Issue
I am building an RCP application, where there will be updates in the features/plugins every quarter. So, if a user chooses to auto update the feature/plugin then new jars for updated plugins are getting downloaded, but the old plugins are still using my disk space which are no more in use.
I have tired deleting the installation history which has the information of old jar. While I try to delete it, it shows me the below given message
But this does not delete the .jar, I can still find it in my feature/plugin folder.
Also, this is a manual process. So, is there any way where the old plugins gets deleted automatically when there is new jars with updated version.
Solution
Enable the p2 garbage collector in your plugin_customization.ini file as follows for that:
# after upgrading delete the plug-ins that are no longer needed
org.eclipse.equinox.p2.ui.sdk.scheduler/gcOnStartup=true
For details see the Eclipse wiki: Equinox p2 FAQ - Why aren't bundles being removed when their associated feature has been removed?
Answered By - howlger