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Luna works, Mars doesn't: "the specified workspace cannot be created" [message #1719896]

Tue, 12 January 2016 18:48

Eclipse User

I'm trying to set up Eclipse Mars on a networked lab of OS X machines, which use a file server for user directories.

Luna works fine.

When I fire up Mars:

1) It suggests a workspace in an alternate home directory.
2) When I tell it to instead create a workspace in my home directory, I get this error message:

Could not launch the product because the specified workspace cannot be created. The specified workspace directory is either invalid or read-only.

When I click "OK" on that dialog window, I get another one with this message:

The default workspace '/path/to/the/workspace/in/my/home/directory' is in use or cannot be created. Please choose a different one.

The claim that I can't create things there is clearly not true. From a terminal, I can create a directory there and create and delete files within it.

Any ideas for what might be going on or what I might try?

Re: Luna works, Mars doesn't: "the specified workspace cannot be created" [message #1719921 is a reply to message #1719896]

Wed, 13 January 2016 03:27

Eclipse User

On 13-Jan-16 00:48, Peter Drake wrote:
> It suggests a workspace in an alternate home directory.

That sounds like maybe you are running eclipse as a different user?

Felix

Re: Luna works, Mars doesn't: "the specified workspace cannot be created" [message #1719955 is a reply to message #1719896]

Wed, 13 January 2016 08:33

Eclipse User

Do you get this error when running Eclipse as administrator?

Re: Luna works, Mars doesn't: "the specified workspace cannot be created" [message #1719983 is a reply to message #1719955]

Wed, 13 January 2016 09:49

Eclipse User

We do not have this problem as admin.

I checked and the offending process was running as me.

Our lab manager thinks he was able to fix it by (I think) adding the command-line option -Dosgi.locking=none.

https://www.eclipse.org/forums/index.php/t/206634/

This makes sense; I think we had done this with earlier versions of Eclipse. This solution was hard to find, though, because the error message made no mention of .lock files and even deleting the workspace entirely didn't work.

Re: Luna works, Mars doesn't: "the specified workspace cannot be created" [message #1719999 is a reply to message #1719983]

Wed, 13 January 2016 11:11

Eclipse User

That's a dangerous workaround, because the workspace locking mechanism is in place for good reason; namely, to prevent multiple instances from trying to read/write the same workspace at the same time, which could potentially be disastrous. I suggest spending some more time trying to troubleshoot why Eclipse is having trouble creating the workspace in the chosen location. In other words, get to the root cause instead of throwing on an infected band-aid.

Re: Luna works, Mars doesn't: "the specified workspace cannot be created" [message #1720004 is a reply to message #1719999]

Wed, 13 January 2016 11:26

Eclipse User

Peter, did you read the installation instructions?
They explicitly advise against having the workspace in a networked volume.
The perferred method to share code is to use some version control system, e.g. SVN or GIT.

Re: Luna works, Mars doesn't: "the specified workspace cannot be created" [message #1720006 is a reply to message #1720004]

Wed, 13 January 2016 11:41

Eclipse User

Tauno Voipio wrote on Wed, 13 January 2016 11:26

Peter, did you read the installation instructions?
They explicitly advise against having the workspace in a networked volume.
The perferred method to share code is to use some version control system, e.g. SVN or GIT.

No, I was not the one who did the installation; I'm just helping with debugging.

In our teaching lab, each user's home directory lives on a file server so that it won't matter at which physical machine they're sitting. We're not using a networked volume to share code.

Re: Luna works, Mars doesn't: "the specified workspace cannot be created" [message #1720016 is a reply to message #1720006]

Wed, 13 January 2016 12:43

Eclipse User

On 01/13/2016 09:41 AM, Peter Drake wrote:
> Tauno Voipio wrote on Wed, 13 January 2016 11:26
>> Peter, did you read the installation instructions?
>> They explicitly advise against having the workspace in a networked
>> volume.
>> The perferred method to share code is to use some version control
>> system, e.g. SVN or GIT.
>
>
> No, I was not the one who did the installation; I'm just helping with
> debugging.
>
> In our teaching lab, each user's home directory lives on a file server
> so that it won't matter at which physical machine they're sitting. We're
> not using a networked volume to share code.

Suggest to the course instructor that use of a version-control system
like Git is part of what they'll learn? Then have each set up his or her
own user on Bitbucket.org and use it--just as they would be doing in the
real world when out of school. That's a useful tool that would follow
them the rest of their studies and after.

Re: Luna works, Mars doesn't: "the specified workspace cannot be created" [message #1720018 is a reply to message #1720016]

Wed, 13 January 2016 12:48

Eclipse User

Russell Bateman wrote on Wed, 13 January 2016 12:43

Suggest to the course instructor that use of a version-control system
like Git is part of what they'll learn? Then have each set up his or her
own user on Bitbucket.org and use it--just as they would be doing in the
real world when out of school. That's a useful tool that would follow
them the rest of their studies and after.

I do that, but in a later course. They're already encountering Java, Eclipse, and JUnit for the first time in this one.

Re: Luna works, Mars doesn't: "the specified workspace cannot be created" [message #1720021 is a reply to message #1720018]

Wed, 13 January 2016 12:55

Eclipse User

Learning about source control, versioning, team sharing,etc. is indeed valuable, but doesn't actually seem relevant to the problem Peter is having. Eclipse is refusing to create the workspace, long before they have the opportunity to create any projects. This is an OS/file-system/permissions/networking issue, I'm sure of it; rooted (somehow) in the fact that the user's home directories are mounted from a file server.
I thought Eclipse's old limitation of not supporting that (remote locations for workspaces) wasn't true any longer; perhaps it still is. It would surprise me, though; being so would completely prevent the kind of lab setup that Peter is trying to get, which seems to me to not be an uncommon environment.

Re: Luna works, Mars doesn't: "the specified workspace cannot be created" [message #1720157 is a reply to message #1720021]

Thu, 14 January 2016 14:19

Eclipse User

There's some new information on this front. Things are workable, but there's still an issue.

When I launch Eclipse, the default workspace that it tries to use is not mine. It is the workspace of the last user to use that physical machine. It works after I change the workspace; I'd rather avoid that annoying workaround for students who will be confused enough.

Here's what I think it going on:

The Eclipse software is installed on the local hard drive.
User accounts (including workspace) are installed on the file server.
The file that Eclipse uses to store the default workspace is part of the Eclipse installation, so it depends on the machine, not the user.

Does anyone know of a way to fix this? (We could automatically include a command-line option when invoking Eclipse, but I don't know what it is.)

Re: Luna works, Mars doesn't: "the specified workspace cannot be created" [message #1720244 is a reply to message #1720157]

Fri, 15 January 2016 09:22

Eclipse User

The storage of "last used" workspace(s) is indeed under the Eclipse installation by default. See http://stackoverflow.com/a/26550841/639520
Having said that, I think Eclipse's multi-user installation would solve this, effectively storing that info in the user's home directory somewhere. Have you seen those instructions?

If all else fails, you could force a specific workspace on launch, via the -data option. See http://help.eclipse.org/mars/index.jsp?topic=%2Forg.eclipse.platform.doc.user%2Ftasks%2Frunning_eclipse.htm (Advanced Topics... section) and then read how to include -data in the eclipse.ini file.

Re: Luna works, Mars doesn't: "the specified workspace cannot be created" [message #1720274 is a reply to message #1720244]

Fri, 15 January 2016 12:33

Eclipse User

Eric -- that sounds like just what we need! I'll pass it along to the sysadmin.

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