How to use TLS 1.2 in Java 6

After a few hours of playing with the Oracle JDK 1.6, I was able to make it work without any code change. The magic is done by Bouncy Castle to handle SSL and allow JDK 1.6 to run with TLSv1.2 by default. In theory, it could also be applied to older Java versions with eventual adjustments.

1. Download the latest Java 1.6 version from the Java Archive Oracle website
2. Uncompress it on your preferred path and set your JAVA_HOME environment variable
3. Update the JDK with the latest Java Cryptography Extension (JCE) Unlimited Strength Jurisdiction Policy Files 6
4. Download the Bounce Castle files bcprov-jdk15to18-165.jar and bctls-jdk15to18-165.jar and copy them into your ${JAVA_HOME}/jre/lib/ext folder
5. Modify the file ${JAVA_HOME}/jre/lib/security/java.security commenting out the providers section and adding some extra lines

    # Original security providers (just comment it)
    # security.provider.1=sun.security.provider.Sun
    # security.provider.2=sun.security.rsa.SunRsaSign
    # security.provider.3=com.sun.net.ssl.internal.ssl.Provider
    # security.provider.4=com.sun.crypto.provider.SunJCE
    # security.provider.5=sun.security.jgss.SunProvider
    # security.provider.6=com.sun.security.sasl.Provider
    # security.provider.7=org.jcp.xml.dsig.internal.dom.XMLDSigRI
    # security.provider.8=sun.security.smartcardio.SunPCSC

    # Add the Bouncy Castle security providers with higher priority
    security.provider.1=org.bouncycastle.jce.provider.BouncyCastleProvider
    security.provider.2=org.bouncycastle.jsse.provider.BouncyCastleJsseProvider
    
    # Original security providers with different priorities
    security.provider.3=sun.security.provider.Sun
    security.provider.4=sun.security.rsa.SunRsaSign
    security.provider.5=com.sun.net.ssl.internal.ssl.Provider
    security.provider.6=com.sun.crypto.provider.SunJCE 
    security.provider.7=sun.security.jgss.SunProvider
    security.provider.8=com.sun.security.sasl.Provider
    security.provider.9=org.jcp.xml.dsig.internal.dom.XMLDSigRI
    security.provider.10=sun.security.smartcardio.SunPCSC

    # Here we are changing the default SSLSocketFactory implementation
    ssl.SocketFactory.provider=org.bouncycastle.jsse.provider.SSLSocketFactoryImpl

Just to make sure it’s working let’s make a simple Java program to download files from one URL using https.

import java.io.*;
import java.net.*;


public class DownloadWithHttps {

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        try {
            URL url = new URL(args[0]);
            System.out.println("File to Download: " + url);
            String filename = url.getFile();
            File f = new File(filename);
            System.out.println("Output File: " + f.getName());
            BufferedInputStream in = new BufferedInputStream(url.openStream());
            FileOutputStream fileOutputStream = new FileOutputStream(f.getName());
            int bytesRead;
            byte dataBuffer[] = new byte[1024];

            while ((bytesRead = in.read(dataBuffer, 0, 1024)) != -1) {
                fileOutputStream.write(dataBuffer, 0, bytesRead);
            }
            fileOutputStream.close();

        } catch (Exception ex) {
            ex.printStackTrace();
        }

    }
}

Now, just compile the DownloadWithHttps.java program and execute it with your Java 1.6

${JAVA_HOME}/bin/javac DownloadWithHttps.java
${JAVA_HOME}/bin/java DownloadWithHttps https://repo1.maven.org/maven2/org/apache/commons/commons-lang3/3.10/commons-lang3-3.10.jar

Important note for Windows users: This solution was tested in a Linux OS, if you are using Windows, please replace the ${JAVA_HOME} by %JAVA_HOME%.