diff --git a/docs/source/corda-configuration-file.rst b/docs/source/corda-configuration-file.rst
index e7eadde296..afc8c3c700 100644
--- a/docs/source/corda-configuration-file.rst
+++ b/docs/source/corda-configuration-file.rst
@@ -82,6 +82,10 @@ absolute path to the node's base directory.
     Currently the defaults in ``/node/src/main/resources/reference.conf`` are as shown in the first example. This is currently
     the only configuration that has been tested, although in the future full support for other storage layers will be validated.
 
+:h2port: A number that's used to pick the H2 JDBC server port. If not set a randomly chosen port will be used. For production
+    use you will typically be using a different, non-H2 database backend (e.g. Oracle, SQL Server, Postgres) so this option
+    is intended primarily for developer mode.
+
 :messagingServerAddress: The address of the ArtemisMQ broker instance. If not provided the node will run one locally.
 
 :p2pAddress: The host and port on which the node is available for protocol operations over ArtemisMQ.
diff --git a/node/src/main/java/CordaCaplet.java b/node/src/main/java/CordaCaplet.java
index 69deb89f1b..0b08285cf9 100644
--- a/node/src/main/java/CordaCaplet.java
+++ b/node/src/main/java/CordaCaplet.java
@@ -14,8 +14,6 @@
 
 import com.typesafe.config.*;
 import sun.misc.Signal;
-import sun.misc.SignalHandler;
-
 import java.io.File;
 import java.nio.file.Path;
 import java.nio.file.Paths;
@@ -90,10 +88,12 @@ public class CordaCaplet extends Capsule {
         if (ATTR_APP_CLASS_PATH == attr) {
             T cp = super.attribute(attr);
 
-            (new File(baseDir, "cordapps")).mkdir();
-            // Add additional directories of JARs to the classpath (at the end). e.g. for JDBC drivers
+            File cordappsDir = new File(baseDir, "cordapps");
+            // Create cordapps directory if it doesn't exist.
+            requireCordappsDirExists(cordappsDir);
+            // Add additional directories of JARs to the classpath (at the end), e.g., for JDBC drivers.
             augmentClasspath((List<Path>) cp, new File(baseDir, "drivers"));
-            augmentClasspath((List<Path>) cp, new File(baseDir, "cordapps"));
+            augmentClasspath((List<Path>) cp, cordappsDir);
             try {
                 List<String> jarDirs = nodeConfig.getStringList("jarDirs");
                 log(LOG_VERBOSE, "Configured JAR directories = " + jarDirs);
@@ -139,24 +139,58 @@ public class CordaCaplet extends Capsule {
     }
 
     private void augmentClasspath(List<Path> classpath, File dir) {
-        if (dir.exists()) {
-            File[] files = dir.listFiles();
-            for (File file : files) {
+        try {
+            if (dir.exists()) {
+                // The following might return null if the directory is not there (we check this already) or if an I/O error occurs.
+                for (File file : dir.listFiles()) {
+                    addToClasspath(classpath, file);
+                }
+            } else {
+                log(LOG_VERBOSE, "Directory to add in Classpath was not found " + dir.getAbsolutePath());
+            }
+        } catch (SecurityException | NullPointerException e) {
+            log(LOG_QUIET, e);
+        }
+    }
+
+    private void requireCordappsDirExists(File dir) {
+        try {
+            if (!dir.mkdir() && !dir.exists()) { // It is unlikely to enter this if-branch, but just in case.
+                logOnFailedCordappDir();
+                throw new RuntimeException("Cordapps dir could not be created"); // Let Capsule handle the error (log error, clean up, die).
+            }
+        }
+        catch (SecurityException | NullPointerException e) {
+            logOnFailedCordappDir();
+            throw e; // Let Capsule handle the error (log error, clean up, die).
+        }
+    }
+
+    private void logOnFailedCordappDir() {
+        log(LOG_VERBOSE, "Cordapps dir could not be created");
+    }
+
+    private void addToClasspath(List<Path> classpath, File file) {
+        try {
+            if (file.canRead()) {
                 if (file.isFile() && isJAR(file)) {
                     classpath.add(file.toPath().toAbsolutePath());
+                } else if (file.isDirectory()) { // Search in nested folders as well. TODO: check for circular symlinks.
+                    augmentClasspath(classpath, file);
                 }
+            } else {
+                log(LOG_VERBOSE, "File or directory to add in Classpath could not be read " + file.getAbsolutePath());
             }
+        } catch (SecurityException | NullPointerException e) {
+            log(LOG_QUIET, e);
         }
     }
 
     @Override
     protected void liftoff() {
         super.liftoff();
-        Signal.handle(new Signal("INT"), new SignalHandler() {
-            @Override
-            public void handle(Signal signal) {
-                // Disable Ctrl-C for this process, so the child process can handle it in the shell instead.
-            }
+        Signal.handle(new Signal("INT"), signal -> {
+            // Disable Ctrl-C for this process, so the child process can handle it in the shell instead.
         });
     }
 
diff --git a/tools/demobench/build.gradle b/tools/demobench/build.gradle
index 9d6720c35b..dd36e0a4b5 100644
--- a/tools/demobench/build.gradle
+++ b/tools/demobench/build.gradle
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
  */
 
 buildscript {
-    ext.tornadofx_version = '1.7.10'
+    ext.tornadofx_version = '1.7.15'
     ext.jna_version = '4.1.0'
     ext.purejavacomm_version = '0.0.18'
     ext.controlsfx_version = '8.40.12'
@@ -49,6 +49,15 @@ repositories {
     }
 }
 
+configurations.all {
+    resolutionStrategy {
+        // Force TornadoFX to use the same version of Kotlin as Corda.
+        force "org.jetbrains.kotlin:kotlin-stdlib-jdk7:$kotlin_version"
+        force "org.jetbrains.kotlin:kotlin-stdlib-jdk8:$kotlin_version"
+        force "org.jetbrains.kotlin:kotlin-reflect:$kotlin_version"
+    }
+}
+
 dependencies {
     // TornadoFX: A lightweight Kotlin framework for working with JavaFX UI's.
     compile "no.tornado:tornadofx:$tornadofx_version"