Amazon Corretto FAQs

Q: What is Amazon Corretto?

Corretto is a build of Open Java Development Kit (OpenJDK) with long-term support from Amazon. Corretto is certified using the Java Technology Compatibility Kit (TCK) to ensure it meets the Java SE standard and is available on Linux, Windows, and macOS.

Q: Why should I use Corretto?

Corretto is a reliable build of OpenJDK with the assurance of long-term support provided at no cost to you. Amazon runs Corretto internally on thousands of production services. Every modification we make to Corretto fixes or mitigates a problem we found running OpenJDK. Amazon also plans to apply urgent fixes (including security) when they are available and ready to use, outside of the regular quarterly cycle.

Q: How is Corretto different from OpenJDK?

Corretto is a distribution of Open JDK with patches included by Amazon that are not yet integrated in the corresponding OpenJDK update projects. We focus on patches that improve performance or stability in OpenJDK, chosen based on Amazon's observations running large services.

Q: What kinds of patches does Amazon intend to include in Corretto?

Patches will include security fixes, performance enhancements (e.g., speeding up frequently-used functions), garbage collection scheduling, and preventing out-of-memory situations, as well as improved monitoring, reporting, and thread management.

Q: Is there any cost associated with using Corretto?

Corretto is distributed by Amazon under an Open Source license at no cost to you. It is licensed under the terms of the GNU Public License version 2 with the Class Path Exception (GPLv2 with CPE). Amazon does not charge for its use or distribution.

Q. What does long-term support (LTS) mean for Corretto?

Amazon Corretto is a no-cost, multiplatform, production-ready distribution of Open Java Development Kit (OpenJDK) that comes with long-term support (LTS). LTS includes Amazon’s commitment to provide performance enhancements and security updates at no cost until at least the specified date for the relevant release version (e.g. December 2030 for Corretto 8). Updates are planned to be released quarterly. Amazon also plans to apply urgent fixes (including security) outside of the regular quarterly cycle when they are available and ready to use.

Q: What is included in Corretto's long-term support?

Long-term support (LTS) for Corretto includes performance enhancements and security updates at no cost until end-of-life. Updates are planned to be released quarterly.

LTS for Corretto is unrelated to AWS Support Plans, which provide expert guidance and assistance for achieving your objectives on AWS. If you already have an AWS Support Plan, Corretto is covered on the same basis as all other supported AWS Services and software. For those who do not have a plan, it may or may not make sense for you to purchase a plan if your only intention is to receive assistance with Corretto. Please visit the Amazon Support website to determine if it is right for you. There are currently no plans to launch Corretto-specific assistance plans. As always, our roadmaps are a reflection of our customer feedback and we welcome your feature requests at the Corretto GitHub repository.
 

Q: What is Corretto's support calendar?

Q. What should I do if I need help with Corretto?

For general questions about installing or running Corretto, please see our documentation. If you have an issue related to OpenJDK, please open an issue with the upstream OpenJDK project. If you have a specific issue with Corretto or feature request that is not applicable to OpenJDK, please open an issue or a feature request in the Corretto GitHub repository. If you already have an AWS Support Plan you can reach out for assistance with Corretto through your plan.
 

Q: Can I use Corretto as a drop-in replacement for other JDKs?

Corretto is designed as a drop-in replacement for all Java SE distributions unless you are using features not available in OpenJDK. Once Corretto binaries are installed on a host and correctly invoked to run your Java applications (e.g., using the alternatives command on Linux), existing command-line options, tuning parameters, monitoring, and anything else in place will continue to work as before.

Q: Is JavaFX included with Corretto? If so, which versions of Corretto have it bundled?

Before OpenJDK 11, JavaFX was included in OpenJDK. However, in 2018, Oracle decoupled JavaFX from OpenJDK, removing it from OpenJDK distributions. Corretto 8 does include JavaFX for the following platforms:

AL2 x64
AL2023 x64
Generic Linux x64
Windows x86 JDK
Windows x64 JDK
Windows x86 JRE
Windows x64 JRE
macOS x64

We do not include it on other platforms, regardless of version. For example, JavaFX is not supported in Corretto 8 for Mac M1.

We recommend that you upgrade to Corretto 17+, preferably Corretto 21, since this release will have more up-to-date code and generally perform better than its predecessors. In some instances you may wish to be on the latest JDK, which could be a short term support release with near EOL date. You can find and download the JFX releases from the JavaFX website.

Q: What operating systems does Corretto 8 support?

Corretto 8 installation packages are distributed by Amazon for Linux (glibc), Linux (musl-libc), Windows, and macOS.

Windows builds are supported on versions 10 or later, Server 2016, Server 2019, and Server 2022.

macOS builds are supported on all versions of macOS still receiving security patches from Apple. Currently supported versions are 12 (Monterey) or later on x64 (Intel), and aarch64 (M1) architectures.

