Install Java EE 6 on OS X Lion

Question

The Java Preferences application on my OS X Lion workstation indicates that I have Java SE 6 v1.6.0_29-b11-402 installed (both 32- and 64-bit versions). Unfortunately, I need additional features at are only available in the Enterprise Edition.

A comment by 'Jesper' in 'How install a specific jdk on Mac OS X?' suggests that I need to use the Java supplied by Apple, rather than the one from Oracle/Sun. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem that Apple offers an Enterprise Edition of Java 6.

This leads me to ask a number of questions:

1. Did I miss something? Does Apple offer an EE of Java 6?
2. If 1 is true, how do I get it? Can it be installed 'side by side' with the Java SE 6?
3. If 1 is false, can a Oracle/Sun version be used? Is there a recommended installation location? I'm guess that the /System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/ folder is not recommended.
4. The Oracle/Sun version seems to include a lot of extras (e.g. Glassfish) that I would prefer not to install. Can I install the core SDK w/o the extras? Will Tomcat 7 work as an alternative to Glassfish?

** edit **

This question is a result of another question that I posted: RESTful web service: java.lang.NullPointerException service.AbstractFacade.findAll. It seems that this particular error is a result of a missing annotation (@Stateless). This annotation is 'contained' in the javax.ejb.* namespace, which is contained in a .JAR file that is not on my workstation.

This led me to conclude that I needed the 'Enterprise Edition' of Java 6 (which would have the missing .JAR file and other dependent files). I suppose if there was a way to determine which .JAR file is missing (Netbeans 7 doesn't seem to help with this) I probably could just add it to the project and skip the EE hassles.

Solution

Java EE 6 is a spec, with some accompany API represented as interfaces. Java EE 6 in and of itself is not an implementation of those APIs. If you wish to use the Java EE 6 APIs you will need to avail your self of a compatible Java EE Application Server. Glassfish is the reference implementation of Java EE 6, however there are other servers as well that are compliant. JBoss is another popular option.

These install easily on Mac OS X.

Comments

[Admin]

As of Lion which is clearly in the title, Apple does not directly support a JDK anymore, it is provided, developed and maintained by Oracle.

[BillRobertson42]

If you read the article linked to by the stack overflow question that you link to, you'll notice that it refers to Openjdk 7. Please check the first answer to the following SO question about how to download JDK6 for Lion stackoverflow.com/questions/6614380/jdk-on-osx-10-7-lion

[Admin]

If you read the ANSWER that I linked to it is about how Java is being delivered in Lion.