Turns out an old version of Solr (5.5.5) only works with an old version of java (java 1.8 aka java 8) giving me a weird error saying it can't open solr.log

Fortunately debian supports *all java*
First install java 8

apt install openjdk-8-jre openjdk-8-jre-headless

Then set alternatives to openjdk-8-jre with update-alternatives

update-alternatives --config java

Then solr will start. Happy searching.

#solr #java #debian