Jenkins 2.545 AlmaLinux package forces Java 17 dependency, breaks startup requiring Java 21

[frankspiegel-coder]

Describe the bug:
After dnf update on AlmaLinux, Jenkins upgraded to 2.545-1.noarch but the package has a hard dependency pulling in java-17-openjdk (version 17.0.17.0.10-1.el9.alma.1). Jenkins now fails to start with "requires Java 21 or newer" due to PR jenkinsci/jenkins#26018 changes. Cannot remove Java 17 due to strong package dependency. Only solution is dnf downgrade jenkins-2.544.

Expected behavior:
Jenkins RPM should either:

1. Depend on java-21-openjdk instead of Java 17, or
2. Have no Java dependency (user-provided as documented)

System details:

• AlmaLinux 9 (el9)
• Jenkins 2.545-1.noarch
• Triggered by PR Require Java 21 or newer jenkins#26018 requiring Java 21+ [Require Java 21 or newer jenkins#26018]
• Revert commit exists but package still broken [4c0689e]

Steps to reproduce:

1. dnf install jenkins
2. dnf update
3. systemctl start jenkins → fails

Workaround (unsustainable):
dnf downgrade jenkins-2.544

Packaging issue: AlmaLinux Jenkins repo needs update to match Java 21 requirement from PR jenkinsci/jenkins#26018. Current package violates Jenkins support policy.

Related: jenkinsci/jenkins#26039 (revert issue)

[timja]

The RPM spec requires java >= 17 it shouldn't be a hard dependency. Have you tried installing java-21-openjdk?

Yes that needs to be updated but there should be a workaround.

[frankspiegel-coder]

java-21-openjdk was already installed. dnf update caused the following:

76 files removed

Upgraded:                                                  
  jenkins-2.545-1.noarch                                                       
Installed:
  java-17-openjdk-1:17.0.17.0.10-1.el9.alma.1.x86_64                           
  java-17-openjdk-headless-1:17.0.17.0.10-1.el9.alma.1.x86_64                  

Job for jenkins.service failed because the control process exited with error code.
See "systemctl status jenkins.service" and "journalctl -xeu jenkins.service" for details.

Downgrading was the only viable option

[ViliusS]

I have encountered similar RPM issue. Upgrading recent Jenkins pulls in 149 additional packages on Rocky Linux 10 which has no business being on the server:

