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Eclipse not recognizing JVM 1.8

Still trying to get Eclipse IDE to work and running into Incompatible JVM error. I followed the steps here: I installed Java 7 but Eclipse keep saying that 1.6 is not suitable for this product
But unfortunately to no effect. Running OSX 10.9.5 and uninstalled the out-of-the-box version of Mac. The new version of Java seems to show up in the System Preferences. Please see attached screen capture. I've even done some of the basics like restart my computer, etc. Maybe there are other modifications I need to make to other files. I'm comfortable with Terminal but new to Eclipse and Java.

I have had the same problem as noted above. I could not get Eclipse to install because of Java incompatibilities. The sequence I followed goes like this:
Upgraded to MAC OS Sierra
Downloaded the Eclipse installer but was prompted that I needed to instal a legacy Java.
Installed Java 1.6
Was unable to install Eclipse and was prompted that I needed Java 1.7 or greater. Downloaded and installed Java 1.8
Ran the terminal code 'java -version' // this will check your jre version. This showed returned Java 1.6 despite the fact that I had upgraded to 1.8. The Java version listed in the Java control panel said 1.8
Tried multiple downloads of eclipse and Java and multiple restarts always with the same result.
Visited the Oracle web page noted above:
http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/downloads/jdk8-downloads-2133151.html I could not find the above reference to 8u73 and 8u74 but I did find and option to download 1.8.0_12. I did this. It installed without difficulty, and then I was able to install Eclipse without difficulty.
This took hours of my time. I hope this proves useful.

OK, so I don't really know what the problem was, but I simply fixed it by navigating to here http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/downloads/jdk8-downloads-2133151.html and installing 8u74 instead of 8u73 which is what I was prompted to do when I would go to "download latest version" in Java. So changing the versions is what did it in the end. Eclipse launched fine, now. Thanks for everyone's help!
edit: Apr 2018- Now is 8u161 and 8u162 (Just need one, I used 8u162 and it worked.)

JRE is a Run-Time Environment for running Java stuffs on your machine. What Eclipse needs is JDK as a Development Kit.
Install the latest JDK (and not JRE) from http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/pt/java/javase/downloads/jdk8-downloads-2133151.html and you should be good on Mac!

Open up terminal and check what java version is currently set in your path variable.
You can do that by typing in your terminal
java -version // this will check your jre version.
javac -version // this will check your compiler version
If this shows incorrect java version but you have installed java 1.8 then you have to set path variable to the newer version of java.
To do that do add the line:
export JAVA_HOME=/path/to/java/jdk1.x
to ~/.bash_profile (same as /Users/username/.bash_profile)
Then do this from the terminal to set the new variable
source ~/.bash_profile
Also what's your eclipse.ini set to ?
-Dosgi.requiredJavaVersion=1.7
EDIT:
Please open up terminal and type
find / -name "java" // This should find all folder named java on your file system.
Also how did you install java in the first place ?

Echoing the answer, above, a full install of the JDK (8u121 at this writing) from here - http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/downloads/jdk8-downloads-2133151.html - did the trick. Updating via the Mac OS Control Panel did not update the profile variable. Installing via the full installer, did. Then Eclipse was happy.

Here are steps:
download 1.8 JDK from this site
install it
copy the jre folder & paste it in "C:\Program Files (x86)\EclipseNeon\"
rename the folder to "jre"
start the eclipse again
It should work.

For some weird reason "Java SE Development Kit 8u151" gives this trouble. Just install, "Java SE Development Kit 8u152" from the following link-
http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/downloads/jdk8-downloads-2133151.html
It should work then.

Running Eclipse on Mac - JVM Version 1.7 or greater is required

I downloaded Eclipse (specifically that for C/C++ Programming) for Mac, running OSX Mavericks. When I try to start Eclipse, it gives me this message: "Version 1.6.0_65 of the JVM is not suitable for this product. Version 1.7 or greater is required", and it doesn't open. I installed Java version 7, but nothing changed. I don't know how else to update the JVM (I don't know much about Java in general).
I downloaded the 64-bit version for my MacBook Air, if that matters.

Simply Install the JDK 7 or JDK 8, and not just the latest JRE.

