Error when installing Eclipse on Linux Mint

Question

I just followed the Eclipse websites links to download the latest version for Debian, and after running from the terminal

$ ./eclipse-inst

It goes through the installation process but returns

JVM terminated. Exit code=1
/usr/lib/jvm/java-9-openjdk-amd64/bin/java
-Dosgi.requiredJavaVersion=1.8
-Dosgi.instance.area.default=@user.home/eclipse-workspace
-XX:+UseG1GC
-XX:+UseStringDeduplication
--add-modules=ALL-SYSTEM
-Dosgi.requiredJavaVersion=1.8
-Dosgi.dataAreaRequiresExplicitInit=true
-Xms256m
-Xmx1024m
--add-modules=ALL-SYSTEM
-Declipse.p2.max.threads=10
-Doomph.update.url=http://download.eclipse.org/oomph/updates/milestone/latest
-Doomph.redirection.index.redirection=index:/->http://git.eclipse.org/c/oomph/org.eclipse.oomph.git/plain/setups/
-Duser.dir=/root/eclipse/java-photon/eclipse
-jar /root/eclipse/java-photon/eclipse//plugins/org.eclipse.equinox.launcher_1.5.0.v20180512-1130.jar
-os linux
-ws gtk
-arch x86_64
-showsplash
-launcher /root/eclipse/java-photon/eclipse/eclipse
-name Eclipse
--launcher.library /root/.p2/pool/plugins/org.eclipse.equinox.launcher.gtk.linux.x86_64_1.1.700.v20180518-1200/eclipse_1705.so
-startup /root/eclipse/java-photon/eclipse//plugins/org.eclipse.equinox.launcher_1.5.0.v20180512-1130.jar
--launcher.appendVmargs
-exitdata eb0026
-product org.eclipse.epp.package.java.product
-vm /usr/lib/jvm/java-9-openjdk-amd64/bin/java
-vmargs
-Dosgi.requiredJavaVersion=1.8
-Dosgi.instance.area.default=@user.home/eclipse-workspace
-XX:+UseG1GC
-XX:+UseStringDeduplication
--add-modules=ALL-SYSTEM
-Dosgi.requiredJavaVersion=1.8
-Dosgi.dataAreaRequiresExplicitInit=true
-Xms256m
-Xmx1024m
--add-modules=ALL-SYSTEM
-Declipse.p2.max.threads=10
-Doomph.update.url=http://download.eclipse.org/oomph/updates/milestone/latest
-Doomph.redirection.index.redirection=index:/->http://git.eclipse.org/c/oomph/org.eclipse.oomph.git/plain/setups/
-Duser.dir=/root/eclipse/java-photon/eclipse
-jar /root/eclipse/java-photon/eclipse//plugins/org.eclipse.equinox.launcher_1.5.0.v20180512-1130.jar 

I wasn't able to search the error but it may be because the error is so massive that I don't know which parts of it to search for. I tried searching the initial segment of the error and didn't find much that was useful. What I did find indicated editing the eclipse.ini file, so I did that, and it now looks like the following: [Edit: after the advice of a proposed answer I updated the file to look like the following]

-startup
plugins/org.eclipse.equinox.launcher_1.3.0.dist.jar
--launcher.library
plugins/org.eclipse.equinox.launcher.gtk.linux.x86_64_1.1.200.dist
-showsplash
org.eclipse.platform
#--launcher.XXMaxPermSize
#256m
--launcher.appendVmargs

-vm
/usr/lib/jvm/java-9-openjdk-amd64/bin/java

-vmargs
-Dosgi.requiredJavaVersion=1.8
--add-modules=ALL-DEFAULT
-Xms40m
-Xmx384m
-Dorg.eclipse.equinox.p2.reconciler.dropins.directory=/usr/share/eclipse/dropins

However, after making this edit I see no difference in the error message that the installer brings up.

I believe it's also possible to get Eclipse not by downloading the installer but by using a repo--but as I understand it, this repo usually has a slightly outdated version of Eclipse. I could certainly be wrong, but I believe I've seen advice that it's best to download and use the installer.

When I run java -version it returns

openjdk version "9-internal"
OpenJDK Runtime Environment (build 9-internal+0-2016-04-14-195246.buildd.src)
OpenJDK 64-Bit Server VM (build 9-internal+0-2016-04-14-195246.buildd.src, mixed mode)

When I try to run Eclipse it pops up an error message

An error has occurred. See the log file
/home/bob/.eclipse/org.eclipse.platform_3.8_155965261/configuration/1533437446117.log.

And interestingly, the folder in which the file is supposed to exist, doesn't exist.

Answer 1

This looks like a prerelease build of Java 9, and as such might not support the command line arguments expected in the actual release. Java 9 is current until the end of September, so try the released version if you can.

Answer 2

you have to adjust the eclipse.ini in order to configure Eclipse for Java 9 ...for example:

--launcher.appendVmargs
-vm
/usr/lib/jvm/java-9-openjdk-amd64/bin/java
-vmargs
-Dosgi.requiredJavaVersion=1.8
--add-modules=ALL-SYSTEM

or use Java 8 ...

I just installed Eclipse on Linux, but it does not start. What is the problem?

Quite often, Eclipse will not work properly with non-Sun or non-IBM JVMs. These issues are usually related to Blackdown or GCJ. Eclipse has a list of reference platforms that it is tested against which you should try to match against. Try installing one from Sun, IBM, or BEA (eg., Sun JDK 5.0, IBM JDK 5.0, or BEA JRockit 5.0). Version 6 of OpenJDK works too, particularly with Fedora Eclipse.