From 34aa680ebd941fdda55f62e4f4df2462aeb773b4 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Brice Dutheil <brice.dutheil@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 12 Jan 2026 17:27:53 +0100
Subject: [PATCH 01/13] fix: Remove remaining use of JAVA_X_HOME in build files

---
 .../instrumentation/mule-4.5/build.gradle        |  2 +-
 dd-smoke-tests/quarkus/build.gradle              |  6 ++++--
 .../spring-boot-2.7-webflux/build.gradle         |  6 ++++--
 .../springboot-openliberty-20/build.gradle       |  5 ++++-
 .../springboot-openliberty-23/build.gradle       |  5 ++++-
 dd-smoke-tests/vertx-3.4/build.gradle            |  6 ++++--
 dd-smoke-tests/vertx-3.9-resteasy/build.gradle   |  6 ++++--
 dd-smoke-tests/vertx-3.9/build.gradle            |  8 +++++---
 dd-smoke-tests/vertx-4.2/build.gradle            |  6 ++++--
 dd-smoke-tests/wildfly/build.gradle              |  6 ++++--
 docs/how_instrumentations_work.md                |  2 +-
 gradle/java_no_deps.gradle                       | 16 +++++++++++++++-
 internal-api/internal-api-9/build.gradle.kts     |  4 +++-
 13 files changed, 57 insertions(+), 21 deletions(-)

diff --git a/dd-java-agent/instrumentation/mule-4.5/build.gradle b/dd-java-agent/instrumentation/mule-4.5/build.gradle
index ffdbb1fcdd6..997fc36f744 100644
--- a/dd-java-agent/instrumentation/mule-4.5/build.gradle
+++ b/dd-java-agent/instrumentation/mule-4.5/build.gradle
@@ -231,7 +231,7 @@ tasks.register('extractLatestMuleServices', Sync) {
 // build the mule application via maven
 tasks.register('mvnPackage', Exec) {
   workingDir("$appDir")
-  environment.JAVA_HOME = System.getenv("JAVA_8_HOME")
+  environment["JAVA_HOME"] = getLazyJavaHomeFor(8)
 
   List<String> mvnArgs = [
     "$rootDir/mvnw",
diff --git a/dd-smoke-tests/quarkus/build.gradle b/dd-smoke-tests/quarkus/build.gradle
index 061140ddcc8..282d4a4dddf 100644
--- a/dd-smoke-tests/quarkus/build.gradle
+++ b/dd-smoke-tests/quarkus/build.gradle
@@ -17,8 +17,10 @@ def gradlewCommand = isWindows ? 'gradlew.bat' : 'gradlew'
 // define the task that builds the quarkus project
 tasks.register('quarkusBuild', Exec) {
   workingDir "$appDir"
-  environment.JAVA_HOME = System.getenv("JAVA_8_HOME")
-  environment += ["GRADLE_OPTS": "-Dorg.gradle.jvmargs='-Xmx512M'"]
+  environment += [
+      "GRADLE_OPTS": "-Dorg.gradle.jvmargs='-Xmx512M'",
+      "JAVA_HOME": getLazyJavaHomeFor(8)
+  ]
   commandLine "${rootDir}/${gradlewCommand}", "build", "--no-daemon", "--max-workers=4", "-PappBuildDir=$appBuildDir", "-PapiJar=${project(':dd-trace-api').tasks.jar.archiveFile.get()}"
 
   outputs.cacheIf { true }
diff --git a/dd-smoke-tests/spring-boot-2.7-webflux/build.gradle b/dd-smoke-tests/spring-boot-2.7-webflux/build.gradle
index 01e7727f436..52c34a795a4 100644
--- a/dd-smoke-tests/spring-boot-2.7-webflux/build.gradle
+++ b/dd-smoke-tests/spring-boot-2.7-webflux/build.gradle
@@ -14,8 +14,10 @@ def gradlewCommand = isWindows ? 'gradlew.bat' : 'gradlew'
 // define the task that builds the quarkus project
 tasks.register('webfluxBuild', Exec) {
   workingDir "$appDir"
-  environment.JAVA_HOME = System.getenv("JAVA_8_HOME")
-  environment += ["GRADLE_OPTS": "-Dorg.gradle.jvmargs='-Xmx512M'"]
+  environment += [
+      "GRADLE_OPTS": "-Dorg.gradle.jvmargs='-Xmx512M'",
+      "JAVA_HOME": getLazyJavaHomeFor(8)
+  ]
   commandLine "$rootDir/${gradlewCommand}", "bootJar", "--no-daemon", "--max-workers=4", "-PappBuildDir=$appBuildDir", "-PapiJar=${project(':dd-trace-api').tasks.jar.archiveFile.get()}"
 
   outputs.cacheIf { true }
diff --git a/dd-smoke-tests/springboot-openliberty-20/build.gradle b/dd-smoke-tests/springboot-openliberty-20/build.gradle
index 1f1eb04979c..b86cbf431cb 100644
--- a/dd-smoke-tests/springboot-openliberty-20/build.gradle
+++ b/dd-smoke-tests/springboot-openliberty-20/build.gradle
@@ -14,7 +14,10 @@ def mvnwCommand = isWindows ? 'mvnw.cmd' : 'mvnw'
 // compile the Open liberty spring boot server
 tasks.register('mvnStage', Exec) {
   workingDir("$appDir")
-  environment.JAVA_HOME = System.getenv("JAVA_8_HOME")
+  environment += [
+      "MAVEN_OPTS": "-Xmx512M",
+      "JAVA_HOME": getLazyJavaHomeFor(8)
+  ]
 
   List<String> mvnArgs = ["$rootDir/${mvnwCommand}", "-Dtarget.dir=${buildDir}/application/target", "package"]
 
diff --git a/dd-smoke-tests/springboot-openliberty-23/build.gradle b/dd-smoke-tests/springboot-openliberty-23/build.gradle
index c471d97700a..fe0664e62ea 100644
--- a/dd-smoke-tests/springboot-openliberty-23/build.gradle
+++ b/dd-smoke-tests/springboot-openliberty-23/build.gradle
@@ -14,7 +14,10 @@ def mvnwCommand = isWindows ? 'mvnw.cmd' : 'mvnw'
 // compile the Open liberty spring boot server
 tasks.register('mvnStage', Exec) {
   workingDir("$appDir")
-  environment.JAVA_HOME = System.getenv("JAVA_8_HOME")
+  environment += [
+      "MAVEN_OPTS": "-Xmx512M",
+      "JAVA_HOME": getLazyJavaHomeFor(8)
+  ]
 
   List<String> mvnArgs = ["$rootDir/${mvnwCommand}", "-Dtarget.dir=${buildDir}/application/target", "package"]
 
diff --git a/dd-smoke-tests/vertx-3.4/build.gradle b/dd-smoke-tests/vertx-3.4/build.gradle
index 141f1644d8d..5c60fa6985f 100644
--- a/dd-smoke-tests/vertx-3.4/build.gradle
+++ b/dd-smoke-tests/vertx-3.4/build.gradle
@@ -18,8 +18,10 @@ def gradlewCommand = isWindows ? 'gradlew.bat' : 'gradlew'
 // define the task that builds the quarkus project
 tasks.register('vertxBuild', Exec) {
   workingDir "$appDir"
-  environment.JAVA_HOME = System.getenv("JAVA_8_HOME")
-  environment += ["GRADLE_OPTS": "-Dorg.gradle.jvmargs='-Xmx512M'"]
+  environment += [
+      "GRADLE_OPTS": "-Dorg.gradle.jvmargs='-Xmx512M'",
+      "JAVA_HOME": getLazyJavaHomeFor(8)
+  ]
   commandLine "$appDir/${gradlewCommand}", "assemble", "--no-daemon", "--max-workers=4", "-PappBuildDir=$appBuildDir", "-PapiJar=${project(':dd-trace-api').tasks.jar.archiveFile.get()}"
 
   outputs.cacheIf { true }
diff --git a/dd-smoke-tests/vertx-3.9-resteasy/build.gradle b/dd-smoke-tests/vertx-3.9-resteasy/build.gradle
index effc2da0f1a..1e4acffdd75 100644
--- a/dd-smoke-tests/vertx-3.9-resteasy/build.gradle
+++ b/dd-smoke-tests/vertx-3.9-resteasy/build.gradle
@@ -15,8 +15,10 @@ def gradlewCommand = isWindows ? 'gradlew.bat' : 'gradlew'
 // define the task that builds the quarkus project
 tasks.register('vertxBuild', Exec) {
   workingDir "$appDir"
-  environment.JAVA_HOME = System.getenv("JAVA_8_HOME")
-  environment += ["GRADLE_OPTS": "-Dorg.gradle.jvmargs='-Xmx512M'"]
+  environment += [
+      "GRADLE_OPTS": "-Dorg.gradle.jvmargs='-Xmx512M'",
+      "JAVA_HOME": getLazyJavaHomeFor(8)
+  ]
   commandLine "$appDir/${gradlewCommand}", "assemble", "--no-daemon", "--max-workers=4", "-PappBuildDir=$appBuildDir", "-PapiJar=${project(':dd-trace-api').tasks.jar.archiveFile.get()}"
 
   outputs.cacheIf { true }
diff --git a/dd-smoke-tests/vertx-3.9/build.gradle b/dd-smoke-tests/vertx-3.9/build.gradle
index aafbb189239..809fee5157d 100644
--- a/dd-smoke-tests/vertx-3.9/build.gradle
+++ b/dd-smoke-tests/vertx-3.9/build.gradle
@@ -13,11 +13,13 @@ def appDir = "$projectDir/application"
 def appBuildDir = "$buildDir/application"
 def isWindows = System.getProperty("os.name").toLowerCase().contains("win")
 def gradlewCommand = isWindows ? 'gradlew.bat' : 'gradlew'
-// define the task that builds the quarkus project
+// define the task that builds the vertx project
 tasks.register('vertxBuild', Exec) {
   workingDir "$appDir"
-  environment.JAVA_HOME = System.getenv("JAVA_8_HOME")
-  environment += ["GRADLE_OPTS": "-Dorg.gradle.jvmargs='-Xmx512M'"]
+  environment += [
+      "GRADLE_OPTS": "-Dorg.gradle.jvmargs='-Xmx512M'",
+      "JAVA_HOME": getLazyJavaHomeFor(8)
+  ]
   commandLine "$appDir/${gradlewCommand}", "assemble", "--no-daemon", "--max-workers=4", "-PappBuildDir=$appBuildDir", "-PapiJar=${project(':dd-trace-api').tasks.jar.archiveFile.get()}"
 
   outputs.cacheIf { true }
diff --git a/dd-smoke-tests/vertx-4.2/build.gradle b/dd-smoke-tests/vertx-4.2/build.gradle
index 199f6694a3d..a41419ae7c7 100644
--- a/dd-smoke-tests/vertx-4.2/build.gradle
+++ b/dd-smoke-tests/vertx-4.2/build.gradle
@@ -17,8 +17,10 @@ def gradlewCommand = isWindows ? 'gradlew.bat' : 'gradlew'
 // define the task that builds the quarkus project
 tasks.register('vertxBuild', Exec) {
   workingDir "$appDir"
-  environment.JAVA_HOME = System.getenv("JAVA_8_HOME")
-  environment += ["GRADLE_OPTS": "-Dorg.gradle.jvmargs='-Xmx512M'"]
+  environment += [
+      "GRADLE_OPTS": "-Dorg.gradle.jvmargs='-Xmx512M'",
+      "JAVA_HOME": getLazyJavaHomeFor(8)
+  ]
   commandLine "$appDir/${gradlewCommand}", "assemble", "--no-daemon", "--max-workers=4", "-PappBuildDir=$appBuildDir", "-PapiJar=${project(':dd-trace-api').tasks.jar.archiveFile.get()}"
 
   outputs.cacheIf { true }
diff --git a/dd-smoke-tests/wildfly/build.gradle b/dd-smoke-tests/wildfly/build.gradle
index 39d983e657d..2abf21a2a1b 100644
--- a/dd-smoke-tests/wildfly/build.gradle
+++ b/dd-smoke-tests/wildfly/build.gradle
@@ -50,8 +50,10 @@ def gradlewCommand = isWindows ? 'gradlew.bat' : 'gradlew'
 // define the task that builds the quarkus project
 tasks.register('earBuild', Exec) {
   workingDir "$appDir"
-  environment.JAVA_HOME = System.getenv("JAVA_8_HOME")
-  environment += ["GRADLE_OPTS": "-Dorg.gradle.jvmargs='-Xmx512M'"]
+  environment += [
+      "GRADLE_OPTS": "-Dorg.gradle.jvmargs='-Xmx512M'",
+      "JAVA_HOME": getLazyJavaHomeFor(8)
+  ]
   commandLine "$rootDir/${gradlewCommand}", "assemble", "--no-daemon", "--max-workers=4", "-PappBuildDir=$appBuildDir", "-PapiJar=${project(':dd-trace-api').tasks.jar.archiveFile.get()}"
 
   outputs.cacheIf { true }
diff --git a/docs/how_instrumentations_work.md b/docs/how_instrumentations_work.md
index c8b8d08317f..c73b632723e 100644
--- a/docs/how_instrumentations_work.md
+++ b/docs/how_instrumentations_work.md
@@ -792,7 +792,7 @@ Sometimes it is necessary to force Gradle to discard cached test results and [re
 ./gradle test --rerun-tasks
 ```
 
-Running tests that require JDK-21 will require the `JAVA_21_HOME` env var set and can be done like this:
+Running tests that require JDK-21 to be installed, use the `-PtestJvm=21` flag, for example:
 