Run whereis java in a Terminal. It will normally display something like /usr/bin/java.
Now run java -version. It shows you 'java version 1.6.0_65' or something approaching. This is because Java 7 does not replace Java 6. Java 7 is installed as an Internet Plug-in and can be found in /Library/Internet\ Plug-Ins/JavaAppletPlugin.plugin/Contents/Home/bin/java.
What you need to do is to symlink /usr/bin/java to /Library/Internet\ Plug-Ins/JavaAppletPlugin.plugin/Contents/Home/bin/java.
Restart Eclipse, or reboot your computer (I don't know how Eclipse manages this), and it should do the trick. :)

I went to oracle downloads and the scrolled one of the several Mac osX links and downloaded jdk-8u73-nb-8_1-macosx-x64.dmg from oracle and that fixed the problem. I don't know why updating java doesn't do the trick.

add this script into 'eclipse.ini' at the top
'/Library/java/JavaVirtualMachines/jdk1.8.0_77.jdk/contents/Home/bin'

Trying to install eclipse, I installed java version 1.6.0_65 as it requested yet still was blocked from finishing the Eclipse install with the error that I needed 1.7 JVM or higher - not true, installing higher didn't work either. I tried installing jdk-8u101-macosx-x64.dmg and that didn't work. So, I tried JDK 7 as advised, sorry no good.
So, to get the Eclipse installer to run with out that java error I had to edit the Info.plist inside the Eclipse Installer. Right click the Eclipse installer and show package contents, then open info.plist in textEdit.app
(Note: So after several tries editing this plist and following methods mentioned elsewhere nothing worked, I found that you have to use the symlink or java alias because java is installed differently now a days as an internet plugin.)
Where you want to make an edit (You should probably Backup the original or you can download it again), under <key>Eclipse</key>, then <array>, delete out what's there and add <string>-vm</string> and this string underneath; <string>/usr/bin/java</string>
Here is what mine looks like.
<key>Eclipse</key>
<array>
<string>-vm</string>
<string>/usr/bin/java</string>
<string>-keyring</string>
<string>~/.eclipse_keyring</string>
<string>-showlocation</string>
</array>
Then save and try running your eclipse installer; this worked for me.

Just running the below command from there terminal worked for me.
brew cask install java
It updated my idk with 1.8, and after that eclipse opens successfully.

I installed Java 7 but Eclipse keep saying that 1.6 is not suitable for this product

I'm using latest version of Eclipse Luna on Mac OS X 10.9.4. Whenever I try to open the Eclipse it says "version 1.6.0_65 of the JVM is not suitable for this product, version 1.7 or greater is required". I installed java 7 (JRE, I don't need JDK) but still I'm getting the same error. I tried java -version and the output was "java version 1.6.0_65". I can see the java icon on my system preferences. I also restarted my Mac to see if that works but that doesn't help either. I searched on google and some people suggesting other users to change Eclipse.ini file, the instructions wasn't clear and I'm a java beginner so I've no idea where and what to edit. Any step by step instructions will be appreciated.

I had this same problem with a fresh install of Eclipse Mars on OSX. I had installed the JRE from https://java.com/en/download/ (which is the top google search result for "java download" for me.
This failed for me with the same message "version 1.6.0_65 of the JVM is not suitable for this product, version 1.7 or greater is required"
Then I saw a comment that I should get the JRE/JDK from oracle instead:
http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/downloads/index.html
After downloading the most recent JDK from Oracle Eclipse starts fine.

A potential solution to your problem might be to uninstall Java6 (provided by Apple itself) and only have Java7 installed in your system. This only applies in case you have no applications that desperately need the old Java6 version to be installed.
To remove the Apple-like Java6 installation open a Terminal and:
sudo rm -rf /System/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/1.6.0.jdk
After this step you should only have Java7 by Oracle installed in your system. To verify, open another terminal and do a:
java -version
It should display something like "java version "1.7.0_XX" where XX is the current update version of the Java7 installation. If not: proceed with the next step.
Redefine the JAVA_HOME variable (to support IDEs like Eclipse and other developer tools...), which helps detecting where the "active" Java installation is situated in your system. Open a terminal and (Note: replace XX first!):
sudo rm /Library/Java/Home
sudo ln -s /Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/jdk1.7.0_XX.jdk/Contents/Home /Library/Java/Home
Afterwards, a fresh installation of Eclipse should detect Java7 in your system and should work with this version out of the box. You can modify an installed Eclipse to use this installation by navigating in Eclipse to:
Preferences -> Java -> Installed JREs. Then remove the old Java6 system entry AND add new path (see above) with the name Java7.

