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.
Recommended Configuration (64-bit)
Windows® 10 or 11 Professional
Processor
Intel® Core™ i7 or equivalent
Memory
| Development Type | Memory |
|---|---|
| More simplified projects using 8- or 16-bit devices with less then approximately 20 files. | 16 GB |
| Large graphical or complex RTOS projects using DSC or 32-bit devices with more than 50 files. | 32 GB |
Disk Space
An SSD will help performance for hard drive disk space in any install.
| Install Type | Memory |
|---|---|
| Full install. Less space would be required if only selecting 8-bit, 16-bit DSC or 32-bit architectures. | 10 GB |
Ubuntu® 18.04
Processor
Intel Core i5 or equivalent
Memory
| Development Type | Memory |
|---|---|
| More simplified projects using 8- or 16-bit devices with fewer than approximately 20 files. | 8 GB |
| Large graphical or complex RTOS projects using DSC or 32-bit devices with more than 50 files. | 16 GB |
Disk Space
An SSD will help performance for hard drive disk space in any install.
| Install Type | Memory |
|---|---|
| Full install. Less space would be required if only selecting 8-bit, 16-bit DSC or 32-bit architectures. | 10 GB |
macOS® 12.5.1 Monterey
Processor
Intel Core Duo or Intel Core 2 Duo or Apple® Arm® Core
Memory
| Development Type | Memory |
|---|---|
| More simplified projects using 8- or 16-bit devices with fewer than approximately 20 files. | 8 GB |
| Large graphical or complex RTOS projects using DSC or 32-bit devices with more than 50 files. | 16 GB |
Disk Space
An SSD will help performance for hard drive disk space in any install.
| Install Type | Memory |
|---|---|
| Full install. Less space would be required if only selecting 8-bit, 16-bit DSC or 32-bit architectures. | 10 GB |
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.
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.
Supported Compilers and Assemblers
| Compiler | Toolchain | 64-bit Only Versions |
|---|---|---|
| MPLAB XC8 | XC8 | 2.05 and later |
| PIC® Assembler1 | XC8 | 2.05 and later |
| MPLAB XC16 | XC16 | 1.50 and later |
| MPLAB XC-DSC | XC-DSC | 3.00 and later |
| MPLAB XC32/XC32++ | XC32 | 2.40 and later |
| Arm® GNU | Arm GNU | 5.3.1 and later |
| AVR® GNU | AVR GNU | 3.4.3 and later |
| AVR Assembler2 | AVRASM2 | 2.2.6 and later |
1. See "MPASM™ to MPLAB® XC8 PIC® Assembler Migration Guide".
2. Included with Atmel/Microchip Studio.
Oracle® Java Platform and Operating System Information
Attention
OpenJDK is now being used for MPLAB X IDE 5.40 and later.
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 DFPs, please refer to section 6.1 of the MPLAB X IDE User's Guide.
