CF 2025 Error message: 'sqlserver package is not installed' (but it is installed)

[tom_4655]

Hello - Developer edition of CF 2025 running locally on a Mac (OS = Sequoia 15.5). DMG installer. A CFQuery to an MS SQL Server datasource produces this error message: 'Error Executing Database Query. The sqlserver package is not installed. You can install the package through the CLI package manager (/Applications/ColdFusion2025/cfusion/bin/cfpm.sh) by running the command : install sqlserver.'

The Packages section of the CF Administrator shows that the sqlserver package already is installed. Same if I attempt an install via the CLI package manager. I've also uninstalled and re-installed the package. Any thoughts?

(The query runs without error on CF 2016 or 2018. The datasource verifies in the Administrator (i.e., the 'OK' message.)

[Dave Watts]

I vaguely recall hearing about occasionally needing to delete the contents of felix-cache and restarting CF to use newly-added packages.

[Charlie Arehart]

Yep, Dave. It's a recommended step in most of the cf update technotes (not every one).

Tom, you don't indicate if you've done any cf updates. Have you? In any case, stop cf, delete the felix-cache folder within cfusion/bin, then start cf and try again. Tell us how it goes. 

[tom_4655]

Thanks, Dave and Charlie. No luck, I'm afraid. I stopped CF, deleted the felix-cache folder, also cleared any cache in my web browser, then restarted CF. Same error message (sqlserver package not installed).

For good measure I then uninstalled the sqlserver package via the CF Administrator, stopped CF, deleted the felix-cache folder, restarted CF, reinstalled thesqlserver package (again via the Administrator), stop/start CF again. Same result (the sqlserver package not installed message).

Looking in coldfusion-out.log I see this line:

Jun 27, 2025 14:17:59 PM Error [pool-16-thread-1] - Unable to install sqlserver package: java.lang.NullPointerException: Cannot invoke "org.osgi.framework.BundleContext.getBundle(long)" because "context" is null
There's a similar log entry for all the packages, in fact.

[Charlie Arehart]

Tom, first when you ran the cfpm at the cli, did you run as root or using su or sudo (since you're on a Mac)?

Along the same lines, when you run your cf instance, how do you do it/start it? As a service or otherwise?

And had you applied any cf updates yet? If so, was that done in the admin or at the command line?

I appreciate that some would think your issue reflects a bug or problem with CF and Mac's, but sometimes the problem is instead about processes and configuration choices. 

[BKBK]

Why would ColdFusion tell you, "Unable to install sqlserver package", given that it successfully installs the package?

Weird.

Did the errors result from your installation attempts? That is, did you compare the times at which the errors were logged against the times when you attempted to install the package? 

In any case, the cause of the NullPointerException is clear. The installation process wanted to make use of an object of type org.osgi.framework.BundleContext, an object that obtains and installs the bundles. But the classloader had not loaded the object into memory.  

So the root cause is a faulty startup or initialization of the OSGI framework. This forms part of the library felix.jar.

Suggestions:

1. Make sure the file felix.jar is present in ColdFusion's /lib directory and on the class-path. To check the class-path, review /cfusion/bin/jvm.config and make sure {application.home}/lib is included in the settings java.library.path and -Dcoldfusion.classPath.
2.  Ensure ColdFusion is using the Java 21 that ships with it.

   Make sure your Mac does not have a different, system-wide Java. If it does, there might be a mismatch with ColdFusion's Java.

   
   To verify, run either of the following commands:

   java -version
   echo $JAVA_HOME

   Then compare with what ColdFusion is using (in /cfusion/bin/jvm.config).

3.  Checking on Google, I see that macOS Sequoia 15.5 was released just last month. Being a new macOS version, it may introduce incompatibilities such as stricter sandboxing, permission issues and Java conflicts.

   Try running ColdFusion with elevated permission, and see what happens.

4.  If all your attempts at solving the issue fail, then uninstall and re-install ColdFusion 2025 from scratch. If you do, apply the latest Update afterwards.

[Charlie Arehart]

FWIW, I'd asked the questions in my previous reply to better guide us before elaborating on such next steps. Different strokes...

[BKBK]

All roads lead to Rome, the saying goes.

