I am not sure if something has changed, but I just tried the other answers regarding entries in "eclipse.ini" for Eclipse Galileo SR2 (Windows XP SR3) and none worked. Java is jdk1.6.0_18 and is the default Windows install. Things improved when I dropped "\javaw.exe" from the path.
Also, I can't thank enough the mention that -vm needs to be first line in the ini file. I believe that really helped me out.
Thus my eclipse.ini file starts with:
-vm
C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.6.0_18\bin
FYI, my particular need to specify launching Eclipse with a JDK arose from my wanting to work with the m2eclipse plugin.
-startup
plugins/org.eclipse.equinox.launcher_1.3.0.v20140415-2008.jar
--launcher.library
plugins/org.eclipse.equinox.launcher.win32.win32.x86_64_1.1.200.v20140603-1326
-product
org.eclipse.epp.package.jee.product
--launcher.defaultAction
openFile
--launcher.XXMaxPermSize
512M
-showsplash
org.eclipse.platform
--launcher.XXMaxPermSize
512m
--launcher.defaultAction
openFile
--launcher.appendVmargs
-vmargs
-Dosgi.requiredJavaVersion=1.6
-Xms2000m
-Xmx3512m
eclipse.ini file must have -vm on the first line and a path on the second line. Don't try to put everything into one line!
-vm
C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.6.0_07\bin\javaw.exe
You have to edit the eclipse.ini file to have an entry similar to this:
C:\Java\JDK\1.5\bin\javaw.exe (your location of java executable)
-vmargs
-Xms64m (based on you memory requirements)
-Xmx1028m
Also remember that in eclipse.ini, anything meant for Eclipse should be before the -vmargs line and anything for JVM should be after the -vmargs line.
I know that there exists a command line option, -vm, to specify the path to the executable of the Java runtime. This may be the same as in eclipse.ini.
I'd like to share this little hack:
A click on the Eclipse's icon indicated a problem with the JRE. So, I put this command in the destination field of the icon's properties:
C:\...\eclipse.exe -vm c:\'Program Files'\Java\jdk1.7.0_51\jre\bin\javaw
Thinking that the "'" would solve the problem with the space in the path. That did not function. Then, I tried this command:
C:\...\eclipse.exe -vm c:\Progra~1\Java\jdk1.7.0_51\jre\bin\javaw
with success
Anything after the "vmargs" is taken to be vm arguments. Just make sure it's before that, which is the last piece in eclipse.ini.
There is a wiki page here.
There are two ways the JVM can be started: by forking it in a separate process from the Eclipse launcher, or by loading it in-process using the JNI invocation API.
If you specify -vm with a path to the actual java(w).exe, then the JVM will be forked in a separate process. You can also specify -vm with a path to the jvm.dll so that the JVM is loaded in the same process:
-vm
D:/work/Java/jdk1.6.0_13/jre/bin/client/jvm.dll
You can also specify the path to the jre/bin folder itself.
Note also, the general format of the eclipse.ini is each argument on a separate line. It won't work if you put the "-vm" and the path on the same line.
-vm
C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.5.0_06\bin\javaw.exe
Remember, no quotes, no matter if your path has spaces (as opposed to command line execution).
See here: Find the JRE for Eclipse
The JDK you're pointing to in your eclipse.ini has to match the Eclipse installation.
If you are running a 32- or 64-bit Eclipse, use a 32 or 64-bit Java JDK, respectively.
My solution for Ubuntu Linux:
-vm
/home/daniel/Downloads/jdk1.6.0_17/bin
-startup
plugins/org.eclipse.equinox.launcher_1.1.1.R36x_v20101122_1400.jar
--launcher.library
plugins/org.eclipse.equinox.launcher.gtk.linux.x86_64_1.1.2.R36x_v20101019_1345
-product
org.eclipse.epp.package.jee.product
--launcher.defaultAction
openFile
-showsplash
org.eclipse.platform
--launcher.XXMaxPermSize
256m
--launcher.defaultAction
openFile
-vmargs
-Dosgi.requiredJavaVersion=1.5
-XX:MaxPermSize=256m
-Xms40m
-Xmx512m
Assuming you have a jre folder, which contains bin, lib, etc files copied from a Java Runtime distribution, in the same folder as eclipse.ini, you can set in your eclilpse.ini
-vm
jre\bin\javaw.exe
Source: Stackoverflow.com