f Support - Yatta Profiles for Eclipse

About Profiles

Profiles offers a quick and easy way to create, share and install Eclipse setups. A profile is a "snapshot" of an Eclipse-Workspace combination containing plug-ins, including links to source code and task repositories as well as workspace settings for your team (e.g. project metadata and preferences, build server configurations, working sets).

Yatta Profiles is completely free and based on the Eclipse Oomph open source project. Profiles is meant to help you using Eclipse and to vitalize the Eclipse community. Whether you are Eclipse user, committer or developer, Profiles is here to help you develop great software.

Components

The Launcher

Lightweight desktop app to help you manage all your Eclipse installations: Install, start, update, share or uninstall any profile via the Launcher. See a list of all your Eclipse setups, no matter where the corresponding installation or workspace is located on your computer. The Launcher allows you to start, update, share, delete or uninstall any Eclipse setup. You can also rearrange your profile list via drag and drop to ensure quick access to your favorite profiles.

User interface of the Yatta Launcher for Eclipse Profiles
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    Menu

    Sign in, send an error report, create a profile, or browse online profiles.

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    A profile

    Every list entry shows one of your profiles. Click it to open this setup.

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    Profile Options

    A profile's options menu. Edit settings, update or delete a profile from here.

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    Share profile

    Gives you access to many different ways to share your profile.

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    Profile List

    Shows all your profiles. Rearrange the list via drag and drop if you like.

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    Packages List

    Offers the possibility to install any common Eclipse Package.

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    Create Profile

    Do you need another Eclipse setup? Create a new profile here.

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The Yatta Plug-In

Eclipse plug-in that lets you share and update your running Eclipse (profile) directly from within your IDE.

The Yatta Yatta Plug-In in the Eclipse toolbar has several options to share your Eclipse profile with your team.
The Profiles Hub

The Profiles Hub is the hub for Eclipse profiles. As soon as you upload and share a profile, it will be available on the Profiles Hub. If you are searching for a profile that meets your requirements of your project - for example a certain set of plug-ins - the Profiles Hub is the place to visit. Use the search and filter functions to find what you are looking for. From the Profiles Hub, you can access any profile which is publicly available.

Profiles was designed to make starting new projects with Eclipse really simple - so go ahead and try it!

Features

Installation
  • Download a profile and get a working Eclipse setup including the workspace.
  • Turn any Eclipse installation into a profile.
  • Install your Eclipse IDE and workspace on another device - and even on another operating system.
  • Delete or uninstall obsolete profiles.
Sharing
  • Deploy your Eclipse setup and workspace to your whole team, and get everyone ready to start coding in seconds.
  • Create a group to privately share your profile with your team.
  • Share your profile publically to build up your own community of followers.
  • Export your profile locally and import it via the Launcher
Updates
  • Synchronize versions of plug-ins and Eclipse releases – with your whole team or all your followers at once.
  • Always get the latest updates for your profiles. Be it plug-ins or the latest Eclipse release, you never have to start from scratch again.
Management
  • Start any profile directly from the Yatta Launcher or create your own desktop shortcuts.
  • See the contents of your profile at a single glance.
  • Rearrange your profile list via drag and drop to find your favorite profiles faster.
  • Make your profile unique: Customize name, description, color and icon.

Refer to the to find out what is included in a profile.

Before you Start

You have two options to get started with Yatta Profiles:

  • Download the Launcher
  • Access Yatta Profiles from your running Eclipse
Download the Launcher

To get started with Yatta Profiles, download the Launcher

Access Yatta Profiles from your running Eclipse
  1. In Eclipse, go to → .
  2. Search for Yatta Profiles.
  3. Click .
  4. Follow on-screen instructions.