[tom_4655]

1. Make sure the file felix.jar is present in ColdFusion's /lib directory and on the class-path. To check the class-path, review /cfusion/bin/jvm.config and make sure {application.home}/lib is included in the settings java.library.path and -Dcoldfusion.classPath.
   The felix.jar file is present in cfusion/lib. There's no version number but it says it was created/modified on Tuesday, August 30, 2022 at 12:51 PM.
   
   
2.  Ensure ColdFusion is using the Java 21 that ships with it.

   Make sure your Mac does not have a different, system-wide Java. If it does, there might be a mismatch with ColdFusion's Java.
   Here's my installed Java:

   java version "21.0.6" 2025-01-21 LTS

   Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 21.0.6+8-LTS-188)

   Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM (build 21.0.6+8-LTS-188, mixed mode, sharing)
   
   3. I see that macOS Sequoia 15.5 was released just last month. Being a new macOS version, it may introduce incompatibilities such as stricter sandboxing, permission issues and Java conflicts.

   Try running ColdFusion with elevated permission, and see what happens.

   I don't think it's Sequoia. I had this same problem trying to install CF 2021 a while back, on a previous version of the MacOS (Sonoma). I never got past the sqlserver problem and continued using my local CF2016. 

[tom_4655]

Tom, first when you ran the cfpm at the cli, did you run as root or using su or sudo (since you're on a Mac)?

Yes, I ran sudo sh cfpm.sh, from within the cfusion/bin directory.

Along the same lines, when you run your cf instance, how do you do it/start it? As a service or otherwise?

From within the cfusion/bin directory I run the cfstart.sh script.

And had you applied any cf updates yet? If so, was that done in the admin or at the command line?

I haven't run any updates, just the installer from the ColdFusion_2025_GUI_WWEJ_macos.dmg. That extracts to version 2025.0.0.2 of the ColdFusion 2025 installer.

[Charlie Arehart]

Thanks for the confirmations. A couple more thoughts:

First, one thing to consider is applying update 2, even though I've confirmed there's no mention of mac or sql server/sqlserver/mmssql in the update technotes for updates 1 and 2. It should be easy to try--and updating cf also updates your packages. (Aain, clear the felix-cache after the update.)

And you would want to read both technotes as they each introduce potentially breaking changes.

Second, look at the installer log for cf itself, which should be found in the root of the cf folder. Just like with CF update install logs, about 70 lines down should be a table counting "successes" and "fatalerrors".Any of the latter? Or nonfatal?

Finally, on a lark, what happens if you run that cfstart.sh as sudo? 

[tom_4655]

Thanks,  Charlie and BKBK. I installed CF update no. 2, stopped the server, deleted the felix-cache folder, restarted CF and... same error, unfortunately. Looking at the installer log in the ColdFusion 2025 root, I see this:

Summary

-------

Installation: Successful.

2455 Successes

0 Warnings

0 NonFatalErrors

0 FatalErrors

I also started the CF server as SU. Same result. Oy. 

Next step, I suppose, should be a clean install? Zap the ColdFusion2025 directory, re-download the installer, and try again? I wonder if using a different installer would make a difference. 

[Charlie Arehart]

Tom, thanks for all that. We just need to try to rule out more common root causes before pursuing others, or presuming "there's a bug".

I'll say I'd be surprised if you're the only one using Sequoia with sql server since cf2021 came out--but I suppose it's possible. 🙂

So to your final idea, here's something to consider: you need not reinstall. You can get the zip rather than the installer (dmg). Both are offered by Adobe. In fact you can get the zip (without logging in/filling out the download form) at the cf downloads page. See the section, "Download Adobe ColdFusion (2025 release) Zip Installers". 

Just extract the zip, and run its included cfinstall.sh. It will prompt you for things like the admin port to use (to distinguish from your current one), what modules/packages you want. And yes, you can run it alongside your current install. There are ample cf docs on this zip install approach. I'll update this comment with links in a bit. I wanted to get this out ASAP, before you may reinstall. 🙂 

Curious to hear how that goes. 

[BKBK]

Thanks for answering all the questions in full. From your answers, the way to go is to follow Charlie's suggestion: apply Update 2. 

[Charlie Arehart]

On mobile, at least, it appears that this message came after Tom's note saying he'd applied update 2 to no avail. The mobile view lacks much indentation, since some of these threads could get deep.

