Java

Java is a programming language and set of libraries developed by Sun Microsystems (now Oracle). DreamHost has Java installed by default on all servers, however, some features are not available unless you configure them on a VPS (if root/sudo is not required) or a Dedicated Server.

You can run the following command to obtain the current version of Java on your server:

[server]$ java -version
openjdk version "1.8.0_312"
OpenJDK Runtime Environment (build 1.8.0_312-8u312-b07-0ubuntu1~18.04-b07)
OpenJDK 64-Bit Server VM (build 25.312-b07, mixed mode)

DreamHost supports the following Java features:

• Java (in general)
• Java Applets
• Java2
• Java SDK/JRE (Software Dev Kit/Java Runtime Environment)

Java applets

Java applets are supported on DreamHost servers. They are applications that run on the user's browser, as opposed to CGI programs, which run on the server.

JavaScript

JavaScript is supported on DreamHost servers. Please note that "Java" and "JavaScript" are two entirely different things:

• Java is software that runs on the server.
• JavaScript on the other hand, is software that is stored on the server, but runs on your computer in your web browser. JavaScript has grown in the last few years and is now also being used server-side, most notably with Node.js.

DreamHost does NOT support the following Java features:

• Jakarta servlets
• JSP
• Jakarta EE
• Jakarta Enterprise Beans
• Tomcat (a JSP engine)
• Pretty much anything else Java-related.

Jakarta servlets

Jakarta servlets are not supported on a Shared Hosting plan. However, you may enable this on a VPS (if root/sudo is not required) or a Dedicated Server.

While certainly a useful technology, as time goes on it will be more and more difficult to integrate it with other technologies DreamHost operates on.

DreamHost has closely evaluated the most obvious alternative (Apache Tomcat), but due to an inherent limitation in the way Tomcat was designed, it is not a feasible alternative when used in a shared hosting environment. A number of commercial solutions have also been evaluated, but none have been found to be a viable, cost-effective replacement that will work on all Shared Hosting servers.

View the following articles for further details:

• Java Servlet Technology
• Virtual Hosting and Tomcat

JSP

Jakarta Server Pages (JSP) is a format for using Java to dynamically generate web content.

DreamHost does not offer JSP on Shared Hosting plans. However, you may enable this on a VPS (if root/sudo is not required) or Dedicated Server.

Jakarta EE

DreamHost does not support Jakarta EE (formerly Java 2 Enterprise Edition, or J2EE).

Jakarta Enterprise Beans

Jakarta Enterprise Beans (formerly Enterprise Java Beans), the server-side component architecture for the Jakarta EE platform, enables rapid and simplified development of distributed, transactional, secure, and portable Java applications.

DreamHost does not support Jakarta Enterprise Beans.

Tomcat JSP engine

DreamHost does not support the Tomcat JSP engine on Shared Hosting plans. However, you may enable this on a VPS (if root/sudo is not required) or a Dedicated Server.