Requirements for Installing MPLAB® X IDE
System Requirements for MPLAB® X IDE
These are the minimum and recommended system requirements for installing the latest version of the MPLAB® X Integrated Development Environment (IDE). We have endeavored to include the requirements for each operating system currently supported by MPLAB X IDE.
To Find the Installation Requirements for the Latest Version
Installation requirements, as well as other installation issues, are specified in the “Release Notes for MPLAB X IDE.” To view this file before installation, go to the MPLAB X IDE webpage and download “MPLAB X IDE Release Notes”.
To view this file after installation, either:
- Go to the docs folder of the MPLAB X IDE install.
- Launch the IDE and select Help > Release Notes.
Minimum Configuration (64-bit)
| Platform | Processor | Memory | Disk Space* |
|---|---|---|---|
| Windows® 10 Professional | Intel® Core™ i5 or equivalent | 4 GB | 10 GB |
| Ubuntu® 16.04 | Intel Core i5 or equivalent | 4 GB | 10 GB |
| macOS® 10.11 El Capitan | Intel Core Duo or Intel Core 2 Duo | 4 GB | 10 GB |
Recommended Configuration (64-bit)
| Platform | Processor | Memory | Disk Space* |
|---|---|---|---|
| Microsoft Windows 10 Professional | Intel Core i7 or equivalent | 8 GB | 10 GB |
| Ubuntu 18.04 | Intel Core i5 or equivalent | 4 GB | 10 GB |
| macOS 10.15 Catalina | Intel Core Duo or Intel Core 2 Duo | 4 GB | 10 GB |
* This is for a full install. Less space would be required if only selecting 8-, 16- or 32-bit MCU architectures.
Other Configurations
MPLAB X IDE may run on various other Linux® distributions.
Unsupported Configurations
- MPLAB X IDE does not support Virtual Machines
- Remote USB plug-in using Virtual Machines is not supported
- Apple® Arm® Core
Change in Toolchain Install
The MPASM™ assembler toolchain will no longer be installed with MPLAB X IDE, starting with v5.40. This means the toolchain will not be available by default when the IDE is installed for the first time. Therefore, you will see a message on opening the IDE that there is not a toolchain installed.
Supported Compilers and Assemblers
| Compiler | Toolchain | Earliest Compatible Version |
|---|---|---|
| MPLAB XC8 | XC8 | 1.0 and later |
| MPLAB XC16 | XC16 | 1.0 and later |
| MPLAB XC32 | XC32 | 1.0 and later |
| PIC® Assembler1 | XC8 | 1.0 and later |
1. See "MPASM™ to MPLAB® XC8 PIC® Assembler Migration Guide".
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Oracle® Java Platform and Operating System Information
Attention
OpenJDK is now being used for MPLAB X IDE 5.40 and later.
In order to align with industry standards and to continue to provide you with the best experience when using MPLAB X IDE, we will be making the following changes to the IDE:
- A license-free version of Java will be distributed with MPLAB X IDE starting in version 5.40. MPLAB X IDE versions up to and including 5.35 will use the last free Java Run-Time Environment (JRE) version 8 from Oracle®.
- Operating system support for Windows, macOS, and Linux will move to 64-bit only starting with MPLAB X IDE version 5.40. Product support releases will be delivered independently from MPLAB X IDE starting in version 5.00 by moving to a Device File Pack (DFP) system. A DFP can be applied to MPLAB X IDE version 5.30 or 5.35 to extend the life of the IDE for 32-bit operating systems. Not all new devices added by a DFP are guaranteed to work in these versions of the IDE.
- For more information on Device File Packs please refer to section 6.1 of the MPLAB X IDE User's Guide.