Elasticsearch: Unsupported major.minor version 52.0

[pagenbag]

I tried elasticsearch 5.0-alpha this morning (on Ubuntu 14.04) , both the deb package and the tar file give me a " Unsupported major.minor version 52.0" error.

I have the latest openjdk installed.

See Error , os and java below.

root@sin-cpt-sl-es-development:~/elasticsearch-5.0.0-alpha1# lsb_release -a
No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID: Ubuntu
Description: Ubuntu 14.04.4 LTS
Release: 14.04
Codename: trusty
root@sin-cpt-sl-es-development:~/elasticsearch-5.0.0-alpha1# ./bin/elasticsearch
Exception in thread "main" java.lang.UnsupportedClassVersionError: org/elasticsearch/bootstrap/Elasticsearch : Unsupported major.minor version 52.0
at java.lang.ClassLoader.defineClass1(Native Method)
at java.lang.ClassLoader.defineClass(ClassLoader.java:803)
at java.security.SecureClassLoader.defineClass(SecureClassLoader.java:142)
at java.net.URLClassLoader.defineClass(URLClassLoader.java:449)
at java.net.URLClassLoader.access$100(URLClassLoader.java:71)
at java.net.URLClassLoader$1.run(URLClassLoader.java:361)
at java.net.URLClassLoader$1.run(URLClassLoader.java:355)
at java.security.AccessController.doPrivileged(Native Method)
at java.net.URLClassLoader.findClass(URLClassLoader.java:354)
at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadClass(ClassLoader.java:425)
at sun.misc.Launcher$AppClassLoader.loadClass(Launcher.java:308)
at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadClass(ClassLoader.java:358)
at sun.launcher.LauncherHelper.checkAndLoadMain(LauncherHelper.java:482)
root@sin-cpt-sl-es-development:~/elasticsearch-5.0.0-alpha1# java -version
java version "1.7.0_95"
OpenJDK Runtime Environment (IcedTea 2.6.4) (7u95-2.6.4-0ubuntu0.14.04.2)
OpenJDK 64-Bit Server VM (build 24.95-b01, mixed mode)
root@sin-cpt-sl-es-development:~/elasticsearch-5.0.0-alpha1#

[bleskes]

Thanks for trying 5.0 aplha1. ES 5.0 will require Java8 as a minimum. See "https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/reference/master/_installation.html#_installation"

I wish the error message was clearer, but as it comes from the JVM I don't think we have control over it.

[pagenbag]

Ah , thanx - I saw a similar issue on a previous version , so I suspected java. But since I did update to the latest (available) version I thought maybe it was something else.

Turns out ubuntu 14.04 just doesnt have openjdk 8 in the repos - so installed from ppa and now everything seems to be working.

[danm]

@bleskes can we add Java8 requirement to this doc https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/reference/master/rpm.html
to be consistent to other v5 docs such as logstash and help this these issues?

[clintongormley]

@calbatron I've opened #20005

[abhiphanse]

Just install java 8.

[Tomket]

C:\elasticsearch-5.2.0\bin>elasticsearch.bat
Exception in thread "main" java.lang.UnsupportedClassVersionError: org/elasticsearch/bootstrap/Elasticsearch : Unsupported major.minor version 52.0
at java.lang.ClassLoader.defineClass1(Native Method)
at java.lang.ClassLoader.defineClass(ClassLoader.java:800)
at java.security.SecureClassLoader.defineClass(SecureClassLoader.java:142)
at java.net.URLClassLoader.defineClass(URLClassLoader.java:449)
at java.net.URLClassLoader.access$100(URLClassLoader.java:71)
at java.net.URLClassLoader$1.run(URLClassLoader.java:361)
at java.net.URLClassLoader$1.run(URLClassLoader.java:355)
at java.security.AccessController.doPrivileged(Native Method)
at java.net.URLClassLoader.findClass(URLClassLoader.java:354)
at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadClass(ClassLoader.java:425)
at sun.misc.Launcher$AppClassLoader.loadClass(Launcher.java:308)
at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadClass(ClassLoader.java:358)
at sun.launcher.LauncherHelper.checkAndLoadMain(LauncherHelper.java:482)

C:\elasticsearch-5.2.0\bin>java -version
java version "1.8.0_121"
Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.8.0_121-b13)
Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM (build 25.121-b13, mixed mode)

C:\elasticsearch-5.2.0\bin>

[LaszloHont]

@bleskes Shouldn't the upgrade checker plugin check this?

