Downloading Eclipse plug-in update sites for offline installation

Question

A plug-in that I want to install provides an update site for installation. However, the Eclipse installation that I want to install it to is on a machine that is not connected to the Internet. Is there a way for me to access the site (HTTP, FTP, etc.) to download the files in it for offline installation?

Answer 1

Eclipse offers a way of mirroring these sites automatically, either through the command line or through ant tasks.

Mirror based on p2 information

$eclipse_home/eclipse -application org.eclipse.equinox.p2.artifact.repository.mirrorApplication -source $1 -destination $2 $eclipse_home/eclipse -application org.eclipse.equinox.p2.metadata.repository.mirrorApplication -source $1 -destination $2 

Reference: Equinox p2 repository mirroring

Mirror based on site.xml information

java -jar $eclipse_home/plugins/org.eclipse.equinox.launcher_*.jar -application org.eclipse.update.core.standaloneUpdate -command mirror -from $from -to $to 

Reference: Running the update manager from the command line

You can follow the evolution of these scripts in my script repository.

Answer 2

After struggling with mirroring for some time, I realized that it is much easier (at least, for me) to use "wget" instead.

In short:

1. Download the site:

   wget --recursive --no-parent http://url.of/updatesite

2. Take the content of the downloaded update site and move it to your offline environment

3. Add your offline update site directory to the list of available software sites via "Local..." button.

You can read about it with more details here.