Menu
Is it possible to have multiple Eclipse installs on one computer? To make myself more clear, does Eclipse create any local settings files that other installs would mistake for their own?
703
You can have multiple Eclipse installations on the same machine, including different versions. Just unzip or untar them in different directories; they won't conflict.
Generally eclipse stores all its configuration under workspace. So, you have to copy your current workspace folder to any location you want and everything should work. Even if your projects are in different location and eclipse will not be able to open then just open eclipse and delete old project.
This simple process allows you to install Eclipse once and simply create a shortcut on the desktop for easy access by all users. Look for the “Eclipse IDE for Java Developers” package. Click on the Windows “32-bit” or “64- bit” links to match your operating system. You will be prompted to download a ZIP file.
I do Eclipse plug-in development, so I have 9 Eclipses installed, from 3.2 to 4.2
I put each Eclipse in a separate directory like this.
C:
eclipse-3.6 RCP
eclipse-4.2 Java
eclipse-4.2 RCP
I unzip the Eclipse package to the appropriate sub-directory.
I use Windows, so I create a shortcut for the Eclipse executable modules (eclipse.exe).
24 September 2015 update based on the comments:
I have a separate workspace for each of my Eclipse instances. When I want to upgrade one of my workspaces to a newer Eclipse, I do the following:
Unzip the newer Eclipse to a eclipse- directory. My most recent version now is Eclipse Luna (4.4.2).
Create a new workspace.
Carefully, one Java project at a time, copy the project code from the old workspace to the new workspace. Test and make sure everything in the Java project works.
Keep the old workspace as a backup for at least 6 months.
If you work on Eclipse plug-ins, step 3 is a bit different.
50
Yes, Eclipse support multiple installs. By default Eclipse installs in one directory with all the options, configs, etc. in different subdirectories. The only problem would be with choosing proper Eclipse install for given project (e.g. opening C++ project in Eclipse for php without C++ components).
29
Yes you can have multiple installs. Most settings are kept in the workspace's .metadata directory. There may be some other settings stored back in the install directory. I've never heard of any settings being saved off anywhere else.
1
If you love us? You can donate to us via Paypal or buy me a coffee so we can maintain and grow! Thank you!
Donate Us With
