title: How do I set SSL protocol version in java? And how do I know which one? javax.net.ssl.SSLException: Received fatal alert: protocol_version
body: <p>I am using Apache HttpClient 4.3 to interact with the API of hubic.com. My minimal reproducable example is just a one liner:</p>
  
  <pre class="lang-java prettyprint-override"><code>HttpClientBuilder.create().build().execute(new HttpGet("https://hubic.com"));
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>However that throws:</p>
  
  <pre><code>Exception in thread "main" javax.net.ssl.SSLException: Received fatal alert: protocol_version
      at sun.security.ssl.Alerts.getSSLException(Alerts.java:208)
      at sun.security.ssl.Alerts.getSSLException(Alerts.java:154)
      at sun.security.ssl.SSLSocketImpl.recvAlert(SSLSocketImpl.java:1991)
      at sun.security.ssl.SSLSocketImpl.readRecord(SSLSocketImpl.java:1104)
      at sun.security.ssl.SSLSocketImpl.performInitialHandshake(SSLSocketImpl.java:1343)
      at sun.security.ssl.SSLSocketImpl.startHandshake(SSLSocketImpl.java:1371)
      at sun.security.ssl.SSLSocketImpl.startHandshake(SSLSocketImpl.java:1355)
      at org.apache.http.conn.ssl.SSLConnectionSocketFactory.createLayeredSocket(SSLConnectionSocketFactory.java:275)
      at org.apache.http.conn.ssl.SSLConnectionSocketFactory.connectSocket(SSLConnectionSocketFactory.java:254)
      at org.apache.http.impl.conn.HttpClientConnectionOperator.connect(HttpClientConnectionOperator.java:117)
      at org.apache.http.impl.conn.PoolingHttpClientConnectionManager.connect(PoolingHttpClientConnectionManager.java:314)
      at org.apache.http.impl.execchain.MainClientExec.establishRoute(MainClientExec.java:363)
      at org.apache.http.impl.execchain.MainClientExec.execute(MainClientExec.java:219)
      at org.apache.http.impl.execchain.ProtocolExec.execute(ProtocolExec.java:195)
      at org.apache.http.impl.execchain.RetryExec.execute(RetryExec.java:86)
      at org.apache.http.impl.execchain.RedirectExec.execute(RedirectExec.java:108)
      at org.apache.http.impl.client.InternalHttpClient.doExecute(InternalHttpClient.java:186)
      at org.apache.http.impl.client.CloseableHttpClient.execute(CloseableHttpClient.java:82)
      at org.apache.http.impl.client.CloseableHttpClient.execute(CloseableHttpClient.java:106)
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>Here is the output if I run with <code>System.setProperty("javax.net.debug", "all");</code>:</p>
  
  <pre><code>trustStore is: /usr/lib/jvm/java-8-oracle/jre/lib/security/cacerts
  trustStore type is : jks
  trustStore provider is : 
  init truststore
  
  adding as trusted cert: [... extremely large list ...]
  
