Add Unity Entry for Locally Installed Program

Question

Unity Search Results for eclipse

I've seen a few questions similar to this, however, I'm hesitant to follow them as I've already broken Ubuntu once and had to reinstall while trying to get custom themes to work on my machine.

Basically, I have a copy of Eclipse installed and it runs properly but I have to navigate to the installation folder rather than search for it in Unity or lock it to the launcher. I've gathered that I need to move the installation folder to the 'opt' directory and create a desktop file of some kind with the information for the application. I have absolutely no idea how to move files with Terminal and I cannot place the files in the directory through the native file manager.

Could someone please walk me through this step by painstaking step? Please do not assume I know anything specific too Ubuntu or Linux. I also have little experience with Windows command line.

At present the eclipse launcher is here: /home/USERNAME_HIDDEN/eclipse/java-neon/eclipse

Thanks in advance to anyone who would be willing to help me.

Answer 1

Place the installation to a common area (/opt).

$ sudo mkdir /opt/eclipse
$ sudo mv  /home/USERNAME_HIDDEN/eclipse/java-neon/ /opt/eclipse/

make a common link to the eclipse program to /usr/local/bin/eclipse.

$ sudo ln -s /opt/eclipse/eclipse /usr/local/bin/eclipse

Test running eclipse from the commandline.. Type this without a path:

$ eclipse

If it doesn't work the exec program might be at:

/opt/eclipse/eclipse/eclipse

Fix this by removing the previous link and linking the exec with:

$ sudo rm /usr/local/bin/eclipse
$ sudo ln -s /opt/eclipse/eclipse/eclipse /usr/local/bin/eclipse

When you can bring up Eclipse from the commandline, you can make a desktop entry by creating a desktop program with.

Create the GUI Launcher

$ gedit  /home/USERNAME_HIDDEN/.local/share/applications/eclipse.desktop

copy and paste this into the editor then save it:

[Desktop Entry]
Version=1.0
Type=Application
Terminal=false
Name=Eclipse
Exec=/usr/local/bin/eclipse
Comment=Eclipse Integrated Development Environment
Icon=/opt/eclipse/eclipse/icon.xpm
Categories=programing;IDE;utility

Now eclipse should appear in your Ubuntu Launcher search button.

Answer 2

You cannot simply move a program around and expect it to work. And you don't have to. Follow these steps:

1. Open a Terminal.

2. Copy the following code (select it and press Ctrl-C) and paste it in the terminal (Shift-Insert):

   cd ~/.local/share/applications
   cat >Eclipse.desktop <<EOF
   [Desktop Entry]
   Version=1.0
   Name=Eclipse
   GenericName=Integrated Development Environment
   Comment=Develop software in a variety of programming languages
   Exec=/full/path/to/eclipse
   Icon=/usr/share/app-install/icons/eclipse.png
   Terminal=false
   Type=Application
   Categories=Development
   EOF
   chmod 755 Eclipse.desktop
   gedit </dev/null &>/dev/null Eclipse.desktop
   

   You may have to press Enter if the cursor remains at the end of the last pasted line.

3. A Gedit window will open allowing you to edit the desktop file; replace /full/path/to/eclipse with the actual full path to the Eclipse executable, and, if needed, /usr/share/app-install/icons/eclipse.png with the full path to a suitable icon. (An icon is a small picture in PNG or SVG format.)

4. Save the file and close the editor, then logout and login again. You should now have an icon for Eclipse in the Applications lens, and you should be able to search for Eclipse in the Dash.

Please report back with the results.