SoapUI 5.6.0 UnsupportedClassVersionError on Windows 8.1

Question

I have installed following version of Java on Windows 8.1. JAVA_HOME environment variable points to newly installed JDK library.

java 15 2020-09-15
Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 15+36-1562)
Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM (build 15+36-1562, mixed mode, sharing)

When I've started SoapUI 5.6, I have got following error message:

java.lang.UnsupportedClassVersionError: com/eviware/soapui/SoapUI has been compiled by a more recent version of the Java Runtime (class file version 53.0), this version of the Java Runtime only recognizes class file versions up to 52.0
    at java.lang.ClassLoader.defineClass1(Native Method)
    at java.lang.ClassLoader.defineClass(ClassLoader.java:763)
    at java.security.SecureClassLoader.defineClass(SecureClassLoader.java:142)
    at java.net.URLClassLoader.defineClass(URLClassLoader.java:467)
    at java.net.URLClassLoader.access$100(URLClassLoader.java:73)
    at java.net.URLClassLoader$1.run(URLClassLoader.java:368)
    at java.net.URLClassLoader$1.run(URLClassLoader.java:362)
    at java.security.AccessController.doPrivileged(Native Method)
    at java.net.URLClassLoader.findClass(URLClassLoader.java:361)
    at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadClass(ClassLoader.java:424)
    at sun.misc.Launcher$AppClassLoader.loadClass(Launcher.java:335)
    at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadClass(ClassLoader.java:357)
    at com.exe4j.runtime.LauncherEngine.launch(LauncherEngine.java:81)
    at com.exe4j.runtime.WinLauncher.main(WinLauncher.java:94)
    at com.install4j.runtime.launcher.WinLauncher.main(WinLauncher.java:25)

Answer 1

Please see this link for a fix, which is a diffeent Java version.

The requirements say Java 7, in fact Java 8 is recommended in more than one place.

But yes, I think the error

com/eviware/soapui/SoapUI has been compiled by a more recent version of the Java Runtime (class file version 53.0), this version of the Java Runtime only recognizes class file versions up to 52.0

is misleading regarding major java versions. Someone with a better grasp of Java versions may be able to explain.

Answer 2

This is just a workaround.

Go to the installation directory (e.g C:\Program Files\SmartBear\SoapUI-5.6.0\bin) and launch soapui (Windows batch file) instead of SoapUI-5.6.0 (Application).

This works fine.