Maven is not using Java 11 - Fatal error compiling: invalid target release: 11

Question

I am trying to compile my project with Java 11.

When I try to run the application with Java 8 as the Java version in pom.xml, it works fine. But when I try to run it with Java 11, it throws an error.

Fatal error compiling: invalid target release: 11

I've tried to fix it in various ways, like changing the environment variable, updating the path, and pointing %JAVA_HOME% to Java 11.

The commands and their results as on my computer are as follows:

> java -version
java version "11.0.8" 2020-07-14 LTS
> echo %JAVA_HOME%
C:\Program Files\Java\jdk-11.0.8

I am using IntelliJ IDEA and have made the necessary changes as suggested in this tutorial.

My pom.xml looks something like this:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<project xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
         xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 https://maven.apache.org/xsd/maven-4.0.0.xsd">
    <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
    <parent>
        <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
        <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-parent</artifactId>
        <version>2.3.0.RELEASE</version>
        <relativePath/> <!-- lookup parent from repository -->
    </parent>
    <groupId>com.example</groupId>
    <artifactId>demo</artifactId>
    <version>0.0.1-SNAPSHOT</version>

    <name>demo</name>
    <description>Demo project for Spring Boot</description>

    <properties>
        <java.version>11</java.version>
    </properties>

    <dependencies>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
            <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-web</artifactId>
        </dependency>

        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
            <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-test</artifactId>
            <scope>test</scope>
            <exclusions>
                <exclusion>
                    <groupId>org.junit.vintage</groupId>
                    <artifactId>junit-vintage-engine</artifactId>
                </exclusion>
            </exclusions>
        </dependency>
    </dependencies>

    <build>
        <plugins>
            <plugin>
                <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
                <artifactId>spring-boot-maven-plugin</artifactId>
            </plugin>
            <plugin>
                <groupId>com.google.cloud.tools</groupId>
                <artifactId>appengine-maven-plugin</artifactId>
                <version>2.2.0</version>
                <configuration>
                    <version>1</version>
                    <projectId>businessapplication-6963d</projectId>
                </configuration>
            </plugin>
            <plugin>
                <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
                <artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId>
                <version>3.8.0</version>
                <configuration>
                    <source>11</source>
                    <target>11</target>
                </configuration>
            </plugin>
        </plugins>
    </build>

</project>

When I check the Maven version, it shows JDK 1.8 as the Java version:

mvn --version
Java version: 1.8.0_241, vendor: Oracle Corporation, runtime: C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.8.0_241\jre

How can I point Maven to Java 11? Or, if that is not the problem, how to solve this issue? I don't think that this question is a duplicate of invalid target release: 1.7, as I have already implemented the solutions provided in that thread.

Error after building the project

[ERROR] Failed to execute goal org.apache.maven.plugins:maven-compiler-plugin:3.8.0:compile (default-compile) on project demo: Fatal error compiling: invalid target release: 11 -> [Help 1]
[ERROR]
[ERROR] To see the full stack trace of the errors, re-run Maven with the -e switch.
[ERROR] Re-run Maven using the -X switch to enable full debug logging.
[ERROR]
[ERROR] For more information about the errors and possible solutions, please read the following articles:
[ERROR] [Help 1] http://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/MAVEN/MojoExecutionException

Path Environment Variable is :- 
C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Intel\Shared Files\cpp\bin\Intel64;
C:\Program Files (x86)\Intel\iCLS Client\;
C:\Program Files\Intel\iCLS Client\;
C:\WINDOWS\system32;C:\WINDOWS;
C:\WINDOWS\System32\Wbem;
C:\WINDOWS\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\;
C:\Program Files (x86)\Intel\Intel(R) Management Engine Components\DAL;
C:\Program Files\Intel\Intel(R) Management Engine Components\DAL;
C:\Program Files (x86)\Intel\Intel(R) Management Engine Components\IPT;
C:\Program Files\Intel\Intel(R) Management Engine Components\IPT;C:\WINDOWS\System32\OpenSSH\;
C:\Delhi 2.0\apache-maven-3.6.1\bin;
C:\Program Files\Java\jdk-11.0.8\bin;C:\Program Files\Intel\WiFi\bin\;
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Intel\WirelessCommon\;
C:\Program Files\Git\cmd;D:\Flutter\flutter\flutter\bin;
C:\Users\Infinity97\AppData\Local\Google\Cloud SDK\google-cloud-sdk\bin;
C:\Users\Infinity97\AppData\Local\Microsoft\WindowsApps;
C:\Program Files\JetBrains\IntelliJ IDEA Community Edition 2019.2\bin;
H:\apache-maven-3.6.3\bin;
C:\Program Files\PostgreSQL\12\bin;
C:\Program Files\PostgreSQL\12\lib;
C:\Program Files\Docker Toolbox