 ```shell
 ./gradlew  :dd-java-agent:instrumentation:aerospike-4.0:allLatestDepTests -PtestJvm=21
diff --git a/gradle/java_no_deps.gradle b/gradle/java_no_deps.gradle
index 38687bf0de8..e28d8e4744e 100644
--- a/gradle/java_no_deps.gradle
+++ b/gradle/java_no_deps.gradle
@@ -370,7 +370,7 @@ ext.configureGroovyCompiler = (int toolchainVersion, String... taskNames) -> {
   }
 } as Closure<Void>
 
-ext.getJavaLauncherFor = (javaVersionInteger) -> {
+ext.getJavaLauncherFor = (int javaVersionInteger) -> {
   def launcher = javaToolchains.launcherFor {
     languageVersion = JavaLanguageVersion.of(javaVersionInteger)
   }
@@ -380,6 +380,20 @@ ext.getJavaLauncherFor = (javaVersionInteger) -> {
   return launcher
 } as Closure<Provider<JavaLauncher>>
 
+ext.getLazyJavaHomeFor = (int javaVersionInteger, int hasNativeImage = false) -> {
+  def launcher = javaToolchains.launcherFor {
+    languageVersion = JavaLanguageVersion.of(javaVersionInteger)
+    nativeImageCapable = hasNativeImage
+  }
+  return new Object() {
+    @Override
+    String toString() {
+      println("Using Java $javaVersionInteger from toolchain at: " + launcher.get().metadata.installationPath.asFile.absolutePath)
+      return launcher.get().metadata.installationPath.asFile.absolutePath
+    }
+  }
+} as Closure<Provider<JavaLauncher>>
+
 
 tasks.register('testJar', Jar) {
   dependsOn(testClasses)
diff --git a/internal-api/internal-api-9/build.gradle.kts b/internal-api/internal-api-9/build.gradle.kts
index c0fd04f710f..b4abf186096 100644
--- a/internal-api/internal-api-9/build.gradle.kts
+++ b/internal-api/internal-api-9/build.gradle.kts
@@ -53,5 +53,7 @@ idea {
 jmh {
   jmhVersion = libs.versions.jmh
   duplicateClassesStrategy = DuplicatesStrategy.EXCLUDE
-  jvm = providers.environmentVariable("JAVA_11_HOME").map { Paths.get(it, "bin", "java").toString() }
+  jvm = javaToolchains.launcherFor { languageVersion = JavaLanguageVersion.of(11) }.map {
+    it.executablePath.asFile.toString()
+  }
 }

From 10a114fabeeeee07244e49a342775452f89db704 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Brice Dutheil <brice.dutheil@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 12 Jan 2026 17:28:07 +0100
Subject: [PATCH 02/13] fix: Remove remaining use of JAVA_X_HOME in test

---
 .../test/java/datadog/environment/EnvironmentVariablesTest.java | 2 +-
 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/components/environment/src/test/java/datadog/environment/EnvironmentVariablesTest.java b/components/environment/src/test/java/datadog/environment/EnvironmentVariablesTest.java
index 3a9c2195f0d..98b0a0adf99 100644
--- a/components/environment/src/test/java/datadog/environment/EnvironmentVariablesTest.java
+++ b/components/environment/src/test/java/datadog/environment/EnvironmentVariablesTest.java
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
 
 class EnvironmentVariablesTest {
-  private static final String EXISTING_ENV_VAR = "JAVA_8_HOME";
+  private static final String EXISTING_ENV_VAR = "PATH";
   private static final String MISSING_ENV_VAR = "UNDEFINED_ENV_VAR";
   private static final String DEFAULT_VALUE = "DEFAULT";
 

From 331caaf0d971d02304a66fb85e883d4cc1731d06 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Brice Dutheil <brice.dutheil@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 12 Jan 2026 18:10:23 +0100
Subject: [PATCH 03/13] fix: Remove remaining use of JAVA_X_HOME in native
 build tests

---
 dd-smoke-tests/quarkus-native/build.gradle    | 29 +++++++++----------
 .../spring-boot-3.0-native/build.gradle       | 29 +++++++++----------
 gradle/java_no_deps.gradle                    | 29 +++++++++++++++++--
 settings.gradle.kts                           |  2 +-
 4 files changed, 56 insertions(+), 33 deletions(-)

diff --git a/dd-smoke-tests/quarkus-native/build.gradle b/dd-smoke-tests/quarkus-native/build.gradle
index fa004cb4383..ee1f1e38dc0 100644
--- a/dd-smoke-tests/quarkus-native/build.gradle
+++ b/dd-smoke-tests/quarkus-native/build.gradle
@@ -1,22 +1,21 @@
+import java.util.regex.Pattern
+
 apply from: "$rootDir/gradle/java.gradle"
 
 dependencies {
   testImplementation project(':dd-smoke-tests')
 }
+// Check 'testJvm' gradle command parameter is GraalVM (e.g., -PtestJvm=graalvm21),
+// if not nothing is done
 def testJvm = gradle.startParameter.projectProperties.getOrDefault('testJvm', '')
-// In order to support GraalVM 21 we need at least Java 17 for Gradle
-def java17Home = providers.environmentVariable('JAVA_17_HOME').orNull
-// Check 'testJvm' gradle command parameter to be at least GraalVM 17
-def matcher = testJvm?.toLowerCase(Locale.ROOT) =~ /graalvm([0-9]+)/
-def version = matcher?.size() == 1 ? Integer.parseInt(matcher[0][1]) : -1
-if (version >= 17) {
-  // Retrieve GRAALVM_HOME from JVM environment variables
-  def testJvmEnv = "JAVA_${testJvm}_HOME"
-  def testJvmHome = providers.environmentVariable(testJvmEnv).orNull
-  if (!testJvmHome) {
-    throw new GradleException("Unable to find launcher for Java '$testJvm'. Have you set '$testJvmEnv'?")
-  }
-  def javaHome = version >= 21 ? java17Home : testJvmHome
+def graalvmMatcher = Pattern.compile("graalvm([0-9]+)").matcher(testJvm?.toLowerCase(Locale.ROOT) ?: '')
+def testGraalvmVersion = graalvmMatcher.find() ? Integer.parseInt(graalvmMatcher.group(1)) : -1
+
+if (testGraalvmVersion >= 17) {
+  // GraalVM with native-image capability for native compilation
+  def graalvmHome = getLazyJavaHomeFor(testGraalvmVersion, true)
+  // For GraalVM 21+ we need Java 17+ to run Gradle, for earlier versions use GraalVM itself
+  def gradleJavaHome = testGraalvmVersion >= 21 ? getLazyJavaHomeFor(17) : graalvmHome
   // Configure build directory for application
   def appDir = "$projectDir/application"
   def appBuildDir = "$buildDir/application"
@@ -28,8 +27,8 @@ if (version >= 17) {
     workingDir "$appDir"
     environment += [
       'GRADLE_OPTS' : "-Dorg.gradle.jvmargs='-Xmx512M'",
-      'JAVA_HOME'   : javaHome,
-      'GRAALVM_HOME': testJvmHome
+      'JAVA_HOME'   : gradleJavaHome,
+      'GRAALVM_HOME': graalvmHome
     ]
     commandLine(
       "$rootDir/${gradlewCommand}",
diff --git a/dd-smoke-tests/spring-boot-3.0-native/build.gradle b/dd-smoke-tests/spring-boot-3.0-native/build.gradle
index 921ffd5cb0e..e0dda4c6db6 100644
--- a/dd-smoke-tests/spring-boot-3.0-native/build.gradle
+++ b/dd-smoke-tests/spring-boot-3.0-native/build.gradle
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+import java.util.regex.Pattern
+
 apply from: "$rootDir/gradle/java.gradle"
 
 description = 'Spring Boot 3.0 Native Smoke Tests.'
@@ -7,20 +9,17 @@ dependencies {
   testImplementation libs.bundles.jmc
 }
 
+// Check 'testJvm' gradle command parameter is GraalVM (e.g., -PtestJvm=graalvm21),
+// if not nothing is done
 def testJvm = gradle.startParameter.projectProperties.getOrDefault('testJvm', '')
-// In order to support GraalVM 21 we need at least Java 17 for Gradle
-def java17Home = providers.environmentVariable('JAVA_17_HOME').orNull
-// Check 'testJvm' gradle command parameter to be at least GraalVM 17
-def matcher = testJvm?.toLowerCase(Locale.ROOT) =~ /graalvm([0-9]+)/
-def version = matcher?.size() == 1 ? Integer.parseInt(matcher[0][1]) : -1
-if (version >= 17) {
-  // Retrieve GRAALVM_HOME from JVM environment variables
-  def testJvmEnv = "JAVA_${testJvm}_HOME"
-  def testJvmHome = providers.environmentVariable(testJvmEnv).orNull
-  if (!testJvmHome) {
-    throw new GradleException("Unable to find launcher for Java '$testJvm'. Have you set '$testJvmEnv'?")
-  }
-  def javaHome = version >= 21 ? java17Home : testJvmHome
+def graalvmMatcher = Pattern.compile("graalvm([0-9]+)").matcher(testJvm?.toLowerCase(Locale.ROOT) ?: '')
+def testGraalvmVersion = graalvmMatcher.find() ? Integer.parseInt(graalvmMatcher.group(1)) : -1
+
+if (testGraalvmVersion >= 17) {
+  // GraalVM with native-image capability for native compilation
+  def graalvmHome = getLazyJavaHomeFor(testGraalvmVersion, true)
+  // For GraalVM 21+ we need Java 17+ to run Gradle, for earlier versions use GraalVM itself
+  def gradleJavaHome = testGraalvmVersion >= 21 ? getLazyJavaHomeFor(17) : graalvmHome
   // Configure build directory for application
   def appDir = "$projectDir/application"
   def appBuildDir = "$buildDir/application"
@@ -32,8 +31,8 @@ if (version >= 17) {
     workingDir "$appDir"
     environment += [
       'GRADLE_OPTS': "-Dorg.gradle.jvmargs='-Xmx1024M'",
-      'JAVA_HOME': javaHome,
-      'GRAALVM_HOME': testJvmHome,
+      'JAVA_HOME': gradleJavaHome,
+      'GRAALVM_HOME': graalvmHome,
       'DD_TRACE_METHODS' : 'datadog.smoketest.springboot.controller.WebController[sayHello]',
       'NATIVE_IMAGE_DEPRECATED_BUILDER_SANITATION' : 'true'
     ]
diff --git a/gradle/java_no_deps.gradle b/gradle/java_no_deps.gradle
index e28d8e4744e..3e4e17d3d3e 100644
--- a/gradle/java_no_deps.gradle
+++ b/gradle/java_no_deps.gradle
@@ -2,6 +2,9 @@ import datadog.gradle.plugin.testJvmConstraints.TestJvmConstraintsExtension
 import datadog.gradle.plugin.testJvmConstraints.ProvideJvmArgsOnJvmLauncherVersion
 import groovy.transform.CompileStatic
 
