Eclipse is an open source and free multi-language and multi-platform software development program that used to build JAVA based web applications. It is written in Java program and can be used to develop Java based applications and other various plugins, including languages like C, C++, PHP, Perl, Python, Ruby and Rails framework.

Install Eclipse 4.2.1 in RHEL / CentOS / Fedora

It provides common UI (User Interface) navigation model for working with tools and it was developed to run on multiple OS (Operating Systems) by providing robust integration with each OS. Eclipse was one of the first IDE’s (Integrated Development Environment) program to run under GNU operating system.

This guide shows you how to install latest version of Eclipse Classic 4.2.1 on RHEL 6.3/6.2/6.1/6/5.8/5.6, CentOS 6.3/6.2/6.1/6/5.8/5.6 and Fedora 17,16,15,14,13,12 using Eclipse source files.

Install Eclipse Classic 4.2.1 in RHEL, CentOS and Fedora

Install Java SDK 6

First, you need to install Java SDK 6 package using the following YUM command.

# yum install java

Download Eclipse Classic 4.2.1

Download Eclipse Classic 4.2.1 for system OS bit, by choosing following link with Wget command or you can also download it from http://www.eclipse.org/downloads/?osType=linux.

For RHEL/CentOS/Fedora 32-bit OS

# wget http://ftp.jaist.ac.jp/pub/eclipse/eclipse/downloads/drops4/R-4.2.1-201209141800/eclipse-SDK-4.2.1-linux-gtk.tar.gz

For RHEL/CentOS/Fedora 64-bit OS

# wget http://ftp.jaist.ac.jp/pub/eclipse/eclipse/downloads/drops4/R-4.2.1-201209141800/eclipse-SDK-4.2.1-linux-gtk-x86_64.tar.gz

Extracting Eclipse Classic 4.2.1

Unpack it under /opt directory with the help of Tar command with -C switch. For more examples of tar command visit THIS PAGE.

## For 32-Bit OS ##
# tar -xvzf eclipse-SDK-4.2.1-linux-gtk.tar.gz -C /opt

## For 64-Bit OS ##
# tar -xvzf eclipse-SDK-4.2.1-linux-gtk-x86_64.tar.gz -C /opt

Setting Execute Permissions to Eclipse files

Set executable permission on all files under eclipse directory.

# chmod -R +r /opt/eclipse

Creating Eclipse executable Binary file

Create eclipse executable binary file and set permission to it as shown below.

# touch /usr/bin/eclipse
# chmod 755 /usr/bin/eclipse

Create the following file with VI editor.

# vi /usr/bin/eclipse

Add the following lines to it save and close the file.

export ECLIPSE_HOME="/opt/eclipse"

$ECLIPSE_HOME/eclipse $*

Creating GNOME Desktop Launcher

Create the GNOME desktop launcher file for eclipse with VI editor.

# vi /usr/share/applications/eclipse.desktop

Add the following lines of code it, save and close the file.

[Desktop Entry]
Encoding=UTF-8
Name=Eclipse
Comment=Eclipse SDK 4.2.1
Exec=eclipse
Icon=/opt/eclipse/icon.xpm
Terminal=false
Type=Application
Categories=GNOME;Application;Development;
StartupNotify=true

Starting Eclipse Launcher

From Desktop terminal run the following command to launch Eclipse.

# eclipse

Eclipse Screenshots

Check out running Eclipse screenshots under my CentOS 6.3 system.

Eclipse Startup Screen

Eclipse Startup Screen

Eclipse Create WorkPlace

Eclipse Create WorkPlace Screen

Eclipse Welcome Screen

Eclipse Welcome Screen