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Two videos I've done for the Adobe YouTube ColdFusion Channel

Note: This blog post is from 2013. Some content may be outdated--though not necessarily. Same with links and subsequent comments from myself or others. Corrections are welcome, in the comments. And I may revise the content as necessary.
Hey folks, I've done a couple of videos over the past several months on the Adobe YouTube ColdFusion channel, both focused on some important challenges related to ColdFusion 10. If you've got about 10 minutes to spare, I suspect you may learn things to surprise you.

First video, on single-login problems in CF10 Admin

The first video was done at cf.Objective() in May 2013, and was posted to YouTube by Adobe shortly thereafter:

Video 1: Solving the problem of single-login in ColdFusion10 (07m:32s)

If you've had the problem in CF10 of finding that you login to the Admin, only to be logged off soon thereafter, I explain in the video both why it happens and how to solve it. (I also wrote about it previously here.)

Second video, on important security hotfix notes document

The second video was done back in June, but sadly was not posted until last week. While the timeframe references I make are dated, the information shared is not and really may still be a surprise to as many now as back then:

Video 2: Security Hotfix Notes Document (5m46s)

This is such an important document. I also had written about it previously here.

See other CF videos there

Be sure to check out all the videos in the Adobe CF YouTube channel, about 20 of them currently, from different speakers and on many topics.

Don't forget to vote, for cf.Objective() 2014 topics, including 2 ColdFusion talks from me

Note: This blog post is from 2013. Some content may be outdated--though not necessarily. Same with links and subsequent comments from myself or others. Corrections are welcome, in the comments. And I may revise the content as necessary.
By now you may have heard that the call for speakers for the cf.Objective() 2014 conference closed a couple of weeks ago and now it's time to vote among the posted topics using the conference Trello board.

I wanted to point out to my readers that I have proposed two talks. The first one I gave at the Adobe CF summit last month and was very well-received. You can see the description and VOTE button on each of the following pages:

CF911: Solving Frequent CF Server Problems in New/Better Ways (click to visit, then vote)

The second is one that I gave to the Atlanta CFUG earlier this year.

Updating/Hotfixing ColdFusion 10, 9 and 8: Tips and Traps (click to visit, then vote)

Both are full of surprising and helpful tips, based on my experience helping hundreds of shops with related issues in my CF server troubleshooting services. But the talks are not "sales pitches".

They're goal is to be just like my blog entries here, and my past talks: I just want to help people find, understand, and resolve problems with their CF servers. It's wonderful to be able to help people come away more confident and capable in managing their servers, whether from the consulting sessions, the talks, the blog entries, the cf911.com wiki of cf server troubleshooting resources, the cf411.com site of tools and resources of interest to CFers, and so on.

Anyway, if these talks sound interesting, please go add your votes using the link for each above, and click the vote option that then appears. And of course, vote for all the other talks you think ought to be invited. The board uses your votes, so every vote counts.

Still more reasons to make sure you have updated your ColdFusion 10 web server connector

Note: This blog post is from 2013. Some content may be outdated--though not necessarily. Same with links and subsequent comments from myself or others. Corrections are welcome, in the comments. And I may revise the content as necessary.
Several weeks ago, I did an entry, CF911: Why/when you MUST update the web server connector for #ColdFusion 10, and may have missed it.

In this entry, I want to throw in another reason why it's important to make sure you properly update (reconfigure/rebuild/upgrade) your web server connector after applying certain CF10 updates, or if applying only the latest update for the first time to a newly installed CF10 instance.

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CF911: Why/when you MUST update the web server connector for ColdFusion 10/11 and may have missed it

Note: This blog post is from 2013. Some content may be outdated--though not necessarily. Same with links and subsequent comments from myself or others. Corrections are welcome, in the comments. And I may revise the content as necessary.
Have you installed or updated CF10 (or 11) and found that you still have problems with it running right, even when you have "fully updated" CF10? In this blog entry, I explain how it may NOT be that "CF 10 is broken" but rather that you may have missed an important step when updating it.

In brief, a VERY common problem is that while they MAY WELL have applied the provided "updates" for CF, folks often do NOT notice that they may have to (and generally must) "update" the web server "connector" (if they are using an external web server, like IIS or Apache) as a separate manual step, after applying the update.

I explain here what that means, how do to it, and why you may miss that you need to.

Update in 2019:

Since writing this entry, I did one in 2019 on When and how to upgrade CF web server connector, easier since CF2016, which at least makes it EASIER to upgrade, though much of what I write here still applies. I also updated this post since originally writing it, in ways discussed below.

