When we apply the Java plugin to our Gradle project we can configure which Java version we want to use for compiling our source code and running our tests using a toolchain configuration. The benefit of having a toolchain configuration is that we can use a different Java version for compiling and running our code than the Java version that is used by Gradle to execute the build. Gradle will look for that Java version on our local computer or download the correct version if it is not available. To search for a local Java installation Gradle will look for operating system specific locations, installations by package managers like SKDMAN! and Jabba, IntelliJ IDEA installations and Maven Toolchain specifications. Maven Toolchain specifications is an XML file describing the location of local Java installation. Each Java installation is described by a version and optional vendor it provides and the location of the installation. Maven uses this information to find the correct Java installation when the maven-toolchain-plugin is used in a Maven project. But Gradle can also utilize Maven Toolchain specifications to find local Java installations. This can be useful when we have to work on multiple projects where some use Maven and others use Gradle. We can place the Maven Toolchain specification file in our Maven home directory. This is also the default place where Gradle will look, but we can use a project property to override this location.

The following example shows a Maven toolchain configuration with three different Java versions:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<toolchains>
    <toolchain>
        <type>jdk</type>
        <provides>
            <version>11</version>
            <vendor>Azul Zulu</vendor>
        </provides>
        <configuration>
            <jdkHome>C:/Users/mrhaki/tools/apps/zulu11-jdk/current</jdkHome>
        </configuration>
    </toolchain>
    <toolchain>
        <type>jdk</type>
        <provides>
            <version>17</version>
            <vendor>Azul Zulu</vendor>
        </provides>
        <configuration>
            <jdkHome>C:/Users/mrhaki/apps/zulu17-jdk/current</jdkHome>
        </configuration>
    </toolchain>
    <toolchain>
        <type>jdk</type>
        <provides>
            <version>21</version>
            <vendor>Azul Zulu</vendor>
        </provides>
        <configuration>
            <jdkHome>C:/Users/mrhaki/tools/apps/zulu-jdk/current</jdkHome>
        </configuration>
    </toolchain>
</toolchains>

In our Gradle build file we apply the java plugin and define in the toolchain configuration we want to use Java 17 for our builds:

// File: build.gradle.kts
plugins {
    java
}

java {
    toolchain {
        // Use Java 17 for building and running tests
        languageVersion = JavaLanguageVersion.of(17)
    }
}

We can now use the javaToolchains task to see the available Java installations:

$ ./gradlew javaToolchains

> Task :javaToolchains

 + Options
     | Auto-detection:     Enabled
     | Auto-download:      Enabled

  + Azul Zulu JDK 11.0.22+7-LTS
     | Location:           C:\Users\mrhaki\tools\apps\zulu11-jdk\current
     | Language Version:   11
     | Vendor:             Azul Zulu
     | Architecture:       amd64
     | Is JDK:             true
     | Detected by:        Maven Toolchains

 + Azul Zulu JDK 17.0.10+7-LTS
     | Location:           C:\Users\mrhaki\tools\apps\zulu17-jdk\current
     | Language Version:   17
     | Vendor:             Azul Zulu
     | Architecture:       amd64
     | Is JDK:             true
     | Detected by:        Current JVM

 + Azul Zulu JDK 21.0.2+13-LTS
     | Location:           C:\Users\mrhaki\tools\apps\zulu-jdk\current
     | Language Version:   21
     | Vendor:             Azul Zulu
     | Architecture:       amd64
     | Is JDK:             true
     | Detected by:        Maven Toolchains

BUILD SUCCESSFUL in 4s
1 actionable task: 1 executed

The command was run using Java 17 and we can see in the output that it is detected by Gradle as the current JVM. The Java installations for Java 11 and Java 21 are detected using Maven Toolchains.

If the location of the Maven Toolchain specification file is not in the default location, we can use the Gradle project property org.gradle.java.installations.maven-toolchain-file to specify a custom location. We can use it from the command line using the -P option or we can add it to gradle.properties in the project root directory.

$ ./gradlew javaToolchains -Porg.gradle.java.installations.maven-toolchain-file=C:/Users/mrhaki/tools/maven/toolchains.xml

...

Written with Gradle 8.5.

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