How to install on an external disk (USB) and retain all settings

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Id001
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Hi

I am using Intellij CE on different computers and I have the following lines in idea.properties:


idea.config.path=/media/p/usb/software/intellij/config
idea.system.path=/media/p/usb/software/intellij/system
idea.plugins.path=/media/p/usb/software/intellij/plugins
idea.log.path=/media/p/usb/software/intellij/log

When I move from the reference computer, where I configured all settings to another box, some settings are preserved ( like custom key bindings) , however, others are not , for example inspections concerning the possible future removal of preview features.

How can I “nomadize” ALL settings ?

Thanks for your help

Peter

 

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Bond Han
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Have you tried the feature "Settings Sync"? https://www.jetbrains.com/help/idea/sharing-your-ide-settings.html#IDE_settings_sync
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Id001
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Hi 

Thank you for this hint, I will try it out. However, I would like to understand what's wrong with my idea.properties files as I believe to have followed the documentation on that.

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Bond Han
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idea.properties file is in the IntelliJ IDEA configuration directory (https://www.jetbrains.com/help/idea/directories-used-by-the-ide-to-store-settings-caches-plugins-and-logs.html#config-directory). Do you mean all the settings there were gone when switching machines? Did you try shutting the IDE first before gracefully ejecting the USB drive to avoid possible corruption?
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Id001
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I have change the default directories:

❯ cat ~/.config/JetBrains/IdeaIC2024.2/idea.properties 
idea.system.path=/media/p/usb_disk/software/intellij/system
idea.config.path=/media/p/usb_disk/software/intellij/config
idea.log.path=/media/p/usb_disk/software/intellij/log
 

Not all settings are gone ( for example Keybindings are preserved). But some settings like disabled inspections and spellchecks are gone.

 

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Id001
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Ok , I got it.

Inspection settings are stored in profiles , which can either be stored in the IDE, or in the .idea folder.

I then copied the inspection profile to the IDE and I also included .idea in version control.

Now, all settings are correctly applied when moving to another box.

Thanks for your help

Kind regards

Peter

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Bond Han
Created
Did you use IDE profile or project profile? 

• Profiles Stored in IDE are saved to the inspection folder in the IntelliJ IDEA configuration directory (In your case, /media/p/usb_disk/software/intellij/config ) and are available for any project. You can copy the IDE profile to the current project using the Copy to Project option.

• Profiles Stored in Project are saved to the inspectionProfiles folder in the .idea directory and are available within one project. You can copy the project profile to the IDE level using the Copy to IDE option.

https://www.jetbrains.com/help/idea/customizing-profiles.html
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Id001
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Hi,

As I said, I finished by storing the profiles in the IDE to make them available for any project.

Now everything is as expected, thank you for your help.

 

Kind regards

Peter

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