How to: Install SQL Developer on Linux

Installing SQL Developer on Linux doesn’t need to be difficult. Even so, Java 11 does need to be installed separately as a pre-requisite for later versions of SQL Developer.

Let’s see how it’s done on the Fedora distro.

Download Oracle Java 11

Previous versions of Oracle SQL Developer required Oracle JDK 8. Then Oracle SQL Developer 19.2 and higher require at least Oracle JDK8 or Oracle JDK 11.

Oracle SQL Developer 22.2.1 release requires Oracle Java 11.

Oracle Java 11 can be downloaded from the Oracle website:

https://www.oracle.com/java/technologies/downloads/#java11

Fedora is part of the Red Hat family, and they use RPM packages, using the DNF package manager.

Download SQL Developer

Next, download the SQL Developer RPM package, for Oracle SQL Developer 22.2.1.

https://www.oracle.com/database/sqldeveloper/technologies/download/

Installation of Java 11

Despite Fedora using the DNF package manager, the installation of Java 11 involves using the legacy RPM application:

sudo su -
rpm -ivh jdk-11.0.16.1_linux-x64_bin.rpm

Installation of SQL Developer

As for installing Java 11, to install SQL Developer, we’ll be using the RPM application:

sudo rpm -Uhv sqldeveloper-22.2.1.234.1810.noarch.rpm

Start SQL Developer

The SQL Developer binary will be in the /opt/sqldeveloper directory, so run the binary from there:

cd /opt/sqldeveloper
./sqldeveloper.sh

As Java 11 was installed previously, there shouldn’t be any problems with the start up of SQL Developer.

Paul Guerin has presented at some of the world’s leading Oracle conferences, including Oracle Open World 2013. Since 2015, his work has been featured in the IOUG Best Practices Tip Booklet, and in publications from AUSOUG, Oracle Technology Network, Quest, and Oracle Developers (Medium). In 2019, he was awarded as a most valued contributor for the My Oracle Support Community. He continues to be a participant of the Oracle ACE program.