TechNote (Archived)

Maximum JVM heap size greater than 1.8GB will prevent ColdFusion MX from starting

Issue

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If a maximum heap size of 1.8GB or greater is entered in the Macromedia ColdFusion MX Administrator's Java/JVM Settings page and the change is submitted, you will receive a message stating the server must be restarted in order for the change to take effect. The attempt to restart the server will fail and the following message will be displayed:

Windows:

 Windows could not start the ColdFusion MX Application Server on Local Computer. For more information, review the System Event Log. If this is a non-Microsoft service, contact the service vendor, and refer to service-specific error code 2. 

Unix:

 There has been an error starting ColdFusion MX, please check the logs. 

The following error is logged (Windows:cf_root\runtime\logs\default-out.log; Unix:cf_root/cfserver.log)

 Error occurred during initialization of VM Could not reserve enough space for object heap 

On 32-bit processor machines, the largest contiguous memory address space the operating system can allocate to a process is 1.8GB. Because of this, the maximum heap size can only be set up to 1.8GB. On 64-bit processor machines, the 1.8 GB limit does not apply, as 64-bit processor machines have a larger memory address space.

Solution

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To correct this issue, the jvm.config file must be modified:

1. Open the cf_root/runtime/bin/jvm.config file in a text editor.
2. Locate the section labeled "# Arguments to VM".
3. Modify the -Xmx variable to set a maximum heap size less than 1.8GB.
   
   For example: -Xmx1024m
4. Save the file.
5. Restart ColdFusion.

Additional Information

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• ColdFusion MX 6.1 J2EE on JRun: Error when starting CFMX instances (19094)
• Invalid minimum JVM heap size will prevent ColdFusion MX from starting (18846)

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