  trigger seeding of SecureRandom
  done seeding SecureRandom
  Ignoring unavailable cipher suite: TLS_DHE_DSS_WITH_AES_256_GCM_SHA384
  Ignoring unavailable cipher suite: TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA
  Ignoring unavailable cipher suite: TLS_DHE_RSA_WITH_AES_256_GCM_SHA384
  Ignoring unavailable cipher suite: TLS_ECDH_ECDSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA
  Ignoring unavailable cipher suite: TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_AES_256_GCM_SHA384
  Ignoring unavailable cipher suite: TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA256
  Ignoring unavailable cipher suite: TLS_DHE_DSS_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA
  Ignoring unavailable cipher suite: TLS_ECDH_ECDSA_WITH_AES_256_GCM_SHA384
  Ignoring unavailable cipher suite: TLS_ECDH_RSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA384
  Ignoring unavailable cipher suite: TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_256_GCM_SHA384
  Ignoring unavailable cipher suite: TLS_ECDH_ECDSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA384
  Ignoring unavailable cipher suite: TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA384
  Ignoring unavailable cipher suite: TLS_ECDH_RSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA
  Ignoring unavailable cipher suite: TLS_ECDH_RSA_WITH_AES_256_GCM_SHA384
  Ignoring unavailable cipher suite: TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA384
  Ignoring unavailable cipher suite: TLS_DHE_RSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA256
  Ignoring unavailable cipher suite: TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA
  Ignoring unavailable cipher suite: TLS_DHE_DSS_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA256
  Ignoring unavailable cipher suite: TLS_DHE_RSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA
  Ignoring unavailable cipher suite: TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA
  Ignoring unavailable cipher suite: TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_256_GCM_SHA384
  Allow unsafe renegotiation: false
  Allow legacy hello messages: true
  Is initial handshake: true
  Is secure renegotiation: false
  Ignoring unsupported cipher suite: TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA256 for SSLv3
  Ignoring unsupported cipher suite: TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA256 for SSLv3
  Ignoring unsupported cipher suite: TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA256 for SSLv3
  Ignoring unsupported cipher suite: TLS_ECDH_ECDSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA256 for SSLv3
  Ignoring unsupported cipher suite: TLS_ECDH_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA256 for SSLv3
  Ignoring unsupported cipher suite: TLS_DHE_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA256 for SSLv3
  Ignoring unsupported cipher suite: TLS_DHE_DSS_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA256 for SSLv3
  Ignoring unsupported cipher suite: TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA256 for TLSv1
  Ignoring unsupported cipher suite: TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA256 for TLSv1
  Ignoring unsupported cipher suite: TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA256 for TLSv1
  Ignoring unsupported cipher suite: TLS_ECDH_ECDSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA256 for TLSv1
  Ignoring unsupported cipher suite: TLS_ECDH_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA256 for TLSv1
  Ignoring unsupported cipher suite: TLS_DHE_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA256 for TLSv1
  Ignoring unsupported cipher suite: TLS_DHE_DSS_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA256 for TLSv1
  Ignoring unsupported cipher suite: TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA256 for TLSv1.1
  Ignoring unsupported cipher suite: TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA256 for TLSv1.1
  Ignoring unsupported cipher suite: TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA256 for TLSv1.1
  Ignoring unsupported cipher suite: TLS_ECDH_ECDSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA256 for TLSv1.1
  Ignoring unsupported cipher suite: TLS_ECDH_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA256 for TLSv1.1
  Ignoring unsupported cipher suite: TLS_DHE_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA256 for TLSv1.1
  Ignoring unsupported cipher suite: TLS_DHE_DSS_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA256 for TLSv1.1
  %% No cached client session
  *** ClientHello, TLSv1.2
  RandomCookie:  GMT: 1402182685 bytes = { 227, 155, 148, 161, 7, 104, 221, 182, 254, 133, 216, 198, 118, 211, 223, 229, 43, 82, 207, 1, 102, 245, 112, 117, 253, 69, 43, 162 }
  Session ID:  {}