+import java.nio.file.Files
+import java.nio.file.LinkOption
+
 apply plugin: 'dd-trace-java.configure-tests'
 apply plugin: 'java-library'
 apply plugin: 'dd-trace-java.test-jvm-contraints'
@@ -380,11 +383,33 @@ ext.getJavaLauncherFor = (int javaVersionInteger) -> {
   return launcher
 } as Closure<Provider<JavaLauncher>>
 
-ext.getLazyJavaHomeFor = (int javaVersionInteger, int hasNativeImage = false) -> {
+ext.getLazyJavaHomeFor = (int javaVersionInteger, boolean hasNativeImage = false) -> {
   def launcher = javaToolchains.launcherFor {
     languageVersion = JavaLanguageVersion.of(javaVersionInteger)
-    nativeImageCapable = hasNativeImage
+    nativeImageCapable = true
+  }.map {
+    if (hasNativeImage) {
+      // 🤦‍♂️ Fix https://github.com/gradle/gradle/issues/28583
+      // Extraction doesn't handle symlinks properly for GraalVM native-image
+      // this ensures 'bin/native-image' points to 'lib/svm/bin/native-image'
+      def target = it.metadata.installationPath.asFile.toPath().resolve("bin").resolve("native-image")
+      def expectedSrc = it.metadata.installationPath.asFile.toPath().resolve("lib/svm/bin").resolve("native-image")
+
+      if (!Files.isRegularFile(expectedSrc, LinkOption.NOFOLLOW_LINKS)) {
+        logger.info("[getLazyJavaHomeFor] Skipping fix symlink, '{}' is not a regular file)", expectedSrc)
+        return it
+      }
+      if (Files.isSymbolicLink(target) || Files.size(target) > 0) {
+        logger.info("[getLazyJavaHomeFor] Skipping fix symlink, '{}' is already symbolic or its size is greater than 0)", target)
+        return it
+      }
+      logger.warn("[getLazyJavaHomeFor] fixing symbolic link '{}' -> '{}', see https://github.com/gradle/gradle/issues/28583", target, expectedSrc)
+      Files.delete(target)
+      Files.createSymbolicLink(target, expectedSrc)
+    }
+    return it
   }
+
   return new Object() {
     @Override
     String toString() {
diff --git a/settings.gradle.kts b/settings.gradle.kts
index f79c7a7306b..8373b84532a 100644
--- a/settings.gradle.kts
+++ b/settings.gradle.kts
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ pluginManagement {
 
 plugins {
   id("com.gradle.develocity") version "4.3"
-  id("org.gradle.toolchains.foojay-resolver-convention") version "0.10.0"
+  id("org.gradle.toolchains.foojay-resolver-convention") version "1.0.0"
 }
 
 val isCI = providers.environmentVariable("CI")

From f27e5c1b66e328db721041ecfd55ae19fa36b866 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Brice Dutheil <brice.dutheil@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 12 Jan 2026 18:21:29 +0100
Subject: [PATCH 04/13] fix: Move similar JAVA_HOME usage to our lazy toolchain
 util

---
 dd-smoke-tests/armeria-grpc/build.gradle            | 6 ++++--
 dd-smoke-tests/kafka-3/build.gradle                 | 7 ++++---
 dd-smoke-tests/spring-boot-3.0-webflux/build.gradle | 6 ++++--
 dd-smoke-tests/spring-boot-3.0-webmvc/build.gradle  | 6 ++++--
 dd-smoke-tests/spring-boot-3.3-webmvc/build.gradle  | 6 ++++--
 5 files changed, 20 insertions(+), 11 deletions(-)

diff --git a/dd-smoke-tests/armeria-grpc/build.gradle b/dd-smoke-tests/armeria-grpc/build.gradle
index de48e239cb1..d43a639b236 100644
--- a/dd-smoke-tests/armeria-grpc/build.gradle
+++ b/dd-smoke-tests/armeria-grpc/build.gradle
@@ -57,8 +57,10 @@ def gradlewCommand = isWindows ? 'gradlew.bat' : 'gradlew'
 // define the task that builds the armeria project
 tasks.register('armeriaBuild', Exec) {
   workingDir "$appDir"
-  def toolchain17 = getJavaLauncherFor(17).get()
-  environment += ["GRADLE_OPTS": "-Dorg.gradle.jvmargs='-Xmx512M'", "JAVA_HOME": "$toolchain17.metadata.installationPath"]
+  environment += [
+      "GRADLE_OPTS": "-Dorg.gradle.jvmargs='-Xmx512M'",
+      "JAVA_HOME": getLazyJavaHomeFor(17)
+  ]
   commandLine "${rootDir}/${gradlewCommand}", "build", "--no-daemon", "--max-workers=4", "-PappBuildDir=$appBuildDir", "-PapiJar=${project(':dd-trace-api').tasks.jar.archiveFile.get()}"
 
   outputs.cacheIf { true }
diff --git a/dd-smoke-tests/kafka-3/build.gradle b/dd-smoke-tests/kafka-3/build.gradle
index fba27724ff3..6b326273277 100644
--- a/dd-smoke-tests/kafka-3/build.gradle
+++ b/dd-smoke-tests/kafka-3/build.gradle
@@ -22,9 +22,10 @@ final gradlewCommand = isWindows ? 'gradlew.bat' : 'gradlew'
 
 tasks.register('bootJar', Exec) {
   workingDir appDir
-
-  final toolchain17 = getJavaLauncherFor(17).get()
-  environment += ["GRADLE_OPTS": "-Dorg.gradle.jvmargs='-Xmx512M'", "JAVA_HOME": "$toolchain17.metadata.installationPath"]
+  environment += [
+      "GRADLE_OPTS": "-Dorg.gradle.jvmargs='-Xmx512M'",
+      "JAVA_HOME": getLazyJavaHomeFor(17)
+  ]
   commandLine "$rootDir/${gradlewCommand}", "bootJar", "--no-daemon", "--max-workers=4", "-PappBuildDir=$appBuildDir"
 
   outputs.cacheIf { true }
diff --git a/dd-smoke-tests/spring-boot-3.0-webflux/build.gradle b/dd-smoke-tests/spring-boot-3.0-webflux/build.gradle
index 6e03a501e58..600c5209e26 100644
--- a/dd-smoke-tests/spring-boot-3.0-webflux/build.gradle
+++ b/dd-smoke-tests/spring-boot-3.0-webflux/build.gradle
@@ -18,8 +18,10 @@ def gradlewCommand = isWindows ? 'gradlew.bat' : 'gradlew'
 // define the task that builds the project
 tasks.register('webfluxBuild30', Exec) {
   workingDir "$appDir"
-  def toolchain17 = getJavaLauncherFor(17).get()
-  environment += ["GRADLE_OPTS": "-Dorg.gradle.jvmargs='-Xmx512M'", "JAVA_HOME": "$toolchain17.metadata.installationPath"]
+  environment += [
+      "GRADLE_OPTS": "-Dorg.gradle.jvmargs='-Xmx512M'",
+      "JAVA_HOME": getLazyJavaHomeFor(17)
+  ]
   commandLine "$rootDir/${gradlewCommand}", "bootJar", "--no-daemon", "--max-workers=4", "-PappBuildDir=$appBuildDir", "-PapiJar=${project(':dd-trace-api').tasks.jar.archiveFile.get()}"
 
   outputs.cacheIf { true }
diff --git a/dd-smoke-tests/spring-boot-3.0-webmvc/build.gradle b/dd-smoke-tests/spring-boot-3.0-webmvc/build.gradle
index f66474ba3af..6c9d2b0a06a 100644
--- a/dd-smoke-tests/spring-boot-3.0-webmvc/build.gradle
+++ b/dd-smoke-tests/spring-boot-3.0-webmvc/build.gradle
@@ -18,8 +18,10 @@ def gradlewCommand = isWindows ? 'gradlew.bat' : 'gradlew'
 // define the task that builds the project
 tasks.register('webmvcBuild30', Exec) {
   workingDir "$appDir"
-  def toolchain17 = getJavaLauncherFor(17).get()
-  environment += ["GRADLE_OPTS": "-Dorg.gradle.jvmargs='-Xmx512M'", "JAVA_HOME": "$toolchain17.metadata.installationPath"]
+  environment += [
+      "GRADLE_OPTS": "-Dorg.gradle.jvmargs='-Xmx512M'",
+      "JAVA_HOME": getLazyJavaHomeFor(17)
+  ]
   commandLine "$rootDir/${gradlewCommand}", "bootJar", "--no-daemon", "--max-workers=4", "-PappBuildDir=$appBuildDir", "-PapiJar=${project(':dd-trace-api').tasks.jar.archiveFile.get()}"
 
   outputs.cacheIf { true }
diff --git a/dd-smoke-tests/spring-boot-3.3-webmvc/build.gradle b/dd-smoke-tests/spring-boot-3.3-webmvc/build.gradle
index d05f62e7e46..aa8c5126eab 100644
--- a/dd-smoke-tests/spring-boot-3.3-webmvc/build.gradle
+++ b/dd-smoke-tests/spring-boot-3.3-webmvc/build.gradle
@@ -18,8 +18,10 @@ def gradlewCommand = isWindows ? 'gradlew.bat' : 'gradlew'
 // define the task that builds the project
 tasks.register('webmvcBuild3', Exec) {
   workingDir "$appDir"
-  def toolchain17 = getJavaLauncherFor(17).get()
-  environment += ["GRADLE_OPTS": "-Dorg.gradle.jvmargs='-Xmx512M'", "JAVA_HOME": "$toolchain17.metadata.installationPath"]
+  environment += [
+      "GRADLE_OPTS": "-Dorg.gradle.jvmargs='-Xmx512M'",
+      "JAVA_HOME": getLazyJavaHomeFor(17)
+  ]
   commandLine "$rootDir/${gradlewCommand}", "bootJar", "--no-daemon", "--max-workers=4", "-PappBuildDir=$appBuildDir", "-PapiJar=${project(':dd-trace-api').tasks.jar.archiveFile.get()}"
 
   outputs.cacheIf { true }

From 0ee2ca485c18c76d9604a7622f6380fe0d913c87 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Brice Dutheil <brice.dutheil@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 12 Jan 2026 21:51:06 +0100
Subject: [PATCH 05/13] fix: Remove JAVA_X_HOME usage in tests