Linux (glibc) builds are supported on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6+, CentOS 6+, Ubuntu Linux 14+, Debian Linux 8+, Amazon Linux AMI, and SuSE 12+.

Linux (musl-libc) builds are supported on Alpine Linux 3.17+.

Q: What operating systems does Corretto 11 support?

Corretto 11 installation packages are distributed by Amazon for Linux (glibc), Linux (musl-libc), Windows, and macOS.

Windows builds are supported on versions 10 or later, Server 2016, Server 2019, and Server 2022.

macOS builds are supported on all versions of macOS still receiving security patches from Apple. Currently supported versions are 12 (Monterey) or later on x64 (Intel), and aarch64 (M1) architectures.

Linux (glibc) builds are supported on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6+, CentOS 6+, Ubuntu Linux 14+, Debian Linux 8+, Amazon Linux AMI, and SuSE 12+.

Linux (musl-libc) builds are supported on Alpine Linux 3.17+.

Q: What operating systems does Corretto 17 support?

Corretto 17 installation packages are distributed by Amazon for Linux (glibc), Linux (musl-libc), Windows, and macOS.

Windows builds are supported on versions 10 or later,  -Server 2016, Server 2019, and Server 2022.

macOS builds are supported on all versions of macOS still receiving security patches from Apple. Currently supported versions are 12 (Monterey) or later on x64 (Intel), and aarch64 (M1) architectures.

Linux (glibc) builds are supported on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6+, CentOS 6+, Ubuntu Linux 14+, Debian Linux 8+, Amazon Linux AMI, and SuSE 12+.

Linux (musl-libc) builds are supported on Alpine Linux 3.17+.

Q: What operating systems does Corretto 21 support?

Corretto 21 installation packages are distributed by Amazon for Linux (glibc), Linux (musl-libc), Windows, and macOS.

Windows builds are supported on versions 10 or later, Server 2016, Server 2019, and Server 2022.

macOS builds are supported on all versions of macOS still receiving security patches from Apple. Currently supported versions are 12 (Monterey) or later on x64 (Intel), and aarch64 (M1) architectures.

Linux (glibc) builds are supported on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6+, CentOS 6+, Ubuntu Linux 14+, Debian Linux 8+, Amazon Linux AMI, and SuSE 12+.

Linux (musl-libc) builds are supported on Alpine Linux 3.17+.

Q: What operating systems does Corretto 23 support?

Corretto 23 installation packages are distributed by Amazon for Linux (glibc), Linux (musl-libc), Windows, and macOS.

Windows builds are supported on versions 10 or later, Server 2016, Server 2019, and Server 2022.

macOS builds are supported on all versions of macOS still receiving security patches from Apple. Currently supported versions are 12 (Monterey) or later on x64 (Intel) and aarch64 (M1) architectures.

Linux (glibc) builds are supported on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6+, CentOS 6+, Ubuntu Linux 14+, Debian Linux 8+, Amazon Linux AMI, and SuSE 12+.

Linux (musl-libc) builds are supported on Alpine Linux 3.17+.

Q: Why does security scanner show that a docker image has a CVE?

If a security scanner reports that a Corretto-Docker image includes a CVE, the first recommended action is to seek an updated version of this image. Updated Corretto-Docker images are available at this site.

If no updated image is available, run the appropriate command to update packages for the platform, e.g. run "yum update -y --security" for AmazonLinux or "apk -U upgrade" for Alpine Linux in your Dockerfiles or systems to resolve the issue immediately.

If no updated package is available, please treat this as a potential security issue and follow the [AWS vulnerability reporting instructions] or email AWS security directly at aws-security@amazon.com.

It is the responsibility of the base docker image supplier to provide timely security updates to images and packages. AWS only supplies base docker images for Amazon Linux, which are available from the Docker Hub Amazon Linux 2 page and the Amazon Linux 2 ECR Public Gallery. Alpine-based docker images are available from the Docker Hub Alpine Linux page.

Docker Hub automatically rebuilds Docker images when a new base image is made available, but the Corretto team does not make changes to our Dockerfiles to pull in one-off package updates. If a new base image has not yet been made generally available by a base docker image supplier, please contact that supplier to request that the fix be addressed in a new base docker image distribution.

Note that there are multiple reasons why a CVE may appear to be present in a docker image, as explained here.

Q: What are Corretto's license terms?

Corretto is released under the same open source license as OpenJDK, which is licensed under the GNU Public License version 2 with the Class Path Exception (GPLv2 with CPE). You can use Corretto as you would use OpenJDK.

Q: How does Amazon contribute to OpenJDK?

Amazon started contributing to OpenJDK in 2017 and we plan to increase contributions in both number and complexity.

Q: How can I contribute to Corretto?

Amazon encourages contributions to the OpenJDK project as the way to get code into Corretto. This way the whole OpenJDK community benefits from your changes. If your contribution is specific to Corretto, such as to the build logic, the code is available on GitHub, where we will evaluate issues and pull requests.