{VM_SERVER_DIR} error when attempting to start IDL 8.2 Workbench or ENVI+IDL 5.0 on Windows

A few customers have reported a problem with running IDL Workbench or ENVI+IDL on Windows. When the problem occurs, the following error message is encountered:

A Java Runtime Environment (JRE) or Java Development Kit (JDK) must be available
in order to run Envi_idl. No Java virtual machine was found after searching the following
locations: {VM_SERVER_DIR} in your current PATH

The following steps may fix the problem (Administrative privileges are required):

1.) Using Windows Explorer, browse to the following directory of your IDL installation (depending upon the bit-version of ENVI/IDL you have installed or are using):

(64-bit ENVI 5.0/IDL 8.2 - default location)
    C:\Program Files\Exelis\IDL82\bin\bin.x86_64\

(32-bit ENVI 5.0/IDL 8.2 - default location)
    C:\Program Files\Exelis\IDL82\bin\bin.x86\

From this location, create a backup copy of the file

    idlde.ini

--for example, calling the backup file "idlde.ini.orig".

2.) Launch a plain text editor with administrative privileges ("Run as Administrator" on recent versions of Windows) to edit the "idlde.ini" file mentioned in step #1.

3.) Make the following change to the "idlde.ini" file:

a.) On the line 2 of the file, there should be a line with the string:

    {VM_SERVER_DIR}

b.) Replace this line with the path to the:

    [drive]:[install-dir-path]\IDL82\bin\bin.[platform]\jre\bin

subdirectory of your ENVI/IDL installation. For example, for 64-bit ENVI 5.0/IDL 8.2 in the default directory:

    C:\Program Files\Exelis\IDL82\bin\bin.x86_64\jre\bin

For 32-bit ENVI 5.0 /IDL 8.2:

    C:\Program Files\Exelis\IDL82\bin\bin.x86\jre\bin

After the change first four lines in your "idlde.ini" file would might look like this (for example, 64-bit ENVI or IDL):

    -vm
    C:\Program Files\Exelis\IDL82\bin\bin.x86_64\jre\bin
    -startup
    plugins/org.eclipse.equinox.launcher_1.0.201.R35x_v20090715.jar

c.) Save the change to "idlde.ini".

After making this change, ENVI+IDL and IDL should launch without the error.

 

[ Reference CRID 66817 and 66990 ]