[bleskes]

@LaszloHont I think it should but it doesn't now. I opened https://github.com/elastic/elasticsearch-migration/issues/102

[clintongormley]

v2.0.4 of the migration plugin checks the JVM version now

[DariosP]

In Ubuntu use in terminal commands:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:webupd8team/java
sudo apt update
sudo apt install oracle-java9-installer

[eaglefinds]

When I set JAVA_HOME to jdk 1.8 in command prompt it worked without any issue. Thanks for your posting.

[swapnilgangrade01]

Elasticsearch will not pick java from path environment variable in windows. It check for JAVA_HOME set up in Environment Variable , Please make sure to put correct java for example using 5.2.2 version setup JAVA_HOME as java 8 JDK/JRE.

[shahkaushal94]

I am following the documentation of ES (https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/client/java-api/current/java-docs-index.html). I am getting the following error:

Exception in thread "main" java.lang.UnsupportedClassVersionError: org/elasticsearch/common/transport/TransportAddress : Unsupported major.minor version 52.0
at java.lang.ClassLoader.defineClass1(Native Method)
at java.lang.ClassLoader.defineClass(ClassLoader.java:800)
at java.security.SecureClassLoader.defineClass(SecureClassLoader.java:142)
at java.net.URLClassLoader.defineClass(URLClassLoader.java:449)
at java.net.URLClassLoader.access$100(URLClassLoader.java:71)
at java.net.URLClassLoader$1.run(URLClassLoader.java:361)
at java.net.URLClassLoader$1.run(URLClassLoader.java:355)
at java.security.AccessController.doPrivileged(Native Method)
at java.net.URLClassLoader.findClass(URLClassLoader.java:354)
at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadClass(ClassLoader.java:425)
at sun.misc.Launcher$AppClassLoader.loadClass(Launcher.java:308)
at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadClass(ClassLoader.java:358)
at java.lang.Class.getDeclaredMethods0(Native Method)
at java.lang.Class.privateGetDeclaredMethods(Class.java:2531)
at java.lang.Class.getMethod0(Class.java:2774)
at java.lang.Class.getMethod(Class.java:1663)
at sun.launcher.LauncherHelper.getMainMethod(LauncherHelper.java:494)
at sun.launcher.LauncherHelper.checkAndLoadMain(LauncherHelper.java:486)

Here is a part of screenshot of my config of eclipse:
java.awt.graphicsenv=sun.awt.CGraphicsEnvironment
java.awt.printerjob=sun.lwawt.macosx.CPrinterJob
java.class.path=/Users/JohnDoe/eclipse/java-neon/Eclipse.app/Contents/MacOS//../Eclipse/plugins/org.eclipse.equinox.launcher_1.3.201.v20161025-1711.jar
java.class.version=52.0
java.endorsed.dirs=/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/jdk1.8.0_131.jdk/Contents/Home/jre/lib/endorsed
java.ext.dirs=/Users/JohnDoe/Library/Java/Extensions:/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/jdk1.8.0_131.jdk/Contents/Home/jre/lib/ext:/Library/Java/Extensions:/Network/Library/Java/Extensions:/System/Library/Java/Extensions:/usr/lib/java
java.home=/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/jdk1.8.0_131.jdk/Contents/Home/jre

I have spent a lot of time trying to get the version of JAVA used. From the above config file, it seems it is Java 8. How do I resolve this issue?

[dadoonet]

@shahkaushal94 feel free to ask on discuss.elastic.co where we can give better support.
Here, it's clear that you still have a java 1.7 version somewhere.

Check your JAVA_HOME and what gives java -version.

[shahkaushal94]

$java -version
java version "1.8.0_131"
Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.8.0_131-b11)
Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM (build 25.131-b11, mixed mode)

$ echo $JAVA_HOME
/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/jdk1.8.0_45.jdk/Contents/Home

Sure, I'll ask questions on discuss.elastic.co. Sorry.
But why is my java version showing 1.8 then?

[dadoonet]

You can see that something is inconsistent here:

java version "1.8.0_131"

and

/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/jdk1.8.0_45.jdk/Contents/Home

[shahkaushal94]

Thanks! I did a complete reinstall of java and it worked. I have more questions! Will post on discuss.elastic.co

[fionnb]

The debian packages you distribute on your webpage really should include a dependency for matching java packages. They all install flawlessly and then stuff does not work and the error message is not totally self explanatory.