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Azul Releases Payara 7 With Jakarta EE 11 Support

  • By John K. Waters
  • June 8, 2026

Key Takeaways

  • Azul's Payara 7 is among the first commercially supported application servers certified for Jakarta EE 11.
  • The upgrade path from Payara 6 to Payara 7 is designed to minimize migration effort by avoiding code changes.
  • The release marks a key step in Azul's strategy to expand from Java runtimes into full enterprise Java platform infrastructure.

Azul has released Payara Server 7 and Payara Micro 7, making the company one of the first commercial vendors to offer a Jakarta EE 11-certified runtime for enterprise Java applications. The release follows Azul's acquisition of Payara and expands the company's portfolio beyond Java runtime technologies into application server infrastructure.

According to Azul, Payara Server 7 has achieved Jakarta EE 11 certification across the Full Platform, Web Profile, and Core Profile specifications, while Payara Micro 7 is certified for the Web and Core profiles. The company said the products are now generally available.

Jakarta EE 11, the latest version of the enterprise Java platform, introduces several updates aimed at modern application development, including Jakarta Data, a standardized API for data access. Azul said developers can deploy existing applications built on Payara 6 to Payara 7 without code changes because the Jakarta namespace remains unchanged between Jakarta EE 10 and Jakarta EE 11.

The new release requires the Java Development Kit (JDK) 21 or later and supports deployments with JDK 21 or 25. Azul is providing Docker images for both versions.

The launch comes as vendors in the enterprise Java ecosystem continue to move toward support for Jakarta EE 11. Azul says competing commercial application servers, including Oracle WebLogic and Red Hat JBoss EAP, currently support earlier Jakarta EE versions, while IBM's WebSphere Liberty submitted Jakarta EE 11 certification after Payara 7 became generally available.

In addition to the Payara 7 release, Azul said it is issuing updates for supported Payara 4, 5, and 6 branches, including a security patch available across all supported versions.

Payara originated as a commercially supported fork of GlassFish and was acquired by Azul in late 2025. The company has positioned the acquisition as part of a broader strategy to provide a unified enterprise Java platform spanning JDKs, application servers, and cloud-native runtimes.

About the Author

John K. Waters is the editor in chief of a number of Converge360.com sites, with a focus on high-end development, AI and future tech. He's been writing about cutting-edge technologies and culture of Silicon Valley for more than two decades, and he's written more than a dozen books. He also co-scripted the documentary film Silicon Valley: A 100 Year Renaissance, which aired on PBS.  He can be reached at [email protected].

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