Start the Launcher

Eclipse Launcher Icon
Note: When you first start the Launcher, it looks for Eclipse setups and corresponding workspaces already installed on your computer and adds them to your profile list. You can of course still edit them.
Tip: The Launcher may not show all your Profiles immediately, for example if you have never opened an Eclipse installation. You can still add any Eclipse by creating your profile manually.
Windows
  1. Wait for the download to complete.
  2. Double-Click the Launcher Icon.
Linux
  1. Wait for the download to complete.
  2. Type the following command in a terminal: java -jar yattalauncher.sh.jar
Note: The Linux version of the Launcher is not as smooth and stable as we want it to be - yet! This is why we are shipping it as alpha. Don’t worry, we are working on it!
Tip: We use Oracle Java as a standard. If you are running the Launcher using OpenJDK, please install JavaFX for OpenJDK. You can download it at https://www.java.com/en/download/help/linux_x64_install.xml.
Mac OS
  1. Wait for the download to complete.
  2. Double-click the downloaded file and drag the Launcher Icon to your applications folder.

Launch Eclipse

The Launcher shows all your Eclipse workspace combinations (profiles) in a comprehensive list. To launch Eclipse, just klick on a list entry.

Tip: Equip your profiles with meaningful names and descriptions. This helps you keep track of your local profiles - and makes it easier for others to find your public profiles.

Install a Profile

To install a profile, you need a link to a profile page. You can ask your teammates or friends - or you can search for a profile at the Profiles Hub.

To install a profile:

  1. Follow the link to the profile page, or discover a profile.
  2. On the profile page, click . A detail page for an Eclipse profile
    Note: If you don’t have the Launcher yet, it will download now. After the download is complete, start the Launcher to complete the profile’s installation.

    The Launcher asks you to confirm profile installation.

  3. Click

Optional: You can edit the profile's settings before you start the installation process.

Change various settings of your Eclipse profile.
Note: Always choose an empty directory for your Eclipse installation, if you want to change the installation path.
New projects, configurations and settings will be added to the workspace directory you choose. Installing an online profile to a workspace already in use can lead to conflicts and may break your workspace. Make sure you know what you are doing before adding an online profile to an existing workspace.

The License Confirmation Window pops up. Make sure to read the License Agreements before you accept and proceed. After you accept the terms, the Launcher downloads the profile, installs it, and starts Eclipse.

Note: If you use the Launcher for the first time, the installation may take a little while. Subsequent profile installations will be much faster.

Once Eclipse has opened, the workspace will be set up. In the meantime you can:

  • Review information provided by the profile's author.
  • Access the setup wizard.
  • Further customize your environment.

Refer to the Almost Complete page displayed in Eclipse for more information.

The profile appears in the Launcher’s profile list. From now on, you can launch any profile directly from the Launcher. Congratulations, you are ready to start coding!

Tip: Profiles makes distributing Eclipse easier, but does not promote procedures of enforcement. Every installation of a public profile creates a new local profile following the original profile.

Create a Profile

You have configured an Eclipse setup by every trick in the book? Great! Go on and make it a profile to easily install it on any computer you like and share it with the world.

Tip: You can create a new profile based on a local installation, a Package, or an online profile.

To create a new profile:

  1. Open the Launcher.
  2. Click Select an Eclipse executable.
  3. Select your Eclipse executable:
    • Browse your local files
    • Open the Profiles Hub
    • Enter a local path into the textbox
    • Enter a profile page's URL into the textbox.
    • Enter a profile ID into the textbox.
    Tip: The profile ID is the combination of letters and numbers at the end of the profile page’s URL.
    Note: Choose an empty directory for your Eclipse installation, if you want to change the installation path.
  4. Click

    Optional: You can edit the profile's settings before you start the installation process.

    Change various settings of your Eclipse profile.
    New projects, configurations and settings will be added to the workspace directory you choose. Installing an online profile to a workspace already in use can lead to conflicts and may break your workspace. Make sure you know what you are doing before adding an online profile to an existing workspace.
    Tip: Assign a meaningful name, subline and description to your profile. This helps you to keep track of your local profiles and others to follow your public profiles.
    Tip: You can use HTML-Tags like <i>, <br> or <b> to format your profile's description and make it look nice and smooth. Remember, Profiles helps you build your own follower base.
  5. Click .

The Launcher adds your new profile to your profile list.

Note: Use the Launcher to open a profile at least once, before you attempt to share it.