Just offering this for future readers, who won't see the indications of "minutes ago" which clarified things for me. 🙂

[tom_4655]

OK, some positive news: Success! I can succesfully query my MS SQL datasource from my local CF2025 installation. So... Is the upshot that there's something different about the DMG vs .zip installation? Is the Zip installation more of a low-level method? 

In any event, thanks Charlie and BKBK for your patience and knowledge. - Tom

[Charlie Arehart]

Good news there...but when you refer to the working one as "local", is the other not? Or was that a slip, and you meant simply that the zip install works? If they're on different machines, that may be important.

To your question, the reason I posed the zip approach is that it is indeed different. The RESULT should be the same--once you run that cfinstall script, and assuming you made the same choices.

One big difference is that the full installer (dmg, on mac) defaults to installing ALL packages, whereas the zip install implements virtually none--and that cfinstall script asks what packages you want, or you can say "all".

So what packages did you add? One question might be what would happen on your "failing" instance if you removed all and added back only what you've added to the zip install. Perhaps there's some unexpected conflict between some packages.

Also, had you run the cf update on the zip install? If not, you may want to check the update level on that zip install, regardless. If you ever tell cf to implement a package and if you pick the package version that goes with a higher cf update, the package update WILL proceed to update cf itself (what's called the "core" on the package management screen and in the cfpm cli tool). That's often a surprise for folks to discover. 

It's definitely unfortunate that things have not gone more smoothly for you. We're just trying to get you going, and learning from the exercise whatever we can, for your sake and for other readers who may find this thread in the future. 🙂 

[tom_4655]

...when you refer to the working one as "local", is the other not? Or was that a slip, and you meant simply that the zip install works? If they're on different machines, that may be important.
'Local' being my laptop, i.e., not a hosted CF installation. So, yes, the zip installer worked, but it was quite stripped down, as you say, and there were some oddities, perhaps because of the odd chain of events (originally a GUI/DMG installation, then a .zip one, apparently over top of the original GUI install).

So what packages did you add? One question might be what would happen on your "failing" instance if you removed all and added back only what you've added to the zip install. Perhaps there's some unexpected conflict between some packages.
When I ran the zip installer I specified 'Developer' as the config whenever asked, and kept 8501 as the port number. I guess this basically installed on top of the existing 'failed' GUI/DMG installation? The up side was that the zip install worked and I was able to query our hosted MS SQL databases (i.e., the CF sqlserver package was successfully installed). The down side was that I wasn't able, for some reason, to install CF update no. 2. The package installer kept cycling through the stop/start bit at the end, and the result was that the update never took. 

Added to that the zip installer creates a very stripped-down installation. It also installed a trial version of the Enterprise server, even though I specified Developer each time when asked. It appears that the Enterprise server just reverts to Developer status after 30 days. Still, it wasn't what I'd planned on. 

So, because I'm apparently a masochist and this didn't seem to me to be a 'clean' installation, I started over. I ran the uninstall script, deleted the CF home folder, etc. Started clean, in other words. I re-downloaded the GUI/DMG installer, re-ran it, and the Developer installation was successfull. I then ran the update no. 2 package, stopped/started the server, and all seemed well. One difference here was that I specified a new port number: 8502. The GUI/DMG installer installed all available packages, including the sqlserver one. Bottom line is that now everything appears to work as expected, at least so far: I can successfully query our hosted MS SQL databases and am runnning the updated CF server. Next step will be to create some virtual hosts, that kind of thing.

It's definitely unfortunate that things have not gone more smoothly for you. We're just trying to get you going, and learning from the exercise whatever we can, for your sake and for other readers who may find this thread in the future.
No worries. At the end of it all, I don't know if there's much to be learned here, to be honest. This was a bit of an all-over-the-place process for me, but everything seemed to work out in the end. Perhaps it was just a bit of an aberration?

[Charlie Arehart]

Well, it's certainly great news that all's finally working. Bummer that it took a reinstall. I was simply trying to help you avoid that while at the same time perhaps learning what was amiss. 

There are certainly times when we shouldn't let better stand in the way of good enough, as a wise supervisor taught me decades ago. 🙂 

Still, as much for the sake of future readers who may see your reply, I want to respond to a couple queries you raised.