You can modify Info.plist inside Eclipse.app (right clic on Eclipse.app --> show package contents) and specify -vm after <key>Eclipse</key>.
For example :
<key>Eclipse</key>
<array>
<string>-vm</string><string>/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/jdk1.8.0_20.jdk/Contents/Home/jre/bin/java</string>
<string>-keyring</string><string>~/.eclipse_keyring</string>
<string>-showlocation</string>
</array>

Ensure you installed the jdk 7 or above. If you have a Mac you most likely have 1.6.0.jdk. To check your java development kit (jdk) version go to the terminal and browse to:
/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines
Next, if you see 1.6.0.jdk then you did not install the latest version of the jdk. Go to http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/downloads/jdk8-downloads-2133151.html to install the latest jdk. Next use the browse out to the same file path aforementioned and ensure the latest jdk is in there (i.e. jdk1.8.0_141.jdk).

To specify Java 6 for OS X:
-vm
/System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/1.6.0/Home/bin/java
For versions of Mac OS X 10.7+ the location has changed to
/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/<''jdk_name_ver''>/Contents/Home/...
eclipse.ini > Specifying the JVM
Try any of these solutions
How do I run Eclipse using Oracle's new 1.7 JDK for the Mac?
Mountain Lion with Java 7 only
Eclipse still using java 6 as jre on Mac OSX

As I found out, we don't need to un-install an existing Java 1.6. Just installing or deploying a newer version 1.7 or 1.8, and setting the JAVA_HOME, along with the below given activities will solve the issue.
Check your c:/Windows/System32 (as I had this issue in windows). You will find junk java processes (java.exe, javaws.exe etc). Delete them all.
Deleting just java.exe will reflect in your PATH but eclipse still picks the javaws from c:/windows/system32. This is because, usually in PATH, you will have C:/Windows/System32 as the first entry. So, this will override any JAVA_HOME entry in the path.
Try starting the eclipse. It should work like charm! Atleast it did for me.

Try this
https://gist.github.com/johan/10590467
You might have to disable SIP and reenable it.

Okay so I have been struggling with this issue for a few days with Eclipse Neon and Oxygen. I was doing the below steps -
Check java -version from Terminal. It showed version as 1.7
Go to System Preferences -> Java -> Update Java version. Version 1.8 was downloaded and updated.
Went to Terminal again to confirm and this time it showed the version as 1.8.
But it still didn't work!! What was I missing now??
Here is what you need to keep in mind -- By default when you type the below command it shows the JRE version.
java -version
You need JDK to start your Eclipse installation. Please go to Java download page
and download the latest JDK version and you should be good to go.
Don't try to remove the Java in /System/Library/ - firstly this will not be allowed (you need to login as root user) and secondly you don't know the dependencies this Java version has on your other applications. Hope this helps!

Check your system variables ($JAVA_HOME specifically). This may be helpful:
http://www.mkyong.com/java/how-to-set-java_home-environment-variable-on-mac-os-x/

Install the updated JDK
Update the environment variables: here's how
If still not working uninstall the older JDK

I see that you have installed the Java plugin and not the jdk. You can download the JDK from Oracle Downloads section.
You can remove the Java Plugin and install JDK from oracle downloads to resolve your issue.

I have had the same problem as noted above. I could not get Eclipse to install because of Java incompatibilities. The sequence I followed goes like this:
Upgraded to MAC OS Sierra
Downloaded the Eclipse installer but was prompted that I needed to instal a legacy Java.Installed Java 1.6
Was unable to install Eclipse and was prompted that I needed Java 1.7 or greater. Downloaded and installed Java 1.8
Ran the terminal code 'java -version' // this will check your jre version. This showed returned Java 1.6 despite the fact that I had upgraded to 1.8. The Java version listed in the Java control panel said 1.8
Tried multiple downloads of eclipse and Java and multiple restarts always with the same result.
Visited the Oracle web page. I could not find the above reference to 8u73 and 8u74 but I did find and option to download 1.8.0_12. I did this. It installed without difficulty, and then I was able to install Eclipse without difficulty.

Android Studio failed to load JVM on Mac OSX (Mavericks)

I am trying to setup Android Studio on my Mac. It is running OSX 10.9.1 Mavericks. I have installed the latest JDK (at the time of writing 1.7 update 45), and I installed Android Studio. I use Java 7 because I have some Java applications I have to run and they require 1.7. I have not installed Java 1.6, because it is ancient and old. Launching Android Studio from any launcher does literally nothing. Activity Manager never shows it running. I do not want to install Java 1.6.
I did some work and tried to run the executable via command line through the package contents, and for both executables, I get these messages:
I am unsure what I am supposed to do to fix this error. I'm not very adept on a Mac (still somewhat new to it, and its confusing to do power user stuff on this) so if anyone can help me figure it out that'd be great. I'm on the 2013 Macbook Air with plenty of resources for this to run.
Update: This also applies to Yosemite, El Capitan, and all the other versions of OSX that can run Android Studio.