Details

``` Upgrading: docker-compose-plugin x86_64 5.0.1-1.el10 docker-ce-stable 8.1 M jenkins noarch 2.545-1 jenkins 93 M Installing dependencies: ModemManager-glib x86_64 1.22.0-7.el10 baseos 324 k adwaita-cursor-theme noarch 46.0-3.el10 appstream 521 k adwaita-icon-theme noarch 46.0-3.el10 appstream 454 k at-spi2-atk x86_64 2.56.1-1.el10 appstream 87 k at-spi2-core x86_64 2.56.1-1.el10 appstream 390 k atk x86_64 2.56.1-1.el10 appstream 80 k avahi-glib x86_64 0.9~rc2-2.el10_0 appstream 14 k bluez-libs x86_64 5.83-2.el10 baseos 80 k cairo x86_64 1.18.2-2.el10 appstream 712 k cairo-gobject x86_64 1.18.2-2.el10 appstream 17 k colord-libs x86_64 1.4.7-6.el10 appstream 232 k exempi x86_64 2.6.4-7.el10 appstream 589 k exiv2-libs x86_64 0.28.3-5.el10 appstream 903 k fdk-aac-free x86_64 2.0.0-15.el10 appstream 338 k fftw-libs-single x86_64 3.3.10-15.el10 appstream 1.1 M flac-libs x86_64 1.4.3-6.el10 appstream 264 k fribidi x86_64 1.0.14-4.el10 appstream 92 k gdk-pixbuf2 x86_64 2.42.12-4.el10_0 appstream 498 k gdk-pixbuf2-modules x86_64 2.42.12-4.el10_0 appstream 28 k geoclue2 x86_64 2.7.2-1.el10 appstream 146 k giflib x86_64 5.2.1-22.el10 appstream 52 k gpgmepp x86_64 1.23.2-6.el10 appstream 140 k graphene x86_64 1.10.6-10.el10 appstream 61 k gsettings-desktop-schemas x86_64 47.1-3.el10_0 baseos 788 k gsm x86_64 1.0.22-8.el10 appstream 36 k gstreamer1 x86_64 1.24.11-1.el10 appstream 1.6 M gstreamer1-plugins-base x86_64 1.24.11-1.el10 appstream 2.2 M gtk-update-icon-cache x86_64 3.24.43-4.el10 appstream 33 k hicolor-icon-theme noarch 0.17-20.el10 appstream 66 k inih-cpp x86_64 58-3.el10 appstream 19 k iso-codes noarch 4.16.0-6.el10 appstream 3.6 M java-21-openjdk x86_64 1:21.0.9.0.10-2.el10_1 appstream 397 k jbigkit-libs x86_64 2.1-31.el10 appstream 53 k lame-libs x86_64 3.100-19.el10 appstream 338 k lcms2 x86_64 2.16-6.el10 appstream 181 k libX11 x86_64 1.8.10-1.el10 appstream 652 k libX11-common noarch 1.8.10-1.el10 appstream 188 k libX11-xcb x86_64 1.8.10-1.el10 appstream 12 k libXau x86_64 1.0.11-8.el10 appstream 32 k libXcomposite x86_64 0.4.6-5.el10 appstream 24 k libXcursor x86_64 1.2.1-9.el10 appstream 30 k libXdamage x86_64 1.1.6-5.el10 appstream 23 k libXext x86_64 1.3.6-3.el10 appstream 39 k libXfixes x86_64 6.0.1-5.el10 appstream 19 k libXft x86_64 2.3.8-8.el10 appstream 72 k libXi x86_64 1.8.1-7.el10 appstream 40 k libXinerama x86_64 1.1.5-8.el10 appstream 14 k libXrandr x86_64 1.5.4-5.el10 appstream 28 k libXrender x86_64 0.9.11-8.el10 appstream 28 k libXtst x86_64 1.2.4-8.el10 appstream 21 k libXv x86_64 1.0.12-5.el10 appstream 19 k libXxf86vm x86_64 1.1.5-8.el10 appstream 18 k libasyncns x86_64 0.8-30.el10 appstream 30 k libatomic x86_64 14.3.1-2.1.el10 baseos 54 k libcamera x86_64 0.3.2-3.el10_0 appstream 575 k libcanberra x86_64 0.30-37.el10 appstream 87 k libdatrie x86_64 0.2.13-11.el10 appstream 32 k libdex x86_64 0.8.1-1.el10 appstream 83 k libdrm x86_64 2.4.123-1.el10 appstream 160 k libepoxy x86_64 1.5.10-9.el10 appstream 228 k libexif x86_64 0.6.24-9.el10 appstream 456 k libfontenc x86_64 1.1.7-5.el10 appstream 32 k libgexiv2 x86_64 0.14.3-3.el10 appstream 105 k libglvnd x86_64 1:1.7.0-7.el10 appstream 115 k libglvnd-egl x86_64 1:1.7.0-7.el10 appstream 