Eclipse, AppEngine: java.lang.RuntimeException: Cannot get the System Java Compiler. Please use a JDK, not a JRE

Question

I'm getting this error when trying to deploy to Google AppEngine. I DO have JDK selected!

------------ Deploying frontend ------------

Preparing to deploy:
    Created staging directory at: 'C:\Users\Chloe\AppData\Local\Temp\appcfg8759974391667459604.tmp'
    Scanning for jsp files.
    Compiling jsp files.
java.lang.RuntimeException: Cannot get the System Java Compiler. Please use a JDK, not a JRE.

Debugging information may be found in C:\Users\Chloe\AppData\Local\Temp\appengine-deploy6465203991005024943.log

C:\Users\Chloe\AppData\Local\Temp\appengine-deploy6465203991005024943.log:

Unable to update:
java.lang.RuntimeException: Cannot get the System Java Compiler. Please use a JDK, not a JRE.
    at com.google.appengine.tools.admin.Application.compileJavaFiles(Application.java:814)
    at com.google.appengine.tools.admin.Application.compileJsps(Application.java:801)
    at com.google.appengine.tools.admin.Application.createStagingDirectory(Application.java:615)
    at com.google.appengine.tools.admin.AppAdminImpl.doUpdate(AppAdminImpl.java:418)
    at com.google.appengine.tools.admin.AppAdminImpl.update(AppAdminImpl.java:55)
    at com.google.appengine.eclipse.core.proxy.AppEngineBridgeImpl.deploy(AppEngineBridgeImpl.java:433)
    at com.google.appengine.eclipse.core.deploy.DeployProjectJob.runInWorkspace(DeployProjectJob.java:155)
    at org.eclipse.core.internal.resources.InternalWorkspaceJob.run(InternalWorkspaceJob.java:38)
    at org.eclipse.core.internal.jobs.Worker.run(Worker.java:53)

I've cleaned the project, re-installed Eclipse to latest version, re-installed all plugins, etc. I've also edited Program Files\Java\eclipse-kepler-4.3\eclipse.ini with

-vm
C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.7.0_17\bin\javaw.exe

at the top and before -vmargs.

Answer 1

Go to Eclipse folder where you have eclipse installed (say c:\eclipse). You will find eclipse.ini file which eclipse uses to while starting. Add the following line -vm C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.7.0_25\bin\javaw.exe

change the above java path with your location of JDK. It should be able to use this JDK and will compile and deploy to app engine.