Install Gradle on Linux

Introduction

This chapter installs Gradle on Linux for local builds and for generating the Gradle Wrapper in new repositories. You need JDK 21 installed first. On servers and CI, only ./gradlew is required—many Docker images skip a global Gradle entirely—but your laptop benefits from a global install while learning.

Prerequisites

Linux (Debian/Ubuntu, Fedora/RHEL, or similar)
JDK 21 (Linux Java install)
sudo for package installs (optional if using SDKMAN in home directory)
Internet access

Verify JDK 21

bash

java -version
javac -version

Set JAVA_HOME if needed (example for OpenJDK path on Debian):

bash

export JAVA_HOME=/usr/lib/jvm/java-21-openjdk-amd64
export PATH="$JAVA_HOME/bin:$PATH"

Add those lines to ~/.bashrc or ~/.profile to persist.

Option A: SDKMAN (Recommended)

Works on most distributions; easy version switching.

bash

# Install SDKMAN
curl -s "https://get.sdkman.io" | bash
source "$HOME/.sdkman/bin/sdkman-init.sh"
 
# Install Gradle 8.x
sdk install gradle 8.12.1
sdk default gradle 8.12.1
 
gradle -version

Ensure output shows Java version 21.

Option B: Distribution Packages

Debian and Ubuntu

bash

sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y gradle
gradle -version

Warning

apt Gradle can lag behind gradle.org releases. For the newest 8.x features, prefer SDKMAN or the official ZIP. Wrapper projects still pin their own version via gradlew.

Fedora and RHEL

bash

sudo dnf install -y gradle
gradle -version

Option C: Official ZIP (Manual)

bash

# Download binary ZIP from gradle.org/releases (adjust version)
cd /tmp
curl -LO https://services.gradle.org/distributions/gradle-8.12.1-bin.zip
sudo mkdir -p /opt/gradle
sudo unzip -d /opt/gradle gradle-8.12.1-bin.zip

Add to ~/.bashrc:

bash

export GRADLE_HOME=/opt/gradle/gradle-8.12.1
export PATH="$GRADLE_HOME/bin:$PATH"

Reload:

bash

source ~/.bashrc
gradle -version

Wrapper-Only Workflow (CI Mindset)

On a machine with only JDK 21 and a cloned repo:

bash

chmod +x gradlew
./gradlew -version
./gradlew build

The Wrapper downloads Gradle into ~/.gradle/wrapper/dists on first run. No apt install gradle required—this is how many pipelines run.

Quick Wrapper Bootstrap

bash

mkdir hello-gradle && cd hello-gradle
gradle wrapper --gradle-version 8.12.1
./gradlew -version

Common Linux Issues

Symptom	Cause	Fix
`gradle: command not found`	PATH	Check `echo $PATH`; source profile
Wrong Java in output	`JAVA_HOME` unset	Export JDK 21 path
`gradlew: Permission denied`	Not executable	`chmod +x gradlew`
SSL or proxy errors downloading	Corporate network	Set `systemProp.https.proxyHost` in `~/.gradle/gradle.properties`
Very old Gradle from apt	Distro package age	Use SDKMAN or ZIP

Uninstall

Method	Command
apt	`sudo apt remove gradle`
dnf	`sudo dnf remove gradle`
SDKMAN	`sdk rm gradle 8.12.1`
Manual	Remove `/opt/gradle/...` and PATH exports

FAQ

Is global Gradle required on Linux servers?

Often no—run ./gradlew with JDK 21 only. Global install is optional ops convenience.

Where does Gradle cache dependencies?

~/.gradle/caches (similar role to Maven’s ~/.m2/repository).

Can I use the same Wrapper on Windows and Linux?

Yes. gradlew / gradlew.bat are cross-platform; commit both.

What comes next?

IntelliJ IDEA and Gradle.