36 k libglvnd-glx x86_64 1:1.7.0-7.el10 appstream 131 k libgsf x86_64 1.14.53-2.el10 appstream 259 k libgxps x86_64 0.3.2-10.el10 appstream 77 k libiptcdata x86_64 1.0.5-20.el10 appstream 61 k libjpeg-turbo x86_64 3.0.2-4.el10 appstream 251 k liblc3 x86_64 1.0.4-7.el10 appstream 82 k libldac x86_64 2.0.2.3-17.el10 appstream 41 k liblerc x86_64 4.0.0-8.el10 appstream 218 k libnotify x86_64 0.8.6-1.el10 appstream 52 k libogg x86_64 2:1.3.5-10.el10 appstream 33 k libosinfo x86_64 1.11.0-8.el10 appstream 318 k libpciaccess x86_64 0.16-16.el10 baseos 27 k libportal x86_64 0.9.0-2.el10 appstream 84 k libproxy x86_64 0.5.5-4.el10 baseos 48 k librsvg2 x86_64 2.57.1-9.el10 appstream 1.5 M libsbc x86_64 2.0-6.el10 appstream 47 k libsndfile x86_64 1.2.2-5.el10 appstream 215 k libsoup3 x86_64 3.6.5-3.el10_1.7 appstream 398 k libthai x86_64 0.1.29-10.el10 appstream 214 k libtheora x86_64 1:1.1.1-39.el10 appstream 169 k libtiff x86_64 4.6.0-6.el10_0.1 appstream 213 k libtracker-sparql x86_64 3.7.3-4.el10 appstream 377 k libvorbis x86_64 1:1.3.7-12.el10 appstream 188 k libwayland-client x86_64 1.23.1-1.el10 appstream 33 k libwayland-cursor x86_64 1.23.1-1.el10 appstream 19 k libwayland-egl x86_64 1.23.1-1.el10 appstream 12 k libwayland-server x86_64 1.23.1-1.el10 appstream 41 k libwebp x86_64 1.3.2-8.el10 appstream 288 k libxcb x86_64 1.17.0-3.el10 appstream 241 k libxkbcommon x86_64 1.7.0-4.el10 appstream 144 k libxshmfence x86_64 1.3.2-5.el10 appstream 12 k libxslt x86_64 1.1.39-8.el10_0 appstream 189 k llvm-filesystem x86_64 20.1.8-1.el10 appstream 11 k llvm-libs x86_64 20.1.8-1.el10 appstream 30 M mesa-dri-drivers x86_64 25.0.7-6.el10_1 appstream 11 M mesa-filesystem x86_64 25.0.7-6.el10_1 appstream 13 k mesa-libEGL x86_64 25.0.7-6.el10_1 appstream 131 k mesa-libGL x86_64 25.0.7-6.el10_1 appstream 160 k mesa-libgbm x86_64 25.0.7-6.el10_1 appstream 19 k mkfontscale x86_64 1.2.2-8.el10 appstream 32 k mpg123-libs x86_64 1.32.9-1.el10 appstream 352 k openjpeg2 x86_64 2.5.2-5.el10 appstream 188 k opus x86_64 1.4-6.el10 appstream 210 k orc x86_64 0.4.39-2.el10 appstream 228 k osinfo-db noarch 20250606-1.el10.rocky.20250920 appstream 549 k osinfo-db-tools x86_64 1.11.0-8.el10 appstream 76 k pango x86_64 1.54.0-3.el10 appstream 353 k pipewire-jack-audio-connection-kit-libs x86_64 1.4.6-1.el10 appstream 148 k pipewire-libs x86_64 1.4.6-1.el10 appstream 2.5 M pixman x86_64 0.43.4-2.el10 appstream 285 k poppler x86_64 24.02.0-6.el10 appstream 1.1 M poppler-data noarch 0.4.11-9.el10 appstream 2.0 M poppler-glib x86_64 24.02.0-6.el10 appstream 181 k pulseaudio-libs x86_64 17.0-6.el10 appstream 706 k rtkit x86_64 0.11-68.el10 appstream 56 k sound-theme-freedesktop noarch 0.8-23.el10 appstream 384 k spirv-tools-libs x86_64 2025.2-1.el10 appstream 1.5 M tracker x86_64 3.7.3-4.el10 appstream 642 k ttmkfdir x86_64 3.0.9-72.el10 appstream 56 k upower-libs x86_64 1.90.9-1.el10 appstream 58 k webrtc-audio-processing x86_64 1.3-5.el10 appstream 526 k wireplumber x86_64 0.5.10-1.el10 appstream 119 k wireplumber-libs x86_64 0.5.10-1.el10 appstream 401 k xdg-desktop-portal x86_64 1.20.0-2.el10 appstream 532 k xkeyboard-config noarch 2.41-3.el10 appstream 998 k xorg-x11-fonts-Type1 noarch 7.5-40.el10 appstream 