Update 12/11/2014
As of Android Studio 1.0 RC3 you can follow this set of directions to make it work.
I figured it out. You have to edit the android studio's Info.plist file in the package so it uses 1.7. I don't get why Android Studio insists we install and use an outdated, vulnerable version of Java.
Full resolution: http://i.stack.imgur.com/yyYaG.png
To open the package you need to find the Android Studio.app file in the Applications folder and right click it > Show Package Contents.
Edit the plist (I think you might need to be root) and change JVMVersion from 1.6* to 1.7* (or 1.8*, or whatever JDK major version you have). I don't get why that made a difference since my original output said it was using 1.7 anyways.
This fix seems to apply to all of IntelliJ's IDEs (I've seen it on PyCharm as well), though other ones seem to support newer versions of java natively.

As answered by hasternet # Android Studio was unable to find a valid Jvm (Related to MAC OS)
For quick and dirty solution, Follow the answer by Mgamerz; open Android Studio in Finder (CTRL+Click > Show Package Contests > Contents > info.plist) and edit Key JVMOptions>JVMVersion from "1.6*" to "1.6+"
Recommended method as discovered by Antonio Jose is to edit environment variables in MacOS (messing with info.plist is not recommended)
either at program launch (opening the Studio through terminal rather than the icon)
$ export STUDIO_JDK=/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/jdk1.8.0_25.jdk
$ open /Applications/Android\ Studio.app
or setting up the environment through AppleScript at every MacOS startup:
do shell script "launchctl setenv STUDIO_JDK /Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/jdk1.8.0_25.jdk"
do shell script "launchctl setenv STUDIO_PROPERTIES /Users/username/Library/Preferences/AndroidStudio/idea.properties"
do shell script "launchctl setenv STUDIO_VM_OPTIONS /Users/username/Library/Preferences/AndroidStudio/studio.vmoptions"
(Remember to save the script as Application. Antonio Jose managed with just the first line - AFAIK you can use .properties and .vmoptions to set up additional settings.)
Official instructions: http://tools.android.com/tech-docs/configuration/osx-jdk
(The reason why Android Studio want's to run off of JRE 1.6 is because it apparently makes the fonts look better - feel free to go through that "official" route and install JRE 1.6 # http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1572 - you can then set the JDK to 1.8 in the SDK Location settings - local.properties)

mgamerz is right - The release notes give a much better solution for rc3 and onwards - theres a idea.properties file
(or environment variable)
~/Library/Preferences/AndroidStudio/idea.properties
it also shows what environment variables you can use to set things like the jdk
export STUDIO_JDK=/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/jdk1.7.0_67.jdk
ref : http://tools.android.com/recent/androidstudio1rc3_releasecandidate3released

I did below command on Mac Terminal to fix this problem, please make sure java version and path.
$java -version
java version "1.8.0_25"
Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.8.0_25-b17)
Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM (build 25.25-b02, mixed mode)
$ export STUDIO_JDK=/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/jdk1.8.0_25.jdk
$ open /Applications/Android\ Studio.app

Hey Friends I just Figured it out a simple way to fix this for Mac users.
Open Terminal and type this -> java -version and hit enter.
Output will be something like this:
Now check your Java Version. My Java version is 1.8
So now we need to Open Contents of our Android App.
For that right click the Android.app and then select Show Contents
Like this
Now there will be Content folder, Open that Folder and there you will find Info.plist
Open this info.plist
And you will see this.
In this expand the JVM
Here you will see the JVM version showing 1.6* but our jvm version is 1.8 (for example my jvm version is 1.8)
So we need to change this number according to our jvm version, so i changed it to version 1.8*
Then click save. And you are done.
Now you will see setup wizard running
And you are ready to start your first android programming app.
Here is the Whole Docx file for Android Studio Setup in Mac X
LINK: https://www.dropbox.com/s/9jwjebn5hgydyll/Android%20Studio%20Setup%20on%20Mac.docx?dl=0

I found that downloading an extra Java bundle from Apple fixed the issue.
If you search for this problem then I found the second link was to a blog having exactly this problem, all credit goes to him here
I know that posting links isn't an answer but as you can see from the resolution you need to make sure you have an up to date version of Java and also the Java bundle from Apple, for this reason I have also included the searches needed to get to these websites.
Here is where to download the latest version of Java
If this link is broken then searching "java latest version" return it at the top of the Google list
Here is where to download the Apple Bundle
If this link is broken then searching "Java for OS X 2014-001" returns it at the top of the Google list
For me trying to solve this problem it appears that initially it was an issue that required a work around and then Apple released an official work around download meaning that fiddling in plists is not necessary any more.

