How to run an app that require Java SDK on macOS Catalina 10.15?

Question

Currently I am getting issue with new macOS Catalina limitation. Every time I run an app that require openJDK I get this message:

"openjdk-12.0.1.jdk" can’t be opened because it is from an unidentified developer.

Your security preferences allow installation of only apps from the App Store and identified developers.

But if I use the recommended way to bypass this issue (by going to System Preferences → Security & Privacy → General → Open Anyway button) it just opens the JDK folder. Which is not what I want.

How I can use JDK with macOS Catalina?

Answer 1

Open System Preferences -> Security & Privacy -> General, there should be a message about the JDK app, click Allow.

Run the Java-based app again (e.g.: type java -version in the Terminal app). A dialog should appear confirming you trust OpenJDK.

Source: https://apple.stackexchange.com/a/372235/35845

Answer 2

A solution, not sure if that's the only solution & the better one, is to run

sudo spctl --master-disable

Then run your app (validation will be kept by macOS Gatekeeper)

and right after that re-enable Gatekeeper with

sudo spctl --master-enable

This last step is important to keep you Mac safe :)

Answer 3

After testing different options, pinning to the latest LTS cask worked for me. (edit: you will need to add the tap to show previous cask versions)

brew tap homebrew/cask-versions
brew cask install java11

Here's the output I get afterwards on Catalina Public Beta 2

java -version
openjdk version "11.0.2" 2019-01-15
OpenJDK Runtime Environment 18.9 (build 11.0.2+9)
OpenJDK 64-Bit Server VM 18.9 (build 11.0.2+9, mixed mode)

Answer 4

I tried master-disable but the problem reoccured after a reboot. In my particular situation, brew isn't what I want either.

Only solution I've found that works for me is

xattr -d com.apple.quarantine /Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/openjdk1.8.0<version>/

Answer 5

Detail steps to solve such problem on macOSX Catalina (or macOS-XI/11/X1 Big-Sur) is shown here https://apple.stackexchange.com/a/396025/133434

Summary:
• Download Java (JDK/SDK) version *.tar.gz file that you need for macOS from OpenJDK site into default "~/Downloads" folder, & verify its authenticity by comparing the OpenJDK site's shown SHA256 digest code, with the locally computed SHA256 digest code.
• Double-click on *.tar.gz to decompress it, & with a privileged user access+Password allow macOS to decompress it, (you will need allow decompress from here: "System Preferences" > "Security & Privacy" > under "General" tab > Goto bottomside section "Allow Apps Downloaded From" > press the "Allow" or "Open anyway" button).
• Move the decompressed new jdk*.jdk folder into "/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/" folder
& with a privileged user access+Password allow macOS to complete the move.
• In Terminal, run: $($(/usr/libexec/java_home --version 12.0)/bin/java -version)
& again specify a privileged user access+Password, to allow macOS "Open"/run it.
• From that point-on, that java should work fine.
• before running a java based App, either setup the JAVA_HOME env var globally (see this) , or Use a shell-script: to select a specific Java version/folder before starting a specific java-based App.

if you're using Java 14, then change version number in above command, into --version 14.0
you can see all installed Java versions with: /usr/libexec/java_home -V

and avoiding brew/Homebrew(pkg-mngr) based solution would be better choice^{1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, ...}, users may use Macports(pkg-mngr), etc.

Answer 6

this is one of the helpful workarounds that worked for me rather than compromising with security.

Open System Preferences -> Security & Privacy -> General, there should be a message about the JDK app, click Allow.