1. First, no, the zip install was not "over top of the original GUI install". It's an entirely separate one... well, unless you opted to extract that zip on top of your existing cf folder. I didn't suggest you do that, nor does the docs. But did you do it? 🙂 

And yes, the zip installer is bare bones to start: virtually no packages, and of course no admin settings. It's intended primarily for people who want to automate all that, especially for scalable deployments. 

I proposed it to you simply as a way to get "another cf install" running on the same machine, to thus discern if your problem might not happen there If it did not (as indeed, it did not) then the question would be "how do these two Implementations of cf differ?". I'd proposed that it might be some other package having some issue and offered a suggestion to better discern that. 

2. And no, your choosing to have the zip installer use the same built-in web server port also did not alone install the zip implementation "on top of" the failing one. I appreciate how confusing all this can be. If that other one was stopped, then the zip implementation COULD be told to use that port. Had the other been running, it would not have worked z as only one instance at a time can use a given port. 

3. As for being unable to update the zip install, there has to be some explanation for that. It should indeed "just work". Perhaps it is the result of your extracting the zip on top of the existing cf. (You refer later to removing only one cf home folder.) 

4. As for enterprise vs developer, yes, the cfinstall script of the zip (like the full installer) asks right up front whether one wants to run the trial or developer edition, or whether to use a serial number to set it up as std or ent. Choosing dev should indeed get dev, not the enterprise trial. As you note, they're essentially the same so no big deal. 

That said, there are subsequent questions asking also about dev vs prod profile and dev vs prod deployment type. Are you sure it's the first of the three where you chose dev? Just asking rhetorically (for future readers), even if you may opt to call it quits, which we'd understand. 🙂 

Again, with all removed and reinstalled, we won't be able to discern what had happened the first time. Glad you're back to working.... And at least future readers can conclude that yes, cf 2025 on Sequoia CAN work with sql server, as expected. 🙂 

[tom_4655]

No worries at all, Charlie. Here are replies:

First, no, the zip install was not "over top of the original GUI install". It's an entirely separate one... well, unless you opted to extract that zip on top of your existing cf folder. I didn't suggest you do that, nor does the docs. But did you do it? 🙂

I didn't run the uninstall script or manually delete the old CF2025 home directory before running the .zip installer, so it's possible that that happened. Or not, of course. I'll chalk that up to my stumbling about.

there are subsequent questions asking also about dev vs prod profile and dev vs prod deployment type. Are you sure it's the first of the three where you chose dev? Just asking rhetorically (for future readers), even if you may opt to call it quits, which we'd understand. 🙂 
Yes, I'm certain that I chose 'development' whenever asked. Three times, I believe.
==============
One other note for anyone reading this: as of this date and CF version, the MySQL connector is no longer installed by default, so when setting up a datasource in the CF Administrator, selecting the MySQL driver type from the pull-down will do nothing 'out-of-the-box' unless the appropriate mysql-connector .jar file is present in the [CFHome]/cfusion/lib/ directory. A download page link is provided when the error message comes up in the CF Administrator when verifying your MySQL datasource. Simply download and copy the appropriate .jar to the 'lib' directory (above), restart CF, and MySQL queries should work. 

==============

[Charlie Arehart]

Thanks for the clarifications. Tom. And about cf no longer including mysql, it's that it has LONG not provided the free mysql community edition driver--due to oracle licensing costs Adobe would have to pay to bundle ("distribute") it. That's not new with 2025, or 2023, or 2021. I think it goes much further back.

CF does include a mysql driver that Adobe licenses from DataDirect (like most of the db drivers in cf), but that can only connect to paid mysql editions, not the free community mysql.

Hope that clarification may help someone. 

[tom_4655]

Another twist on the 'sqlserver not installed' issue. (I'm not sure if this should be a new thread or a continuation of this one.)

