Installing Java on Fedora: only OpenJDK 25 ships, so what about 21 or 17

The trap first: Fedora 45 has no Java 21 and no Java 17 in its repositories.

What the repositories actually contain

dnf list --available 'java-*-openjdk.x86_64'

java-25-openjdk.x86_64     1:25.0.4.1.1-1.1.fc45
java-latest-openjdk.x86_64 1:27.0.0.0.35-0.0.1.0.ea.fc45

Only two: 25 (the current LTS) and java-latest (a 27 early-access build).

This is not a broken repo. Compare three generations:

Release	JDKs offered
F43	java-21, java-25, java-latest
F44	java-25, java-latest
F45	java-25, java-latest

Java 21 was removed in F44. So dnf install java-21-openjdk from an old tutorial ends in No match for argument.

Install JDK 25

sudo dnf install java-25-openjdk

For server-side programs only, the smaller headless build is enough:

sudo dnf install java-25-openjdk-headless

Verify:

java -version

openjdk version "25.0.4.1" 2026-08-18
OpenJDK Runtime Environment (Red_Hat-25.0.4.1.1-1) (build 25.0.4.1+1)
OpenJDK 64-Bit Server VM (Red_Hat-25.0.4.1.1-1) (build 25.0.4.1+1, mixed mode, sharing)

Where it landed:

readlink -f "$(command -v java)"
java -XshowSettings:properties -version 2>&1 | grep java.home

/usr/lib/jvm/java-25-openjdk/bin/java
    java.home = /usr/lib/jvm/java-25-openjdk

Setting JAVA_HOME

Many build tools (Maven, Gradle, Tomcat) require JAVA_HOME, and Fedora does not set it:

echo $JAVA_HOME      # empty

Put it in a profile script:

sudo tee /etc/profile.d/java.sh >/dev/null <<'EOF'
export JAVA_HOME=/usr/lib/jvm/java-25-openjdk
export PATH=$JAVA_HOME/bin:$PATH
EOF
source /etc/profile.d/java.sh
echo $JAVA_HOME

A minimal program

cat > Hello.java <<'EOF'
public class Hello {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        System.out.println("Java " + System.getProperty("java.version"));
    }
}
EOF
java Hello.java

Since JDK 11, single-file source execution means no separate javac step:

Java 25.0.4.1

If you need Java 21 or 17

The repositories have neither, so there are three routes.

1. Containers (least friction)

podman run --rm eclipse-temurin:21-jdk java -version

The application runs in the container; the host needs no old JDK. This is also the direction Fedora recommends.

2. Upstream tarball (when the JDK must be on the host)

mkdir -p ~/jdk && cd ~/jdk
curl -LO https://github.com/adoptium/temurin21-binaries/releases/latest/download/OpenJDK21U-jdk_x64_linux_hotspot.tar.gz
tar xzf OpenJDK21U-jdk_x64_linux_hotspot.tar.gz
export JAVA_HOME=~/jdk/jdk-21*
$JAVA_HOME/bin/java -version

3. SDKMAN (several versions on a dev machine)

curl -s "https://get.sdkman.io" | bash
source ~/.sdkman/bin/sdkman-init.sh
sdk install java 21.0.5-tem
sdk use java 21.0.5-tem

Best when you need to switch between 17/21/25 frequently.

Common traps

Symptom	Cause
`No match for argument: java-21-openjdk`	removed since F44 — not a repo problem
`JAVA_HOME` is empty	Fedora does not set it; write a profile script
`java` not found after installing	only `-headless` installed without JRE, or PATH missing `$JAVA_HOME/bin`
wrong version with two JDKs present	use `update-alternatives --config java` or change `JAVA_HOME`

Toolchain and multiple versions — the general strategy on Fedora
Containers and rootless — isolating an old JDK
Module streams (retired) — why “switch the stream” is gone
Fedora repositories and dnf5 — package basics
Official: Java