---
 .../datadog/trace/civisibility/CiVisibilitySmokeTest.groovy | 6 +-----
 dd-smoke-tests/concurrent/java-25/build.gradle              | 1 +
 .../concurrent/AbstractStructuredConcurrencyTest.groovy     | 4 +++-
 3 files changed, 5 insertions(+), 6 deletions(-)

diff --git a/dd-java-agent/agent-ci-visibility/civisibility-test-fixtures/src/main/groovy/datadog/trace/civisibility/CiVisibilitySmokeTest.groovy b/dd-java-agent/agent-ci-visibility/civisibility-test-fixtures/src/main/groovy/datadog/trace/civisibility/CiVisibilitySmokeTest.groovy
index cfcbe4d5b34..703041761a2 100644
--- a/dd-java-agent/agent-ci-visibility/civisibility-test-fixtures/src/main/groovy/datadog/trace/civisibility/CiVisibilitySmokeTest.groovy
+++ b/dd-java-agent/agent-ci-visibility/civisibility-test-fixtures/src/main/groovy/datadog/trace/civisibility/CiVisibilitySmokeTest.groovy
@@ -9,7 +9,6 @@ import datadog.trace.api.config.TracerConfig
 import java.nio.file.Paths
 import spock.lang.Specification
 import spock.lang.TempDir
-import spock.util.environment.Jvm
 
 import java.nio.file.Path
 
@@ -29,10 +28,7 @@ abstract class CiVisibilitySmokeTest extends Specification {
   protected Path prefsDir
 
   protected static String buildJavaHome() {
-    if (Jvm.current.isJava8()) {
-      return System.getenv("JAVA_8_HOME")
-    }
-    return System.getenv("JAVA_" + Jvm.current.getJavaSpecificationVersion() + "_HOME")
+    return System.getProperty("java.home")
   }
 
   protected static String javaPath() {
diff --git a/dd-smoke-tests/concurrent/java-25/build.gradle b/dd-smoke-tests/concurrent/java-25/build.gradle
index 634840574f7..9a9e9c1b858 100644
--- a/dd-smoke-tests/concurrent/java-25/build.gradle
+++ b/dd-smoke-tests/concurrent/java-25/build.gradle
@@ -49,6 +49,7 @@ dependencies {
 tasks.withType(Test).configureEach {
   def shadowJarTask = tasks.named('shadowJar', ShadowJar)
   dependsOn shadowJarTask
+  environment("JAVA_HOME", getLazyJavaHomeFor(25))
   jvmArgumentProviders.add(new CommandLineArgumentProvider() {
       @Override
       Iterable<String> asArguments() {
diff --git a/dd-smoke-tests/concurrent/java-25/src/test/groovy/datadog/smoketest/concurrent/AbstractStructuredConcurrencyTest.groovy b/dd-smoke-tests/concurrent/java-25/src/test/groovy/datadog/smoketest/concurrent/AbstractStructuredConcurrencyTest.groovy
index e1a476678fb..72ef109fa0b 100644
--- a/dd-smoke-tests/concurrent/java-25/src/test/groovy/datadog/smoketest/concurrent/AbstractStructuredConcurrencyTest.groovy
+++ b/dd-smoke-tests/concurrent/java-25/src/test/groovy/datadog/smoketest/concurrent/AbstractStructuredConcurrencyTest.groovy
@@ -17,7 +17,9 @@ abstract class AbstractStructuredConcurrencyTest extends AbstractSmokeTest {
   ProcessBuilder createProcessBuilder() {
     def jarPath = System.getProperty("datadog.smoketest.shadowJar.path")
     def command = new ArrayList<String>()
-    command.add(Paths.get(System.getenv("JAVA_25_HOME"), "bin", "java").toString())
+
+    def javaHome = Paths.get(System.getenv("JAVA_HOME"), "bin", "java").toString()
+    command.add(javaHome)
     command.addAll(defaultJavaProperties)
     command.add("--enable-preview")
     command.add("-Ddd.trace.otel.enabled=true")

From a49b7a3c382a5354b01fca9099d963cb0d18d183 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Brice Dutheil <brice.dutheil@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 12 Jan 2026 22:21:08 +0100
Subject: [PATCH 06/13] fix: Use Gradle toolchain registry in favor of
 JAVA_X_HOME for stable

---
 .../plugin/testJvmConstraints/TestJvmSpec.kt  | 54 +++++++++++++++----
 dd-smoke-tests/armeria-grpc/build.gradle      |  4 +-
 dd-smoke-tests/kafka-3/build.gradle           |  4 +-
 dd-smoke-tests/quarkus/build.gradle           |  4 +-
 .../spring-boot-2.7-webflux/build.gradle      |  4 +-
 .../spring-boot-3.0-webflux/build.gradle      |  4 +-
 .../spring-boot-3.0-webmvc/build.gradle       |  4 +-
 .../spring-boot-3.3-webmvc/build.gradle       |  4 +-
 .../springboot-openliberty-20/build.gradle    |  4 +-
 .../springboot-openliberty-23/build.gradle    |  4 +-
 dd-smoke-tests/vertx-3.4/build.gradle         |  4 +-
 .../vertx-3.9-resteasy/build.gradle           |  4 +-
 dd-smoke-tests/vertx-3.9/build.gradle         |  4 +-
 dd-smoke-tests/vertx-4.2/build.gradle         |  4 +-
 dd-smoke-tests/wildfly/build.gradle           |  4 +-
 gradle/java_no_deps.gradle                    |  2 +-
 16 files changed, 73 insertions(+), 39 deletions(-)

diff --git a/buildSrc/src/main/kotlin/datadog/gradle/plugin/testJvmConstraints/TestJvmSpec.kt b/buildSrc/src/main/kotlin/datadog/gradle/plugin/testJvmConstraints/TestJvmSpec.kt
index 9ce4b533a54..9b0ec8a2115 100644
--- a/buildSrc/src/main/kotlin/datadog/gradle/plugin/testJvmConstraints/TestJvmSpec.kt
+++ b/buildSrc/src/main/kotlin/datadog/gradle/plugin/testJvmConstraints/TestJvmSpec.kt
@@ -1,9 +1,12 @@
 package datadog.gradle.plugin.testJvmConstraints
 
+import com.gradle.scan.agent.serialization.scan.serializer.kryo.it
 import org.gradle.api.GradleException
 import org.gradle.api.Project
+import org.gradle.api.internal.project.ProjectInternal
 import org.gradle.api.internal.provider.PropertyFactory
 import org.gradle.api.provider.Provider
+import org.gradle.internal.jvm.inspection.JavaInstallationRegistry
 import org.gradle.jvm.toolchain.JavaLanguageVersion
 import org.gradle.jvm.toolchain.JavaLauncher
 import org.gradle.jvm.toolchain.JavaToolchainService
@@ -51,17 +54,14 @@ class TestJvmSpec(val project: Project) {
       throw GradleException("testJvm property is blank")
     }
 
-    // "stable" is calculated as the largest X found in JAVA_X_HOME
+    // "stable" is calculated as the largest Java version found via toolchains or JAVA_X_HOME
     when (testJvm) {
       "stable" -> {
-        val javaVersions = project.providers.environmentVariablesPrefixedBy("JAVA_").map { javaHomes ->
-          javaHomes
-            .filter { it.key.matches(Regex("^JAVA_[0-9]+_HOME$")) && it.key != "JAVA_26_HOME" } // JDK 26 is EA
-            .map { Regex("^JAVA_(\\d+)_HOME$").find(it.key)!!.groupValues[1].toInt() }
-        }.get()
+        val javaVersions = discoverJavaVersionsViaToolchains()
+          ?: discoverJavaVersionsViaEnvVars()
 
         if (javaVersions.isEmpty()) {
-          throw GradleException("No valid JAVA_X_HOME environment variables found.")
+          throw GradleException("No Java installations found via toolchains or JAVA_X_HOME environment variables.")
         }
 
         javaVersions.max().toString()
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ class TestJvmSpec(val project: Project) {
 
       else -> testJvm
     }
-  }.map { project.logger.info("normalized testJvm: $it"); it }
+  }.map { project.logger.info("normalized testJvm: {}", it); it }
 
   /**
    * The home path of the test JVM.
@@ -127,7 +127,7 @@ class TestJvmSpec(val project: Project) {
         """.trimIndent()
       )
     }
-  }.map { project.logger.info("testJvm home path: $it"); it }
+  }.map { project.logger.info("testJvm home path: {}", it); it }
 
   /**
    * The Java launcher for the test JVM.
@@ -145,7 +145,7 @@ class TestJvmSpec(val project: Project) {
           throw GradleException("Unable to find launcher for Java '$testJvm'. Does $TEST_JVM point to a JDK?")
         })
       }
-    }.flatMap { it }.map { project.logger.info("testJvm launcher: ${it.executablePath}"); it }
+    }.flatMap { it }.map { project.logger.info("testJvm launcher: {}", it.executablePath); it }
 
   private fun String.normalizeToJDKJavaHome(): Path {
     val javaHome = project.file(this).toPath().toRealPath()
@@ -159,4 +159,38 @@ class TestJvmSpec(val project: Project) {
   private val Project.javaToolchains: JavaToolchainService
     get() =
       extensions.getByName("javaToolchains") as JavaToolchainService
+
+  /**
+   * Discovers available Java versions via Gradle's internal JavaInstallationRegistry.
+   */
+  private fun discoverJavaVersionsViaToolchains(): List<Int>? {
+    val registry = (project as ProjectInternal).services.get(JavaInstallationRegistry::class.java)
+    val versions = registry.toolchains().mapNotNull { installation ->
+        installation.metadata.languageVersion.majorVersion.toInt()
+    }
+
+    return if (versions.isNotEmpty()) {
+      project.logger.info("Discovered Java versions via toolchains: {}", versions)
+      versions
+    } else {
+      null
+    }
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Discovers available Java versions via JAVA_X_HOME environment variables.
+   * Fallback method when toolchain discovery is not available.
+   */
+  private fun discoverJavaVersionsViaEnvVars(): List<Int> {
+    val versions = project.providers.environmentVariablesPrefixedBy("JAVA_").map { javaHomes ->
+      javaHomes
+        .filter { it.key.matches(Regex("^JAVA_[0-9]+_HOME$")) }
+        .mapNotNull { Regex("^JAVA_(\\d+)_HOME$").find(it.key)?.groupValues?.get(1)?.toIntOrNull() }
+    }.get()
+
+    if (versions.isNotEmpty()) {
+      project.logger.info("Discovered Java versions via JAVA_X_HOME env vars: {}", versions)
+    }
+    return versions
+  }
 }
diff --git a/dd-smoke-tests/armeria-grpc/build.gradle b/dd-smoke-tests/armeria-grpc/build.gradle
index d43a639b236..7c82bfe05e6 100644
--- a/dd-smoke-tests/armeria-grpc/build.gradle
+++ b/dd-smoke-tests/armeria-grpc/build.gradle
@@ -58,8 +58,8 @@ def gradlewCommand = isWindows ? 'gradlew.bat' : 'gradlew'
 tasks.register('armeriaBuild', Exec) {
   workingDir "$appDir"
   environment += [
-      "GRADLE_OPTS": "-Dorg.gradle.jvmargs='-Xmx512M'",
-      "JAVA_HOME": getLazyJavaHomeFor(17)
+    "GRADLE_OPTS": "-Dorg.gradle.jvmargs='-Xmx512M'",
+    "JAVA_HOME": getLazyJavaHomeFor(17)
   ]
   commandLine "${rootDir}/${gradlewCommand}", "build", "--no-daemon", "--max-workers=4", "-PappBuildDir=$appBuildDir", "-PapiJar=${project(':dd-trace-api').tasks.jar.archiveFile.get()}"
 
diff --git a/dd-smoke-tests/kafka-3/build.gradle b/dd-smoke-tests/kafka-3/build.gradle
index 6b326273277..0c92600de50 100644
--- a/dd-smoke-tests/kafka-3/build.gradle
+++ b/dd-smoke-tests/kafka-3/build.gradle
@@ -23,8 +23,8 @@ final gradlewCommand = isWindows ? 'gradlew.bat' : 'gradlew'
 tasks.register('bootJar', Exec) {
   workingDir appDir
   environment += [
-      "GRADLE_OPTS": "-Dorg.gradle.jvmargs='-Xmx512M'",
-      "JAVA_HOME": getLazyJavaHomeFor(17)
+    "GRADLE_OPTS": "-Dorg.gradle.jvmargs='-Xmx512M'",
+    "JAVA_HOME": getLazyJavaHomeFor(17)
   ]
   commandLine "$rootDir/${gradlewCommand}", "bootJar", "--no-daemon", "--max-workers=4", "-PappBuildDir=$appBuildDir"
 