Eclipse on Mac 10.8 - Installed 1.7.0 JRE / JDK, but Eclipse won't launch

Installed Java SE 1.7.0u10 from Oracle w/ their installer package
Downloaded and unpacked Eclipse Juno (4.2.1)
Double click Eclipse purple icon and get OS X alert prompt with error message:
To open "Eclipse," you need a Java SE 6 runtime. Would you like to
install one now?
(in terminal) which java - /usr/bin/java
ls -l /usr/bin/java - /usr/bin/java -> /System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/Current/Commands/java
(in Finder) Double click eclipse alias (included when unpacked download) - Terminal launches, /Applications/Eclipse/Eclipse.app/Contents/MacOS/eclipse ; exit ; and Exclipse launches without OS X alert prompt.
I've tried modifying the Eclipse app bundle plist to point the -vm key to /System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.frameworks/Versions/Current/Commands/java, but I feel like I probably shouldn't have to do this.`
I'd like to know how to get Eclipse to launch by just double clicking on the Application package. It's such a small thing to bug me... :o)

The best answer is to fix the Java 7 installation as shown here :
https://stackoverflow.com/a/19594116
Simple to do and I have confirmed it works on Mavericks. With this fix, you can launch your app from the launchpad as usual. If you upgrade your JDK, you will have to reapply the fix to the new installation.

I had JDK 7 installed and I solved this issue for eclipse Kepler by running eclipse from the terminal instead of the finder.
./eclipse
Just thought to share.
Update 1
For the sake of completeness, if you want to run it from Finder as well, you can wrap the ./eclipse command into a .command file and run it from Finder (so that you don't have to open a terminal)
The following lines should do the job (don't forget to replace "your-full-eclipse-path" with the eclipse path on your machine)
#!/bin/sh
/your-full-eclipse-path/eclipse
After that, give execute permission to the eclipse.command file you just created
chmod +x eclipse.command

I found the answer over on Ask Different
It's an ugly hack, but works perfectly.

posted on this page: Mountain Lion with Java 7 only
To trick OS X to accept Java 7 instead of proposing to install Java 6 a simple symlink is enough:
sudo mkdir /System/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines
sudo ln -s /Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/1.7.0.jdk /System/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/1.6.0.jdk
Most Java Programs will run with this little hack without the need to install Java 6. OS X's Java Preferences (and maybe some others) will not as it seems to explicitly check the version of the JVM when it is started.
script above can fix my problem.

Hoping you are using 64-bit of Java SE 1.7.0 and so advising the following.
go to Eclipse->Preferences...->Java->Installed JREs
click Add...
Select Standard VM
paste /Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/1.7.0.jdk/Contents/Home into JRE home
Change the JRE name to something useful like Java SE 7
Click Finish
Check the check-box next to your newly created JRE.
You would need a restart.

For what it's worth, the Eclipse team seems to have worked around it by replacing their dlopen()-based method with a CFBundleCreate()-based one: https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=411361
In case anybody has the same problem in their code that launches Java and does not want to resort to Apple-only APIs, I found an easier work-around: before dlopen()ing $JRE_HOME/lib/server/libjvm.dylib, make sure to open dlopen() $JRE_HOME/lib/jli/libjli.dylib. Then it won't ask to install Java 6.

Can you imagine that? You have to install a JDK 1.6 to get eclipse ran properly, even if you already have jdk 1.7 installed, and set the JAVA_HOME properly.
To resolve your issue, you just need to download the jdk1.6 from http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1572?viewlocale=en_US, and install it, later you will be able to run eclipse, and you can set the JAVA_HOME to JDK1.7, and you will be able to find the JDK1.7 from eclipse "Preferences".

