition (SE) will now require a paid subscription.
These are some of the possible issues that you need to consider:
- Your developers have been using Oracle Java JDK for in-house projects without being aware of the commercial implications
- Your environments contain certain older versions of Java, and you are not sure whether they are now free or not
- You want to understand how much Java is being used so you can decide whether to purchase a Java SE subscription or plan to migrate to another Java distribution
We explained the change in more detail with its impacts and the recommended approach to address these issues in this webinar earlier this year.
Recommended approach to Oracle Java compliance
An updated FlexNet inventory agent was released earlier this year for FlexNet Manager Suite Cloud customers. This has now been made available for On-Premises customers too. You can download the agent and the install instructions from the Product and License Center (PLC).
For details about the feature, please go through the topic in the following Features by Release page.
Feature highlights (and steps to Oracle Java compliance):
- Identify MSI, package and archive-based installations of Java Development Kit (JDK) and Java Runtime Environment (JRE) This helps find all forms of recognizable evidence of Java installed in your environment
- Detect these installations in Windows and Unix/Linux environments. This helps to determine how much Java exists across your environment regardless of operating system.
- Distinguish between different publishers of Java based on installation evidence. This helps to segregate Oracle Java from other distributions.
- Differentiate among major and minor versions of Java. This helps to understand which versions of Oracle Java now have a commercial impact.
- Assign appropriate server and desktop license models to understand consumption of Oracle Java. This helps you know how much your Java installations will cost you.
Addendum:
As part of the Application Recognition Library (ARL) #2439 released on July 12, the following commercial minor versions of Oracle Java are classified appropriately: 8.0.211 and 8.0.212.