I'm using Eclipse and have plenty of plugins installed and configured to my needs. Is there any good way to backup these plugins and the configuration of them. I want to be able to replay these plugins in futures eclipse version (as long as they are compatible) and on different PCs.
I know I could simply archive the whole eclipse/ folder, but I find this a little inelegant.
There are two parts to your question:
Copying your settings between Eclipse installs
Copying your installed plugins between Eclipse installs
#1 is easy to do. You can export your Eclipse preferences from the File -> Export... -> Preferences. The resulting file contains all of your preferences for each installed plugin. It is portable between Eclipse installs and versions.
#2 is not really the "Eclipse" way of doing things. It is possible, but you need to structure your installed plugins differently. Rather than using the standard update manager to install your plugins, you can use the dropins folder. What you need to do is to copy every feature and plugin that you want to be shared across multiple installs into a zip file with the following structure:
eclipse/
features/
plugins/
Then you can unzip the file into the dropins folder of all the Eclipses that you want.
More information on dropins:
http://help.eclipse.org/helios/index.jsp?topic=/org.eclipse.platform.doc.isv/reference/misc/p2_dropins_format.html
P2 installation replication is a tool to help you backup installed plug-ins, you could install it via Eclipse Marketplace.
According to the settings of configuration, most of them are persisted in your workspace. So you could backup your workspace/.metadata folder.
While inelegant, archiving the entire eclipse folder is also insufficient. I think you want to archive the following:
The entire eclipse installation folder.
The .metadata folder of every workspace.
By doing this, you will not only preserve the plugins and their settings, but you will also preserve an eclipse installation in which you know your plugins work.
I've made small service for myself to synchronize Eclipse settings. Currently it supports Java Templates + Bash Aliases. Could be useful for someone else.
http://confsync.com
Related
My "~/eclipse" folder contains the following subfolders: about_files, configuration, dropins, features, p2, plugins, readme.
Is it important to include this folder, or some of its subfolders, in the regular backup of my hard-drive? Or are they just standard files that come with the installation and can always be restored by re-installing Eclipse?
Making a backup of the complete eclipse folder makes sense as it contains all the plug-ins which you have installed. Sometimes eclipse breaks because of a new plug-in or just any random problem. Then it's great to have a backup and you don't need to install every plug-in which you had before.
I'm new to Eclipse, there is a project at work that is set up and running, I want to set it up just like that on my home PC so I can look at it in my spare time, so I zipped up the project directory, and unzipped it on my home PC, but it didn't work like Netbeans, seems missing lots of parts/plug-ings ? How do I know what plug-ins are needed for the project at work, so I can install them at home, the project is large and someone else developed it, is there a way in Eclipse to zip up all the plugins related to the project with the project and unzip and install them automatically ?
The easiest way to reproduce the installed plugins should be File->Export->Install->Installed Items to File. The resulting file can be imported on your machine using File->Import->Install->Software items from file and will lead to installing all plugins which are available on the first machine.
Notes:
This requires that the plugins from the first machine can be found via public update sites, as that exported file will only contain a list of meta data from where to install the plugins, not the actual jar files.
The export includes all plugins of the first machine. You can deselect some of them, but there is no automated way to find only the ones needed for your project.
Requires Eclipse 3.7 or newer.
I have downloaded a RAR file from the following location, to be (manually) installed to Eclipse (Helios). How can I perform the manual installation?
http://sourceforge.net/projects/eclipsesql/files/SQL%20Explorer%20RCP%20%28exc%20JRE%29/3.6.1/sqlexplorer_rcp-3.6.1.macosx.cocoa.x86.tgz/download
Instead of putting it directly into the plugins directory, it's better to use the dropins directory as this was created just for this purpose. Have a look here: http://wiki.eclipse.org/Equinox_p2_Getting_Started#Dropins
For sqlexplorer: do not download the full RCP version (as your link does), this one is standalone. Get this one instead: http://sourceforge.net/projects/eclipsesql/files/SQL%20Explorer%20Plugin/3.6.1/sqlexplorer_plugin-3.6.1_SR2.zip/download
Extract this to $eclipse_home$\dropins\sqlexplorer and restart Eclipse.