(Or if you'd rather just have me help you quickly help you analyze and rectify your situation, whether with regard to the connectors or any other CF server troubleshooting, I can do that in a brief consulting session, likely less than an hour, remotely and securely. I provide all the detail here for those who prefer to "go it on their own". For more on my consulting services, including rates, approach, satisfaction guarantee, and more, see the consulting page at carehart.org.)

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Understanding the 9.0.2 release of ColdFusion, a FAQ for those who missed the news last year

Note: This blog post is from 2013. Some content may be outdated--though not necessarily. Same with links and subsequent comments from myself or others. Corrections are welcome, in the comments. And I may revise the content as necessary.
So perhaps you're currently running CF 9.0 or CF 9.0.1, and you may have noticed that there is a CF 9.0.2. Have you wondered what it's about? And have you noticed that it's not something you can just update to from 9.0 or 9.0.1? It's a complete installer, meaning you need to uninstall CF 9.0 or 9.0.1 before you can move up to it.

Should you? What do you gain? what do you lose? what are some gotchas? That's what this blog entry is about, answering the following questions:

  • First, what is ColdFusion 9.0.2? Why did Adobe create it?
  • What about the 9.0.1 updater? Can we still get that? Yes.
  • So what all does 9.0.2 add and remove?
  • If I download CF 9 today, what do I get?
  • "But if I download 9.0.2 today, I get the latest version of it available, right? I don't need to add hotfixes, do I?" Wrong.
  • Warning: DO NOT install 9.0.1 atop 9.0.2 (nothing will stop you)
  • If I am on 9.0 or 9.0.1, how can I get to 9.0.2?
  • Why might I want to get to 9.0.2 from 9.0 or 9.0.1?
  • How did i miss this? Was 9.0.2 discussed? Yes it was.

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Tracking ColdFusion sessions within FusionReactor, by way of FREC logging

Note: This blog post is from 2013. Some content may be outdated--though not necessarily. Same with links and subsequent comments from myself or others. Corrections are welcome, in the comments. And I may revise the content as necessary.
Someone asked on the FusionReactor mailing list (a Google Group) whether FusionReactor tracked CF sessions. I started to write a reply, with the good news/bad news in answer to that, and as sometimes happens, it became long enough that I thought it might be better suited as a blog entry that I could point to from the list instead, and which may also help those not on the list (which is a great resource, as a low-volume list with a high signal to noise ratio.)

Anyway, here is the answer I wanted to offer to that question...

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ColdFusion 10 WACK book contributors (myself included) now listed at Amazon

Note: This blog post is from 2013. Some content may be outdated--though not necessarily. Same with links and subsequent comments from myself or others. Corrections are welcome, in the comments. And I may revise the content as necessary.
By now most should know that a new CF10 version of the classic Web Application Construction Kit (or WACK) series was released some months ago:

Adobe ColdFusion Web Application Construction Kit: ColdFusion 10 Enhancements and Improvements

But some may not have known who the contributors were, because since its release the Amazon site for the book had listed only Ben (Forta). Doh! :-)

Ben is indeed the series editor and a fellow contributor--and truly the glue that has held the project together since the first edition for CF3 in 1997.

But as with each edition since the first, there are indeed multiple contributors.

Amazon book page now lists all the contributors

And now the Amazon page does list all the co-authors:

Charlie Arehart, Rob Brooks-Bilson, Raymond Camden, Ken Fricklas, Hemanth Khandelwal, and Chandan Kumar.

Of course, we were indeed properly listed on the front cover, for those who may have looked--and in that same alphabetical order, whereas the Amazon site order is a bit random. Anyway, it's just nice to see this issue fixed.

Problems like that just happen sometimes, and I'd only I noticed it this week and raised it to Amazon. To their credit they were quick to update it.

And I thought some of my co-authors and perhaps others in the community might want to know about it.

Glad to mention the book

Indeed, I've been meaning simply to announce the book and my involvement here myself but got behind on many such news items, as I've just been busy (with my ColdFusion troubleshooting consulting services). Busy is good, of course!

So this was a good chance both to share the above news of the correction for any who'd noticed the issue, and to mention my involvement with the book, in case that and news of the book itself may interest some of my readers. (FWIW, I was a contributor to all 3 vols for CF 8 and 9 also, and I do thank Ben for including me in these works.)

A bit about the book

For those who hadn't noticed the book yet, it's unique in the series in that we decided to go with just a single book, just about the updates. In the past, we instead updated all 3 books throughout. There are pros and cons to either choice, of course, but I do agree that the single book was the way to go.

FWIW, I did chapters 8, 10, and 19.