And what Maven version are you using? Did you install this and has it any settings.xml configuration? — Simon Martinelli, Jul 29 '20 at 13:40
Do you have any other Java build in your Path environment variable? — Giorgi Tsiklauri, Jul 29 '20 at 13:45
What is javac -version? Add %JAVA_HOME%\bin as the first value in path env variable. Seems you have multiple java version on the system. IN your path variable do u have oracle DB installed? Share your path variable output. — Amit Vyas, Jul 29 '20 at 13:47
Updated the question to have the full Error I can see. maven version is 3.6.3 I have a project where I use JAVA 8. But presently I have only Java 11 in my Path Env Variable. — Ayush Surana, Jul 29 '20 at 13:49
Please print the output of the Path env. variable. And print javac -version output too.. Can you run the on command prompt just use mvn -e clean install — Amit Vyas, Jul 29 '20 at 13:51
Updated Path Environment Variable information to the Question. — Ayush Surana, Jul 29 '20 at 13:55
Amit Vyas. What do you mean by adding %JAVA_HOME%\bin in my path Variable as the first entry to the path variable. Does heirarchy matter as I already have it in the Path Variable. — Ayush Surana, Jul 29 '20 at 14:01
In your case you have correct. What is your M2_HOME? And Why you have 2 maven entries in D and H drive? — Amit Vyas, Jul 29 '20 at 14:05
You always do like create JAVA_HOME and set java without bin before the home path and refer the %JAVA_HOME%\bin as an entry in the path. No hard coding of the java path in the PATH variable. Then have M2_HOME and add a maven path without a bin folder value. In PATH variable set %M2_HOME%\bin as value. Then open new command prompt and run java -version , javac -version mvn -verion and mvn -e clean install. As @procrastinator make sure you don't have a hardcoded path in mvn.bat file. Delete all hardcoding from the PATH variable for java and maven home before doing above steps. — Amit Vyas, Jul 29 '20 at 14:10
@procrastinator Updating JAVA_HOME in mvn.cmd(mvn.bat is mvn.cmd in maven 3.5 and above) worked. Can you post this as an answer so that I can accept it as the answer. Thank you so much!!! — Ayush Surana, Jul 29 '20 at 14:13
@AmitVyas Thanks for the guidance. Will update my Path variables as the norm. Thanks so much for the effort. — Ayush Surana, Jul 29 '20 at 14:15
@AyushSurana for troubleshooting it is oki to set JAVA Home explicit in the maven bat/shell file but you should not. Clean up your path/java home/maven home and everything should work seamlessly. Avoid setting explicit values in the maven as if u will try jdk 8 or 13 or 14 it will fail. Changing JAVA_HOME for nay value will make all dependent apps to work seamlessly. — Amit Vyas, Jul 29 '20 at 14:25
A similar (and solved!) question for Heroku's Maven JDK: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/60817038/why-when-i-try-push-my-spring-boot-app-to-heroku-it-return-fatal-error-compilin — Eugene Gr. Philippov, Apr 09 '21 at 18:37

procrastinator · Accepted Answer · 2021-01-22T07:48:39.700

84

Seems like you're having the JAVA_HOME set in your mvn.bat. It could be pointing to the older version of Java (i.e. 8 in your case).

set JAVA_HOME=C:\path\to\jdk11 try using it on the first line, before calling maven.

edited Jan 22 '21 at 07:48

answered Jul 29 '20 at 14:15

procrastinator

2,276
17
25
33

what if my `mvn.bat` is using `set "JAVACMD=%JAVA_HOME%\bin\java.exe"` – G. Ciardini Jul 06 '21 at 15:45
@G.Ciardini in that case, try checking the variable defined as `%JAVA_HOME%` and updating it. – procrastinator Jul 07 '21 at 06:38
my `%JAVA_HOME%` and `java -version` are using jdk12.. so I have to use exactly jdk11? – G. Ciardini Jul 07 '21 at 07:09
If you want to use `jdk11` in your project then yes. Or else `jdk12`. – procrastinator Jul 07 '21 at 10:23

score 17 · Answer 2 · answered Dec 26 '20 at 13:10

17

Experiencing this issue while trying to deploy Spring Boot application to Heroku.

My JAVA_HOME was set correctly but was still receiving same error.

