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Cannot start IDE on Arch Linux: Runtime not found

Arina Efremova
Updated

Problem

A JetBrains IDE installed from an Arch Linux (AUR) package does not start. The native launcher, for example /opt/webstorm/bin/webstorm, shows:

Cannot start the IDE
Cannot find a runtime
Caused by:
    Runtime not found
Please try to reinstall the IDE.
For support, please refer to https://jb.gg/ide/critical-startup-errors

The startup script, for example /opt/webstorm/bin/webstorm.sh, shows:

No JRE found. Please make sure $WEBIDE_JDK, $JDK_HOME, or $JAVA_HOME point to valid JRE installation.

Cause

Some AUR packages remove the bundled JetBrains Runtime from the IDE directory and ship it as a separate optional package. For example, the webstorm package removes /opt/webstorm/jbr, and the webstorm-jre package installs it again. When that package is not installed and no other runtime is configured, the launcher finds no runtime.

The native launcher looks for a runtime in this order. It uses the first location that contains an executable bin/java:

  1. The <PRODUCT>_JDK environment variable, for example IDEA_JDK for IntelliJ IDEA or WEBIDE_JDK for WebStorm.
  2. The <product>.jdk file in the IDE configuration directory, for example ~/.config/JetBrains/WebStorm2026.2/webstorm.jdk.
  3. The jbr directory in the IDE installation directory.
  4. The JDK_HOME environment variable.
  5. The JAVA_HOME environment variable.

The <product>.sh script checks the same locations and then also tries java from PATH. For this reason, the script can start the IDE on a system with an installed Java, while the native launcher cannot. When no Java is installed, both fail.

Resolution

AUR packages are maintained by the community, not by JetBrains. Use one of the options below. Option 1 is recommended.

Option 1: Install the IDE runtime package

  1. Install the runtime package of the IDE, for example webstorm-jre for WebStorm. Other IDEs use the same naming: clion-jre, goland-jre, phpstorm-jre, rustrover-jre, datagrip-jre.
  2. If a <product>.jdk file exists in the IDE configuration directory, delete it. The IDE then uses the installed JetBrains Runtime.

The intellij-idea-ultimate-edition package includes the runtime and has no separate runtime package.

Option 2: Use a system Java runtime

IDE version 2026.2 needs Java 25. IDE version 2026.1 needs at least Java 21.

  1. Install a Java runtime from the Arch Linux repositories, for example jre25-openjdk. It installs to /usr/lib/jvm/java-25-openjdk.

  2. Write the runtime path to the <product>.jdk file. For WebStorm 2026.2:

    mkdir -p ~/.config/JetBrains/WebStorm2026.2
echo /usr/lib/jvm/java-25-openjdk > ~/.config/JetBrains/WebStorm2026.2/webstorm.jdk

  3. Start the IDE with the native launcher.

As an alternative to step 2, set the <PRODUCT>_JDK environment variable to the runtime path.

The Choose Boot Java Runtime for the IDE… action writes the same .jdk file. Do not reset the runtime to the default in this action: the reset deletes the .jdk file, and without the jbr directory the IDE does not start again.

Option 3: Use an official distribution

Install the IDE from the standalone tar.gz archive, with the Toolbox App, or as a snap package. These distributions include the JetBrains Runtime.

More information

For the difference between the native launcher and the startup script, see How to handle "Consider switching to a native launcher" notification.

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