The AWS SDK for Java 1.x reached end-of-support on December 31, 2025. We recommend that you migrate to the [AWS SDK for Java 2.x](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/sdk-for-java/latest/developer-guide/home.html) to continue receiving new features, availability improvements, and security updates.

# Ways to get the AWS SDK for Java
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## Prerequisites
<a name="prerequisitesinstall"></a>

To use the AWS SDK for Java, you must have:
+ You must be able to [sign in to the AWS access portal](signup-create-iam-user.md#setup-awsaccount) available in the AWS IAM Identity Center.
+ A suitable [installation of Java](signup-create-iam-user.md#java-dg-java-env).
+ Temporary credentials set up in your local shared `credentials` file.

See the [Basic setup to work with AWS services](signup-create-iam-user.md) topic for instructions on how to get set up to use the SDK for Java.

## Use a build tool to manage dependencies for the SDK for Java (recommended)
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We recommend using Apache Maven or Gradle with your project to access required dependencies of the SDK for Java.[ This section](setup-build-tools.md) describes how to use those tools.

## Download and extract the SDK (not recommended)
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We recommend that you use a build tool to access the SDK for your project, You can, however, download a prebuilt jar of latest version of the SDK .

**Note**  
For information about how to download and build previous versions of the SDK, see [Installing previous versions of the SDK](#install-prev-sdk).

1. Download the SDK from [https://sdk-for-java.amazonwebservices.com/latest/aws-java-sdk.zip](https://sdk-for-java.amazonwebservices.com/latest/aws-java-sdk.zip).

1. After downloading the SDK, extract the contents into a local directory.

The SDK contains the following directories:
+  `documentation`- contains the API documentation (also available on the web: [AWS SDK for Java API Reference](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSJavaSDK/latest/javadoc/)).
+  `lib`- contains the SDK `.jar` files.
+  `samples`- contains working sample code that demonstrates how to use the SDK.
+  `third-party/lib`- contains third-party libraries that are used by the SDK, such as Apache commons logging, AspectJ and the Spring framework.

To use the SDK, add the full path to the `lib` and `third-party` directories to the dependencies in your build file, and add them to your java `CLASSPATH` to run your code.

## Build previous versions of the SDK from source (not recommended)
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Only the latest version of the complete SDK is provided in pre-built form as a downloadable jar. However, you can build a previous version of the SDK using Apache Maven (open source). Maven will download all necessary dependencies, build and install the SDK in one step. Visit [http://maven.apache.org/](http://maven.apache.org/) for installation instructions and more information.

1. Go to the SDK’s GitHub page at: [AWS SDK for Java (GitHub)](https://github.com/aws/aws-sdk-java).

1. Choose the tag corresponding to the version number of the SDK that you want. For example, `1.6.10`.

1. Click the **Download ZIP** button to download the version of the SDK you selected.

1. Unzip the file to a directory on your development system. On many systems, you can use your graphical file manager to do this, or use the `unzip` utility in a terminal window.

1. In a terminal window, navigate to the directory where you unzipped the SDK source.

1. Build and install the SDK with the following command ([Maven](https://maven.apache.org/) required):

   ```
   mvn clean install -Dgpg.skip=true
   ```

   The resulting `.jar` file is built into the `target` directory.

1. (Optional) Build the API Reference documentation using the following command:

   ```
   mvn javadoc:javadoc
   ```

   The documentation is built into the `target/site/apidocs/` directory.