# rpm -qa java* java-1.5.0-centos-jdbc-1.5.0.06-1.i386 java-1.5.0-centos-devel-1.5.0.06-1.i386 java-1.5.0-centos-1.5.0.06-1.i386 % java Error occurred during initialization of VM java/lang/NoClassDefFoundError: java/lang/Object % ls -l /usr/bin/java lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 22 Jan 30 16:12 /usr/bin/java -> /etc/alternatives/java % ls -l /etc/alternatives/java lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 38 Jan 30 16:12 /etc/alternatives/java -> /usr/lib/jvm/jre-1.5.0-centos/bin/java I must be missing something obvious.