Fix to GeoServer not starting after Java Update

I updated the Java on my windows machine, and later tried to open up my GeoServer. To my surprise, it was not starting. Since GeoServer is built upon Geotools, which is an open-source Java toolkit, it depends upon your Java Runtime Environment better known as JRE. After the update of the JRE, ‘Start GeoServer’ is not working and hence I cannot access GeoServer on its port 8080. To run GeoServer again, do:

1. Open PATH system variable
2. Find the system variable named: JAVA_HOME. You can see its value as being the old version before the update. Provide in the correct version for the JAVA_HOME.
3. Next step is to find your startup file for your GeoServer and update the JRE path there. Normally this is available under bin folder of your GeoServer installation directory. For me, this is C:\Program Files (x86)\GeoServer x.xx.x\bin where GeoServer x.xx.x is the version number. Right click and open the startup.bat file with your favorite text editor. You can see the startup script makes a call to the JRE. Change this to the correct path of your JRE. Now save the file and you can start using GeoServer again.
4. Similarly, make the change in the shutdown.bat which is also available under the bin folder of your GeoServer installation directory. Provide the proper path to the JRE similarly as mentioned above.

Happy GIS!