The Eclipse Provisioning Platform: Equinox p2

Eclipse Equinox p2 is a comprehensive provisioning platform for delivering and managing RCP applications, tools, servers and embedded systems. Using integrated multi-threaded download, bundle pooling and state-of-the-art constraint resolution technology, p2 gives you one-stop-shopping for defining, installing and managing complex software systems.

This 2 day course takes you through the steps for delivering and managing a simple RCP application with the Equinox p2 platform. The exercises demonstrate the proper use of key parts of the p2 API and guide participants through the steps to building a working installer for Eclipse RCP/OSGi applications. In the final section we add dynamic provisioning, enabling the installer to manage and update itself.

This course is designed by Eclipse project leads and committers. Keeping a small class format (max. 6-8 participants) ensures that you'll gain a broad understanding of Equinox p2 and receive plenty of individual support from our experts. Basic experience with Eclipse RCP development or the equivalent course, is a prerequisite for this course. Custom programs combining RCP Development with an Introduction to Equinox p2 are available.

Duration: 2 days

Dates and Registration

Location:  Virtual Classroom

Goals, Audience and Prerequisites

Course Goals

• understand the key technologies and strategies behind Equinox p2
• learn how to define, install and manage software systems with p2
• develop hands-on experience in provisioning software with p2

Target Audience

• Developers who are building a custom provisioning solution
• Eclipse developers who want to extend their knowledge of RCP or OSGi

Prerequisites

• A good understanding of RCP concepts
• Experience using the Eclipse IDE
• Knowledge of Java and object-oriented programming

Outline

Introduction

p2 Terms, Tools and Technology

• Understand general p2 concepts
• Deploy an Eclipse product to a p2 repository
• Describe the difference between a Metadata and Artifact repository
• Understand the Installable Unit
• Browse a repository structure on disk
• Use the director application to install a product

The Agent

• Know about OSGi and p2 services
• Understand the role of the p2 agent
• Know how to create a p2 agent

The Metadata

• the Metadata repository
• the Repository API
• the Query API
• Composite Repositories
• Groups and Categories
• How to List the latest version of each feature in a repository

The Artifacts

• Load an Artifact repository
• Understand the Simple repository format
• Examine Artifact Descriptors / Artifact Keys
• Transport artifacts
• Mirror tools (ant and headless)
• Mirror a subset of artifacts from a repository

The Profile

• Load the profile registry
• Understand the profile structure
• Understand the variety of Profile Properties

The Planner

• Create a profile change request
• Compute a concrete provisioning plan
• Create a plan that installs or updates all the roots

The Engine

• Load the engine service
• Execute a Provisioning plan
• Understand and configure a phase set
• Understand the simplified operations API
• Build a custom installer using p2

Publishing Repositories

• Build a product in a headless fashion
• Generate a p2 repository during a build
• Understand the role of the publisher
• Create a headless build for the Installer

Touchpoints

• Understand the role a Touchpoint plays while provisioning
• Know the existing touchpoints
• Understand how to configure touchpoint advice using a p2.inf file
• Know how to create your own touchpoint actions

Dynamic Provisioning

• Understand the challenges of dynamic systems
• Learn some strategies for building dynamic aware bundles
• Understand self provisioning
• Extend the Installer to update and reconfigure itself

More Info

Format

• Course Duration: 2 days
• Course structure: instructor led with at least 50% hands-on labs and tutorials
• Learn better in a small group: maximum 6-8 participants per instructor
• Equipment: participants supply their own computer with an up-to-date installation of Eclipse

Languages

Virtual classroom courses based in the US are held in English. Other languages are available on request.

Contact

Unanswered questions? No matching dates? Prefer a course at your office? Need custom training?
We look forward to hearing from you:

Email
training@eclipsesource.com

North America
(+1) 888 679 8753

Europe
(+49) 721 664733 0