Upload a Profile

Your profiles don't have to remain limited to your hard drive forever. You can create an online backup of a profile just for yourself, or you can share a profile with a selected group or with the community.

Before you start:

Sign in with your Yatta Account – or create one.

Note: Before you upload your profile, open it from the Launcher at least once. Profile configurations are built and saved automatically with the first launch.

To upload your profile:

  1. Open the Launcher.
  2. Find the profile you want to upload in your profile list.
  3. Open the options menu.
    4. The chevron opens the options menu of your Eclipse profile.
  4. Select .

    The Launcher shows you a list with your profile’s contents for review.

  5. Select again to confirm.

Your system browser opens and shows your profile's detail page. The status symbol of your profile changes from a folder to a cloud to indicate that your profile is now online.

From now on, you can access your profile from the Profiles Hub - for example to reinstall it on another machine, or to share it with your team or the community.

Note: By default, any profile you upload is set to private. If you want to make your profile available to other developers, you can change the visibility settings from the profile detail page.

Share a Profile

If you want to make your profile available to others, you have different options to do so. You can share a profile and promote it publically - for example via e-mail or social media - or you can just quietly add it to the list of public profiles. You can also make your profile available to a select group of users, for example to your own development team, or you can use your online copy as a personal backup without ever telling anyone about it.

Before you start:

Before you can share your profile, you need to upload it to the Profiles Hub.

Note: To share your profile with others, open it from the Launcher at least once. Profile configurations are built and saved automatically with the first launch.
Change Visibility Settings

When you upload a profile to the Profiles Hub, you can decide on who is allowed to access the profile detail page and to download your profile.

Your profile has three visibility options available on the profile detail page:

  • Private (default): Only you can access the profile detail page and re-download your profile.
  • Public: Anyone can access the profile detail page and download your profile.
  • Group: You can define a group of people allowed to access the profile detail page and download your profile.

To change the visibility settings:

  1. Go to the profile detail page at the Profiles Hub.
    Tip: If you do not remember the link to your profile detail page, open your Launcher and open the options menu and select .
  2. Select a visibility option.
Share a profile publically

Once you have a profile in your profile list, you can share it with others in many different ways, for example via e-mail, social media or within your project wiki.

You have two options to share your profile:

  • from your running Eclipse
  • via the Launcher
Tip: Remember what's included in a profile, and don't forget to add name, subline and description.

To share your profile from your running Eclipse:

  1. In the Eclipse toolbar, open the Eclipse Launcher Icon context menu of the Yatta Plug-In.
  2. Click .

    The profile will be uploaded to the Profiles Hub.

    Yatta Plug-In: Share menu in the Eclipse toolbar

Congratulations, you have just sent your profile out into the world! Your friends and colleagues can now easily install it and work with your profile.

To share your profile via the Launcher:

  1. Open the Launcher.
  2. Find the profile you want to share in your profile list.
  3. Click the Share-Button. The share button on the Eclipse Launcher's user interface

    A list of different ways to share your profile pops up.

    The Eclipse Launcher's share menu
  4. Choose your favorite way to share your profile.
  5. Follow the on-screen instructions.

Congratulations, you have just sent your profile out into the world! Your friends and colleagues can now easily install it and work with your profile.

Note: Changing a profile created by someone else - for example by installing a new plug-in - will not affect the original profile. You will always create a copy of the respective profile when you upload your own changes.
Share a profile with a group

You can define a closed group of people allowed to access the profile detail page and to download your profile. This can come in handy when your profile contains sensitive information on your project, for example paths with the names of project partners. Defining a group makes sure only authorized users can access your profile.

To define a group:

  1. On the profile detail page, choose the visibility option .
  2. Enter the email addresses of new group members.
    or
    Enter a domain, for example "@yourcompany.com", to grant access to all email addresses ending on "@yourcompany.com".

Your new group members are now authorized to access the profile detail page and download your profile. Every new group member receives an e-mail notification with the link to your profile detail page.

Tip: You can add new group members later by entering additional e-mail addresses. If you want to delete a member from your group, just click the next to their e-mail address.

Manage Your Profiles

If you have more than one Eclipse installation, you may want to:

Profile Status

To help you organize your profiles, the Launcher displays a status icon for each profile next to the profile's name.