I was especially delighted to get in a chapter at the end on "hidden gems", as I have loved doing (as article or talks) for each release starting with my first CFDJ article on CF 4.0. The editors chose for Chapter 19 the more sedate name of "Miscellaneous Enhancements", but I'm just thrilled we got to add the chapter at all. :-)

You can learn more about (and buy, and review) the book here:

"Use UUID for cftoken" in ColdFusion Admin does always not block use of 8-digit cftokens

Note: This blog post is from 2013. Some content may be outdated--though not necessarily. Same with links and subsequent comments from myself or others. Corrections are welcome, in the comments. And I may revise the content as necessary.
This topic came up on a discussion list, in the context of a larger thread, and I wanted to share here what I said there.

As an update since I first wrote this, it turns out this issue may or may not affect you depending on a couple of variables, which I will discuss, with a prefix of "update:" below. But don't dismiss this thinking you are not affected. I would propose that still far more CF servers may be exposed than not, as I will explain.

The CF Admin has (for several releases) offered an option called, "Use UUID for cftoken" (in the "Settings" section), and it's been intended as a security measure. Its purpose is to cause CF to use a UUID value (a long, complex string of numbers and letters) for the CFTOKEN cookie (and session variable) that CF generates, versus what used to be a simple, 8-digit value. This cookie, along with the simpler and incrementing CFID, is used to connect users to the session and/or client scope values created for that user in CF code.

Some may be surprised to learn, though, that while this setting DOES cause CF to *create* such UUID-formatted CFTOKEN values for requests that do not already present a CFTOKEN cookie, it does NOT necessarily cause CF to block any continued use of such simple, 8-digit cftoken cookies.

In other words, browsers which had visited your site before you turned on "use uuid for cftoken" would still send the 8 character cftoken they already had, not a uuid, and that could be accepted as valid by CF, even with that setting on, under certain conditions. (And the user will not be sent any new cftoken cookie in a UUID format, in CF's response, in those conditions.)

There's good and bad news related to this fact, which I will elaborate on below.

Update: Since writing this entry, I learned of a couple of factors that influence if and when this is a problem.

  1. It turns out that if you are using CF10, or CF9 or 8 with the "session fixation" hotfix (APSB11-04), then the problem only happens until you restart CF. The Admin does not currently warn you of this, so beware that you will have the exposure below until you do restart. (If you have added one of the later security hotfixes or cumulative hotfixes that came out since then, then you have gotten the fix.) This fix causes CF to create a new UUID-based CFTOKEN, if you turn on this feature at least (and after a restart) when a browser presents a previously created 8-digit cftoken.
  2. On the other hand, even if you are running CF 10, or running 8 or 9 and HAVE applied that hotfix, note that if you TURN OFF that fixation protection (by adding the -Dcoldfusion.session.protectfixation=false value to your jvm.config, as discussed in that technote), then you are back to the state that I discuss below.
  3. And of course, if you are on CF 8 or 9 and have NOT yet applied that APSB11-04 hotfix (or a later cumulative one that includes it), then you are indeed still vulnerable.

So that leaves still many people who could be affected by this. Even if it seems you may not be, you may want to continue reading this entry to understand what the issue is about, for you and others who may be impacted by it.

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How to create a "new file" in ColdFusion Builder without use of a project

Note: This blog post is from 2013. Some content may be outdated--though not necessarily. Same with links and subsequent comments from myself or others. Corrections are welcome, in the comments. And I may revise the content as necessary.
A newcomer to ColdFusion Builder (coming from Dreamweaver) expressed frustration on the Adobe CFBuilder forum about the challenge of doing something as simple as creating a new file--without having to name it first, and when not using "projects".

I offered a reply, both explaining why CFB has a project-oriented nature (being an Eclipse-based product) and also how they could be seen akin to DW "sites". Still, I appreciate the difference and the challenge to newcomers.

But most important, I explained how the Aptana plug-in built-into CFB does indeed offer a solution for him, in its "Untitled Files" feature, easily accessed from the File>New dialog. This would let him create a new file without need of either naming the file first or picking a project (whether when creating the new page or when saving it).

It's not an obvious solution, but I show how it can be made to be easily accessible with a single keystroke.

Rather than repeat myself here, I'll just point interested readers to the forum thread, "Creating a new file". Perhaps others will share more insights after mine, and feel free to leave comments here or there as you see fit.

Speaking at Atlanta ColdFusion User Group tonight on 2 important topics

Note: This blog post is from 2013. Some content may be outdated--though not necessarily. Same with links and subsequent comments from myself or others. Corrections are welcome, in the comments. And I may revise the content as necessary.
Just wanted to note that I'll be speaking tonight at the Atlanta CFUG on two important topics:

For more details on the talks, or to get the slides once I post them (likely right after the meeting), please see the links for the two sessions above.

And if you may want to attend, please RSVP.

I may offer these later on the Online ColdFusion Meetup or perhaps one of the remaining CF conferences this year, if I may be selected to speak.

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