Installing the Dev Tools

Owned by Jodie Miners
Last updated: May 14, 2022
4 min read

Update

I'm updating this for my Windows 11 Setup on my Surface Pro 8.

My goals for this setup are:

  • 1 JDK only - it looks like Zulu 17 will work for CLI and Data Loader

  • To NOT have any Path issues (I will not believe it though)

  • I still like Bitbucket and SourceTree, but now that Github Private Repos are free, and DevOps Center will use Github to start, I will try to use that for now. 

  • I want to have Cumulus CI installed also (this is an advanced setup, so ignore this part if you are just getting started with VS Code).

Your PC Setup

On this PC I made sure I have my username with no spaces (JodieM) and hopefully I won't have any Path issues. I still don't know where to put my Code, but I do like having it in Dropbox so I will probably keep it there. So my code will be in C:\Users\JodieM\Dropbox\Code.

Installing

Now, I had hoped that there was not an order to do this in, but it seems there is. My video failed at getting everything installed and working first go. But weirdly, the third time I did the full installation on a new PC, it all worked fine first go. 

So here's the video below, but here's what I'd recommend (Updated)

  • Install Zulu JDK 

  • Install DataLoader so you know the JDK is working

    • (This is not necessarily a dev tool, and I mainly use Enabler4Excel but it's important to have for the occasions where you need to use it). 

    • Wow the Dataloader install was amazingly good this time! And it has an app menu shortcut so you don’t have to go to a file and run it from a batch file!

  • Install VS Code

    • Choose a nice colour theme

    • I chose to sync to my VS Code on my old laptop so I don’t have to reinstall all my extensions. I will turn on the sync after setting up the Salesforce extensions).

  • Install Git

    • I don’t know all the options so I just choose the defaults

  • Install VS Code Extensions

  • Install the CLI

Video showing my install (this is from my old install)

Video Notes

  • At 6:59 it jumped in the first part of Git Install - but see notes below - you should not need to do that now, as Source Tree will install it for you. 

  • at 16:58 this is the first time I got the issue that should have been solved by PATH, but I still think it is best to install the CLI. Then I even mention it a few minutes later. 

  • Bonus points if you can hear the possum growling and dog barking in the background. 



Final Steps

As for my issues, it was a bug in VS Code. Hopefully it's fixed when you install VS Code but if not, here are the steps to work around it. See https://github.com/forcedotcom/salesforcedx-vscode/issues/742 

  • Close VS Code

  • Rename your .sfdx folder to sfdxold (this is a hidden folder in your home directory (eg C:\Users\YourName, so turn on Show Hidden Folders in your folder options)

  • Open up VS Code again

  • Open the terminal 

  • Type sfdx force:auth:web:login --setalias youralias --instanceurl https://yourorg.my.salesforce.com

  • Press Enter

  • It will take a while

That will authorise an org and create the required files in the .sfdx folder. You should now be able to run the SFDX commands from the Command Pallette. 

Remember to logout of all orgs after you are finished working with VS Code. sfdx force:auth:logout -u youralias or use the SFDX logout command. 

Bitbucket

I created a brand new Bitbucket account and then verified it by clicking on the email they sent. There is a good wizard on creating that asks you a few simple questions like how familar you are with Git. I said not at all. As stated before, the only reason I'm doing this is because my bitbucket is set up to authenticate with SSH and I don't want to confuse you. But it made it annoying that I could not be logged into my Confluence and Bitbucket at the same time.

Create a Repository 

  • Always use This is a private repository

  • No, you don't need a README

  • Yes, you want to use Git

  • You don't need the advanced settings. 

  • This is cute - it only comes up when you say you are not good with Git. Grab that URL for use for later. 

Source Tree 

Install from https://www.sourcetreeapp.com/

Nothing unusual about the setup. Click to Install Git, but don't install Mercurial. (That's something similar to Git, but we are going to stick with Git). 

VS Code

Install from https://code.visualstudio.com/

Easy install process. 

Extensions

Git Extensions

You will want a Git manager - most people recommend GitLens but it seems way OTT for me. I've just used git-extensions-for-vs-code. 

Salesforce Extensions

Just search for Salesforce in the extension manager and it's pretty self explanatory. Installation takes a LONG time. 

Read the pre-requisites. We need JDK installed also. 

Other Extensions

Try to not go overboard on every extension under the sun. Try to not install extensions from unknown people, unless you really know what they do. 

Other

Install the JDK from the link on the Salesforce Extensions page. Note, due to legal issues with Java now, there is a new version of the JDK recommended by Salesforce. I don't know how it will go with other versions of the JDK but I'm sticking with the one recommended by Salesforce. Update: I'm using Zulu 17 as it's mentioned on the DataLoader page and CLI page.