Download SQL Developer for Linux

linux download Which Linux package to download

Oracle ships Oracle SQL Developer for Linux as a single RPM package. It does not bundle Java, so install a JDK 17 or newer first — and on a distribution that does not use RPM you extract the package rather than installing it, which the next section covers.

Linux

RPM package

RPM for Fedora, RHEL and relatives. Install a JDK 17+ first.

v26.2 401 MB needs JDK 17+

On Oracle’s page, choose the noarch.rpm file.

Open Oracle’s download page → to get Linux — RPM package

linux format Installing on a non-RPM distribution

Oracle’s download page lists one Linux package: an RPM. There is no Debian package and, as of release 26.2, no separate platform-independent zip alongside it — so on Ubuntu, Debian, Arch or openSUSE you extract the RPM rather than installing it.

• Red Hat family — Fedora, RHEL, Rocky, AlmaLinux, Oracle Linux: install the RPM directly. It lands in /opt/sqldeveloper and adds an applications-menu entry.
• Everything else — Ubuntu, Debian, Mint, Arch, Manjaro, openSUSE: extract the RPM instead of installing it, with rpm2cpio sqldeveloper-*.rpm | cpio -idmv, then run sh sqldeveloper.sh from the extracted folder.

linux jdk Installing a JDK on your distribution

The Linux package does not bundle Java, so a JDK 17 or newer has to be in place before Oracle SQL Developer will start. Pick the line for your package manager:

• Fedora, RHEL, Rocky, Alma: sudo dnf install java-17-openjdk-devel
• Ubuntu, Debian, Mint: sudo apt install openjdk-17-jdk
• Arch, Manjaro: sudo pacman -S jdk17-openjdk
• openSUSE: sudo zypper install java-17-openjdk-devel

Install the -devel or -jdk package, not the plain runtime. A JRE on its own is not enough — SQL Developer needs the full JDK, and a machine with only default-jre installed will fail in a way that looks like Java is missing entirely. Confirm with java -version, which should report 17 or higher. Free OpenJDK builds for every distribution are available from Adoptium if your package manager only offers older versions.

linux install Installing via RPM or zip

1. Install a JDK 17+ using the line for your distribution above — the Linux package does not bundle one.
2. RPM route: sudo rpm -Uhv sqldeveloper-*.rpm — Oracle documents -Uhv, which upgrades cleanly over an earlier install as well. Then launch from your applications menu.
3. Non-RPM route: rpm2cpio sqldeveloper-*.rpm | cpio -idmv to extract without installing, then run sh sqldeveloper.sh from the extracted opt/sqldeveloper folder.
4. On first launch, enter the path to your JDK, for example /usr/lib/jvm/java-17-openjdk, if you are prompted for it.

linux launcher Adding a desktop launcher for an extracted install

The RPM creates an applications-menu entry for Oracle SQL Developer; an extracted copy does not. To get one, create the file ~/.local/share/applications/sqldeveloper.desktop containing the lines below, changing both paths to match where you actually unzipped it:

• [Desktop Entry]
• Type=Application
• Name=Oracle SQL Developer
• Exec=/opt/sqldeveloper/sqldeveloper.sh
• Icon=/opt/sqldeveloper/icon.png
• Terminal=false
• Categories=Development;Database;

If the entry does not show up straight away, run update-desktop-database ~/.local/share/applications. Keeping it under your home directory rather than /usr/share/applications means it needs no root and survives a system upgrade.

linux jdk pin Pointing SQL Developer at a specific JDK

SQL Developer asks for the JDK path once and stores it. Nothing in the preferences dialog exposes that setting afterwards, so if you upgrade Java and the app stops starting, the fix is in a text file rather than in the interface.

Edit ~/.sqldeveloper/<version>/product.conf and set SetJavaHome /usr/lib/jvm/java-17-openjdk to match your real JDK directory. Delete that line and SQL Developer prompts you again the next time it starts.

linux troubleshooting Common Linux problems

• Nothing happens when you launch it: run sh sqldeveloper.sh from a terminal. The error is printed there, and it is usually a missing or too-old JDK.
• The interface is tiny on a HiDPI screen: add AddVMOption -Dsun.java2d.uiScale=2 to sqldeveloper/bin/sqldeveloper.conf. Java does not always pick up the desktop’s own scaling factor.
• Blank, black or corrupted panels: some GPU drivers do not get along with Java2D’s XRender pipeline. Add AddVMOption -Dsun.java2d.xrender=false to the same file.
• You are on a headless server: Oracle SQL Developer is a desktop application and needs a display, so it cannot run over a plain SSH session. For terminal-only work use SQLcl, Oracle’s command-line client — a far smaller download that runs happily over SSH.

linux verify Check the download is genuine

Oracle publishes a SHA-1 hash for the file. Comparing it against what landed on your disk confirms two things at once: that the download completed intact, and that it is the file Oracle published rather than something a network in between handed you.

• Linux: sha1sum <file>

Run the command, compare the output to the value above, and you are done — the check takes seconds and is worth it on a download this size. If they differ, delete the file and download Oracle SQL Developer again rather than running it. You never need an Oracle account to download it; see our note on that.

linux remove Where settings live, and how to remove it

• RPM install: sudo dnf remove sqldeveloper, or sudo rpm -e sqldeveloper.
• Zip install: delete the folder you unpacked. There is nothing else on the system.
• Either way: your connections and preferences stay in ~/.sqldeveloper/ until you remove that as well.

That separation is useful rather than annoying: leave ~/.sqldeveloper/ in place and a newly installed version offers to import your saved connections from the previous version folder on first launch.