Background
Eclipse is an integrated development environment (IDE) used in computer programming and is the most widely used Java IDE. It contains a base workspace and an extensible plug-in system for customizing the environment. You can download Eclipse from their official site -
It also supports installing the plugin to customize your IDE environment. If you have already used Eclipse you might know how you can install a new plugin. All you need is the sites link where the plugin is hosted and you are all set. You can do this from- Help -> Install new Software
In this post, I will show you how to install a plugin downloaded as a zip file from the local disk.
How to install Eclipse plugin manually from a local zip file
First, make sure your zip file is a valid Eclipse plugin. To verify that you can simply view contents of that zip. You should see two folders-
- features,
- plugins
- content.jar,
- artifacts.jar
Now go back to
- "Help" -> "Install New Software"
Now click on "Archive"
Now select the zip file you downloaded earlier. You can leave the name blank. Now click on Ok.
You can now see the plugin details. Select it for installation. Make sure you unselect "Contact all update sites...." checkbox as it can sometimes create problems.
Click "Next", accept terms and conditions and click "Finish".
You should now see a warning that you are installing unsigned content.
You can view the details if you want. Finally, click Ok and restart eclipse for changes to take effect.
Once installed you can go to -
- "Help" -> "Installation details"
You can also uninstall the plugin from here. Just click on the "Uninstall" button at the bottom.
