Upgrading Eclipse

I got a question on how to upgrade Eclipse from 3.2 to 3.3. This is a perfectly valid question, as Eclipse does not have a an automated "upgrade" installation. Upgrading is easy enough though:

• Unpack the new version of Eclipse in a different location from the old version.
• Start up the new Eclipse installation.
• When asked for the workspace, either point to your existing workspace, or create a new one (recommended).

If you select the existing workspace, Eclipse will upgrade this workspace automatically. "Upgrade" is a kind of loose term here because a lot of settings and artifacts are not really versioned and work unchanged on multiple versions of Eclipse.

I prefer a new workspace just to prevent any weird bugs and issues later on. Stuff is tested better on a clean workspace, instead of a workspace filled with junk from old versions. Working on a separate workspace also makes it easy to fall back to the old version if needed. This is easy to do in Eclipse as well:

• Create a new workspace.
• Go to the File > Import… menu option.
• Select "Existing projects into workspace".
• Go to your old workspace, select the projects you want, and check "copy projects into workspace".

You can import/export your preferences using these wizards too.

Some other things to think about:

• Validate that all additional plug-ins you use also support the new version of Eclipse.
• If you are collaborating with other people, it's best to all use the same version of Eclipse.
• If you are using an Eclipse based product, use the installers of that product. Do not try to mix-and-match plug-ins from a product package with a different base installation from Eclipse.org. It probably won't work and will void your support on the product.
• If you want to upgrade your own plug-ins, look for "migration" topics in the Eclipse Help system (just search for the word "migration").

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