Chapter 1 Overview of the Eclipse Integrated Virtual Debugger
The Eclipse Integrated Virtual Debugger provides a configurable interface between Eclipse and virtual machines, making it easy to develop and debug applications that run in multiple operating system environments on a single PC. Debugging your applications in virtual machines enables you to reproduce and record errors while maintaining the integrity of the host machine. You can perform typical debugging tasks such as pausing at breakpoints, stepping through code, and viewing and modifying the state of your application, all without impacting the host environment.
You can manage configuration settings for each virtual machine in which you want to execute or debug applications. Eclipse Integrated Virtual Debugger launch configurations determine which virtual machine to run the application in and how the application is executed. Using these configurations, you can:
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Start an application debugging session in a virtual machine.
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Start an application in a virtual machine without debugging.
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Start a debugging session that attaches to a process already running in a virtual machine.
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Once configured, the integrated virtual debugger finds the virtual machine, powers it on if necessary, sets up the environment based on your configuration settings, and starts or attaches to the application.
To configure how an application is started in a virtual machine, you can specify:
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The name of the virtual machine (.vmx configuration file).
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(Optional) The path to the JVM on the guest system.
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(Optional) The location of folders to be shared between the host and the guest.
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(Optional) Actions to perform before launching an application from Eclipse, including:
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Revert to the most recent snapshot.
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Run specified pre-execution commands.
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(Optional) Actions to perform after an application launched from Eclipse is terminated, including:
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Run specified post-execution commands (for example, to perform cleanup tasks).
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Set the virtual machine state to:
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Revert to the most recent snapshot
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For information on installation requirements for the Eclipse Integrated Virtual Debugger, see
“Setting Up the Eclipse Integrated Virtual Debugger Environment”.
For information on how to manage virtual machine configurations and how to start debugging sessions in virtual machines, see
“Using the Eclipse Integrated Virtual Debugger”.