  Cipher Suites: [TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA256, TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA256, TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA256, TLS_ECDH_ECDSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA256, TLS_ECDH_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA256, TLS_DHE_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA256, TLS_DHE_DSS_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA256, TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA, TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA, TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA, TLS_ECDH_ECDSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA, TLS_ECDH_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA, TLS_DHE_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA, TLS_DHE_DSS_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA, TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_AES_128_GCM_SHA256, TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_128_GCM_SHA256, TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_128_GCM_SHA256, TLS_ECDH_ECDSA_WITH_AES_128_GCM_SHA256, TLS_ECDH_RSA_WITH_AES_128_GCM_SHA256, TLS_DHE_RSA_WITH_AES_128_GCM_SHA256, TLS_DHE_DSS_WITH_AES_128_GCM_SHA256, TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_3DES_EDE_CBC_SHA, TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_3DES_EDE_CBC_SHA, SSL_RSA_WITH_3DES_EDE_CBC_SHA, TLS_ECDH_ECDSA_WITH_3DES_EDE_CBC_SHA, TLS_ECDH_RSA_WITH_3DES_EDE_CBC_SHA, SSL_DHE_RSA_WITH_3DES_EDE_CBC_SHA, SSL_DHE_DSS_WITH_3DES_EDE_CBC_SHA, TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_RC4_128_SHA, TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_RC4_128_SHA, SSL_RSA_WITH_RC4_128_SHA, TLS_ECDH_ECDSA_WITH_RC4_128_SHA, TLS_ECDH_RSA_WITH_RC4_128_SHA, SSL_RSA_WITH_RC4_128_MD5, TLS_EMPTY_RENEGOTIATION_INFO_SCSV]
  Compression Methods:  { 0 }
  Extension elliptic_curves, curve names: {secp256r1, sect163k1, sect163r2, secp192r1, secp224r1, sect233k1, sect233r1, sect283k1, sect283r1, secp384r1, sect409k1, sect409r1, secp521r1, sect571k1, sect571r1, secp160k1, secp160r1, secp160r2, sect163r1, secp192k1, sect193r1, sect193r2, secp224k1, sect239k1, secp256k1}
  Extension ec_point_formats, formats: [uncompressed]
  Extension signature_algorithms, signature_algorithms: SHA512withECDSA, SHA512withRSA, SHA384withECDSA, SHA384withRSA, SHA256withECDSA, SHA256withRSA, SHA224withECDSA, SHA224withRSA, SHA1withECDSA, SHA1withRSA, SHA1withDSA, MD5withRSA
  Extension server_name, server_name: [type=host_name (0), value=hubic.com]
  ***
  [write] MD5 and SHA1 hashes:  len = 225
  0000: 01 00 00 DD 03 03 54 94   9C 1D E3 9B 94 A1 07 68  ......T........h
  0010: DD B6 FE 85 D8 C6 76 D3   DF E5 2B 52 CF 01 66 F5  ......v...+R..f.
  0020: 70 75 FD 45 2B A2 00 00   46 C0 23 C0 27 00 3C C0  pu.E+...F.#.'.&lt;.
  0030: 25 C0 29 00 67 00 40 C0   09 C0 13 00 2F C0 04 C0  %.).g.@...../...
  0040: 0E 00 33 00 32 C0 2B C0   2F 00 9C C0 2D C0 31 00  ..3.2.+./...-.1.
  0050: 9E 00 A2 C0 08 C0 12 00   0A C0 03 C0 0D 00 16 00  ................
  0060: 13 C0 07 C0 11 00 05 C0   02 C0 0C 00 04 00 FF 01  ................
  0070: 00 00 6E 00 0A 00 34 00   32 00 17 00 01 00 03 00  ..n...4.2.......
  0080: 13 00 15 00 06 00 07 00   09 00 0A 00 18 00 0B 00  ................
  0090: 0C 00 19 00 0D 00 0E 00   0F 00 10 00 11 00 02 00  ................
  00A0: 12 00 04 00 05 00 14 00   08 00 16 00 0B 00 02 01  ................
  00B0: 00 00 0D 00 1A 00 18 06   03 06 01 05 03 05 01 04  ................
  00C0: 03 04 01 03 03 03 01 02   03 02 01 02 02 01 01 00  ................
  00D0: 00 00 0E 00 0C 00 00 09   68 75 62 69 63 2E 63 6F  ........hubic.co
  00E0: 6D                                                 m
  main, WRITE: TLSv1.2 Handshake, length = 225
  [Raw write]: length = 230
  0000: 16 03 03 00 E1 01 00 00   DD 03 03 54 94 9C 1D E3  ...........T....
  0010: 9B 94 A1 07 68 DD B6 FE   85 D8 C6 76 D3 DF E5 2B  ....h......v...+
  0020: 52 CF 01 66 F5 70 75 FD   45 2B A2 00 00 46 C0 23  R..f.pu.E+...F.#
  0030: C0 27 00 3C C0 25 C0 29   00 67 00 40 C0 09 C0 13  .'.&lt;.%.).g.@....
  0040: 00 2F C0 04 C0 0E 00 33   00 32 C0 2B C0 2F 00 9C  ./.....3.2.+./..
  0050: C0 2D C0 31 00 9E 00 A2   C0 08 C0 12 00 0A C0 03  .-.1............
  0060: C0 0D 00 16 00 13 C0 07   C0 11 00 05 C0 02 C0 0C  ................
  0070: 00 04 00 FF 01 00 00 6E   00 0A 00 34 00 32 00 17  .......n...4.2..
  0080: 00 01 00 03 00 13 00 15   00 06 00 07 00 09 00 0A  ................
  0090: 00 18 00 0B 00 0C 00 19   00 0D 00 0E 00 0F 00 10  ................
  00A0: 00 11 00 02 00 12 00 04   00 05 00 14 00 08 00 16  ................
  00B0: 00 0B 00 02 01 00 00 0D   00 1A 00 18 06 03 06 01  ................
  00C0: 05 03 05 01 04 03 04 01   03 03 03 01 02 03 02 01  ................
  00D0: 02 02 01 01 00 00 00 0E   00 0C 00 00 09 68 75 62  .............hub
  00E0: 69 63 2E 63 6F 6D                                  ic.com
  [Raw read]: length = 5
  0000: 15 03 00 00 02                                     .....
  [Raw read]: length = 2
  0000: 02 46                                              .F
  main, READ: SSLv3 Alert, length = 2
  main, RECV TLSv1.2 ALERT:  fatal, protocol_version
  main, called closeSocket()
  main, handling exception: javax.net.ssl.SSLException: Received fatal alert: protocol_version
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>No exception is thrown if I try to access e.g. <a href="https://google.com" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://google.com</a>. So it guess SSL with Java cannot be completely broken on my system but it has to do with the combination with hubic.com.</p>
  
  <p>The error <code>protocol_version</code> is not very helpful, but in <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/16541627/javax-net-ssl-sslexception-received-fatal-alert-protocol-version">this question</a> it is suggested that my client uses another protocol version than the server (I guess "server and client could not agree on a protocol" would be more accurate).</p>
  
  <p>How do I figure out which protocol versions the server will agree on and how do I enable those in my client? And should I worry about the issue (e.g. like does hubic only allow an old unsupported protocol? (Firefox certainly does not complain about anything unsecure).</p>