Java, Intellij IDEA problem Unrecognized option: --add-opens=jdk.compiler/com.sun.tools.javac.code=ALL-UNNAMED

Question

I have newly installed

IntelliJ IDEA 2021.2 (Ultimate Edition)
Build #IU-212.4746.92, built on July 27, 2021
Licensed to XXXXXX
Subscription is active until August 15, 2021.
Runtime version: 11.0.11+9-b1504.13 amd64
VM: OpenJDK 64-Bit Server VM by JetBrains s.r.o.
Linux 5.4.0-80-generic
GC: G1 Young Generation, G1 Old Generation
Memory: 2048M
Cores: 3

Kotlin: 212-1.5.10-release-IJ4746.92
Current Desktop: X-Cinnamon

I cloned project I work with on other workstation without issues, but cannot start any class with main method and IDEA says:

Abnormal build process termination: 
/usr/lib/jvm/java-1.8.0-openjdk-amd64/bin/java -Xmx700m -Djava.awt.headless=true -Djava.endorsed.dirs=\"\" -Dcompile.parallel=false -Drebuild.on.dependency.change=true -Djdt.compiler.useSingleThread=true -Daether.connector.resumeDownloads=false -Dio.netty.initialSeedUniquifier=-5972351880001011455 -Dfile.encoding=UTF-8 -Duser.language=en -Duser.country=US -Didea.paths.selector=IntelliJIdea2021.2 -Didea.home.path=/home/pm/idea-IU-212.4746.92 -Didea.config.path=/home/pm/.config/JetBrains/IntelliJIdea2021.2 -Didea.plugins.path=/home/pm/.local/share/JetBrains/IntelliJIdea2021.2 -Djps.log.dir=/home/pm/.cache/JetBrains/IntelliJIdea2021.2/log/build-log -Djps.fallback.jdk.home=/home/pm/idea-IU-212.4746.92/jbr -Djps.fallback.jdk.version=11.0.11 -Dio.netty.noUnsafe=true -Djava.io.tmpdir=/home/pm/.cache/JetBrains/IntelliJIdea2021.2/compile-server/rfg-survey-api_cc70fc05/_temp_ -Djps.backward.ref.index.builder=true -Djps.track.ap.dependencies=false --add-opens=jdk.compiler/com.sun.tools.javac.code=ALL-UNNAMED --add-opens=jdk.compiler/com.sun.tools.javac.comp=ALL-UNNAMED --add-opens=jdk.compiler/com.sun.tools.javac.file=ALL-UNNAMED --add-opens=jdk.compiler/com.sun.tools.javac.main=ALL-UNNAMED --add-opens=jdk.compiler/com.sun.tools.javac.model=ALL-UNNAMED --add-opens=jdk.compiler/com.sun.tools.javac.parser=ALL-UNNAMED --add-opens=jdk.compiler/com.sun.tools.javac.processing=ALL-UNNAMED --add-opens=jdk.compiler/com.sun.tools.javac.tree=ALL-UNNAMED --add-opens=jdk.compiler/com.sun.tools.javac.util=ALL-UNNAMED --add-opens=jdk.compiler/com.sun.tools.javac.jvm=ALL-UNNAMED -Dtmh.instrument.annotations=true -Dtmh.generate.line.numbers=true -Dkotlin.incremental.compilation=true -Dkotlin.incremental.compilation.js=true -Dkotlin.daemon.enabled -Dkotlin.daemon.client.alive.path=\"/tmp/kotlin-idea-12426594439704512301-is-running\" -classpath /home/pm/idea-IU-212.4746.92/plugins/java/lib/jps-launcher.jar:/usr/lib/jvm/java-1.8.0-openjdk-amd64/lib/tools.jar org.jetbrains.jps.cmdline.Launcher /home/pm/idea-IU-212.4746.92/lib/slf4j.jar:/home/pm/idea-IU-212.4746.92/lib/idea_rt.jar:/home/pm/idea-IU-212.4746.92/lib/platform-api.jar:/home/pm/idea-IU-212.4746.92/plugins/java/lib/maven-resolver-transport-file-1.3.3.jar:/home/pm/idea-IU-212.4746.92/lib/forms_rt.jar:/home/pm/idea-IU-212.4746.92/lib/util.jar:/home/pm/idea-IU-212.4746.92/lib/annotations.jar:/home/pm/idea-IU-212.4746.92/lib/3rd-party.jar:/home/pm/idea-IU-212.4746.92/lib/kotlin-stdlib-jdk8.jar:/home/pm/idea-IU-212.4746.92/plugins/java/lib/maven-resolver-connector-basic-1.3.3.jar:/home/pm/idea-IU-212.4746.92/lib/jna-platform.jar:/home/pm/idea-IU-212.4746.92/lib/protobuf-java-3.15.8.jar:/home/pm/idea-IU-212.4746.92/plugins/java/lib/jps-builders-6.jar:/home/pm/idea-IU-212.4746.92/plugins/java/lib/javac2.jar:/home/pm/idea-IU-212.4746.92/plugins/java/lib/aether-dependency-resolver.jar:/home/pm/idea-IU-212.4746.92/plugins/java/lib/jps-builders.jar:/home/pm/idea-IU-212.4746.92/plugins/java/lib/jps-javac-extension-1.jar:/home/pm/idea-IU-212.4746.92/lib/jna.jar:/home/pm/idea-IU-212.4746.92/lib/jps-model.jar:/home/pm/idea-IU-212.4746.92/plugins/java/lib/maven-resolver-transport-http-1.3.3.jar:/home/pm/idea-IU-212.4746.92/plugins/JavaEE/lib/jasper-v2-rt.jar:/home/pm/idea-IU-212.4746.92/plugins/Kotlin/lib/kotlin-reflect.jar:/home/pm/idea-IU-212.4746.92/plugins/Kotlin/lib/kotlin-plugin.jar:/home/pm/idea-IU-212.4746.92/plugins/ant/lib/ant-jps.jar:/home/pm/idea-IU-212.4746.92/plugins/uiDesigner/lib/jps/java-guiForms-jps.jar:/home/pm/idea-IU-212.4746.92/plugins/eclipse/lib/eclipse-jps.jar:/home/pm/idea-IU-212.4746.92/plugins/eclipse/lib/eclipse-common.jar:/home/pm/idea-IU-212.4746.92/plugins/IntelliLang/lib/java-langInjection-jps.jar:/home/pm/idea-IU-212.4746.92/plugins/Groovy/lib/groovy-jps.jar:/home/pm/idea-IU-212.4746.92/plugins/Groovy/lib/groovy-constants-rt.jar:/home/pm/idea-IU-212.4746.92/plugins/maven/lib/maven-jps.jar:/home/pm/idea-IU-212.4746.92/plugins/gradle-java/lib/gradle-jps.jar:/home/pm/idea-IU-212.4746.92/plugins/devkit/lib/devkit-jps.jar:/home/pm/idea-IU-212.4746.92/plugins/javaFX/lib/javaFX-jps.jar:/home/pm/idea-IU-212.4746.92/plugins/javaFX/lib/javaFX-common.jar:/home/pm/idea-IU-212.4746.92/plugins/JavaEE/lib/javaee-jps.jar:/home/pm/idea-IU-212.4746.92/plugins/webSphereIntegration/lib/jps/javaee-appServers-websphere-jps.jar:/home/pm/idea-IU-212.4746.92/plugins/weblogicIntegration/lib/jps/javaee-appServers-weblogic-jps.jar:/home/pm/idea-IU-212.4746.92/plugins/JPA/lib/jps/javaee-jpa-jps.jar:/home/pm/idea-IU-212.4746.92/plugins/Grails/lib/groovy-grails-jps.jar:/home/pm/idea-IU-212.4746.92/plugins/Grails/lib/groovy-grails-compilerPatch.jar:/home/pm/idea-IU-212.4746.92/plugins/Kotlin/lib/jps/kotlin-jps-plugin.jar:/home/pm/idea-IU-212.4746.92/plugins/Kotlin/lib/kotlin-jps-common.jar:/home/pm/idea-IU-212.4746.92/plugins/Kotlin/lib/kotlin-common.jar org.jetbrains.jps.cmdline.BuildMain 127.0.0.1 34781 9f0681bb-da2a-48db-8344-900ddeb29804 /home/pm/.cache/JetBrains/IntelliJIdea2021.2/compile-server
Unrecognized option: --add-opens=jdk.compiler/com.sun.tools.javac.code=ALL-UNNAMED
Error: Could not create the Java Virtual Machine.
Error: A fatal exception has occurred. Program will exit.

I found other comment to check Lombok works and I see it is fine.

How to fix the problem?

Answer 1

Some configuration were rolled over by the update. How to get back to JDK8 :

• Go to File > "Project Structure".
• In the new window, in left tree, choose "Project Settings" > Project
• Among params, look at "Project language level". For me the IJ update had changed it from "8" to "16". Hence the error. Just put it back to "8" and rollll!

Answer 2

You can delete the .idea folder and reimport your project again. I solved this issue in this way.

Answer 3

You are running the project via Java 1.8 and add the --add-opens option to the runner. However Java 1.8 does not support it.

So, the first option is to use Java 11 to run the project, as Java 11 can recognize this VM option.

Another solution is to find a place where --add-opens is added and remove it. Check Run configuration in IntelliJ IDEA (VM options field) and Maven/Gradle configuration files for argLine (Maven) and jvmArgs (Gradle)

Answer 4

For Intellij using Maven, you can go to Preferences > Build, Execution, Deployment > Build Tools > Maven > Running Tests and uncheck argLine.

Disable argLine

Answer 5

My solution was to go into .idea -> workspace.xml and set ALTERNATIVE_JRE_ENABLED="false".