Multiple Java instances

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Is there a way to configure IE to use one version of Java for one website and a different version for another? I need to access three websites with mutually exclusive Java requirements (one needs 6u33, one needs 6u29 and one needs 6u17). I tried installing 33, then 29, then 17 so that all three revs would coexist, but now none of the sites work!

Thanks.

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First, I’ll just say that JAVA sucks. Now that that’s out of the way, you have a common problem. Try uninstalling all versions, then reinstalling them starting with the oldest version first instead of newest first. I’ve seen this approach used successfully in several corporate environments.

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I’ve tried it both ways. If I start with oldest first (u17, e.g.) then the newer versions (u33) overwrite. If I start with the newest versions, the older versions coexist but the websites don’t work, and there doesn’t seem to be an obvious way to point a site to a given rev. One thing I might try is disabling all the “wrong” versions right before I launch the site.

And yeah, JAVA sucks!

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Using older versions of Java exposes your system to security exploits.

For example, see this article from just a couple of months ago: Critical Java hole being exploited on a large scale – Update

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I don’t disagree, and we did in fact just update the entire firm. Unfortunately a small number of service providers (mostly in banking and finance, go figure) have yet to get the message and are insisting on older revs. While I would love to blithely assert that we will refuse to use outdated Java versions, we still need to support the business, and the business needs the old revs.

And to get back to my original question, if there were a way to run updates 24 and 33 side by side and to direct all websites except abc.com to u33, I would be in a much more secure state than I am currently, with u24 installed and accepting traffic (on half a dozen machines) from all comers.

jon

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Hi JK,
Have you tried to run with Oracle’s latest release Java 7 Standard edition V7 Update 5..build 1.7.0.05-b05.

I had been running with V6 as well as V7 ever since Oracle took over Java.

In the Java Control panel (click the Java tab & View) you can tick (or untick to experiment) all the Rev options it finds installed on the PC.

However I recently unticked V6 & since no software had complained, including my bank & other financial institutions, who always drag their feet with old browsers & Apps, so I removed V6. Haven’t had a problem since.

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I have had JRE 6 and 7 installed on both of my laptops because at the time, LibreOffice wouldn’t recognize JRE 7. I found no problems using Firefox on various web sites and services, provided that I did not delete the Firefox plugins for each JRE version. These plugins exist for IE as well, and are not enabled in the Java Control Panel by default. You have to go in there, go to Advanced Options, and manually check off which browser pugins you want active for each version.

When you eventually do remove a JRE version, first go into the Control Panel for that version and uncheck all the browser plugins. This avoids haing extra listings, esppecially in Firefox, for JRE plugin versions which no longer exist on your computer. These old listings can be challenging to remove after the fact.

-- rc primak

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