diff --git a/dd-smoke-tests/quarkus/build.gradle b/dd-smoke-tests/quarkus/build.gradle
index 282d4a4dddf..56f0cee613a 100644
--- a/dd-smoke-tests/quarkus/build.gradle
+++ b/dd-smoke-tests/quarkus/build.gradle
@@ -18,8 +18,8 @@ def gradlewCommand = isWindows ? 'gradlew.bat' : 'gradlew'
 tasks.register('quarkusBuild', Exec) {
   workingDir "$appDir"
   environment += [
-      "GRADLE_OPTS": "-Dorg.gradle.jvmargs='-Xmx512M'",
-      "JAVA_HOME": getLazyJavaHomeFor(8)
+    "GRADLE_OPTS": "-Dorg.gradle.jvmargs='-Xmx512M'",
+    "JAVA_HOME": getLazyJavaHomeFor(8)
   ]
   commandLine "${rootDir}/${gradlewCommand}", "build", "--no-daemon", "--max-workers=4", "-PappBuildDir=$appBuildDir", "-PapiJar=${project(':dd-trace-api').tasks.jar.archiveFile.get()}"
 
diff --git a/dd-smoke-tests/spring-boot-2.7-webflux/build.gradle b/dd-smoke-tests/spring-boot-2.7-webflux/build.gradle
index 52c34a795a4..17b9152b803 100644
--- a/dd-smoke-tests/spring-boot-2.7-webflux/build.gradle
+++ b/dd-smoke-tests/spring-boot-2.7-webflux/build.gradle
@@ -15,8 +15,8 @@ def gradlewCommand = isWindows ? 'gradlew.bat' : 'gradlew'
 tasks.register('webfluxBuild', Exec) {
   workingDir "$appDir"
   environment += [
-      "GRADLE_OPTS": "-Dorg.gradle.jvmargs='-Xmx512M'",
-      "JAVA_HOME": getLazyJavaHomeFor(8)
+    "GRADLE_OPTS": "-Dorg.gradle.jvmargs='-Xmx512M'",
+    "JAVA_HOME": getLazyJavaHomeFor(8)
   ]
   commandLine "$rootDir/${gradlewCommand}", "bootJar", "--no-daemon", "--max-workers=4", "-PappBuildDir=$appBuildDir", "-PapiJar=${project(':dd-trace-api').tasks.jar.archiveFile.get()}"
 
diff --git a/dd-smoke-tests/spring-boot-3.0-webflux/build.gradle b/dd-smoke-tests/spring-boot-3.0-webflux/build.gradle
index 600c5209e26..6138aef945d 100644
--- a/dd-smoke-tests/spring-boot-3.0-webflux/build.gradle
+++ b/dd-smoke-tests/spring-boot-3.0-webflux/build.gradle
@@ -19,8 +19,8 @@ def gradlewCommand = isWindows ? 'gradlew.bat' : 'gradlew'
 tasks.register('webfluxBuild30', Exec) {
   workingDir "$appDir"
   environment += [
-      "GRADLE_OPTS": "-Dorg.gradle.jvmargs='-Xmx512M'",
-      "JAVA_HOME": getLazyJavaHomeFor(17)
+    "GRADLE_OPTS": "-Dorg.gradle.jvmargs='-Xmx512M'",
+    "JAVA_HOME": getLazyJavaHomeFor(17)
   ]
   commandLine "$rootDir/${gradlewCommand}", "bootJar", "--no-daemon", "--max-workers=4", "-PappBuildDir=$appBuildDir", "-PapiJar=${project(':dd-trace-api').tasks.jar.archiveFile.get()}"
 
diff --git a/dd-smoke-tests/spring-boot-3.0-webmvc/build.gradle b/dd-smoke-tests/spring-boot-3.0-webmvc/build.gradle
index 6c9d2b0a06a..46c00fbcec8 100644
--- a/dd-smoke-tests/spring-boot-3.0-webmvc/build.gradle
+++ b/dd-smoke-tests/spring-boot-3.0-webmvc/build.gradle
@@ -19,8 +19,8 @@ def gradlewCommand = isWindows ? 'gradlew.bat' : 'gradlew'
 tasks.register('webmvcBuild30', Exec) {
   workingDir "$appDir"
   environment += [
-      "GRADLE_OPTS": "-Dorg.gradle.jvmargs='-Xmx512M'",
-      "JAVA_HOME": getLazyJavaHomeFor(17)
+    "GRADLE_OPTS": "-Dorg.gradle.jvmargs='-Xmx512M'",
+    "JAVA_HOME": getLazyJavaHomeFor(17)
   ]
   commandLine "$rootDir/${gradlewCommand}", "bootJar", "--no-daemon", "--max-workers=4", "-PappBuildDir=$appBuildDir", "-PapiJar=${project(':dd-trace-api').tasks.jar.archiveFile.get()}"
 
diff --git a/dd-smoke-tests/spring-boot-3.3-webmvc/build.gradle b/dd-smoke-tests/spring-boot-3.3-webmvc/build.gradle
index aa8c5126eab..484ecfc5668 100644
--- a/dd-smoke-tests/spring-boot-3.3-webmvc/build.gradle
+++ b/dd-smoke-tests/spring-boot-3.3-webmvc/build.gradle
@@ -19,8 +19,8 @@ def gradlewCommand = isWindows ? 'gradlew.bat' : 'gradlew'
 tasks.register('webmvcBuild3', Exec) {
   workingDir "$appDir"
   environment += [
-      "GRADLE_OPTS": "-Dorg.gradle.jvmargs='-Xmx512M'",
-      "JAVA_HOME": getLazyJavaHomeFor(17)
+    "GRADLE_OPTS": "-Dorg.gradle.jvmargs='-Xmx512M'",
+    "JAVA_HOME": getLazyJavaHomeFor(17)
   ]
   commandLine "$rootDir/${gradlewCommand}", "bootJar", "--no-daemon", "--max-workers=4", "-PappBuildDir=$appBuildDir", "-PapiJar=${project(':dd-trace-api').tasks.jar.archiveFile.get()}"
 
diff --git a/dd-smoke-tests/springboot-openliberty-20/build.gradle b/dd-smoke-tests/springboot-openliberty-20/build.gradle
index b86cbf431cb..b8a4f0c8c5f 100644
--- a/dd-smoke-tests/springboot-openliberty-20/build.gradle
+++ b/dd-smoke-tests/springboot-openliberty-20/build.gradle
@@ -15,8 +15,8 @@ def mvnwCommand = isWindows ? 'mvnw.cmd' : 'mvnw'
 tasks.register('mvnStage', Exec) {
   workingDir("$appDir")
   environment += [
-      "MAVEN_OPTS": "-Xmx512M",
-      "JAVA_HOME": getLazyJavaHomeFor(8)
+    "MAVEN_OPTS": "-Xmx512M",
+    "JAVA_HOME": getLazyJavaHomeFor(8)
   ]
 
   List<String> mvnArgs = ["$rootDir/${mvnwCommand}", "-Dtarget.dir=${buildDir}/application/target", "package"]
diff --git a/dd-smoke-tests/springboot-openliberty-23/build.gradle b/dd-smoke-tests/springboot-openliberty-23/build.gradle
index fe0664e62ea..68dc1ec98c7 100644
--- a/dd-smoke-tests/springboot-openliberty-23/build.gradle
+++ b/dd-smoke-tests/springboot-openliberty-23/build.gradle
@@ -15,8 +15,8 @@ def mvnwCommand = isWindows ? 'mvnw.cmd' : 'mvnw'
 tasks.register('mvnStage', Exec) {
   workingDir("$appDir")
   environment += [
-      "MAVEN_OPTS": "-Xmx512M",
-      "JAVA_HOME": getLazyJavaHomeFor(8)
+    "MAVEN_OPTS": "-Xmx512M",
+    "JAVA_HOME": getLazyJavaHomeFor(8)
   ]
 
   List<String> mvnArgs = ["$rootDir/${mvnwCommand}", "-Dtarget.dir=${buildDir}/application/target", "package"]
diff --git a/dd-smoke-tests/vertx-3.4/build.gradle b/dd-smoke-tests/vertx-3.4/build.gradle
index 5c60fa6985f..a912e7b34e4 100644
--- a/dd-smoke-tests/vertx-3.4/build.gradle
+++ b/dd-smoke-tests/vertx-3.4/build.gradle
@@ -19,8 +19,8 @@ def gradlewCommand = isWindows ? 'gradlew.bat' : 'gradlew'
 tasks.register('vertxBuild', Exec) {
   workingDir "$appDir"
   environment += [
-      "GRADLE_OPTS": "-Dorg.gradle.jvmargs='-Xmx512M'",
-      "JAVA_HOME": getLazyJavaHomeFor(8)
+    "GRADLE_OPTS": "-Dorg.gradle.jvmargs='-Xmx512M'",
+    "JAVA_HOME": getLazyJavaHomeFor(8)
   ]
   commandLine "$appDir/${gradlewCommand}", "assemble", "--no-daemon", "--max-workers=4", "-PappBuildDir=$appBuildDir", "-PapiJar=${project(':dd-trace-api').tasks.jar.archiveFile.get()}"
 
diff --git a/dd-smoke-tests/vertx-3.9-resteasy/build.gradle b/dd-smoke-tests/vertx-3.9-resteasy/build.gradle
index 1e4acffdd75..c7e3dd90565 100644
--- a/dd-smoke-tests/vertx-3.9-resteasy/build.gradle
+++ b/dd-smoke-tests/vertx-3.9-resteasy/build.gradle
@@ -16,8 +16,8 @@ def gradlewCommand = isWindows ? 'gradlew.bat' : 'gradlew'
 tasks.register('vertxBuild', Exec) {
   workingDir "$appDir"
   environment += [
-      "GRADLE_OPTS": "-Dorg.gradle.jvmargs='-Xmx512M'",
-      "JAVA_HOME": getLazyJavaHomeFor(8)
+    "GRADLE_OPTS": "-Dorg.gradle.jvmargs='-Xmx512M'",
+    "JAVA_HOME": getLazyJavaHomeFor(8)
   ]
   commandLine "$appDir/${gradlewCommand}", "assemble", "--no-daemon", "--max-workers=4", "-PappBuildDir=$appBuildDir", "-PapiJar=${project(':dd-trace-api').tasks.jar.archiveFile.get()}"
 
diff --git a/dd-smoke-tests/vertx-3.9/build.gradle b/dd-smoke-tests/vertx-3.9/build.gradle
index 809fee5157d..2f374a5c699 100644
--- a/dd-smoke-tests/vertx-3.9/build.gradle
+++ b/dd-smoke-tests/vertx-3.9/build.gradle
@@ -17,8 +17,8 @@ def gradlewCommand = isWindows ? 'gradlew.bat' : 'gradlew'
 tasks.register('vertxBuild', Exec) {
   workingDir "$appDir"
   environment += [
-      "GRADLE_OPTS": "-Dorg.gradle.jvmargs='-Xmx512M'",
-      "JAVA_HOME": getLazyJavaHomeFor(8)
+    "GRADLE_OPTS": "-Dorg.gradle.jvmargs='-Xmx512M'",
+    "JAVA_HOME": getLazyJavaHomeFor(8)
   ]
   commandLine "$appDir/${gradlewCommand}", "assemble", "--no-daemon", "--max-workers=4", "-PappBuildDir=$appBuildDir", "-PapiJar=${project(':dd-trace-api').tasks.jar.archiveFile.get()}"
 
diff --git a/dd-smoke-tests/vertx-4.2/build.gradle b/dd-smoke-tests/vertx-4.2/build.gradle
index a41419ae7c7..bc36d08acb0 100644
--- a/dd-smoke-tests/vertx-4.2/build.gradle
+++ b/dd-smoke-tests/vertx-4.2/build.gradle
@@ -18,8 +18,8 @@ def gradlewCommand = isWindows ? 'gradlew.bat' : 'gradlew'
 tasks.register('vertxBuild', Exec) {
   workingDir "$appDir"
   environment += [
-      "GRADLE_OPTS": "-Dorg.gradle.jvmargs='-Xmx512M'",
-      "JAVA_HOME": getLazyJavaHomeFor(8)
+    "GRADLE_OPTS": "-Dorg.gradle.jvmargs='-Xmx512M'",
+    "JAVA_HOME": getLazyJavaHomeFor(8)
   ]
   commandLine "$appDir/${gradlewCommand}", "assemble", "--no-daemon", "--max-workers=4", "-PappBuildDir=$appBuildDir", "-PapiJar=${project(':dd-trace-api').tasks.jar.archiveFile.get()}"
 