Icons and Profile Status:
Icon Status
local profile, installed on your computer
online profile, installed on your computer
local profile, never opened with the Launcher
online profile, not installed on your computer
local profile, installed and currently running
online profile, installed and currently running
Create a desktop shortcut

If your profile list is just too long or if you use just one or two of the profiles listed in your Launcher actively, you might want to create desktop shortcuts to launch your favorites faster.

To create a desktop shortcut:

  1. Open the Launcher.
  2. Go to the profile's options menu.
  3. Select .

A shortcut appears on your desktop.

Edit Profile Settings

You can edit the defaults for parent directories for your local Eclipse installations and workspaces. You can still change to other directories for a single profile.

To edit default settings:

  1. Go to the Launcher's main menu.
  2. Click .
  3. Change the directory you wish to edit.
Tip: With Profiles you don't have to worry about your installation paths. Let the Launcher manage them for you!

To edit settings for a single profile:

  1. Open the Profile’s Options menu. The chevron opens the options menu of your Eclipse profile.
  2. Click .
  3. Edit the settings you wish to change.
  4. Click .

You have the following options:

Options for editing settings of your Eclipse profile.
New projects, configurations and settings will be added to the workspace directory you choose without deleting the existing one's. Adding your profile to a workspace already in use can lead to conflicts and may break your workspace. Make sure you know what you are doing before adding an online profile to an existing workspace.
Tip: Choose a name and subline, and describe your profile before sharing it. Use HTML-Tags like <i>, <br> or <b> to format your description. Make your profile look nice to build your own follower base.

Update a Profile

The Launcher will notify you if an update is available for a profile. At some point, you may also want to modify a profile and share your changes.

An update for the profile is available.

You have modified a profile yourself. Go on and publish your changes.

Publish your own changes or download an update.

To update your profile:

  1. Open the profile’s Options menu.
  2. Click .
Note: Changes, like new plug-ins, will be added to your profile. Updates are ususally additional only. For example Profiles does not delete plug-ins you have installed before.

To publish your changes:

  1. Open the profile’s Options menu.
  2. Click .
Note: When someone installs your profile, a local copy is created; this copy follows your online profile. The copy can be changed and shared again, but your followers will still be informed about your updates.

Delete a Profile

  1. Choose the profile you want to remove.
  2. In the profile’s Options menu , click .

    The Launcher asks you to confirm profile deletion.

    Checkbox uninstall Eclipse used with this profile
    Remove the profile from the Launcher’s profile list. Your Eclipse installation remains untouched. (default)
    Delete the profile and your corresponding Eclipse installation.

  3. Click .
Tip: The uninstall function gives you the opportunity to try a profile and quickly get rid of it if it doesn't suit you. Try out some profiles from the Profiles Hub . Go on and experiment a bit!

Frequently Asked Questions

In this section, we have collected some more or less common questions and solutions for problems you may encounter when you use Yatta Profiles. If you come across anything we have not covered, or if you have a tip that you think might be helpful for others, please notify us and we will try to include it.

Your Profile

All uploaded profiles are set to private by default. No one but you can see them or download them. To help you decide whether to upload or share your profile (be it with a group or publicly), have look at the contents included in a profile in the table below. It shows what exactly is uploaded to the Profiles Hub and what you share with others if you decide to change your profile's visibility from private to group or public.

If you are looking for a way to host your profiles in a private cloud or on premise, please contact us!

To help you decide whether to share your profile publically, the table below shows what exactly you will share with others when you send your profile out into the world.

Note: Your profile consists entirely of metadata. This means that your profile does not contain any source code or user credentials. Certain profiles may however contain links or paths within your workspace – no matter if they are access protected or publicly available. Paths may contain sensitive data, for example the names of projects or repositories, respectively URLs.

Examples:

https://github.com/eclipse/yatta.git
https://${company_name}\${product_name}.git

Always check your paths before you share a profile that might include such sensitive data.

