JDeveloper 11.1.2.4 Installation - Read This Before You Try!

If you're not familiar with JDeveloper 11.1.2.4 (11gR2) but familiar with earlier 11g releases, you may ask "since when was JDeveloper installations painful?". If you're not familiar, with JDeveloper at all, you should know that normally JDeveloper installations are almost always relatively painless and quick installation process (5-10 minutes max). Well this time around, it's fair to say Oracle botched the JDeveloper installation setup process. So unless you know all the little quirks to the installation, below is a guide on making your JDeveloper installation a breeze.

1. Download and Install JDK 1.6.0_39+ or higher. I installed JDK 1.6.0_43.
   
   Java Download Location: http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javasebusiness/downloads/java-archive-downloads-javase6-419409.html
   
   Note: Even if you download the JDEveloper installation kit with a bundled JDK, the bundled JDK will not work. This is because Oracle bundled in an unsupported JDK version. Installing the wrong JDK will result in an error message when trying to start up JDeveloper: "Java version 1.6.0_24 not supported. The minimum version required is 1.6.0_35"
   
   
2. Download the JDeveloper 11.1.2.4 release that applies to your system. If you do not know which type to get, the "Generic" installer will always work.
   
   Download location: http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/developer-tools/jdev/downloads/index.html
   
   Note: Mac OS X users must download the "Generic" Installer.
   
   
3. Start up the JDeveloper 11.1.2.4 Installer
   
   For those whom downloaded the Windows JDeveloper Installation kit, simply double click on the "jdevstudio11124install.exe" installer.
   
   For "generic" jar folks: either double click on the jar, or run the command "%JAVA_JDK_HOME%/bin/java -jar name_of_jar_file.jar" in your command-line utility.
   
   Note: %JAVA_JDK_HOME% should be replaced with actual file system installation path of your JDK 6. and
   
   
4. Choose your Middleware Home Directory. Make sure the directory you chose is clean/empty. For instance, I have multiple JDevelopers installed. Thus i have a separate middleware home for each JDeveloper install - to keep each environment clean.
   
   
5. At the "Choose Install Type" screen, select "Custom".
   
   
6. At the "Products and Components" screen, leave all options checked unless you have a preference otherwise.
   
   
7. The following steps are very important, please follow carefully!
8. At the "JDK Selection" screen, uncheck the SUN JDK 1.6.0_24. (Its not supported to run JDeveloper 11.1.2.4!)
   
9. In the "JDK Selection" screen, click "Browse" to locate the JAVA_HOME of your JDK 1.6.0_39+. Click "Select" on the JDK Home.
   
   
   
   
10. After selecting your JDK Home, your JDK should show up under "Local JDK", as shown below. You can now proceed to the next screen!
    
    
11. Confirm your "Product Installation Directories". and click through the rest of the installer and you have a vanilla installation!

Important For ADF Mobile Developers:

1. Use the JDeveloper "Help > Check for Updates" utility to download the ADF Mobile Bundle - its quick and easy to do.
2. If you are developer native OS apps for Android devices, you need to go into your Android SDK Manager, and download the "Google Cloud Messaging for Android Library", as shown below.
   
   
   If you do not download this SDK component, you'll be greeted with deployment errors in JDeveloper:
   Failed to locate the Google Cloud Messaging for Android Library file named "gcm.jar". (oracle.adfmf.framework.dt.deploy.android.deployers.ValidatePreferencesDeployer)
   

That completes our segment for installing JDeveloper 11.1.2.4! 

Good luck!