MySQL Connector/J 5.1 Release Notes
The following table summarizes what version of JRE is required to use each Connector/J version, and what version of JDK is required to build each Connector/J version from source code:
Table 2.2 Summary of Java Versions Required by Connector/J
| Connector/J version | JRE Supported | JDK required for compiling source code |
|---|---|---|
| 5.1 | 1.5.x, 1.6.x, 1.7.x*, 1.8.x** | 1.5.x and 1.8.x *** |
| 8.0 | 1.8.x | 1.8.x |
*JRE 1.7 support requires Connector/J 5.1.21 and higher.
**JRE 1.8 is required for Connector/J 5.1 to connect to MySQL 5.6.27 and later and 5.7 with SSL/TLS when using some cipher suites.
***If you are building Connector/J 5.1 from source code using the source distribution, you must have both JDK-1.8.x AND JDK-1.5.x installed. It is also good to have JRE 1.6 for compiling Connector/J 5.1. See Section 3.4, “Installing from Source” for details.