How to Install Eclipse?

Sophia Al-Mansoor
Sophia Al-Mansoor
• • 13 min read

I Want to Install the Latest Version of Eclipse but the Ubuntu Software Centre Contains an Older Version. Is There a Ppa or Some Other Way to Install Latest...

How to Install Eclipse?

I want to install the latest version of Eclipse but the Ubuntu Software Centre contains an older version.

Is there a PPA or some other way to install latest Eclipse? Please describe the steps for full installation.

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19 Answers

If you've downloaded Eclipse from their official website, follow these steps for the installation.

  1. Extract the eclipse.XX.YY.tar.gz using

    tar -zxvf eclipse.XX.YY.tar.gz

  2. Become root and Copy the extracted folder to /opt

    sudo mv eclipse.XX.YY /opt

  3. Create a desktop file and install it:

    gedit eclipse.desktop

    and copy the following to the eclipse.desktop file

    [Desktop Entry]
Name=Eclipse 
Type=Application
Exec=env UBUNTU_MENUPROXY=0 eclipse44
Terminal=false
Icon=eclipse
Comment=Integrated Development Environment
NoDisplay=false
Categories=Development;IDE;
Name[en]=Eclipse

    and make sure that it has executable permission, then execute the following command to automatically install it in the unity:

    sudo desktop-file-install eclipse.desktop

  4. Create a symlink in /usr/local/bin using

    sudo ln -s /opt/eclipse/eclipse /usr/local/bin/eclipse44

  5. For eclipse icon to be displayed in dash, eclipse icon can be added as

    sudo cp /opt/eclipse/icon.xpm /usr/share/pixmaps/eclipse.xpm

  6. Don't forget that you need to have either OpenJDK or Sun Java installed to be able to run eclipse. Check this question for more information about Java installation. Here is a simple example of installing Open JDK 1.6:

    sudo apt-get install openjdk-6-jdk

  7. Launch Eclipse and then give it the required permissions to modify the osgi file:

    sudo chown -R $USER:$USER /opt/eclipse/configuration/org.eclipse.osgi

    NB! You must launch Eclipse first, because the org.eclipse.osgi directory is created only after the first launch.

That's it.

19

Must Read

The preferred method: Software Center

  1. In Ubuntu software center select Eclipse. I installed the Extensible Tool Platform and Java IDE as well, but installing that is optional.

  2. Enter your password in the authentication dialog. This will get you 3.7.1 inside of a package management system.

The least preferred method: Portable

For a portable installation you can still download directly from the Eclipse website. This gives you the ability to customize several Eclipse installations for different languages CDT, Java, and PyDev or Aptana for instance. It doesn't allow automatic updates. Installing through Software Center is always the preferred method.

I tested the portable 3.7.1 and 3.7.2 tar balls and they work just fine on 12.04 LTS.

An added disadvantage to portable installs is that you have to update your launcher if you move the folder or launch it directly.

10

How to install Eclipse 4.2 on Ubuntu 12.04

Since the Eclipse packages in the Ubuntu repositories are out of date, if we want to install latest releases, we are going to have to do it manually. You can just download the tar.gz file from eclipse.org.

  1. Download Eclipse. I got eclipse-jee-juno-SR1-linux-gtk.tar.gz

  2. Extract it by executing a command line

    tar -xzf eclipse-jee-juno-SR1-linux-gtk.tar.gz

    Or with Archive Manager extraction.

  3. Move extracted eclipse folder to /opt/ folder

    mv eclipse /opt/
sudo chown -R root:root /opt/eclipse
sudo chmod -R +r /opt/eclipse

  4. Create an eclipse executable in your user path

    sudo touch /usr/bin/eclipse
sudo chmod 755 /usr/bin/eclipse

    Create a file named eclipse in /usr/bin/ with your preferred editor (nano, gedit, vi...)

    Copy this into it

    #!/bin/sh    
export ECLIPSE_HOME="/opt/eclipse"
$ECLIPSE_HOME/eclipse $*

    And save the file

  5. Create a Gnome menu item

    Create a file named eclipse.desktop in /usr/share/applications/ with your preferred editor (nano, gedit, vi...)

    Copy this into it

    [Desktop Entry]
Encoding=UTF-8
Name=Eclipse
Comment=Eclipse IDE
Exec=eclipse
Icon=/opt/eclipse/icon.xpm
Terminal=false
Type=Application
Categories=GNOME;Application;Development;
StartupNotify=true

    And save the file

  6. Launch Eclipse

    /opt/eclipse/eclipse -clean &

  7. Now you can Lock Eclipse to the launcher bar by clicking right button on Lock to Laucher

6

I recommend you to download directly from the eclipse website. the installation process very easy, just extract the files tar.gz, to remove it is also quite easy, simply by deleting the eclipse folder :D

1

From your desktop, Click on the Ubuntu Software Center

Once it opens do a search for Eclipse

When the search is done, you will see Eclipse listed. all you have to do is click on install, sit back and relax until the installation is done.

If you still have any questions, do not hesitate to ask.

2

This is the instructions copied from

Sophia Al-Mansoor

Sophia Al-Mansoor

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