Java 8 is out of support: What can I do to still use my RIA clients in the Axon.ivy Engine?

The answer to this question depends on what Version of the Axon.ivy Digital Business Platform you are using and on what technology your projects are based on. Let's sum up everything in detail as followed:

Where we use Java

Axon.ivy Engine:

• Windows: Currently Oracle JRE 8 is bundled. Smoke tested with version 7.0.6 and OpenJDK 8u172-b11 from AdoptOpenJDK.
• Linux: No bundled JRE. Works with OpenJDK bundled with Linux distribution.

Axon.ivy Designer:

• Windows: Currently Oracle JRE 8 is bundled. Smoke tested with version 7.0.6 and OpenJDK 8u172-b11 from AdoptOpenJDK
• Linux: Works with OpenJDK/OpenJFX bundled with Linux distribution. More information can be found here: https://answers.axonivy.com/questions/2857/how-to-install-and-use-the-linux-designer

RIA Client Technology (based on WebStart):
Java WebStart is not included in OpenJDK. It is only available in Oracle Java. However, there is a third party project called IcedTea that provide support for Java WebStart. Windows: Tested with OpenJDK provided by AdoptOpenJDK and additionally IcedTea that have limited experimental windows support: http://icedtea.wildebeest.org/download/icedtea-web-binaries/1.7.1/windows/) Linux: Tested with OpenJDK bundled with Linux distribution and additionally IcedTea Plugin to support Java WebStart (Firefox only)

Axon.ivy Engine AdminUI:
The AdminUI of the Axon.ivy Engine is based on RIA Client Technology. See above. In future versions we will replace the RIA based Admin UI with another administration tool that will not be based on RIA.

Downloads / Updates

Oracle:
You can download Oracle JDKs here: http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/downloads/index.html For Java 8 it contains more functionality than OpenJDK (Commercial Features). For Java 11 those commercial features were open sourced and included into the OpenJDK.

AdoptOpenJDK:
AdoptOpenJDK is an open source project that operates an infrastracture to build, test and releases OpenJDK binaries. https://adoptopenjdk.net/ They will support Java 8 till September 2022. There are multiple companies that support the AdoptOpenJDK project:

• IBM: They will support Java 8 and Java 11 after January 2019: https://developer.ibm.com/javasdk/2018/04/26/java-standard-edition-ibm-support-statement/
• Microsoft

Azul Systems:
https://www.azul.com/downloads/zulu/

Amazon Corretto
OpenJDK that is ironed by Amazon to serve their Java Services in AWS. They provide free update releases for Java 8 and Java 11: https://aws.amazon.com/de/corretto/

Possible solutions for Axon.ivy Customers

If you use RIA Client Technology (RichDialog) you have 3 possible solutions:

1. Buy Support from Oracle to get update/security releases for Oracle JDK after January 2019 for all your client machines.
2. Install OpenJDK and IcedTea on all your client machines. This setup is fully tested and supported: https://answers.axonivy.com/questions/3824/how-to-install-an-alternative-openjdk-java-runtime-to-use-the-ria-based-adminui
3. Install the latest free available update/security release from Oracle JDK and stick to it (not recommended).

The new version 7.3.x upwards and therefore 8.0.x LTS do not supoprt RIA Client Technology (RichDialog) anymore. All Engine settings will be done with a new so called "Engine Cockpit" based on HTML.

If you do not use RIA Client Technology (RichDialog) you only need one machine to run the Admin UI to manage the Axon.ivy Engine (7.X and older). This machine can be the server where the Axon.ivy Engine is running. On this machine you have the same 3 options as mentioned above.