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Mac users are still waiting for Oracle / Apple to produce a simple download for using Java SE 7 on Macs running OS X. Until they provide one, the only safe way to use the Java 7 JDK is to build it from source. Luckily, Oracle provides a good wiki page that documents the process (and Arun Gupta has a useful post that helped with some of the gaps).

Check the Prerequisites:

OS X 10.7, Xcode 4.1 (easiest, and possibly the only way to get this, is from the Mac App Store), and Java for Mac OS X 10.7 Update 1

or

OS X 10.6.8, Xcode 3.2.6 (download from Apple Developer Portal), and Java for Mac OS X 10.6 Update 6

Mercurial version control tool. I installed this easily with the use of the awesome Mac package installer Homebrew. Simply run: “brew install hg”. (I didn’t make a dime for that blatant Homebrew plug 😉 )

Simple Process:

1. Follow the Oracle instructions to “Get the Code”
2. Run the Build command (part of the command is hidden by the box on the screen and if you don’t look close you may miss when copying / pasting) 😉

For all practical purposes, that’s it. If you want to install JDK 7 in the “Apple recommended” location follow steps 3-5 on the Oracle wiki page.

Just for grins I’m pasting the output of my build command. Pretty nice for a “wimpy” Mac Book Air. 😉

>>>Finished making images @ Sat Dec 17 00:09:17 CST 2011 ...
########################################################################
##### Leaving jdk for target(s) sanity all docs images             #####
########################################################################
##### Build time 00:20:58 jdk for target(s) sanity all docs images #####
########################################################################

## Build times ##########
Target all_product_build
Start 2011-12-16 23:34:39
End   2011-12-17 00:09:17
00:02:45 corba
00:08:18 hotspot
00:00:52 jaxp
00:00:55 jaxws
00:20:58 jdk
00:00:49 langtools
00:34:38 TOTAL
#########################

erik@eriks-mba ~/dev/sdks/macosx-port
$ build/macosx-universal/j2sdk-image/1.7.0.jdk/Contents/Home/bin/java -version
openjdk version "1.7.0-internal"
OpenJDK Runtime Environment (build 1.7.0-internal-erik_2011_12_16_23_34-b00)
OpenJDK 64-Bit Server VM (build 21.0-b17, mixed mode)

If you have any questions about these steps just leave a comment below or ping me on twitter (@erikweibust).