Linux – Specify a different location to install Java – RHEL6

You can execute the self-extracting *.bin in a temporary directory and move the resulting files to whatever destination you want to.

I really dislike the way the installer creates random symlinks breaking the alternatives system.

Personally, I don't see any real value in having the JDK in non-standard locations, though.

To deal with the updates of the Oracle JDK, my solution is to create an RPM using fpm. It installs to the default location and has a post-install script added to run an update-alternatives hook so the latest version is immediately available. Applications using the old java version still need to be restarted, of course.

You can adapt my solution to fit your needs by changing the --prefix parameter.

fpm -s dir -t rpm \
    --prefix /usr/lib/jvm \
    --force \
    --name java-1.7.0-oraclejdk \
    --version 1.7.0.25 \
    --iteration 1 \
    --epoch 20130621 \
    --license 'Oracle Binary Code License Agreement for the Java SE Platform Products and JavaFX' \
    --vendor 'Oracle' \
    --category 'java' \
    --architecture x86_64 \
    --maintainer '' \
    --exclude src.zip \
    --description 'The Oracle JDK runtime environment.' \
    --url http://www.oracle.com/ \
    --after-install java-alternatives.sh \
    --template-scripts \
    --template-value priority=1725 \
    --rpm-os el6 \
   jdk1.7.0_25

alternatives --install /usr/bin/java       java           /usr/java/jdk<%= version >/jre/bin/java <%= priority > \
         --slave   /usr/bin/appletviewer   appletviewer   /usr/java/jdk<%= version >/bin/appletviewer \
         --slave   /usr/bin/apt            apt            /usr/java/jdk<%= version >/bin/apt \
         --slave   /usr/bin/ControlPanel   ControlPanel   /usr/java/jdk<%= version >/bin/ControlPanel \
         --slave   /usr/bin/extcheck       extcheck       /usr/java/jdk<%= version >/bin/extcheck \
         --slave   /usr/bin/idlj           idlj           /usr/java/jdk<%= version >/bin/idlj \
         --slave   /usr/bin/jar            jar            /usr/java/jdk<%= version >/bin/jar \
         --slave   /usr/bin/jarsigner      jarsigner      /usr/java/jdk<%= version >/bin/jarsigner \
         --slave   /usr/bin/javac          javac          /usr/java/jdk<%= version >/bin/javac \
         --slave   /usr/bin/javadoc        javadoc        /usr/java/jdk<%= version >/bin/javadoc \
         --slave   /usr/bin/javafxpackager javafxpackager /usr/java/jdk<%= version >/bin/javafxpackager \
         --slave   /usr/bin/javah          javah          /usr/java/jdk<%= version >/bin/javah \
         --slave   /usr/bin/javap          javap          /usr/java/jdk<%= version >/bin/javap \
         --slave   /usr/bin/java_vm        java_vm        /usr/java/jdk<%= version >/jre/bin/java_vm \
         --slave   /usr/bin/javaws         javaws         /usr/java/jdk<%= version >/bin/javaws \
         --slave   /usr/bin/jcmd           jcmd           /usr/java/jdk<%= version >/bin/jcmd \
         --slave   /usr/bin/jconsole       jconsole       /usr/java/jdk<%= version >/bin/jconsole \
         --slave   /usr/bin/jcontrol       jcontrol       /usr/java/jdk<%= version >/bin/jcontrol \
         --slave   /usr/bin/jdb            jdb            /usr/java/jdk<%= version >/bin/jdb \
         --slave   /usr/bin/jhat           jhat           /usr/java/jdk<%= version >/bin/jhat \
         --slave   /usr/bin/jinfo          jinfo          /usr/java/jdk<%= version >/bin/jinfo \
         --slave   /usr/bin/jmap           jmap           /usr/java/jdk<%= version >/bin/jmap \
         --slave   /usr/bin/jps            jps            /usr/java/jdk<%= version >/bin/jps \
         --slave   /usr/bin/jrunscript     jrunscript     /usr/java/jdk<%= version >/bin/jrunscript \
         --slave   /usr/bin/jsadebugd      jsadebugd      /usr/java/jdk<%= version >/bin/jsadebugd \
         --slave   /usr/bin/jstack         jstack         /usr/java/jdk<%= version >/bin/jstack \
         --slave   /usr/bin/jstat          jstat          /usr/java/jdk<%= version >/bin/jstat \
         --slave   /usr/bin/jstatd         jstatd         /usr/java/jdk<%= version >/bin/jstatd \
         --slave   /usr/bin/jvisualvm      jvisualvm      /usr/java/jdk<%= version >/bin/jvisualvm \
         --slave   /usr/bin/keytool        keytool        /usr/java/jdk<%= version >/bin/keytool \
         --slave   /usr/bin/native2ascii   native2ascii   /usr/java/jdk<%= version >/bin/native2ascii \
         --slave   /usr/bin/orbd           orbd           /usr/java/jdk<%= version >/bin/orbd \
         --slave   /usr/bin/pack200        pack200        /usr/java/jdk<%= version >/bin/pack200 \
         --slave   /usr/bin/policytool     policytool     /usr/java/jdk<%= version >/bin/policytool \
         --slave   /usr/bin/rmic           rmic           /usr/java/jdk<%= version >/bin/rmic \
         --slave   /usr/bin/rmid           rmid           /usr/java/jdk<%= version >/bin/rmid \
         --slave   /usr/bin/rmiregistry    rmiregistry    /usr/java/jdk<%= version >/bin/rmiregistry \
         --slave   /usr/bin/schemagen      schemagen      /usr/java/jdk<%= version >/bin/schemagen \
         --slave   /usr/bin/serialver      serialver      /usr/java/jdk<%= version >/bin/serialver \
         --slave   /usr/bin/servertool     servertool     /usr/java/jdk<%= version >/bin/servertool \
         --slave   /usr/bin/tnameserv      tnameserv      /usr/java/jdk<%= version >/bin/tnameserv \
         --slave   /usr/bin/unpack200      unpack200      /usr/java/jdk<%= version >/bin/unpack200 \
         --slave   /usr/bin/wsgen          wsgen          /usr/java/jdk<%= version >/bin/wsgen \
         --slave   /usr/bin/wsimport       wsimport       /usr/java/jdk<%= version >/bin/wsimport \
         --slave   /usr/bin/xjc            xjc            /usr/java/jdk<%= version >/bin/xjc