Manually installing Sun JDK in Debian/Ubuntu

In order to manually install the JDK .bin file and change the default Java directory you need to do the following.

1. Download the jdk-****.bin installer (I am using jdk-1.6.0_20-linux-i586.bin) to your download directory (I am using /home/myaccount/downloads)

2. Run:

cd /opt

sudo sh /home/myaccount/downloads/jdk-1.6.0_20-linux-i586.bin

3. Hit the spacebar a few times and type yes when prompted.

4. Run:

update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/java java /opt/jdk1.6.0_20/bin/java 500

update-alternatives --set java /opt/jdk1.6.0_20/bin/java
OR
update-alternatives --config java

**Note: The --set option will not prompt you while the --config option will present you with a list of option.