Shared Not Shared
  • Working sets
  • Plug-Ins (Links to update sites)
  • Servers (like Tomcat and WildFly) added with WST
Plug-ins are not shared if
  • no longer available
  • no update site available
Source code repositories (links):
  • Git
  • SVN
  • CVS
  • Mercurial
  • views / workspace layout (comming soon!)
  • Projects (project-metadata and -preferences included in SCM)
Local projects (if not shared in SCM like Git, SVN, etc.)
  • Task Repositories (Mylyn) (links)
  • Bug Tracker (Bugzilla, Trac … )
  • Ticket lists including queries (links)
Source code
  • Build server configuration (Mylyn)
  • Target platform definitions.
  • Preferences (recorded with Preference Recorder)
  • Preferences (recorded with Preference Recorder)
Eclipse.ini memory settings:
  • Maximum Heap size (-Xmx)
  • Initial Heap size (-Xms)
  • Maximum PermGen Space size (-XX:MaxPermSize)

No you can export it via the Yatta Plug-In locally.

To install the Profile you have to import it via the Launcher (Sidemenu > Create Profile). This way you are ready to install it without upload it to the Profiles Hub.

Yes. When you upload your profile, the visibility will be set to private by default. Once your profile is online, you can change it’s visibility settings.

You have three different visibility options: private, group and public. You can define a group to allow a limited number of people access to your profile, or set visibility to public to make it available to anyone.

Learn more about visibility settings.

Every profile contains a list of links to update sites for the plug-ins used to build your Eclipse installation. Given that your teammates can access the internal update site via the link you share with them, they definitely can install and work with your profile.
Absolutely. If your profile contains a commercial solution that needs some kind of licensing, the license key is not shared with your profile. You will need to insert it when deploying the profile again.

Yes. You can install any profile on Windows, Linux or Mac operating systems. No matter on which operating system they were first authored.

We are also working on profiles for Eclipse-based Cloud IDEs.

Yes. You can define a target platform either in your projects or in the workspace preferences.

Define a target platform as part of your project so that the *.target file is committed to version control alongside your projects. Your target platform will be checked out and activated during workspace setup. In case you have defined a local target platform in the workspace preferences, your profile will contain the full target definition. It will be imported into the workspace preferences and activated during workspace setup.

  1. In the Eclipse toolbar, open the the context menu of the Yatta Plug-In.
  2. Select Record preferences.

Any preferences you change from now on will be included in your profile's setup information

Note: Only preferences you set after enableing Record preferences will become part of your profile's setup information. Any preferences you set with Record preferences enabled will stay part of the setup information even if you disable preference recording later.
We are currently working on solutions for enterprise hosting and private sharing. Please contact us for more information.
Yes, any authored Oomph setup can be imported as a profile. We are already working on importing Oomph setups via the Yatta Launcher for Eclipse. For the time being, please contact us to migrate and upload your Oomph file.
Note: Profiles is based on Eclipse Oomph – and Yatta developers are actively contributing committers to Eclipse Oomph.

On Profiles for Eclipse

Yes. Profiles is free and always will be. Why? Because we work with Eclipse ourselves every day, and because our own software products are based on Eclipse. We think Eclipse and the Eclipse community are great. We built Profiles to improve ergonomics and usability of Eclipse when it comes to installation and distribution. Profiles is our contribution to making Eclipse an even better IDE.

Profiles is based on the Oomph framework, which means that at least some parts of Profiles are already open source (e.g. the Oomph Eclipse Installer’s UI). Parts of Profiles will, however, remain closed source.

There are two reasons for this: First, we’d like to make it as easy as possible for you to find what you are looking for. A scenario where dozens of different websites host hundreds of different profiles goes against the initial idea behind Profiles: to keep the community together and strengthen its’ centripetal force. That’s why we hope you will help us turn the Profiles Hub into a place for the community - by the community.

Second, if Profiles was to get open-sourced, we believe Profiles and the Profiles Hub should be hosted at eclipse.org. We are trying to find a solution with the Eclipse Foundation. If there is a possibility to host Profiles at eclipse.org and to integrate the Profiles Hub into the Eclipse Marketplace website, the complete Profiles UI – including the Profiles Launcher – could in fact become open source.

