diff --git a/.ci/travis/travis.sh b/.ci/travis/travis.sh
index 96c1221df9f..8269ea7f909 100755
--- a/.ci/travis/travis.sh
+++ b/.ci/travis/travis.sh
@@ -105,7 +105,7 @@ javac8)
   mkdir -p target
   for file in "${files[@]}"
   do
-    javac -d target "${file}"
+    javac --release 8 -d target "${file}"
   done
   ;;
 
diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index eab6693ecb2..2bcdecc2480 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -18,10 +18,6 @@ branches:
   only:
     - master
 
-#install:
-# moved to azure-pipelines.yml
-#  - gem install chef-utils:16.6.14 mdl
-
 jobs:
   fast_finish: true
   include:
@@ -51,7 +47,7 @@ jobs:
     #    - CMD2="./.ci/travis/travis.sh verify-no-exception-configs"
     #    - CMD="$CMD1 && $CMD2"
 
-    - jdk: openjdk8
+    - jdk: openjdk11
       env:
         - DESC="no-exception-openjdk9-lucene-and-others-javadoc"
         - CMD1="mvn -e --no-transfer-progress clean install -Pno-validations"
@@ -59,7 +55,7 @@ jobs:
         - CMD="$CMD1 && $CMD2"
         - USE_MAVEN_REPO="true"
 
-    - jdk: openjdk8
+    - jdk: openjdk11
       env:
         - DESC="no-exception-cassandra-storm-tapestry-javadoc"
         - CMD1="mvn -e --no-transfer-progress clean install -Pno-validations"
@@ -67,7 +63,7 @@ jobs:
         - CMD="$CMD1 && $CMD2"
         - USE_MAVEN_REPO="true"
 
-    - jdk: openjdk8
+    - jdk: openjdk11
       env:
         - DESC="no-exception-hadoop-apache-groovy-scouter-javadoc"
         - CMD1="mvn -e --no-transfer-progress clean install -Pno-validations"
@@ -75,7 +71,7 @@ jobs:
         - CMD="$CMD1 && $CMD2"
         - USE_MAVEN_REPO="true"
 
-    - jdk: openjdk8
+    - jdk: openjdk11
       env:
         - DESC="no-exception-openjdk9-lucene-and-others"
         - CMD1="mvn -e --no-transfer-progress clean install -Pno-validations"
diff --git a/azure-pipelines.yml b/azure-pipelines.yml
index ef802f72667..1aabaacc145 100644
--- a/azure-pipelines.yml
+++ b/azure-pipelines.yml
@@ -20,59 +20,59 @@ strategy:
   matrix:
     # testing age of pr
     'pr-age':
-      image: 'ubuntu-16.04'
+      image: 'ubuntu-20.04'
       cmd: "./.ci/travis/travis.sh pr-age"
       skipCache: true
 
     # spelling
     'spelling':
-      image: 'ubuntu-16.04'
+      image: 'ubuntu-20.04'
       cmd: "./.ci/test-spelling-unknown-words.sh"
       skipCache: true
 
-    # unit tests (openjdk8)
+    # unit tests (openjdk11)
     'test':
-      image: 'ubuntu-16.04'
+      image: 'ubuntu-20.04'
       cmd: "./.ci/travis/travis.sh test"
 
-    # unit tests in German locale (openjdk8)
+    # unit tests in German locale (openjdk11)
     'test-de':
-      image: 'ubuntu-16.04'
+      image: 'ubuntu-20.04'
       cmd: "./.ci/travis/travis.sh test-de"
 
-    # unit tests in Spanish locale (openjdk8)
+    # unit tests in Spanish locale (openjdk11)
     'test-es':
-      image: 'ubuntu-16.04'
+      image: 'ubuntu-20.04'
       cmd: "./.ci/travis/travis.sh test-es"
 
-    # unit tests in Finnish locale (openjdk8)
+    # unit tests in Finnish locale (openjdk11)
     'test-fi':
-      image: 'ubuntu-16.04'
+      image: 'ubuntu-20.04'
       cmd: "./.ci/travis/travis.sh test-fi"
 
-    # unit tests in French locale (openjdk8)
+    # unit tests in French locale (openjdk11)
     'test-fr':
-      image: 'ubuntu-16.04'
+      image: 'ubuntu-20.04'
       cmd: "./.ci/travis/travis.sh test-fr"
 
-    # unit tests in Chinese locale (openjdk8)
+    # unit tests in Chinese locale (openjdk11)
     'test-zh':
-      image: 'ubuntu-16.04'
+      image: 'ubuntu-20.04'
       cmd: "./.ci/travis/travis.sh test-zh"
 
-    # unit tests in Japanese locale (openjdk8)
+    # unit tests in Japanese locale (openjdk11)
     'test-ja':
-      image: 'ubuntu-16.04'
+      image: 'ubuntu-20.04'
       cmd: "./.ci/travis/travis.sh test-ja"
 
-    # unit tests in Portuguese locale (openjdk8)
+    # unit tests in Portuguese locale (openjdk11)
     'test-pt':
-      image: 'ubuntu-16.04'
+      image: 'ubuntu-20.04'
       cmd: "./.ci/travis/travis.sh test-pt"
 
-    # unit tests in Turkish locale (openjdk8)
+    # unit tests in Turkish locale (openjdk11)
     'test-tr':
-      image: 'ubuntu-16.04'
+      image: 'ubuntu-20.04'
       cmd: "./.ci/travis/travis.sh test-tr"
 
     # OpenJDK11 verify
@@ -80,11 +80,6 @@ strategy:
       image: 'ubuntu-20.04'
       cmd: "mvn -e --no-transfer-progress verify"
 
-    # MacOS JDK8 verify
-    'MacOS JDK8 verify':
-      image: 'macOS-10.14'
-      cmd: "export JAVA_HOME=$JAVA_HOME_8_X64 && mvn -e --no-transfer-progress verify"
-
     # MacOS JDK11 verify
     'MacOS JDK11 verify':
       image: 'macOS-10.14'
@@ -103,14 +98,14 @@ strategy:
     # moved back to Travis till we find a way to keep secrets in azure
     # ensure that all modules are used in no exception configs
     # 'verify-no-exception-configs':
-    #   image: 'ubuntu-16.04'
+    #   image: 'ubuntu-20.04'
     #   cmd: "./.ci/travis/travis.sh verify-no-exception-configs"
     #   skipCache: true
     #   needXmlstarlet: true
 
     # versions to update
     'versions':
-      image: 'ubuntu-16.04'
+      image: 'ubuntu-20.04'
       cmd: "./.ci/travis/travis.sh versions"
       onCronOnly: true
 
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 032b95bff45..4f4be2ad522 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -220,7 +220,7 @@
       8.40
     </maven.sevntu-checkstyle-check.checkstyle.version>
     <maven.versions.plugin.version>2.8.1</maven.versions.plugin.version>
-    <java.version>1.8</java.version>
+    <java.version>11</java.version>
     <pitest.plugin.version>1.6.6</pitest.plugin.version>
     <pitest.plugin.timeout.factor>10</pitest.plugin.timeout.factor>
     <pitest.plugin.timeout.constant>50000</pitest.plugin.timeout.constant>