Quicklinks

If you know what this is all about and you just need the update site details:

• name: GNU ARM Eclipse Plug-ins
• URL: http://gnuarmeclipse.sourceforge.net/updates

Prerequisites

Since these are Eclipse plug-ins, they obviously require a functional Eclipse CDT, which requires Java.

Java

The recommended package is the official Oracle Java SE. The OpenJDK Java used in Ubuntu is also fine. The minimum is JDK 1.5, or even JRE (the Java Runtime Environment), but, as said before, better use the latest JDK. On OS X the last Apple Java implementation is 1.6, so it is recommended to use the Oracle 1.7 or later.

For example, on Ubuntu 12.04 LTS, you can install the OpenJDK run-time and test if it was properly installed with the following commands:

$ sudo apt-get install openjdk-7-jre
$ java -version
java version "1.7.0_55"
OpenJDK Runtime Environment (IcedTea 2.4.7) (7u55-2.4.7-1ubuntu1~0.12.04.2)
OpenJDK 64-Bit Server VM (build 24.51-b03, mixed mode)

Eclipse & CDT

If you start from scratch, it is recommended to use the latest Eclipse available (currently Eclipse 4.3 Kepler). Just go to the Eclipse download site and get the Eclipse IDE for C/C++ Developers archive appropriate for your platform, preferably the 64-bit version. Unpack it at a place of your choice and start using it.

CDT

As mentioned before, the recommended way is to use a fresh Eclipse IDE for C/C++ Developers for the cross ARM development projects. Even if you did so, but especially If you did not do so, it is a good idea to check if you really have the latest version available. For this, enter the Eclipse menu and go to Help → Install New Software

Install new software.

• select Work with: Kepler
• if the Group items by category is enabled, expand the Programming Languages group
• select the C/C++ Development Tools feature
• click the Next button and follow the usual installation procedure

CDT install.

Compatibility issues

Please note that starting with 1.1.x, compatibility with Eclipses previous than 4.3 Kepler was no longer possible. If, for any reasons, you need a solution for older Eclipse versions, you can try the GNU ARM Eclipse Plug-in version 0.5.5, but please keep in mind that this old version is no longer maintained.

Plug-ins install

The following samples are from Eclipse 4.3 Kepler on OS X. Other platforms may behave slightly different, but the idea is the same.

Warning: Be sure your Eclipse is 4.3 or later, otherwise the plug-ins will refuse to install, without offering many explanations.

The recommended way

The recommended way to install these plug-ins is to use the Eclipse standard install/update mechanism: In the Eclipse menu: Help → Install New Software…

• in the Install window, click the Add… button (on future updates, just select the URL in the Work with:combo)
• fill in Name: with GNU ARM Eclipse Plug-ins
• fill in Location: with http://gnuarmeclipse.sourceforge.net/updates
• click the OK button

Add the GNU ARM Eclipse repository.

• normally the main window should list a group named CDT GNU Cross Development Tools; expand it
• (in case the main window will list There are no categorized items, you are probably using a very old version; disable the Group items by category option)
• select all the plug-ins (the one marked End of life is needed only for compatibility with previous version, normally can be safely skipped)
• click the Next button and follow the usual installation procedure

Plug-ins install

Once you define the update site URL, further updates are greatly simplified (Help → Check For Updates).

Installation problems

There are cases when the on-line access to the SourceForge mirror servers might not be reliable. In these cases the Eclipse update system may fail. For example:

Failed install.

If repeated attempts fail (preferable restart Eclipse between attempts), an alternative method would be to manually download the latest version archive and to perform the install from it, as presented below.

The alternate way

If, for any reason, you need to install a specific version of the plug-in, the solution is to download the archive from SourceForge Files and to point the Eclipse update mechanism to the local archive: In theEclipse menu: Help → Install New Software…

• in the Install window, click the Add… button
  • in the Add Repository window, click the Archive… button
    • in the Repository archive window, select the downloaded .zip archive
    • click the OK button
  • click the OK button
• follow the usual installation procedure

Add repository from archive.

Toolchain and debugging support

By completing the above steps, the Eclipse environment is ready, and you can start creating projects right away. However, for being able to build and debug these projects, you also need to install:

• the toolchain
• the optional build tools (if you are running on Windows)
• the debugging tools

Follow the above steps and when everything is ready, proceed to create and build a test project.

Support

If you encountered any problems when installing the plug-ins, pleas refer to the Support page and do not post comments to the blog pages containing support requests.