Skip to content

Portable plugin deployment

Portable plugin deployment is a method for extracting Eclipse plugins—typically installed via the Eclipse Marketplace—so they can be managed as standalone, portable files in the dropins directory^[600-developer-tools-extract-the-eclipse-plugin.md]. This approach facilitates manual management and backup of extension functionality independent of the main Eclipse installation mechanism^[600-developer-tools-extract-the-eclipse-plugin.md].

Procedure

To deploy a plugin portably, the workflow involves installation, extraction, and relocation^[600-developer-tools-extract-the-eclipse-plugin.md]:

  1. Install Plugin: Download a ZIP version of Eclipse (or STS) and install the desired plugin (e.g., "Console Grep") via the Eclipse Marketplace^[600-developer-tools-extract-the-eclipse-plugin.md].
  2. Locate Files: Navigate to the Eclipse directory and copy the files associated with the newly installed plugin, paying close attention to their internal directory structure^[600-developer-tools-extract-the-eclipse-plugin.md].
  3. Uninstall: Uninstall the plugin via the Marketplace and close Eclipse^[600-developer-tools-extract-the-eclipse-plugin.md].
  4. Deploy to Dropins: Paste the copied files into the dropins subdirectory within the Eclipse folder^[600-developer-tools-extract-the-eclipse-plugin.md].
  5. Verify: Restart Eclipse to load the plugin from the new location^[600-developer-tools-extract-the-eclipse-plugin.md].

Directory Structure

The extracted plugin must be organized under the dropins folder using a specific hierarchy to be recognized correctly^[600-developer-tools-extract-the-eclipse-plugin.md].

The target structure within dropins typically looks like this^[600-developer-tools-extract-the-eclipse-plugin.md]:

eclipse/
    dropins/
         [plugin-name]/eclipse/
            features/   # Paste 'features' files here
            plugins/    # Paste 'plugins' files here

The top-level folder (e.g., console) acts as a container for the plugin, and its name can be chosen arbitrarily^[600-developer-tools-extract-the-eclipse-plugin.md].

Sources

  • 600-developer-tools-extract-the-eclipse-plugin.md