BUT: Using the SqlExplorer Update Site (http://eclipsesql.sourceforge.net/) would be an even better option (Help>Install new Software)
I have tried the installation with the explanation about the dropins folder and had to tweak it like that:
Unzip the distribution into your eclipse installation directory under the folder dropins. Your structure should be:
eclipse/
dropins/
eclipse/
features/
plugins/
Remove all other files and directories. There is some missing piece (file contents.xml), so that the distribution is no real p2 repository which leads to an error. The directories plugins and features are sufficient.
Restart your eclipse (I have done it with option -clean, not sure if that is necessary).
SQLExplorer is then installed and visible in the help, in different menus and with a new perspective.
I even was able to use it to have a look at my SQLite3 database of a rails3 application. Wow!! So I will give it a try.
From their website (http://www.sqlexplorer.org/):
Eclipse Plugin
Download
Download the Eclipse SQL Explorer plugin and extract the zip file in your eclipse directory (requires Eclipse 3.3 or better).
After restarting eclipse with the -clean option, a new SQL Explorer perspective should be available.
Eclipse Update Site
You can install and update Eclipse SQL Explorer via the eclipse update mechanism. The update site for Eclipse SQL Explorer is http://eclipsesql.sourceforge.net/
I always go for the update site option if they present it, it's easier and lets you do updates easily. To use the update mechanism just select Help > Insall New Software... then enter the update site, press Add and go through the wizard.
I am behind an intranet that does not have access to the download sites. Assuming I have access to all of the correct zip and jar files. What are the step by step instructions to get Eclipse to the point where I can go to Windows -> Preferences and see the Google entry?
1) I don't have access to the http://code.google.com/eclipse/docs/getting_started.html site because I am on a closed network.
2) I tried using the dropins folder and when I re-open Eclipse and go to Windows->Preferences "Google" isn't listed.
Any ideas?
The official zip-file installation instructions are at http://code.google.com/eclipse/docs/install-from-zip.html
This uses the Eclipse dropins mechanism, which helps Eclipse to pick up the new plugins in a clean way, quote:
... the dropins folder can be used much like the plugins directory was used in the past. A subtle twist on old behavior here is that plug-ins and features added to the dropins folder are properly installed into the system rather than being forced in.
Note:
Make sure, that you extract the zip file into the correct destination. It can easily happen, that it gets extracted e.g. into some subdirectory - so please check twice. You should have the following structure:
eclipse (this is your Eclipse installation folder)
dropins
eclipse (this is the directory created by extracting the zip file)
features
com.google.*
plugins
com.google.*
features
(your already installed features)
plugins
(your already installed plugins)
...
Then (re-)start Eclipse.
Just install the plugin from here and you are set to go.
http://code.google.com/eclipse/docs/getting_started.html
If you get a correct zip file for plugin, you will see "plugins" and "features" as soon as you open the zip file.
If your eclipse is in a location "c:\eclipse", extract the zip file into "c:\eclipse". The files will go into the corresponding folders.
Drop them in the plugins folder
I've just installed a new Linux distro on my box and want to move my Eclipse home from the old /home/username/ to my new one. Because I changed the desktop, I don't want to copy all hidden folders from ~/. So which directories do I need copy in order to have all my installed plugins?
I've already copied ~/.eclipse/ and it definitely contains files related to the plugins but Eclipse won't load them. Any hints?
We've eventually found the directory containing all that stuff by accident. Somehow we broke it and Eclipse refused to start on my coworker's computer:-)
See ~/workspace/.metadata/.plugins or wherever your workspace resides.
As far as I know, Eclipse stores its plugins in its installation directory (eclipse). They might reside in eclipse/plugins or eclipse/dropins. You can copy the whole eclipse directory from your old box.