Skip to main content
Inspiring
August 22, 2025
Answered

ColdFusion Builder Plugin for VS Studio Code and Commandbox.

  • August 22, 2025
  • 3 replies
  • 755 views

Greetings,

I’m having a problem setting up the server portion of the CFBuilder plugin for VS Code. FWIW, I am running CF2023 using CommandBox on my MacBook Air.

 

What I’m trying to do is set up the sever section of the plugin. In the local server settings, I enter what I thought was the path to server, but I get the following message: Invalid server home

 

When I go into the terminal and type box server info --verbose it gives me
Server Home:

/Users/larryclyons/.CommandBox/server/E898FE23BF702162F22CB024B4F4187B-dataTables_CF5090/adobe-2023.0.15.330825


which I assume is the path to the server. Or so I thought.

 

I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong in this case, Any suggestions on getting this resolved will be very appreciated. 

Correct answer Charlie Arehart

Hi Charlie,

I should have clarified things. 

First off Ravi's solution works. I used the "Other" option, and set the sever home to [whatever]/WEB-INF/cfusion.

( [whatever] refers to the full path — it was easier not to keep typing it).

No jvm.config file.

That worked.

Then I deleted the newly created server definition. Next I created an empty jvm.config file in [whatever]/WEB-INF/cfusion/bin. 

Unfortunately that did not work.  CfB still returned an Invalid server home.

 

Since Ravi's solution worked and works well for my needs so far I'll be going with his solution.

 


Hey Larry, I totally appreciate that the problem is solved for you with Ravi's solution using "other".

 

As for my proposed solution, and what failed for you, I think I know why. I offer this as much for others who may find this thread.

 

I found I was able to experience your challenge if the closing slash on the "server home" field was missing. The response is immediate, while editing a CFB "server" configured this way. (Curiously, the slash is NOT needed if empty jvm.config is there when you first attempt this. The problem is when the file is NOT there, and you create a server with the server home having no slash, and THEN you create the empty jvm.config. Again, just add the slash then and it should work.)

 

If you're willing to give it another shot, I'd appreciate hearing if that solved things also.  BTW, you had said you "deleted the newly created server definition", but as I noted above it's ok to have two or more "Servers" configured to point to the same instance (for whatever reason).  🙂

 

And while this closing slash does NOT matter for Ravis's approach (which is nice), as I said there are those feature differences I observed, at least in the menu offered for the server, and there may be still others. So it may help for some to know of both options here. 

 

Indeed, I have added the discoveries from this thread as a new post on the Ortus forum thread from a couple of years ago that I referred to in my first answer. Someone may find that discussion and not this one. Finally, also edited my first reply above to make the need of the closing slash more clear, for future readers here.

 

Hope all this helps someone.

3 replies

Inspiring
August 24, 2025

Thanks all. I'm helping the kid to move back into her college dorm this weekend, but as soon as I'm back in town I'll give these solutions a try and post the results here.

Adobe Employee
August 22, 2025

Hello Larry,

Can you please try adding as mentioned below and let us know if it works.

 

/Users/larryclyons/.CommandBox/server/E898FE23BF702162F22CB024B4F4187B-dataTables_CF5090/adobe-2023.0.15.330825/WEB-INF/cfusion

 

Please make sure you select Appliction Server as Other 

 

 

Thanks & Regards

Ravi

Charlie Arehart
Community Expert
Community Expert
August 23, 2025

Ravi, that's interesting to hear. I see we were writing about the same time, so maybe you'd not seen my reply to him. 

 

Are you saying that if one chooses that "other" option, then cfb would NOT look for the jvm.config file? If so, that's helpful to hear. (I'm reading and replying to this on a phone.)

 

Larry, do let us know if either option works for you. Ravi's is certainly one less step :-), though sadly neither is an obvious one. 

/Charlie (troubleshooter, carehart. org)
Charlie Arehart
Community Expert
Community Expert
August 24, 2025

I have new info on these two options.

 

First, yes, if one does the "other" option as Ravi posed then I can confirm there's no need then of the empty jvm.config I'd mentioned. That said, I've also confirmed that if you go that route, you'll find that when you right-click on the server name (in the servers view of cfb), you will only see the option to edit or delete that server.

 

But if instead you define the server using the default config choice (of "cf+tomcat bundle"), again that not only WORKS with Commandbox (as long as you add the empty jvm.config) but FWIW you WILL see the other menu items (when you right-click on the server name) one would normally see, including starting/stopping the server, launching the cf admin, etc.  While I appreciate that may seem not too important for a Commandbox server instance (as its status tray ui element offers that and more), I do want to at least note the difference here, in case it may well lead to some other changed behavior within cfb (which I have not yet further explored).

 

Larry, if you (or others) try one option vs the other, I hope you'll at least consider setting up a server connection using the other approach (it's ok to have more than one pointing to a given CF instance, configured these different ways, I have found). It will be interesting to learn if the "other"option Ravi proposes causes any loss of some capability that the traditional ("cf+tomcat bundle") would have enabled.

/Charlie (troubleshooter, carehart. org)
Charlie Arehart
Community Expert
Community Expert
August 22, 2025

Hey, Larry. Long time, no talk. I offer the solution here:

 

https://community.ortussolutions.com/t/commandbox-visual-studio-code-adobe-coldfusion-builder-extension-with-commandbox/9376/5

 

Briefly, you'd want to point cfb at the WEB-INF/cfusion/ within that Commandbox server location (the closing slash is important), then most important note that cfb is expecting to find a jvm.config file there (which Commandbox does not require).

 

Just create an empty jvm.config there, which gets around the cfb problem--without ill-effect on Commandbox. Let us know how it goes. 

/Charlie (troubleshooter, carehart. org)