In the past I've always downloaded the new version, and then manually reinstalled all of the plugins I use - but this is tedious in the extreme.
Is there a way to upgrade Eclipse "in-place"? How do I do this exactly?
The approach below worked for me, and seems to be the easiest. It's from this eclipse FAQ and slightly modified for clarity:
For upgrading from Eclipse 3.5+ to 3.6+
Help -> Install New Software
Enter the release update site url eg. 'http://download.eclipse.org/releases/indigo' <- if upgrading from 3.5 or 3.6 (Helios) to 3.7 (Indigo)
Click Add
Click Cancel
Help -> Check for Updates
Note: The original URL has changed. (I've left the original link for posterity)
following the NEW FAQ instructions
Also you may have to remove any incompatible updates plugins before proceeding.
(For Example: JBoss Tools has different versions for Helios and Indigo that are incompatible)
Update: I didn't try this when upgrading from 3.x to 4.x (Juno). I just set up a whole new workspace. I think I read somewhere that doing that is the safest approach to upgrading major versions.
As of 3.7 (Indigo), you may export/import install configurations via the
File > Import/Export > Install menu.
This allows you to install a new release of Eclipse, point it at your
existing workspace, and install your plugins from an older installed
copy.
If you always download all plugins manually and then deploy it by copying to dropins folder, then while migrating to newer version, just need to copy that folder to the new eclipse.
And even not all plugins will support newer version of Eclipse so I guess there is no really easy way available to do the migration.
The answer is, there is none. It's pointless to speculate here as to why the Eclipse community chooses not to make one. They haven't.
Related
To upgrade to a new version, the eclipse FAQ suggests to add a new repository and then install available updates. Upgrading to Neon, the corresponding repository is http://download.eclipse.org/releases/neon/.
On this page, it says:
NOTE: Due to structural changes you cannot update from a Mars (or prior) all-in-one package to a Neon version. If interested in the technical details, see bug 332989 and bug 490515.
I still tried to above procedure, but no updates were found. What is the best way to upgrade from Mars to Neon? A complete new installation? How do I preserve my settings?
The note on the repository page is right. Thanks to your report, I edited the FAQ to make it clear that upgrading packages from Mars to Neon is not supported.
Instead you need to to a fresh install for Neon (or later).
I tried to upgrade in the recommended way, by adding the repository links and doing an update, but then I got a lot of conflict messages. I foolishly tried to remove the conflicting software components, until it told me that Eclipse itself was the conflict! I posted my problem to the Eclipse Forums, and was told by a regular with tens of thousands of posts that Neon was so different that I should not even try to upgrade, just create a new installation. When I tried to do that however, I got lots of warnings "That the artifact download is progressing very slowly from ..."
It is not possible to upgrade from Mars (or earlier versions), so a new install is needed.
This can be in parallel with the old install. From the FAQ:
Fresh install
If you prefer not performing an update (for example
because some 3rd-party content isn't ready for the current release of
Eclipse IDE so the update reports conflicts), you can still download a
fresh install of the Eclipse IDE and install it in another location on
your filesystem, and use it together with the previous version.
To do so, download a new build from the Eclipse download Web site
(https://www.eclipse.org/downloads/eclipse-packages/) and run the
installer or unzip the archive in a new directory. We strongly
recommend against installing/unzipping over your existing version of
Eclipse IDE as it may corrupt your installation.
When you start a new version of Eclipse IDE, you can use the same
existing workspace folder that you were using with older version. The
workspace will be migrated to newer version and Eclipse IDE will to
reuse all configuration. The workspace is forward compatible
I downloaded STS 3.2.0 with Juno 3.8 a month a go. Last week it updated my STS to 3.3.0 without automatically.
I've checked that Kepler 4.3 has come out and would like to upgrade my STS installation to use that. I don't want to just install the new package from the website as I loose all my configs and such when I do that.
Can anyone help?
Edit:
Or can anyone explain to how I can copy my settings etc. to a new installation of STS?
I don't know STS. In a normal Eclipse installation, you can run Help -> Install New Software, add the Kepler update site using the "Available sites" link, close the dialog, run Help -> Check for Updates and Eclipse will update everything it can find, under the condition of not breaking dependencies.