505 k xprop x86_64 1.2.7-3.el10 appstream 35 k Installing weak dependencies: dconf x86_64 0.40.0-16.el10 appstream 103 k exiv2 x86_64 0.28.3-5.el10 appstream 2.1 M glib-networking x86_64 2.80.0-3.el10 baseos 205 k gtk3 x86_64 3.24.43-4.el10 appstream 5.6 M libcamera-ipa x86_64 0.3.2-3.el10_0 appstream 133 k libcanberra-gtk3 x86_64 0.30-37.el10 appstream 31 k low-memory-monitor x86_64 2.1-12.el10 appstream 34 k pipewire x86_64 1.4.6-1.el10 appstream 136 k pipewire-alsa x86_64 1.4.6-1.el10 appstream 61 k pipewire-jack-audio-connection-kit x86_64 1.4.6-1.el10 appstream 12 k pipewire-plugin-libcamera x86_64 1.4.6-1.el10 appstream 75 k pipewire-pulseaudio x86_64 1.4.6-1.el10 appstream 217 k redhat-mono-vf-fonts noarch 4.1.0-1.el10 baseos 342 k rsvg-pixbuf-loader x86_64 2.57.1-9.el10 appstream 15 k tracker-miners x86_64 3.7.3-4.el10 appstream 969 k upower x86_64 1.90.9-1.el10 appstream 144 k xdg-desktop-portal-gtk x86_64 1.15.3-1.el10 appstream 147 k ```

1. Jenkins should not depend on java package but instead depend on java-headless, see https://docs.fedoraproject.org/en-US/java-packaging-howto/#_jvm. Maybe even consider adding dejavu-sans-fonts and fontconfig dependency, as they are needed by Jenkins on Enterprise Linux OS'es when headless is used, but is currently not included in RPM spec. If these font dependencies will be included in RPM/DEB packages you could probably finally remove a little bit outdated documentation at https://wiki.jenkins.io/display/JENKINS/Jenkins+got+java.awt.headless+problem.
2. If 21 is required it should use java-headless >= 1:21 (mind the 1 to specify the Epoch) instead of 17.
3. If anyone installs 3rd party JVM, they can satisfy this dependency by using alternatives --config java, see https://docs.fedoraproject.org/en-US/java-packaging-howto/#_switching_between_different_java_implementations.

[timja]

That all makes sense but do you know why [frankspiegel-coder](https://github.com/frankspiegel-coder) was not able to use his already existing java-21-openjdk? The spec has >=17 in it

[ViliusS]

Not sure. Maybe because of missing epoch number? Or maybe because JVM 17 is the default on AlmaLinux 9. It was changed to JVM 21 in EL 10, so maybe it needs alternatives --config java to change the default on EL9. Or maybe just a bug in DNF/RPM.
Anyway, if anyone provides updated RPM package with java-headless dependency, I could test it on clean EL9 and EL10 environments and report the results.

[ViliusS]

Just checked what java virtual packages provide on EL9 system. It indeed looks like this package would only provide the default version:

[]# dnf whatprovides java-headless
Last metadata expiration check: 3:42:24 ago on Wed Jan  7 10:07:43 2026.
java-17-openjdk-headless-1:17.0.17.0.10-1.el9.x86_64 : OpenJDK 17 Headless Runtime Environment
Repo        : appstream
Matched from:
Provide    : java-headless = 1:17.0.17.0.10-1.el9

There is no way to see which package will be pulled in if java-headless >= 1:21 is specified, so real testing is needed.

[ViliusS]

It looks like epoch number is indeed needed. Just found this deleted comment 188ffd3.

[dduportal]

Looks like it was caused by #544.

We're issuing a package fix to ensure this constraint is dropped