• I've added two virtual hosts to my /cfusion/runtime/conf/server.xml file (Tomcat 9 on MacOS 15.5). The virtual domains also exist in the MacOS hosts file.
• I have a simple index.cfm file in each of the two virtual host root dirs. Each contains one MS SQL query and one MySQL query.
• Using the virtual host addressing (e.g., http://local.production.content.ourdomain.com/index.cfm), the MySQL query works fine, but the MS SQL query fails with the 'The sqlserver package is not installed' error.
• If I change the URL to use 127.0.0.1 addressing (i.e., bypass the virtual host), the MS SQL query runs without error. For example:
  - MS SQL Q Works: http://127.0.0.1:8502/vhosts/newsletters/index.cfm 
  - MS SQL Q Fails: http://local.production.content.ourdomain.com:8502/index.cfm

Could the virtual host configuration be somehow preventing the sqlserver package from being loaded or recognized?

Here's one of the virtual host entries in server.xml, should that be of interest. 'Ourdomain.com' is just a placeholder, of course.

<Host autoDeploy="false" appBase="webapps" name="local.production.content.ourdomain.com" unpackWARs="false">
    <Alias>local.production.content.ourdomain.com</Alias>
    <Context docBase="/Applications/ColdFusion2025/cfusion/wwwroot/vhosts/newsletters" path="">
        <Resources>
            <PreResources base="/Applications/ColdFusion2025/cfusion/wwwroot/CFIDE" className="org.apache.catalina.webresources.DirResourceSet" webAppMount="/CFIDE"/>
            <PreResources base="/Applications/ColdFusion2025/cfusion/wwwroot/cf_scripts" className="org.apache.catalina.webresources.DirResourceSet" webAppMount="/cf_scripts"/>
            <PreResources base="/Applications/ColdFusion2025/cfusion/wwwroot/WEB-INF" className="org.apache.catalina.webresources.DirResourceSet" webAppMount="/WEB-INF"/>
        </Resources>
    </Context>
</Host>

[Charlie Arehart]

1) I'll say first that's certainly a interesting observation. And though it's unclear if you'd done any of that in the first iteration, I'd think continuing here would be fine.

2) As for your use of different contexts, I'll say that's unusual/very infrequent among CFers--both from my experience here/in the community and from my helping hundreds in my consulting.

So COULD their be an impact on that wrt to datasources defined in the admin? Maybe, but I'd not it expect it at all.

3) While we might await more thoughts on that from others, I have two suggestions:

- add to this index.cfm a dump/output/log of getbasetemplatepath() and getcurrenttemplatepath() , to confirm they return the same value in each of your two test urls.

- add a dump of getapplicationmetadata(), and compare that between tests

It MAY be that you'll find there's some application-level dsn that's overriding your admin one--and that MAY be varying between your tests, which you reasonably would presume were "running the same code, the same way. These diagnostics will confirm or deny.

Let us know you your assessment of the results. No need to share their details unless you really feel you must. 

[BKBK]

The latest issue is odd indeed. Whatever the host is, the fact that the MS SQL query fails with 'The sqlserver package is not installed' is odd. Could you share the full stacktrace?

What settings did you use to configure the datasource in the Administrator? The error seems to suggest that, when the error occurs, the host in the JDBC URL is NOT the same as the host for which the datasource was configured in the Administrator. Run the following code and share the printscreen with the forum:

<!--- Login into Coldfusion Administrator. --->
 <cfset  createObject("component","cfide.adminapi.administrator").login("your_CF_administrator_password")>

<!--- Instantiate the data source object. --->
 <cfset  datasourceObject = createObject("component","cfide.adminapi.datasource")>

 <!--- Get a structure containing all the database drivers --->
 <cfset databaseDrivers = datasourceObject.getDriverDetails()>
 
<!--- <cfdump var="#databaseDrivers#" label="Available database drivers">--->
  
 <p>
<!--- Isolate MySQL and MS SQL Server drivers --->
<cfscript>
 filteredDBDriverStruct = structFilter(databaseDrivers,function(key,value){
 	if(NOT REFindNoCase("MySQL|Microsoft SQL Server",arguments.key)){
 		structDelete(databaseDrivers,arguments.key);		
 	}
	return true;
    });
</cfscript>

 <cfdump var="#databaseDrivers#" label="Available MySQL and MS SQL Server drivers">
 </p>

[tom_4655]

Thanks, BKBK. Dump and datasource IMGs attached. The setup of the datasource is pretty basic, same one we've used for years, through various versions of CF. Just as an FYI I'll shortly be away for a few of days, back on Tuesday.