diff --git a/dd-smoke-tests/wildfly/build.gradle b/dd-smoke-tests/wildfly/build.gradle
index 2abf21a2a1b..69d1acd93b8 100644
--- a/dd-smoke-tests/wildfly/build.gradle
+++ b/dd-smoke-tests/wildfly/build.gradle
@@ -51,8 +51,8 @@ def gradlewCommand = isWindows ? 'gradlew.bat' : 'gradlew'
 tasks.register('earBuild', Exec) {
   workingDir "$appDir"
   environment += [
-      "GRADLE_OPTS": "-Dorg.gradle.jvmargs='-Xmx512M'",
-      "JAVA_HOME": getLazyJavaHomeFor(8)
+    "GRADLE_OPTS": "-Dorg.gradle.jvmargs='-Xmx512M'",
+    "JAVA_HOME": getLazyJavaHomeFor(8)
   ]
   commandLine "$rootDir/${gradlewCommand}", "assemble", "--no-daemon", "--max-workers=4", "-PappBuildDir=$appBuildDir", "-PapiJar=${project(':dd-trace-api').tasks.jar.archiveFile.get()}"
 
diff --git a/gradle/java_no_deps.gradle b/gradle/java_no_deps.gradle
index 3e4e17d3d3e..a28e4322e34 100644
--- a/gradle/java_no_deps.gradle
+++ b/gradle/java_no_deps.gradle
@@ -386,7 +386,7 @@ ext.getJavaLauncherFor = (int javaVersionInteger) -> {
 ext.getLazyJavaHomeFor = (int javaVersionInteger, boolean hasNativeImage = false) -> {
   def launcher = javaToolchains.launcherFor {
     languageVersion = JavaLanguageVersion.of(javaVersionInteger)
-    nativeImageCapable = true
+    nativeImageCapable = hasNativeImage
   }.map {
     if (hasNativeImage) {
       // 🤦‍♂️ Fix https://github.com/gradle/gradle/issues/28583

From bea5f86e62bc74490e763ef2e6eecdeae515ecf0 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Brice Dutheil <brice.dutheil@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 13 Jan 2026 17:36:05 +0100
Subject: [PATCH 07/13] chore: Update documentation and seetup script to lift
 the need of JAVA_*_HOME env vars

---
 BUILDING.md     | 70 ++++++++++++++++++-------------------------------
 CONTRIBUTING.md | 11 +++-----
 setup.ps1       | 11 ++------
 setup.sh        | 13 +++------
 4 files changed, 35 insertions(+), 70 deletions(-)

diff --git a/BUILDING.md b/BUILDING.md
index 6fc6ed031d2..a9190f60902 100644
--- a/BUILDING.md
+++ b/BUILDING.md
@@ -29,14 +29,9 @@ or on Windows:
 Your output should look something like the following:
 
 ```
-ℹ️ Checking required JVMs:
-✅ JAVA_HOME is set to /Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/zulu-8.jdk/Contents/Home.
-✅ JAVA_8_HOME is set to /Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/zulu-8.jdk/Contents/Home.
-✅ JAVA_11_HOME is set to /Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/zulu-11.jdk/Contents/Home.
-✅ JAVA_17_HOME is set to /Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/zulu-17.jdk/Contents/Home.
-✅ JAVA_21_HOME is set to /Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/zulu-21.jdk/Contents/Home.
-✅ JAVA_25_HOME is set to /Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/zulu-25.jdk/Contents/Home.
-✅ JAVA_GRAALVM17_HOME is set to /Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/graalvm-ce-java17-22.3.1/Contents/Home.
+ℹ️ Checking required JVM:
+✅ JAVA_HOME is set to /Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/zulu-21.jdk/Contents/Home.
+ℹ️ Other JDK versions will be automatically downloaded by Gradle toolchain resolver.
 ℹ️ Checking git configuration:
 ✅ The git command line is installed.
 ✅ pre-commit hook is installed in repository.
@@ -53,19 +48,20 @@ If there is any issue with your output, check the requirements above and use the
 
 Requirements to build the full project:
 
-* The JDK versions 8, 11, 17, 21, and 25 must be installed.
-* The `JAVA_8_HOME`, `JAVA_11_HOME`, `JAVA_17_HOME`, `JAVA_21_HOME`, `JAVA_25_HOME`, and `JAVA_GRAALVM17_HOME` must point to their respective JDK location.
-* The JDK 8 `bin` directory must be the only JDK on the PATH (e.g. `$JAVA_8_HOME/bin`).
-* The `JAVA_HOME` environment variable may be unset. If set, it must point to the JDK 8 location (same as `JAVA_8_HOME`).
+* JDK 21 must be installed and `JAVA_HOME` must point to it.
+* Other JDK versions (8, 11, 17, 25) will be automatically downloaded by Gradle's toolchain resolver.
 * The `git` command line must be installed.
 * A container runtime environment must be available to run all tests (e.g. Docker Desktop).
 
-### Install the required JDKs
+### Install the required JDK
 
-Download and install JDK versions 8, 11, 17, 21 and 25, and GraalVM 17 for your OS.
+Download and install JDK 21 for your OS. Other JDK versions will be automatically downloaded by Gradle when needed.
 
 #### macOS
 
+
+Use your JDK manager ([mise](https://mise.jdx.dev/), [sdkman](https://sdkman.io/), etc.) or set-up the required JDKs with `brew`
+
 * Install the required JDKs using `brew`:
   ```shell
   brew install --cask zulu@8 zulu@11 zulu@17 zulu@21 zulu graalvm/tap/graalvm-ce-java17
@@ -77,20 +73,13 @@ Download and install JDK versions 8, 11, 17, 21 and 25, and GraalVM 17 for your
   Example: `graalvm-ce-java17-22.3.1`
 * Use this version in the following command to fix the GraalVM installation by [removing the quarantine flag](https://www.graalvm.org/latest/docs/getting-started/macos/):
   ```
-  sudo xattr -r -d com.apple.quarantine /Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/graalvm-<current version of graalvm>
-  ```
-  Example: `/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/graalvm-ce-java17-22.3.1`
-* Add the required environment variables to your shell using the `export` command. You can permanently install the environment variables by appending the `export` commands into your shell configuration file `~/.zshrc` or `.bashrc` or other.
+* Add the `JAVA_HOME` environment variable to your shell using the `export` command. You can permanently set it by appending the `export` command to your shell configuration file `~/.zshrc` or `~/.bashrc` or other.
   ```shell
-  export JAVA_8_HOME=/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/zulu-8.jdk/Contents/Home
-  export JAVA_11_HOME=/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/zulu-11.jdk/Contents/Home
-  export JAVA_17_HOME=/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/zulu-17.jdk/Contents/Home
-  export JAVA_21_HOME=/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/zulu-21.jdk/Contents/Home
-  export JAVA_25_HOME=/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/zulu-25.jdk/Contents/Home
-  export JAVA_GRAALVM17_HOME=/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/graalvm-<current version of graalvm>/Contents/Home
-  export JAVA_HOME=$JAVA_8_HOME
+  export JAVA_HOME=/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/zulu-21.jdk/Contents/Home
   ```
-* Restart your shell after applying the changes if you appended the commands to your shell configuration file.
+  
+  Gradle should automatically detect the JDK in usual places. As a fallback it can automatically provision them.
+* Restart your shell after applying the changes if you appended the command to your shell configuration file.
 
 > [!NOTE]
 > ARM users: there is no Oracle JDK v8 for ARM.
@@ -102,23 +91,21 @@ Download and install JDK versions 8, 11, 17, 21 and 25, and GraalVM 17 for your
 
 #### Linux
 
+Use your JDK manager ([mise](https://mise.jdx.dev/), [sdkman](https://sdkman.io/), etc.) or manually install the required JDKs.
+
 * Download and extract JDK 8, 11, 17, 21, and 25 from [Eclipse Temurin releases](https://adoptium.net/temurin/releases/) and GraalVM 17 from [Oracle downloads](https://www.graalvm.org/downloads/).
 * Install the GraalVM native image requirements for native builds by following [the GraalVM official documentation](https://www.graalvm.org/latest/reference-manual/native-image/#prerequisites).
-* Add the required environment variables to your shell using the `export` command. You can permanently install the environment variables by appending the `export` commands into your shell configuration file `~/.zshrc` or `~/.bashrc` or other.
+* Add the `JAVA_HOME` environment variable to your shell using the `export` command. You can permanently set it by appending the `export` command to your shell configuration file `~/.zshrc` or `~/.bashrc` or other.
   ```shell
-  export JAVA_8_HOME=/<path to extracted archive>/jdk8u<current version of JDK 8>
-  export JAVA_11_HOME=/<path to extracted archive>/jdk-11.<current version of JDK 11>
-  export JAVA_17_HOME=/<path to extracted archive>/jdk-17.<current version of JDK 17>
-  export JAVA_21_HOME=/<path to extracted archive>/jdk-21.<current version of JDK 21>
-  export JAVA_25_HOME=/<path to extracted archive>/jdk-25.<current version of JDK 25>
-  export JAVA_GRAALVM17_HOME=/<path to extracted archive>/graalvm-jdk-17.<current version of graalvm>/Contents/Home
-  export JAVA_HOME=$JAVA_8_HOME
+  export JAVA_HOME=/<path to extracted archive>/jdk-21.<current version of JDK 21>
   ```
+
+  Gradle should automatically detect the JDK in usual places. As a fallback it can automatically provision them.
 * Restart your shell after applying the changes if you appended the commands to your shell configuration file.
 
 #### Windows
 
-* Download and install JDK 8, 11, 17, 21, and 25 [Eclipse Temurin releases](https://adoptium.net/temurin/releases/).
+* Download and install JDK 8, 11, 17, 21, and 25 from [Eclipse Temurin releases](https://adoptium.net/temurin/releases/).
 
   <details>
   <summary>Alternatively, install JDKs using winget or scoop. (click here to expand)</summary>
@@ -142,18 +129,13 @@ Download and install JDK versions 8, 11, 17, 21 and 25, and GraalVM 17 for your
 
   </details>
 
-* To add the required environment variables, run the following PowerShell commands for each SDK version, replacing the paths with the correct version installed:
+* Set the `JAVA_HOME` environment variable, replacing the path with your JDK 21 installation:
   ```pwsh
-  [Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable("JAVA_8_HOME",  "C:\Program Files\Eclipse Adoptium\jdk-8.0.432.6-hotspot", [EnvironmentVariableTarget]::User)
-  [Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable("JAVA_11_HOME", "C:\Program Files\Eclipse Adoptium\jdk-11.0.25.9-hotspot", [EnvironmentVariableTarget]::User)
-  [Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable("JAVA_17_HOME", "C:\Program Files\Eclipse Adoptium\jdk-17.0.12.7-hotspot", [EnvironmentVariableTarget]::User)
-  [Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable("JAVA_21_HOME", "C:\Program Files\Eclipse Adoptium\jdk-21.0.5.11-hotspot", [EnvironmentVariableTarget]::User)
-  [Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable("JAVA_25_HOME", "C:\Program Files\Eclipse Adoptium\jdk-25.0.1.9-hotspot", [EnvironmentVariableTarget]::User)
-
-  # JAVA_HOME = JAVA_8_HOME
-  [Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable("JAVA_HOME",    "C:\Program Files\Eclipse Adoptium\jdk-8.0.432.6-hotspot", [EnvironmentVariableTarget]::User)
+  [Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable("JAVA_HOME", "C:\Program Files\Eclipse Adoptium\jdk-21.0.5.11-hotspot", [EnvironmentVariableTarget]::User)
   ```
 
+  Gradle should automatically detect the JDK in usual places. As a fallback it can automatically provision them.
+
 ### Install git
 
 #### macOS
diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
index 85698bf5ffe..94b4dc3bb3d 100644
--- a/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -50,10 +50,10 @@ To run the formatting verify task only:
 
 For IntelliJ IDEA, we suggest the following settings and plugin.
 
