How To Fix Netbeans Install Error: “The specified jdk folder does not contain jdk”

If you’re trying to install Netbeans and you encounter the error message “The specified jdk folder does not contain jdk”, it can be quite frustrating. This error typically occurs when the Java Development Kit (JDK) is not properly set up or recognized by the Netbeans installer. In this article, we will walk you through detailed steps on how to resolve this issue.

Understanding the Problem

Before we dive into the solution, it’s important to understand what’s causing the issue. Netbeans IDE (Integrated Development Environment) requires JDK (Java Development Kit) to function properly. If the path to the JDK is not correctly specified, or if the JDK is missing from your system, the Netbeans installer will not be able to proceed, resulting in the aforementioned error.

Solution 1: Install OpenJDK JDK

The first solution to this problem is to ensure that the JDK is installed on your system. One of the most common JDKs is OpenJDK. Here’s how you can install it:

1. Open a terminal. You can usually do this by searching for “terminal” in your system’s search bar.
2. Run the following command: sudo apt-get install openjdk-7-jdk

This command does a few things:

• sudo allows you to run the command with superuser (administrator) privileges.
• apt-get is the package handling utility in Debian-based systems, which includes Ubuntu.
• install is the command to install a package.
• openjdk-7-jdk is the package you want to install.

After running this command, the OpenJDK JDK package, which includes the necessary files for Netbeans, should be installed on your system.

Solution 2: Set the JAVA_HOME path

If the JDK is installed but the Netbeans installer still can’t find it, you may need to set the JAVA_HOME environment variable. Here’s how:

1. Open the /etc/profile file with a text editor. You can do this by running the command: sudo nano /etc/profile
2. Add the following lines at the end of the file:

JAVA_HOME=/usr/lib/jvm/java-7-openjdk-i386
PATH=$PATH:$HOME/bin:$JAVA_HOME/bin
export JAVA_HOME
export JAVA_BIN
export PATH

These lines set the JAVA_HOME environment variable to the path where the JDK is installed. They also add the JDK’s bin directory to the system PATH, which is a list of directories that the system searches when looking for executable files.

3. Save the file and exit the text editor.
4. Reload the system-wide PATH by running the command: . /etc/profile

Solution 3: Use the –javahome option during installation

Another solution is to specify the JDK path directly when running the Netbeans installer. You can do this by using the --javahome option. Here’s an example:

sh netbeans-8.0-linux.sh --javahome /usr/lib/jvm/java-7-openjdk-i386

In this command:

• sh is the shell command interpreter.
• netbeans-8.0-linux.sh is the Netbeans installer script.
• --javahome is an option that allows you to specify the JDK path.

Conclusion

In this article, we discussed several solutions to the “The specified jdk folder does not contain jdk” error during Netbeans installation. We hope this guide has been helpful. If you’re still encountering issues, you can refer to the Netbeans FAQ on installing the JDK folder for further troubleshooting.

JAVA_HOME=/usr/lib/jvm/java-7-openjdk-i386
PATH=$PATH:$HOME/bin:$JAVA_HOME/bin
export JAVA_HOME
export JAVA_BIN
export PATH