Jenkins Requires Java 11 Starting from Version 2.357 and Upcoming LTS Release

Open‑source DevOps tool Jenkins announces: starting with Jenkins 2.357 released on June 28 and the upcoming September LTS version, Jenkins will require at least Java 11.

Jenkins, originally called Hudson, is a long‑standing continuous‑integration tool that has existed for over a decade. Since its inception in 2005, the Jenkins project has undergone several Java migrations, and the current move from Java 8 to Java 11 follows that history.

Developer Basil Crow explained in a blog that while Jenkins may temporarily remain on Java 8, staying there is more harmful than beneficial. Many critical third‑party libraries used by Jenkins (e.g., Jetty, JGit, Spring Framework, Spring Security) are moving to newer Java versions, and staying on Java 8 would prevent Jenkins from receiving upstream security updates.

Furthermore, newer Java versions bring significant runtime improvements. For example, LinkedIn observed notable performance gains after migrating to Java 11, and Adoptium reported substantial memory‑usage reductions, which also apply to Jenkins; recent Java runtimes also provide many garbage‑collection enhancements.

Finally, keeping Java up‑to‑date helps Jenkins attract and retain developers.

The official Jenkins Docker image has been based on Java 11 for several months; Java 8 remains an optional fallback, and Java 17 is available in preview mode. However, starting with Jenkins 2.357, Java 8 images will be retired, and Java 17 will move from preview to general availability.

In fact, the Jenkins team recommends users adopt Java 17.

Support for Java 17 in Jenkins is new and has not yet reached widespread adoption within the community. Nevertheless, our experience shows that Java 17 is a more reliable choice than Java 11 , and migrating from Java 11 to Java 17 is less painful than moving from Java 8 to Java 11.

Related link: https://www.jenkins.io/blog/2022/06/28/require-java-11/