-The default JVM to build and run tests from the command line should be Java 8.
+The default JVM to build and run tests from the command line should be Java 21.
 
-* Use Java 8 to build and run tests:
-  * `Project Structure` -> `Project` -> `SDK` -> `Download JDK...` -> `Version: 1.8` -> `Download`
+* Use Java 21 to build and run tests:
+  * `Project Structure` -> `Project` -> `SDK` -> `Download JDK...` -> `Version: 21` -> `Download`
 * Configure Java and Groovy import formatting:  
   * `Settings...` ->`Editor` > `Code Style` > `Java` > `Imports`
     * `Use single class import`: checked
@@ -82,11 +82,6 @@ The default JVM to build and run tests from the command line should be Java 8.
 * IntelliJ 2021.3
   complains `Failed to find KotlinGradleProjectData for GradleSourceSetData` https://youtrack.jetbrains.com/issue/KTIJ-20173.
     * Switch to `IntelliJ IDEA CE 2021.2.3`.
-
-* IntelliJ Gradle fails to import the project with `JAVA_11_HOME must be set to build Java 11 code`.
-    * A workaround is to run IntelliJ from your terminal with `JAVA_11_HOME`.
-    * In order to verify what's visible from IntelliJ, use the `Add Configuration` bar and go
-      to `Add New` -> `Gradle` -> `Environmental Variables`.
 </details>
 
 ## Pull request guidelines
diff --git a/setup.ps1 b/setup.ps1
index e2fdb025fd1..61df67fa484 100644
--- a/setup.ps1
+++ b/setup.ps1
@@ -43,16 +43,9 @@ function TestJvm {
 
 Write-Host 'ℹ️ Checking required JVM:'
 if (Test-Path 'env:JAVA_HOME') {
-  TestJvm 'JAVA_HOME' '1.8'
+  TestJvm 'JAVA_HOME' '21'
 }
-
-TestJvm 'JAVA_8_HOME' '1.8'
-TestJvm 'JAVA_11_HOME' '11'
-TestJvm 'JAVA_17_HOME' '17'
-TestJvm 'JAVA_21_HOME' '21'
-TestJvm 'JAVA_25_HOME' '25'
-# GraalVM cannot currently be installed due to license change in October 2024 for GraalVM 17.0.13 and later.
-# TestJvm 'JAVA_GRAALVM17_HOME' '17'
+Write-Host 'ℹ️ Other JDK versions will be automatically downloaded by Gradle toolchain resolver.'
 
 # Check for required commands (e.g., git, docker)
 function TestCommand {
diff --git a/setup.sh b/setup.sh
index fb4e03b6a14..cbb36e1482b 100755
--- a/setup.sh
+++ b/setup.sh
@@ -26,18 +26,13 @@ function check-jvm-from-path() {
     fi
 }
 
-echo "ℹ️ Checking required JVMs:"
+echo "ℹ️ Checking required JVM:"
 if [ -e "$JAVA_HOME" ]; then
-    check-jvm "JAVA_HOME" "1.8"
+    check-jvm "JAVA_HOME" "21"
 elif command -v java &> /dev/null; then
-    check-jvm-from-path "1.8"
+    check-jvm-from-path "21"
 fi
-check-jvm "JAVA_8_HOME" "1.8"
-check-jvm "JAVA_11_HOME" "11"
-check-jvm "JAVA_17_HOME" "17"
-check-jvm "JAVA_21_HOME" "21"
-check-jvm "JAVA_25_HOME" "25"
-check-jvm "JAVA_GRAALVM17_HOME" "17"
+echo "ℹ️ Other JDK versions will be automatically downloaded by Gradle toolchain resolver."
 
 
 #

From f13392e02e701ba55f2619fa7f5e7d460f458ec6 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Brice Dutheil <brice.dutheil@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 14 Jan 2026 17:50:10 +0100
Subject: [PATCH 08/13] fix: In CI for JDK 8, java.home may point to the JRE
 directory (/usr/lib/jvm/8/jre)

---
 .../civisibility/CiVisibilitySmokeTest.groovy     | 15 ++++++++++++++-
 1 file changed, 14 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/dd-java-agent/agent-ci-visibility/civisibility-test-fixtures/src/main/groovy/datadog/trace/civisibility/CiVisibilitySmokeTest.groovy b/dd-java-agent/agent-ci-visibility/civisibility-test-fixtures/src/main/groovy/datadog/trace/civisibility/CiVisibilitySmokeTest.groovy
index 703041761a2..2d5f331cc1e 100644
--- a/dd-java-agent/agent-ci-visibility/civisibility-test-fixtures/src/main/groovy/datadog/trace/civisibility/CiVisibilitySmokeTest.groovy
+++ b/dd-java-agent/agent-ci-visibility/civisibility-test-fixtures/src/main/groovy/datadog/trace/civisibility/CiVisibilitySmokeTest.groovy
@@ -28,7 +28,20 @@ abstract class CiVisibilitySmokeTest extends Specification {
   protected Path prefsDir
 
   protected static String buildJavaHome() {
-    return System.getProperty("java.home")
+    def javaHome = System.getProperty("java.home")
+    def javacPath = Paths.get(javaHome, "bin", "javac").toFile()
+    if (javacPath.exists()) {
+      return javaHome
+    }
+    // In CI for JDK 8, java.home may point to the JRE directory (e.g., /usr/lib/jvm/8/jre)
+    // The JDK with javac is in the parent directory
+    def parentDir = new File(javaHome).getParentFile()
+    def parentJavacPath = new File(parentDir, Paths.get("bin", "javac").toString())
+    if (parentJavacPath.exists()) {
+      return parentDir.getAbsolutePath()
+    }
+    // Fallback to java.home and let callers handle the error if javac is not found
+    return javaHome
   }
 
   protected static String javaPath() {

From 5ba7a073745445ffa4b5c1beca8f9f6a30a5739a Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Brice Dutheil <brice.dutheil@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 15 Jan 2026 11:38:07 +0100
Subject: [PATCH 09/13] chore: Replace buildSrc reliance on toolchain by
 setting compilation targets

---
 buildSrc/build.gradle.kts | 11 +++++++++--
 1 file changed, 9 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)

diff --git a/buildSrc/build.gradle.kts b/buildSrc/build.gradle.kts
index 92365591b13..909dcb60999 100644
--- a/buildSrc/build.gradle.kts
+++ b/buildSrc/build.gradle.kts
@@ -6,9 +6,16 @@ plugins {
   id("com.diffplug.spotless") version "8.1.0"
 }
 
+// The buildSrc still needs to target Java 8 as build time instrumentation and muzzle plugin
+// allow to schedule workers on different JDK version.
 java {
-  toolchain {
-    languageVersion = JavaLanguageVersion.of(8)
+  sourceCompatibility = JavaVersion.VERSION_1_8
+  targetCompatibility = JavaVersion.VERSION_1_8
+}
+
+kotlin {
+  compilerOptions {
+    jvmTarget.set(org.jetbrains.kotlin.gradle.dsl.JvmTarget.JVM_1_8)
   }
 }
 

From b54568ac0b870e4a907326c223bec638669c474e Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Brice Dutheil <brice.dutheil@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 15 Jan 2026 11:40:00 +0100
Subject: [PATCH 10/13] chore: Allow Gradle Daemon auto-provisioning to work
 out of the box

URLs are acquired from the foojay resolver, when running this task

./gradlew updateDaemonJvm --jvm-version=21

See https://docs.gradle.org/8.14.3/userguide/gradle_daemon.html#configuring_the_daemon_jvm
---
 gradle/gradle-daemon-jvm.properties | 11 +++++++++++
 1 file changed, 11 insertions(+)

diff --git a/gradle/gradle-daemon-jvm.properties b/gradle/gradle-daemon-jvm.properties
index 52234b5ce85..aee9a3c9b42 100644
--- a/gradle/gradle-daemon-jvm.properties
+++ b/gradle/gradle-daemon-jvm.properties
@@ -1 +1,12 @@
+#This file is generated by updateDaemonJvm `./gradlew updateDaemonJvm --jvm-version=21`
+toolchainUrl.FREE_BSD.AARCH64=https\://api.foojay.io/disco/v3.0/ids/df211d3c3eefdc408b462041881bc575/redirect
+toolchainUrl.FREE_BSD.X86_64=https\://api.foojay.io/disco/v3.0/ids/b41931cf1e70bc8e08d7dd19c343ef00/redirect
+toolchainUrl.LINUX.AARCH64=https\://api.foojay.io/disco/v3.0/ids/df211d3c3eefdc408b462041881bc575/redirect
+toolchainUrl.LINUX.X86_64=https\://api.foojay.io/disco/v3.0/ids/b41931cf1e70bc8e08d7dd19c343ef00/redirect
+toolchainUrl.MAC_OS.AARCH64=https\://api.foojay.io/disco/v3.0/ids/46949723aaa20c7b64d7ecfed7207034/redirect
+toolchainUrl.MAC_OS.X86_64=https\://api.foojay.io/disco/v3.0/ids/d6690dfd71c4c91e08577437b5b2beb0/redirect
+toolchainUrl.UNIX.AARCH64=https\://api.foojay.io/disco/v3.0/ids/df211d3c3eefdc408b462041881bc575/redirect
+toolchainUrl.UNIX.X86_64=https\://api.foojay.io/disco/v3.0/ids/b41931cf1e70bc8e08d7dd19c343ef00/redirect
+toolchainUrl.WINDOWS.AARCH64=https\://api.foojay.io/disco/v3.0/ids/3cd7045fca9a72cd9bc7d14a385e594c/redirect
+toolchainUrl.WINDOWS.X86_64=https\://api.foojay.io/disco/v3.0/ids/552c7bffe0370c66410a51c55985b511/redirect
 toolchainVersion=21

From 2c12ef8bac545738251c0759ff2d1d80e26d8f04 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Brice Dutheil <brice.dutheil@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 15 Jan 2026 12:27:10 +0100
Subject: [PATCH 11/13] chore: Improves doc wording

---
 BUILDING.md                                   | 27 ++++++++++---------
 CONTRIBUTING.md                               |  5 +---
 .../spring-boot-2.7-webflux/build.gradle      |  2 +-
 docs/how_instrumentations_work.md             | 10 ++++++-
 4 files changed, 25 insertions(+), 19 deletions(-)

diff --git a/BUILDING.md b/BUILDING.md
index a9190f60902..526a24e608b 100644
--- a/BUILDING.md
+++ b/BUILDING.md
@@ -48,37 +48,38 @@ If there is any issue with your output, check the requirements above and use the
 
 Requirements to build the full project:
 
-* JDK 21 must be installed and `JAVA_HOME` must point to it.
-* Other JDK versions (8, 11, 17, 25) will be automatically downloaded by Gradle's toolchain resolver.
 * The `git` command line must be installed.
 * A container runtime environment must be available to run all tests (e.g. Docker Desktop).
 
 ### Install the required JDK
 
-Download and install JDK 21 for your OS. Other JDK versions will be automatically downloaded by Gradle when needed.
+Gradle auto-provision needed JDKs locally. However, it still is possible to manage the JDK via other tools. 
 
 #### macOS
 
-
-Use your JDK manager ([mise](https://mise.jdx.dev/), [sdkman](https://sdkman.io/), etc.) or set-up the required JDKs with `brew`
+The following steps demonstrate how to use `brew`, but other version managers 
+such as [mise](https://mise.jdx.dev/) or [sdkman](https://sdkman.io/) work as well.
 
