After downloading and installing Netbeans 6.9 I launched the app. It bounced a couple of times in my dock as dreams of exciting new features danced in my head. Then… nothing, well not quite nothing, I received a message informing me that:

“Java 6 Standard Edition or newer required. Cannot run on older versions of Java than Java 6 Standard Edition. Please install Java 6 Standard Edition or newer or use –jdkhome switch to point to its installation directory.”

How to solve this issue:

Step 1. Figure out which version of Java you have

Open Terminal.app and enter:

java -version

You’ll most likely see the following:

java version "1.5.0_24"
Java(TM) 2 Runtime Environment, Standard Edition (build 1.5.0_24-b02-357-9M3165)
Java HotSpot(TM) Client VM (build 1.5.0_24-149, mixed mode, sharing)

Obviously this is the wrong Java version since Netbeans is asking for Java 6 (aka Java 1.6).

Step 2. Get Java 1.6

However if you head over to Oracle you’ll find downloads for Linux and Windows but none for Mac. Why has the mighty Oracle deemed you unworthy of the latest Java?

Because you already have it! Your Mac is just not setup to use it.

Go Back to the Terminal and enter the following:

cd /System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions; ls;

You’ll get a list of all the Java versions available.

1.3		1.4		1.4.2		1.5.0		1.6.0		Current
1.3.1		1.4.1		1.5		1.6		A		CurrentJDK

Step 3. Configure Netbeans

The hint to get Netbeans working is in the error message; “or use –jdkhome switch to point to its installation directory”.

In the Finder browse to the NetBeans 6.9.app (in Applications/NetBeans/). Apps on OS X are really just packages so you can explore and edit their contents. Right-click (or control-click) on the app and select ‘Show Package Contents’ this will open a new Finder window. Then browse to Contents/Resources/NetBeans/etc and open ‘netbeans.conf’ in a text editor. Uncomment (remove the pound sign from) the line that starts with ‘#netbeans_jdkhome’ and set it to point to your Java 1.6 home as below:

netbeans_jdkhome="/System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/1.6.0/Home"

Save the file.

That’s it!

Try launching the NetBeans 6.9 app again, it should now work.