Installing Mule IDE

This page describes how to download and install Mule IDE.

Prerequisites

Before you install Mule IDE, ensure that you have installed the following software:

• Eclipse 3.4 (Ganymede) or later
• Java 5 or later
• Mule 2.1 or later

Eclipse

Install Eclipse 3.4 (Ganymede) or later. You can download Eclipse from http://www.eclipse.org/downloads/.

Java

Install Java 5 or later. You can download Java from http://java.sun.com/javase/downloads/index_jdk5.jsp.

You must also endorse the JDK with a proper JAXP (Java API for XML Processing) implementation. To do this, download Apache Xerces and Xalan and drop the JARs into your JVM's jre/lib/endorsed directory. If that directory does not yet exist, create it.

Mule

Install Mule 2.x. You can download Mule from http://www.mulesoft.org/display/MULE/Download. Installing Mule for use with the IDE is much simpler than standalone development, as you do not need to download, install, and configure Maven or Ant. Instead, you do the following:

1. Set up your JAVA_HOME and MULE_HOME environment variables, and then update your PATH to point to the JDK and MULE binaries as described here.
2. If you are installing Mule Enterprise Edition, follow the instructions here. Ignore the steps at the end for setting up the Maven repository.
3. If you are installing Mule Community Edition, follow the instructions here.

You can ignore the rest of the information on that page about running Mule, as you will run Mule from within Eclipse instead of at the command prompt.

Installing Mule IDE

You are now ready to install Mule IDE. Use the set of instructions that apply to your version of Eclipse. Before installing, you should first ensure that your existing Eclipse plugins are up to date as Mule IDE depends on specific versions of the Eclipse libraries and the installation will not complete if these are not present.

Installing Mule IDE in Eclipse Galileo

1. Start Eclipse, and set up a workspace for your installation of Mule if you haven't already. (Make sure your workspace does not have a space in the directory path)
2. In the workbench view, choose Help > Install New Software.
3. Press the Add button next to the Work with text box, enter http://dist.muleforge.org/mule-ide/updates/3.4/ and press Enter. The Mule IDE now appears in your list of available software.
4. Select the Mule IDE check box and click Next, and after Eclipse processes for a moment, click Next again.
5. Review the Mule IDE license, select the option to accept the license, and then click Finish.
6. Click Yes to restart Eclipse.

You are now ready to configure the Mule distribution as described in the next section.

Installing Mule IDE in Eclipse Ganymede

1. Start Eclipse, and set up a workspace for your installation of Mule if you haven't already. (Make sure your workspace does not have a space in the directory path)
2. In the workbench view, choose Help > Software Updates, and then click the Available Software tab.
3. If you previously installed a preview release of Mule IDE 2.0, click Manage Sites, select the Mule IDE update site, click Remove, and then click OK.
4. On the Available Software tab, click Add Site.
5. Specify http://dist.muleforge.org/mule-ide/updates/3.4/ for the location and click OK. It now appears in your list of available software.
6. Expand it in the list until you see Mule IDE. Click Mule IDE and click Install.
7. If you are installing an update of Mule IDE, a screen appears saying that an update will be performed instead. Click Next, read and accept the license agreement terms, and click Finish. You should restart Eclipse before you continue.

You are now ready to configure the Mule distribution as described in the next section.

Configuring the Mule Distribution

You specify the location of a Mule 2.x distribution in Eclipse so that Mule and third-party libraries will be automatically added to Mule project classpaths. This distribution will also be used when launching a Mule server instance to test and debug your application.

To configure a Mule distribution:

1. In the Eclipse workbench, choose Window > Preferences.
2. Click Mule, and then click Add.
3. Specify the root directory where the Mule distribution is installed, and then click OK.
4. Click the distribution's check box, and then click Apply. This distribution is now the default Mule distribution. You can configure multiple Mule directories, but only one can be the default.

You are now ready to start Eclipse and start using Mule IDE.

Troubleshooting

If you have difficulty installing or using Mule IDE, please try the following:

• The update site URL has changed. Please confirm you have the correct update site and have uninstalled any developer preview releases.
• Does your workspace directory or project name have a space in it? Mule runs from the workspace folder, and if it has a space in the name (like "Documents and Settings"), Mule cannot locate the configuration file to start.
• If you cannot successfully complete the installation steps, remove and recreate the update site. To remove a site in Eclipse Ganymede, choose Help > Software Updates, on the Available Software tab click Manage Sites, select Mule IDE, and then click Remove. You can now recreate the Mule IDE site following the steps above.
• Have you updated the other libraries in your eclipse installation? Please make sure all of your existing standard Eclipse plug-ins are up to date.
• Ensure you followed the documented steps to register the endorsed XML libraries and have also previously installed Mule. You will need to configure the location of Mule the first time you create a Mule project. Also, Mule IDE does NOT use the endorsed lib directory from the Mule installation but that of the JVM you have configured for your project in Eclipse.