But then this worked for me:

In your pom.xml add or adapt to your own context:

<plugin>
    <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
    <artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId>
    <configuration>
        <source>1.8</source>
        <target>1.8</target>
    </configuration>
</plugin>

answered Dec 26 '20 at 13:10

Mercuriat

375
2
4

29

This is just rolling back to Java 8, not making Java 11 work. – Scott Baker Jan 20 '21 at 16:11
I came across this question while trying to run a Java 8 project (while I have Java 11 installed as well). This solution works perfectly – Tejesh Raut May 21 '21 at 11:38

score 7 · Answer 3 · answered Mar 25 '21 at 20:39

If other people are having this same problem but with Eclipse, (I know OP was referring to IntelliJ IDEA) also check the JRE in use for Maven:

Run configurations...
Select your Maven Build configuration
Click the JRE tab and choose the JRE version in accordance with your POM.

score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Apr 16 '21 at 13:21

0

I was facing the same problem. Setting JAVA_HOME environment variable to the right JDK solved my problem.

java -version was showing the right version, but echo %JAVA_HOME% pointed to the wrong JDK. Fixing it, solved this issue for me.

answered Apr 16 '21 at 13:21

thelearner

75
1
12

this is a duplicate of the answer that is already accepted on this question. – Jad Apr 16 '21 at 14:19
Hi Jad, I added this comment because it was written to to check for JAVA_HOME, and I was checking JAVA_VERSION. SO, I mentioned about both in one comment. Please check all the answers above. – thelearner Apr 17 '21 at 02:08

score 0 · Answer 5 · answered Nov 18 '21 at 11:54

I had he same problem even the correct JAVA-Version 11 and JAVA_HOME variable was set.

Switching to another Java-Vendor from AdoptOpenJDK to Corretto solved it.

You can use SDKMAN to change easily and quick between different Java-Versions and vendors. (JAVA_HOME variable will set automatically correct by SDKMAN).

Install SDKMAN by

curl -s "https://get.sdkman.io" | bash

then enter in the terminal:

source "$HOME/.sdkman/bin/sdkman-init.sh"

to ensure installation was successful:

sdk version

Install Java 11:

sdk install java 11.0.13.8.1-amzn
sdk default java 11.0.13.8.1-amzn

To check the versions, runtime and vendor:

java --version
mvn -v

Djacomo · Answer 6 · 2022-01-25T11:35:32.997

The fastest and the easiest way is to use SDKMAN https://sdkman.io/ :

Install jdk 11 with:

sdk install 11.0.11.hs-adpt

sdk list java for the list of available jdk

Create a .sdkmanrc file in your project main dir:

java=11.0.11.hs-adpt

Switch JDK

use sdk env for switch to right jdk.
For automatic switch to the chosen jdk version, enable it in sdkman config file (~/.sdkman/etc/config)

sdkman_auto_env=true

score -2 · Answer 7 · answered Jun 13 '21 at 03:51

For future time travellers. First run

/usr/libexec/java_home -V

This will list all the possible JAVA_HOME paths possible on your machine. You have two options: -

Add the line (project permanent)

JAVA_HOME="/path/to/obtained/from/command/lib"

in your maven.bat file, ideally right after the initial comments

Run

export JAVA_HOME=/path/to/obtained/from/command/lib

Before running the mvnw command

Mohit Singh · Answer 8 · 2022-05-11T09:36:57.247

-3

Check the java home under path inside environment variable, it should point to jdk 11 under your java installation directory,
Check for the below inside pom.xml

<java.version>11</java.version>
Under Path check the correct entry for %JAVA_HOME% environment variable and explicitly set JAVA_HOME=C:\tools\java\jdk11
check , your mvn should not be overriding the java version 11

edited May 11 '22 at 09:36

answered Apr 26 '21 at 06:11

Mohit Singh

5,633
2
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6

This is just rolling back to Java 8, not making Java 11 work – John Kitonyo Jun 13 '21 at 03:52
2

This is not the answer to this question – Farhad Jul 14 '21 at 16:37

score -5 · Answer 9 · answered Jan 10 '21 at 14:32

-5

just change this

<properties>
    <java.version>11</java.version>
</properties>

to

<properties>
    <java.version>1.8</java.version>
</properties>

answered Jan 10 '21 at 14:32

AzezoLinux

39
1

21

He's trying to make it work successfully using Java 11, not roll back to Java 8 – Scott Baker Jan 20 '21 at 16:10
2

This is just rolling back to Java 8, not making Java 11 work. – Farhad Jul 14 '21 at 16:38
I guess @Farhad missed the joke commented by Scott Baker. :-D – S34N Jan 19 '22 at 19:54

score -5 · Answer 10 · answered Jun 23 '21 at 18:28

-5

this what helped me : The issue must be you are using 8 locally but pointing to a different version in your pom.xml

answered Jun 23 '21 at 18:28

Piyush Singh

39
2

Maven is not using Java 11 - Fatal error compiling: invalid target release: 11

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