Amazon Corretto 21 Installation Instructions for Amazon Linux 2023 - Amazon Corretto 21
Option 1: Install using the yum Package Manager on Amazon Linux Option 2: Download and Install RPMs ManuallyVerify Your InstallationUninstall Amazon Corretto 21

Amazon Corretto 21 Installation Instructions for Amazon Linux 2023

This topic describes how to install and uninstall Amazon Corretto 21 on a host or container running the Amazon Linux 2023 operating systems.

Option 1: Install using the yum Package Manager on Amazon Linux

  1. Enable the yum repository in Amazon Linux 2. This is not required on Amazon Linux 2022 and later. 

    sudo amazon-linux-extras enable corretto8

  2. You can install Amazon Corretto 21 as either the runtime environment (JRE) or the full development environment (JDK). The development environment includes the runtime environment.

    Install Amazon Corretto 21 as JRE.

    sudo yum install java-21-amazon-corretto

    Install Amazon Corretto 21 as JDK.

    sudo yum install java-21-amazon-corretto-devel

Amazon Corretto 21 has a 'headless' variant available. This variant omits runtime dependencies that are typically associated with GUI applications such as X11 and ALSA and is worth considering for server-oriented workloads. The 'headful' variant adds support for X11 and ALSA. There is also a 'devel' package which contains the JDK development tools, as well as a 'jmods' package that contains the Amazon Corretto 21 JMods used to create custom runtime images.

Option 1: Install the headless Amazon Corretto 21:

sudo yum install java-21-amazon-corretto-headless

Option 2: Install the headful Amazon Corretto 21:

sudo yum install java-21-amazon-corretto

Option 3: Install the JDK for Amazon Corretto 21:

sudo yum install java-21-amazon-corretto-devel

Option 4: Install the JMods for Amazon Corretto 21:

sudo yum install java-21-amazon-corretto-jmods

The installation location is /usr/lib/jvm/java-21-amazon-corretto.<cpu_arch>.

While it is recommended to use /usr/lib/jvm/java-21-amazon-corretto.<cpu_arch> location, installation may also add alternative links making installation location accessible via /etc/alternatives/jre, /etc/alternatives/jre_21 and /etc/alternatives/jre_21_openjdk for JRE and /etc/alternatives/java_sdk, /etc/alternatives/java_sdk_21 and /etc/alternatives/java_sdk_21_openjdk for JDK. The paths under /etc/alternatives/ may point to another JDK depending on the packages installed and system configuration.

Option 2: Download and Install RPMs Manually

  1. Download RPMs from the Downloads page for your CPU architecture. To install the JDK, you will need to download the RPMs for both the JDK and the JRE.

  2. Install using yum localinstall. 

    sudo yum localinstall java-21-amazon-corretto*.rpm

Verify Your Installation

In the terminal, run the following command to verify the installation. 

java -version

Expected output for 21.0.9: 

openjdk version "21.0.9" 2025-10-21 LTS
OpenJDK Runtime Environment Corretto-21.0.9.11.1 (build 21.0.9+11-LTS)
OpenJDK 64-Bit Server VM Corretto-21.0.9.11.1 (build 21.0.9+11-LTS, mixed mode, sharing)

If you see a version string that doesn't mention Corretto, run the following command to change the default java or javac providers. 

sudo alternatives --config java

If using the JDK you should also run:

sudo alternatives --config javac

Uninstall Amazon Corretto 21

You can uninstall Amazon Corretto 21 with the following commands.

Uninstall JRE:

sudo yum remove java-21-amazon-corretto

Uninstall JDK:

sudo yum remove java-21-amazon-corretto-devel

Uninstall headless:

sudo yum remove java-21-amazon-corretto-headless

Uninstall headful:

sudo yum remove java-21-amazon-corretto

Uninstall devel:

sudo yum remove java-21-amazon-corretto-devel

Uninstall jmods:

sudo yum remove java-21-amazon-corretto-jmods