JAVA_HOME does not point to the JDK
ant, environment-variables, java
Solution
Make JAVA_HOME variable point to a jdk installation, not jre.
You are referencing the runtime environment, not the development kit - it can't find the compiler because its not there.
From the line you posted, which states you have open-jdk you can just remove the jre at end:
export JAVA_HOME='/usr/lib/jvm/java-6-openjdk/'
Problem
I am trying to follow a tutorial about how to use ant to build and run your application. I've followed all the steps and have created the build file, but when I try to run ant it gives me this error. BUILD FAILED /home/bilal/tmp/ant/build.xml:19: Unable to find a javac compiler; com.sun.tools.javac.Main is not on the classpath. Perhaps JAVA_HOME does not point to the JDK. It is currently set to "/usr/lib/jvm/java-6-openjdk/jre" Any ideas how to resolve this issue ?