Using java 1.6 on OSX

Since the Java support for OSX has moved from Apple to Oracle. The old Java version are no longer shown in the oracle control panel:

But there is a command line tool for selecting the java version:

$ /usr/libexec/java_home -h
Usage: java_home [options...]
    Returns the path to a Java home directory from the current user's settings.

Options:
    [-v/--version   ]       Filter Java versions in the "JVMVersion" form 1.X(+ or *).
    [-a/--arch      ]  Filter JVMs matching architecture (i386, x86_64, etc).
    [-d/--datamodel ]     Filter JVMs capable of -d32 or -d64
    [-t/--task      ]          Use the JVM list for a specific task (Applets, WebStart, BundledApp, JNI, or CommandLine)
    [-F/--failfast]                  Fail when filters return no JVMs, do not continue with default.
    [   --exec       ...]   Execute the $JAVA_HOME/bin/ with the remaining arguments.
    [-R/--request]                   Request installation of a Java Runtime if not installed.
    [-X/--xml]                       Print full JVM list and additional data as XML plist.
    [-V/--verbose]                   Print full JVM list with architectures.
    [-h/--help]                      This usage information.

You can check if you have a specific java version installed with this command:

/usr/libexec/java_home -v 1.6*

If 1.6 isn’t installed on your machine you can get it from here.

To use Java 1.6 in command line context add this line to your ~/.bash_profile:

export JAVA_HOME=`/usr/libexec/java_home -d64 -v 1.6*`