Your settings are not lost, if you use your old workspace with your new installation (as the majority of settings has workspace scope and is stored within it). Therefore you can also try the following: Install a newly downloaded version of Kepler besides your existing Eclipse. Then in the new installation run File -> Import -> Installation -> From existing to have it automatically copy plugins from the old installation to the new one. Afterwards install whatever is missing using the installation menus described at the top or using Help -> Marketplace.
I just upgraded my STS from 3.3 to 3.5. The following method worked fine.
Open STS > Help > Check for updates > Choose the latest version and install (lists all plugins available for upgrade as well as STS).
Open STS(Spring Tools Suite)-> Help -> Check for Updates -> it will automatically updates with latest version.
Version: STS 3.8.0 requires a JDK 8 to run on top of.
STS 3.9.0 requires a JDK 8 to run on top of.
STS 3.9.4 requires a JDK8/9/10 to run on top of.
STS 3.9.6 requires a JDK8/9/10/11 to run on top of.
I'm working for a long time with Eclipse Helios 3.6 and have a lot of plugins installed from the Eclipse webpage. Now, I wanted switch to the Eclipse Version Juno 4.2
My question: Can I use the old plugins from my Helios or must I reinstall the plugins ?
I am not too sure, but Eclipse should be backwards compatible. Just add the update site for Eclipse 4.2, run the upgrade and the plugins should continue to work. Sometimes features (that are possibly used by the plugins) are marked as deprecated, but I think they are not removed from Eclipse.
Other than that: You could make a backup (or a simple copy) and try it out to be sure.
Now that the new version of eclipse is out should I move to immediately? If my plug-ins work in Galileo will it work in the indigo?
There is no way to know without trying or researching what the particular plugin providers state regarding Indigo compatibility. Many plugins will work just fine. Some will not.
I would recommend starting a separate Indigo install along side your working Galileo install. Then install your plugins into the new install one by one. If everything installs and appears to be working, you can safely transition. If it doesn't, you will know which plugins are incompatible. Maybe a newer version exists or is on the way.
I am planning not to switch before SR2 is available. In the past new Eclipse versions had some minor bugs and I don't see the big advantage of Indigo for my daily work.
It is a risk worth taking. First, create a copy of your eclipse installation and upgrade and see if your plugins are working fine.
If those are working it's good to go Indigo.
All the best with Indigo.
I've got my Eclipse 3.4 envirnoment set up nice and cozy the way I like it. Took me some time too, to find all the plugins (Mylin, PDT, Subclipse), set all the settings, etc. Now I see that some of the plugins (like PDT) only support 3.5 in their latest versions.
Is it possible to update from 3.4 to 3.5? I'd hate to do it all again.
I read in some mailing list where they noted that it's possible, but the conversation trailed off in another direction. Google wasn't much help, and Eclipse's documentation either.
All of your settings are actually stored as part of your workspace. So you could do a fresh install of the latest version of Eclipse, add the extra plugins that you want (many of which will have newer versions for Eclipse 3.5) and when you launch, just make sure you point to your old workspace.
Help -> Software Updates... -> Available Software tab -> Add Site...
Enter the update site for the Galileo (3.5) release train: http://download.eclipse.org/releases/galileo
Now go back to the Installed Software tab and click the Update... button.
After some computation you should be presented with a list of available updates (or some cryptic errors about how your current environment cannot be updated due to compatibility issues).
This is what I did.
1.- My workspace was in c:\Users\me\workspace.
I copied this folder to c:\users\me\eclipse\workspace-3.4 and to c:\users\me\eclipse\workspace-3.5
So now I have twice the same, just with different names.
2.- Extracted eclipse-SDK-3.5-win32.zip to C:\program files\eclipse-SDK-3.5-win32
3.- Run Eclipse 3.4 and changed the workspace from c:\Users\me\workspace to c:\users\me\eclipse\workspace-3.4. Then I closed Eclipse.
4.- Run Eclipse 3.5 and selected c:\users\me\eclipse\workspace-3.5 as the workspace location (you can also use the -data argument I think).
5.- Downloaded and installed the PDT plugin (I develop in PHP).
And "Voila", now I'm able to run Eclipse 3.4 and 3.5.
BTW, even if I had to install the PDT plug in, I didn't had to touch the configuration. It took the former one from the workspace folder.
There is some information at help.eclipse.org/galileo/index.jsp, look in Workbench User Guide\Tasks\Upgrading Eclipse.