 * Install the required JDKs using `brew`:
   ```shell
-  brew install --cask zulu@8 zulu@11 zulu@17 zulu@21 zulu graalvm/tap/graalvm-ce-java17
+  brew install --cask zulu@8 zulu@11 zulu@17 zulu@21 zulu@25 
+  ```
+  
+  and if GraalVM is needed (17, 21, 25) 
+  ```shell
+  brew install graalvm/tap/graalvm-community-java17 graalvm/tap/graalvm-community-jdk21 graalvm/tap/graalvm-community-jdk25
   ```
 * Identify your local version of GraalVM:
   ```
   ls /Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines | grep graalvm
   ```
-  Example: `graalvm-ce-java17-22.3.1`
-* Use this version in the following command to fix the GraalVM installation by [removing the quarantine flag](https://www.graalvm.org/latest/docs/getting-started/macos/):
-  ```
-* Add the `JAVA_HOME` environment variable to your shell using the `export` command. You can permanently set it by appending the `export` command to your shell configuration file `~/.zshrc` or `~/.bashrc` or other.
+  Example: `graalvm-community-openjdk-17`
+
+  Use this version in the following command to fix the GraalVM installation by [removing the quarantine flag](https://www.graalvm.org/latest/docs/getting-started/macos/), e.g. :
+ 
   ```shell
-  export JAVA_HOME=/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/zulu-21.jdk/Contents/Home
+  xattr -r -d com.apple.quarantine "/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/graalvm-community-openjdk-17"
   ```
-  
-  Gradle should automatically detect the JDK in usual places. As a fallback it can automatically provision them.
 * Restart your shell after applying the changes if you appended the command to your shell configuration file.
 
 > [!NOTE]
diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
index 94b4dc3bb3d..1399caf947a 100644
--- a/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -50,10 +50,6 @@ To run the formatting verify task only:
 
 For IntelliJ IDEA, we suggest the following settings and plugin.
 
-The default JVM to build and run tests from the command line should be Java 21.
-
-* Use Java 21 to build and run tests:
-  * `Project Structure` -> `Project` -> `SDK` -> `Download JDK...` -> `Version: 21` -> `Download`
 * Configure Java and Groovy import formatting:  
   * `Settings...` ->`Editor` > `Code Style` > `Java` > `Imports`
     * `Use single class import`: checked
@@ -64,6 +60,7 @@ The default JVM to build and run tests from the command line should be Java 21.
   * top right Settings icon -> `Settings...` ->`Editor` > `Code Style` > `Groovy` > `Imports`
     * `Class count to use import with '*'`: `9999` (some number sufficiently large that is unlikely to matter)
     * `Names count to use static import with '*'`: `9999`
+* To run test in a specific JDK use the `testJvm` property, e.g. `-PtestJvm=11`
 * Install the [Google Java Format](https://plugins.jetbrains.com/plugin/8527-google-java-format) plugin
 
 ### Troubleshooting
diff --git a/dd-smoke-tests/spring-boot-2.7-webflux/build.gradle b/dd-smoke-tests/spring-boot-2.7-webflux/build.gradle
index 17b9152b803..ec403dc3c20 100644
--- a/dd-smoke-tests/spring-boot-2.7-webflux/build.gradle
+++ b/dd-smoke-tests/spring-boot-2.7-webflux/build.gradle
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ def appBuildDir = "$buildDir/application"
 def isWindows = System.getProperty("os.name").toLowerCase().contains("win")
 def gradlewCommand = isWindows ? 'gradlew.bat' : 'gradlew'
 
-// define the task that builds the quarkus project
+// define the task that builds the project
 tasks.register('webfluxBuild', Exec) {
   workingDir "$appDir"
   environment += [
diff --git a/docs/how_instrumentations_work.md b/docs/how_instrumentations_work.md
index c73b632723e..741783b445e 100644
--- a/docs/how_instrumentations_work.md
+++ b/docs/how_instrumentations_work.md
@@ -792,12 +792,20 @@ Sometimes it is necessary to force Gradle to discard cached test results and [re
 ./gradle test --rerun-tasks
 ```
 
-Running tests that require JDK-21 to be installed, use the `-PtestJvm=21` flag, for example:
+Running tests that require JDK-21 can use the `-PtestJvm=21` flag (if not installed, Gradle will provision them),
+for example:
 
 ```shell
 ./gradlew  :dd-java-agent:instrumentation:aerospike-4.0:allLatestDepTests -PtestJvm=21
 ```
 
+> [!TIP]
+> The `testJvm` property also accept a path to a JVM home. E.g.
+> 
+> ```shell
+> /gradlew  :dd-java-agent:instrumentation:an-insturmentation:test -PtestJvm=~/.local/share/mise/installs/java/openjdk-26.0.0-loom+1/
+> ```
+
 ### Latest Dependency Tests
 
 Adding a directive to the build file gives early warning when breaking changes are released by framework maintainers.

From e55a0a4bc5484c13945dee36fa43962f699f6814 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Brice Dutheil <brice.dutheil@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 15 Jan 2026 12:28:12 +0100
Subject: [PATCH 12/13] chore: consistent setup actionable items across
 setup.sh and setup.ps1

---
 setup.ps1 | 17 +++++++++++++++--
 setup.sh  |  4 ++--
 2 files changed, 17 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)

diff --git a/setup.ps1 b/setup.ps1
index 61df67fa484..3fbe956eeb3 100644
--- a/setup.ps1
+++ b/setup.ps1
@@ -91,10 +91,22 @@ function TestGitConfig {
     Write-Host "✅ git config $configName is set to $expectedValue."
   }
   elseif (-not $actualValue) {
-    Write-Host "❌ git config $configName is not set. Please set it to $expectedValue." -ForegroundColor Red
+    Write-Host "❌ git config $configName is not set. Please run 'git config set $configName $expectedValue'." -ForegroundColor Red
   }
   else {
-    Write-Host "🟨 git config $configName is set to $actualValue (expected: $expectedValue)."
+    Write-Host "🟨 git config $configName is set to $actualValue (expected: $expectedValue). Please run 'git config set $configName $expectedValue'."
+  }
+}
+
+function TestSubmoduleInitialization {
+  if (Test-Path '.gitmodules') {
+    $uninitializedSubmodules = git submodule status | Select-String '^-'
+    if ($uninitializedSubmodules) {
+      Write-Host "❌ A git submodule are not initialized. Please run 'git submodule update --init --recursive'." -ForegroundColor Red
+    }
+    else {
+      Write-Host "✅ All git submodules are initialized."
+    }
   }
 }
 
@@ -102,6 +114,7 @@ Write-Host 'ℹ️ Checking git configuration:'
 TestCommand 'git'
 TestHook 'pre-commit'
 TestGitConfig 'submodule.recurse' 'true'
+TestSubmoduleInitialization
 
 # Check Docker environment
 function TestDockerServer {
diff --git a/setup.sh b/setup.sh
index cbb36e1482b..5a978e9f45c 100755
--- a/setup.sh
+++ b/setup.sh
@@ -78,9 +78,9 @@ function check-git-config() {
     if [ "$ACTUAL_VALUE" == "$EXPECTED_VALUE" ]; then
         echo "✅ git config $CONFIG_NAME is set to $EXPECTED_VALUE."
     elif [ -z "$ACTUAL_VALUE" ]; then
-        echo "❌ git config $CONFIG_NAME is not set. Please locally set $CONFIG_NAME to $EXPECTED_VALUE."
+        echo "❌ git config $CONFIG_NAME is not set. Please run 'git config set $CONFIG_NAME $EXPECTED_VALUE'."
     else
-        echo "🟨 git config $CONFIG_NAME is set to $ACTUAL_VALUE (expected: $EXPECTED_VALUE)."
+        echo "🟨 git config $CONFIG_NAME is set to $ACTUAL_VALUE (expected: $EXPECTED_VALUE). Please run 'git config set $CONFIG_NAME $EXPECTED_VALUE'."
     fi
 }
 

From e6645d3778cd8c3fa3cd4eebff16de8af9ed9e95 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Brice Dutheil <brice.dutheil@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 15 Jan 2026 13:29:13 +0100
Subject: [PATCH 13/13] chore: Tweak Test JVM spec to cover for ground for
 Gradle Toolchain being not enough

---
 .../plugin/testJvmConstraints/TestJvmSpec.kt     | 16 +++++++++++++---
 .../src/test/groovy/SslSocketTest.groovy         |  5 +++++
 2 files changed, 18 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)

diff --git a/buildSrc/src/main/kotlin/datadog/gradle/plugin/testJvmConstraints/TestJvmSpec.kt b/buildSrc/src/main/kotlin/datadog/gradle/plugin/testJvmConstraints/TestJvmSpec.kt
index 9b0ec8a2115..6ed72e94510 100644
--- a/buildSrc/src/main/kotlin/datadog/gradle/plugin/testJvmConstraints/TestJvmSpec.kt
+++ b/buildSrc/src/main/kotlin/datadog/gradle/plugin/testJvmConstraints/TestJvmSpec.kt
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 package datadog.gradle.plugin.testJvmConstraints
 
-import com.gradle.scan.agent.serialization.scan.serializer.kryo.it
 import org.gradle.api.GradleException
 import org.gradle.api.Project
 import org.gradle.api.internal.project.ProjectInternal
@@ -83,9 +82,13 @@ class TestJvmSpec(val project: Project) {
   private val testJvmSpec = normalizedTestJvm.map {
     val (distribution, version) = Regex("([a-zA-Z]*)([0-9]+)").matchEntire(it)?.groupValues?.drop(1) ?: listOf("", "")
 
+    // Allow looking up JAVA_<TESTJVM>_HOME environment variable (e.g., JAVA_IBM8_HOME, JAVA_SEMERU8_HOME),
+    // because gradle doesn't offer a way to distinguish ibm8 or semeru8
+    val envVarValue = project.providers.environmentVariable("JAVA_${it.uppercase()}_HOME").orNull
+
     when {
       Files.exists(Paths.get(it)) -> it.normalizeToJDKJavaHome().toToolchainSpec()
-
+      envVarValue != null && Files.exists(Paths.get(envVarValue)) -> envVarValue.normalizeToJDKJavaHome().toToolchainSpec()
       version.isNotBlank() -> {
         // Best effort to make a spec for the passed testJvm
         // `8`, `11`, `ZULU8`, `GRAALVM25`, etc.
@@ -104,7 +107,10 @@ class TestJvmSpec(val project: Project) {
               vendor.set(JvmVendorSpec.AZUL)
             }
 
-            "semeru" -> {
+            // Note: Both IBM and Semeru report java.vendor = "IBM Corporation",
+            // so JvmVendorSpec cannot distinguish them. Use JAVA_IBM8_HOME or
+            // JAVA_SEMERU8_HOME env vars for reliable selection.
+            "ibm", "semeru" -> {
               vendor.set(JvmVendorSpec.IBM)
               implementation.set(JvmImplementation.J9)
             }
@@ -113,6 +119,10 @@ class TestJvmSpec(val project: Project) {
               vendor.set(JvmVendorSpec.GRAAL_VM)
               nativeImageCapable.set(true)
             }
+
+            else -> {
+              throw GradleException("Unknown JVM distribution '$distribution'. Supported: oracle, zulu, ibm, semeru, graalvm.")
+            }
           }
         }
       }
diff --git a/dd-java-agent/instrumentation/java/java-net/java-net-1.8/src/test/groovy/SslSocketTest.groovy b/dd-java-agent/instrumentation/java/java-net/java-net-1.8/src/test/groovy/SslSocketTest.groovy
index 8daf5d27896..7a652ad5927 100644
--- a/dd-java-agent/instrumentation/java/java-net/java-net-1.8/src/test/groovy/SslSocketTest.groovy
+++ b/dd-java-agent/instrumentation/java/java-net/java-net-1.8/src/test/groovy/SslSocketTest.groovy
@@ -6,8 +6,13 @@ import datadog.trace.bootstrap.instrumentation.usm.UsmMessageFactory
 import java.lang.reflect.Field
 import javax.net.ssl.HttpsURLConnection
 import spock.lang.AutoCleanup
+import spock.lang.Requires
 import spock.lang.Shared
 
+// IBM JVM has different protocol support for TLS
+@Requires({
+  !System.getProperty("java.vm.name").contains("IBM J9 VM")
+})
 class SslSocketTest extends InstrumentationSpecification {
   @AutoCleanup
   @Shared