Eclipse Frustration

Question

I've been trying forever to get Eclipse to work and for some reason I am unable to install plugins, updates, or even access the marketplace. After conducting some research, I discovered that in most cases it is a proxy issue but I'm on a private home network. Can anyone help me? I've been at it for days.

This is the error I get:

Cannot open Eclipse Marketplace
Cannot install remote marketplace locations: Connection failed
This is most often caused by a problem with your internet connection. Please check your internet connection and retry.
Cannot complete request to http://marketplace.eclipse.org/catalogs/api/p: Unable to read repository at http://marketplace.eclipse.org/catalogs/api/p.
Unable to read repository at http://marketplace.eclipse.org/catalogs/api/p.
Permission denied: connect
Connection failed
This is most often caused by a problem with your internet connection. Please check your internet connection and retry.
Permission denied: connect

• tddmonkey: It might help if you explain the error you get when you try to do any of the above
• Malik Brahimi: Here's my error: java.net.SocketException: Permission denied: connect

Answer 1

This sounds like a general OS/Java Networking problem I have seen before on Windows. It is for example caused by Cisco AnyConnect VPN software, but it can be other malware scanner or personal firewealls as well I guess.

It is related to IPv6 (dual stack) support in Java 7. The quickest solution (if you dont need IPv6) would be to turn the IPv6 support off, by appending this to vmargs argument of the eclipse.ini file:

-vmargs
-Xmx512m
...
-Djava.net.preferIPv4Stack=true

(end restart Eclipse).

• Malik Brahimi: At the beginning? With newlines?
• eckes: if there is already a -vmargs section, then merge it, otherwise at the end.
• Malik Brahimi: No luck, I replaced the -vmargs-Dosgi.requiredJavaVersion=1.7-Xms40m-Xmx512m with your suggestion. Is this correct?
• Malik Brahimi: Can you maybe edit the eclipse.ini any provide a download link? I think I'm doing it wrong.
• eckes: Just add it, the -vmwargs is followed by a list of arguments (one per line) directly passed to the VM. -vmargsCRLF-Dosgi.requiredJavaVersion=1.7CRLF-Xms40mCRLF-Xmx512mCRLF-Djava.net.preferIPv4Stack=true

Answer 2

You're quite right. This can be a very frustrating experience.

There are a number of things to consider. Depending on your platform. I've given up on Windoze eons ago so my 2cts might not applicable for you. It's more for Linux/Gnome users in some cases. So here it goes.

1. The proxy settings in n Windows => preferences => General => Network Connections.
   Pitfall: if you have already set your global proxy settings either though Gnome network manager or through java properties in the eclipse.ini or though environment variables, eclipse will 'sense' the settings and use a 'Native' configuration. Try to switch to 'Manual' mode. Some plugins like it better.
   Pitfall: This is not necessarily used by all plugins.
   
   • IIRC, The XML validation plugin prefers 'manual' in some versions of eclipse
   • In true subversion philosophy, subclipse uses its own file (e.g. $HOME/.subversion/server)
   • A Maven installation will use the global settings.xml or the user settings xml (depending upon your maven upgrade policy, use one or the other). I'm assuming an external maven installation here.

2 - As I already hinted you can also set:
- -Dhttp.proxyPort=
- -Dhttp.proxyHost=
- -Dnetwork.proxy_host=
- -Dnetwork.proxy_port=

3 - For Linux, you can set environment variables
- http_proxy
- https_proxy
They will also result in 'Native' config for eclipse.

More pitfalls

Finally, just to make it more fun, there are situations when the entries in your cache (see the network preferences for well known DTDs or XSDs) are corrupt because they store 40x HTML responses and it often takes some time to realize. In the past when my company (a top dog in the network suppliers domain !!!) was enforcing a corporate proxy I ended up copying the cached files and catalogue from one eclipse instance to the next...
You can also use the DTD/XSD catalogue. You know you run into this kind of pb because developing in the office is a PiA (each time you save file, the XML validator kicks in and you have to wait for the timeout) and developing at home is a breeze.

An even older story: in another top level company, they thought that we were using internet too much and only the proxy could resolve DNS. Of course no eclipse site update was accessible. I ended up writing a DNS that would use the corporate DNS for local names and a web service client that would interrogate other internet DNS exposing a web service interface... But that was more than 10 years ago. Yous situation is probably not that bad.

• Malik Brahimi: Proxy servers are usually only used by companies. I'm on a home network and if it did have I proxy, I have no idea how to find the address.
• Alain Pannetier: @MalikBrahimi, then either you have no proxy on your home network but eclipse for some reason "thinks" there is one or you really have a proxy and the settings should be the same as what you're using to connect to this site with your browser.
• Malik Brahimi: I've checked my internet settings and there are no listed proxies. Isn't there a way I can link an anonymous proxy service from the internet?
• Alain Pannetier: @MalikBrahimi, so when you open eclipse market place nothing appears?
• eckes: When it is a proxy/network problem the exception will be different, it will be a ConnectionException, UnknownHostException or "connection refused" reason.

Answer 3

This problem was solved by setting Active Provider "Native". Probably corporate firewall creating problem.Enter your company proxy with port like this. enter image description here

Answer 4

Do you have any firewall setting which could be blocking the connection? Checking antivirus/firewall settings for Program permissions could help.

• Malik Brahimi: I have Windows firewall which I've already tried disabling, but it didn't work. My home network is Verizon Fios.

Answer 5

For what's worth, I just had the same error on Neon. The typical solutions (proxy settings) did not apply.

However, just by trial and error this is my solution: which I just tried a few minutes ago. I did an update.

That's all. Whatever got updated included the means for Neon to reach to the marketplace end point. It is working now.

This is what I would suggest first to anyone who runs into this. Might not work in all cases, but it certainly worked for me.