how to get Eclipse and Java to play on Yosemite

May 18

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eclipse_by_a4size_ska-d2dvgyj

If you’re trying to launch the Eclipse IDE with Apple’s old 1.6 JDK installed and find that you’re having trouble updating your Java installation, try the following procedure.

1. Remove Apple’s JRE
First up, let’s get rid of the end user plug in. In Terminal, do

sudo rm -rf /Library/Internet\ Plug-Ins/JavaAppletPlugin.plugin

2. Remove Apple’s JDK
Next, we need to uninstall the Java Development Kit. Do not mess about in the System’s Frameworks/JavaVM.framework folders. You’ll need those. Rather, in Terminal do

sudo rm -rf /System/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/1.6.0.jdk

If you’ve got later versions of the JDK (like 1.7), change the file name in the above command appropriately.

3. Install Oracle’s JDK for Mac
Next go to the Oracle Java page and look for the latest JDK. It’s important that you get the JDK for developers and NOT the JRE for end-users if you want to use Eclipse.

http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/downloads/index.html

Download and run the installer. You should now be able to launch Eclipse without problems. 🙂





Picture: Eclipse by A4size-ska

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About philastokes

Independent Software Developer, Technical Writer and Researcher at SentinelOne. Explaining the unexplainable with images, video and text. Scripting anything imaginable in AppleScript, Bash, Python and Swift.

Posted on May 18, 2015, in Developer, Java and tagged , , , . Bookmark the permalink. 2 Comments.

  1. alvarnell | May 18, 2015 at 14:10

    I don’t understand the need to remove Jave SE 6 components before installing Oracle’s Java SE 8. Many of us have had both installed without issue ever since Oracle took responsibility for OS X Java. Is there something unique to Eclipse IDE that requires Apple Java removal?

    • philastokes | May 18, 2015 at 14:23

      Eclipse will call the system’s default Java installation. If that happens to be Apple’s 1.6, then simply installing Oracle’s 1.8 won’t do you any good.

      You can muck about in Eclipse’s info.plist and edit that to tell it specifically which JDK you want it to use if you’re determined to keep both. However, I don’t really see any purpose in keeping Apple’s legacy installation. It’s not even part of the default OS X installation itself, and even Apple says if you need Java you should get it from Oracle.

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