Overview

Changes to ColdFusion's configuration can at times cause service startup failures due to syntax errors or failed updates. Some other common issues can also lead to service startup failures. You should utilize this article for basic troubleshooting of startup issues with the ColdFusion engine.

Common Issues

The most common issue, and the first thing that you should  always  check is the  java.home  setting in the  jvm.config  file. Many times after a Java update the path may be pointed to an invalid path - sometimes weeks before the current ColdFusion restart - and ColdFusion will fail to start as a result. An example of an invalid and valid Java.home path can be reviewed below:

Invalid Examples:

Valid Examples:

If you see that the service user password expired, then make sure you enable the ‘Password Never Expires ’ setting.

If you see that the account intermittently gets locked out, then you should look at disabling public access for RDP or disabling Remote Desktop Access to the CFML engine runtime user altogether.
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​Note: On our ColdFusion servers this is already disabled.

In some cases, such as after an update, the ColdFusion  process  gets started instead of the service itself. If that happens, then simply kill the CF process and start the service.
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​Troubleshooting
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​If you’re having trouble starting ColdFusion, you may be seeing something similar to the below error message.

 If you review the Event Viewer as the error message suggests, you may find an entry similar to the following.

At this point, you’re probably thinking “well that’s cryptic and isn’t helpful at all ”. If you google the error, you’ll get some suggestions that may or may not work. However, there’s another way to collect startup info for ColdFusion, and it’s sometimes very helpful.

Try starting ColdFusion by using the following command:

Depending on the cause of the issue, you’ll get output similar to the following screenshots.

In the first example, the issue was the ColdFusion (or some other process on port 8500) was already running. In the second example, there was a syntax error in the jvm.config.
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Hopefully, this will help you solve some ColdFusion startup issues you’re experiencing. If you’re having issues solving the issue by yourself, then feel free to Contact (link) our world-class support team who are experts in ColdFusion.