appendix setting up elasticsearch attempting an install before you have an adequate java version will result in an error see figure figure the elasticsearch install fails when java_home is not set correctly installing on pc with limited rights sometimes you want to try piece of software but you aren' free to install your own programs if that' the casedon' despairportable jdks are out there when you find one of those you can temporarily set your java_home variable to the path of the portable jdk and start elasticsearch this way you don' even need to install elasticsearch if you're only checking it out see figure figure starting elasticsearch without an installation this is only recommended for testing purposes on computer where you have limited rights