To apply the changes to the config/java.properties file, edit the file manually, and then run the bin/dsjavaproperties utility. The dsjavaproperties tool uses the information contained in the config/java.properties file to generate a lib/set-java-home script (or lib\set-java-home.bat on Microsoft Windows systems), which is used by the Directory Server and all of its supporting tools to identify the Java environment and its JVM settings. During the process, dsjavaproperties calculates an MD5 digest of the contents of the config/java.properties file and stores the digest in the generated set-java-home script.

The dsjavaproperties utility also performs some minimal validation whenever the property references a valid Java installation by verifying that $(java-home)/bin/java exists and is executable.

If you make any changes to the config/java.properties file but forget to run bin/dsjavaproperties, the Directory Server compares the MD5 digest with the version stored in set-java-home and sends a message to standard error if the digests differ:

WARNING -- File /ds/PingDirectory
            /config/java.properties has been edited without 
running dsjavaproperties to apply the changes