Account and User Data

No, not necessarily. You can install profiles or use the Launcher without registration (e.g. students installing a profile for their class or similar).

You do have to create an account if you want to upload and / or share a profile to the Profiles Hub, or if you want to access a group profile. If you upload a profile to the Profiles Hub you may want to update or delete it afterwards. Without an account linked to your profiles, you wouldn't be able to do that. If you want to access a group profile, the profile author needs to authorize you first. Without an account, it would be hard to determine if you are allowed to access a profile.

Learn more about uploading and sharing .

No. Your profile does not contain any user credentials or passwords. Learn more about what data a profile contains.

For the moment, please send an email to profiles@yatta.de . We will make the changes for you.

We are working on a number of community features to create more possibilities to make the Profiles Hub a real community platform driven by Eclipse developers. As this is a work in progress, your account only consists of a username and an email address. In the future we will provide you with more features, like links to your homepage, project or corporate website, a system for commenting and rating profiles, personal notifications and many others.

For the moment, please send an email to profiles@yatta.de . We will delete your account for you.

Before you leave: Profiles is a free project for the community. We are actively working on improving the Eclipse IDE. Tell us what you think and help making Eclipse an even better IDE.

When you visit our websites, the webserver stores certain data in log files, for example the times when you start and cease visiting our websites or the subpages you called up.

Furthermore, our website uses Google Analytics. Google Analytics uses cookies (text files which are placed on your computer). For more information on log files and cookies, please refer to our Privacy Policy , specifically sections:

2.2 Provision of “Yatta Profiles”

2.4 Use of our website

2.5 Google Analytics and Cookies

The Launcher

Usually, proxy detection works automatically. If this isn’t the case and you’re unable to install an Eclipse profile, you can configure the proxy manually in the Launcher Settings.

  1. Open the Launcher's side menu and choose .
  2. Go to .
  3. Activate Manual Configuration.
  4. Enter proxy information and your credentials.
  5. Save your changes.

That's it. You're ready to install your first profile.

Try checking your Java Version. Please install JRE 1.7 or above. Also check if you have the right version for your operating system installed (32bit or 64bit).

If the problem persist, please contact our support.

If the Launcher does not detect all of your profiles, try to manually install the Yatta Plug-In into Eclipse via the Eclipse Marketplace. You can also create a profile manually .
When you first start the Launcher, you will see a small download bar saying Downloading Eclipse setup tools. The Eclipse setup tools are important during the installation process of a profile: Whenever you install a profile, you also download Eclipse. The Eclipse setup tools are responsible for the actual provisioning of your Eclipse installation – meaning they make the installation work automatically. Every once in a while the Eclipse setup tools will get an update, and you will see the same download bar again. (The files make up for roughly 50 MB.)

The exporter plug-in (or Yatta Plug-In) is necessary to export your profile's setup data so you can share it and push updates. Due to incompatibilities with existing plug-ins, the exporter plug-in sometimes fails to install when you launch a local profile for the first time.

To resolve the issue, try to install the plug-in manually from the Eclipse Marketplace.

Open the main menu and select Edit Launcher Settings. Select Uninstall the Launcher.

Uninstalling will remove all files associated with the Launcher - but your Eclipse installations or workspaces won't be affected by uninstalling the Launcher. They will remain in their installation directory. The Yatta Plug-In will remain in the Eclipse toolbar. You can remove it separately like any other Eclipse plug-in.

To uninstall the Launcher follow the steps listed below.

If you have never changed the default installation directory, you can find your Eclipse installations here:

Windows:

%localappdata%\Yatta\Launcher\installations

Linux:

/home/USER/.local/share/Yatta/Launcher

Mac:

/Users/USER/Library/Application Support/Yatta/Launcher

Congratulations

If you have read this guide from beginning to end, you now know everything Profiles has to offer. And there is more to come: We are continously working on improving Profiles and the Eclipse IDE.

Should you come across anything we have not covered, if you have a feature request or any other wishes, don't hesitate to get in touch with us. We are looking forward to your feedback. And we are happy to work with anyone who helps making Eclipse the best development platform imaginable!