All these hacks does not work on mac Mavericks,
But a simple and efficient solution is found here
it worked with me like a charm.
Note: a drawback of this solution is when you check your java version using "java -version" command, it will read Java 1.6

open /Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/jdkXXXXX.jdk/Contents/Info.plist
settting(<string>BundledApp</string> is usefull!):
<key>JVMCapabilities</key>
<array>
　　<string>JNI</string>
　　<string>BundledApp</string>
　　<string>WebStart</string>
　　<string>Applets</string>
　　<string>CommandLine</string>
</array>

I had the exact same message when setting up a new mac and trying to run eclipse 4.2.2 with only Java SE 7 installed (as part of JDK 7u17).
In order to be able to successfully launch Eclipse I had to let OSX download and install Apple's Java SE 6 runtime first before installing the latest JDK.
After installing the JDK, the command java -version correctly shows:
java version "1.7.0_17"
Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.7.0_17-b02)
Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM (build 23.7-b01, mixed mode)
Trying to solve the problem the other way around didn't work -- i.e. installing JDK 7u17 first before installing Java SE 6 as suggested in the message.

I had the exactly same problem some days ago and I solved it today. Just installed this http://support.apple.com/kb/dl1572
And after that, when I opened the eclipse the OSX installed some java update and opening eclipse by Eclipse.app started working.
Hope it works with you too.

If you'd like to install Java 6 JDK only (no Java 7 JDK/JRE, no Java 6 JRE only), install the Apple OSX Java DMG (at time of writing, this was http://adcdownload.apple.com/Developer_Tools/java_for_os_x_2013003_developer_package/java_for_os_x_2013003_dp__11m4406.dmg).
You still won't be able to start Eclipse. Make a directory JavaVirtualMachines under /System/Library/Java. And then make an Alias of the java version folder at /Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines and rename the alias 1.6.0.jdk and copy that alias to /System/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/
After finished, you will have an Alias at /System/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/1.6.0.jdk that points to the Java install directory at */Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/1.6.0_XX-XXX-XXX.jdk*

Install latest JDK from Sun, it installs into /Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/, e.g. /Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/jdk1.7.0_40.jdk
sudo mkdir /System/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines
sudo ln -s /Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/jdk1.7.0_40.jdk/ /System/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/1.6.0.jdk
========= this trick used to work on Mountain Lion, but not on Maverick 10.9 somehow ============
Tried this again on Maverick, it does not work anymore. I also tried to change eclipse app plist and eclipse.ini (by adding -vm or ), does not work either.
Some people suggested that this is caused by Eclipse binary prepared using Apple 1.6 appbundler instead of Oracle java7 appbundler: Application is using Java 6 from Apple instead of Java 7 from Oracle on Mac OS X?
For now, please just type the eclipse from command line, which works fine with JAVA_HOME set to Java 7 (/usr/libexec/java_home command will tell you)

How to Make Eclipse Run on OS X 10.9 Mavericks
Attempting to launch various Eclipse versions after the Mavericks upgrade pops up a dialog with this message:
To open "Eclipse.app" you need a Java SE 6 runtime. Would you like to install one now?
It turns out that Java 7 is disabled by default in OS X 10.9.
This is easily verified as follows:
$ java --version
No Java runtime present, requesting install.
The solution is to install the latest supported Java version from Apple support: Java for OS X 2013-005 (http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1572)
As of 10/15/13 this would be Java SE 6 1.6.0_65.
Post Date: Oct 15, 2013
File Size: 63.98 MB
After the install, Eclipse will run as expected from the Dock, the Finder, or the Terminal without any tricks, hacks, or work-arounds.

I wanted to run Eclipse itself with Java 7. As I have a couple of plugins that do not work without it. For me neither solution worked for 10.9, but I found a workaround. The main idea is that you start eclipse with java -jar launcher.jar and provide a couple of magic properties and then it starts. This guy provided the command line script in comments that works for me:
https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=411361#c25

I found the same problem (Mac OS X 10.9.2, Java 1.7.0_53b13, Eclipse Kepler). The workaround was quite easy:
Find the executable in Finder (CMD+Click on Eclipse's icon in the Dock)
Remove the icon from the Dock
CTRL+Click on the executable in Finder
ALT+Open (to allow the execution of a non-signed application)
Eclipse opens normally and without any problem
Re-dragged the program onto the Dock

I had this problem and found that I did not have JDK installed on my Mac. Once I did that, Eclipse starts normally.

I had same problem.
First of all ; JDK(java development Kit) and JRE(Java Runtime Environment) are different things. It was confused by people
In order to install eclipse yo should install latest JDK . So
Visit
http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/downloads/jdk8-downloads-2133151.html
Download suitable version for your mac
You can check your version now ; it won't be 1.6 anymore
Try to install eclipse again , see it works.
Good luck!..