How to resolve “A Java Runtime Environment (JRE) or Java Development Kit (JDK) must be available in order to run SapNetweaverDeveloperStudio. No Java Virtual machine was found after searching the following locations:”

Applies to: Created while working with SAP NWDS7.3 SP09 PAT00 but the document is relevant for other Versions, SP and Patch levels.

Summary :  Developers when running the NWDS for the first time may get an error –”A Java Runtime Environment (JRE) or Java Development Kit (JDK) must be available in order to run SapNetweaverDeveloperStudio. No Java Virtual machine was found after searching the following locations:” The document shows you how to overcome the problem by understanding the root cause and resolving it.

Author: Amol Gupta

Company: Capgemini Consulting

Created on:  9 May 2013

Author Bio: Amol Gupta is working with Capgemini Consulting as a Senior SAP Consultant. He has been working with SAP BPM, Web Dynpro Java, Enterprise Portal, NWDI, MDM and Interactive forms for WebDynpro Java.  Amol is a Sun Certified Java Programmer (SCJP) and Certified Scrum Master (CSM).

Prerequisites: Developers should be aware of JDK/JRE and JDK installation and basic windows file system navigation and file modification. You should have JDK and SAP NWDS installation files.

Outcome: Developers will be able to run the SAP NWDS and get rid of the error and will understand the intricacies of installing a 32 bit JDK on a 32 bit or 64 bit Windows machine.

Problem: Developers are not able to launch the SAP NWDS get the following error.

”A Java Runtime Environment (JRE) or Java Development Kit(JDK) must be available in order to run SapNetweaverDeveloperStudio. No Java Virtual machine was found after searching the following locations:”

Step 1: You should have a valid JDK 1.6 installed on your desktop. If you don’t have one, please install one from www.java.sun.com. Oracle now owns Java after taking it over from Sun Microsystems. The old link still works fine and will redirect you to the latest Oracle Java page.

NOTE : Version of JDK required may vary with the NWDS version, please confirm the version of JDK required for your version of NWDS. Do not install 64 bit JDK. Install 32 bit JDK only even if your operating system is a 64 bit machine. 32 bit JDK works just fine on 32 bit and 64 bit operating system alike. On 64 bit Windows machines there are two versions of program files –

• Program Files – The 64 bit applications are installed in this folder.
• Program Files (x86) – The 32 bit applications are installed in this folder.

You may download your version of JDK from the following link for downloading Archived JDKs –

http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/archive-139210.html

Go to the downloads section at the end of this document to get version specific links for JDK download.

The JDK will be installed in either of the following folders-

-C:\Program Files\Java or

-C:\Program Files (x86)\Java

STEP 2: Note down the path to the bin directory, which should somewhat look like –

– C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.6.0_35 or

– C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jdk1.6.0_35

NOTE – NWDS uses the javaw.exe hosted in the bin directory.

STEP 3: Open the SapNetweaverDeveloperStudio.ini file. This file is located with the SapNetweaverDeveloperStudio.exe file in the Eclipse folder.

In my case there is an entry –
-vm C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jdk1.6.0_35\bin
which should have been –
-vm C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.6.0_35\bin
because of which the SapNetweaverDeveloperStudio.exe was not able to find the javaw.exe to launch the SAP NWDS.

Make the change save and close the SapNetweaverDeveloperStudio.ini and double click on the SapNetweaverDeveloperStudio.exe file. The SAP NWDS should run just fine.

Downloads-
NWDS download

https://nwds.sap.com/swdc/downloads/updates/netweaver/nwds/nw/730/doc/auto_latest_distributions.htmlhttps://nwds.sap.com/swdc/downloads/updates/netweaver/nwds/nw/730/doc/auto_latest_distributions.html
Java SE 1.4 Downloads

http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javasebusiness/downloads/java-archive-downloads-javase14-419411.html

Java SE 5.0 Downloads

http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javasebusiness/downloads/java-archive-downloads-javase5-419410.html

Java SE 6 Downloads

http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javasebusiness/downloads/java-archive-downloads-javase6-419409.html

Java SE 7 Downloads

http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/downloads/java-archive-downloads-javase7-521261.html

Abreviations:
NWDS – Netweaver Developer Studio
JDK – Java Development Kit
JRE- Java Runtime Environment

Request: Please let me know your feedback and if you would like me add any more information to the article via your comments below. Think green and avoid printing this document.