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Several things to consider when applying updates to Java (aka the JVM, JDK, JRE)

If you learn there's a new Java update available, it may well be relatively simple for you to apply that update, but if you're running important applications that rely on Java, it's in your interest to give some consideration to various matters related to doing such an update.

And as important, if you may have skipped some Java updates before this one, there are some additional points to consider regarding some potentially important changes in updates you may be skipping.

In this post, I cover several topics in both those areas.

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Presenting "Migrating apps to ColdFusion 2023 from earlier versions" Thurs Dec 14, Online CFMeetup

It's that time of the year...well, I don't mean the holidays: I mean time to talk about migrating to CF2023, which came out several months ago. I'm getting asked more and more about it, as people proceed with making or considering the move--and sorry for the brief notice, but I thought I better get this talk out before the end of the year, and before the holidays.

I will be presenting presented the talk online this Thursday, at noon US Eastern, on the CFMeetup youtube livestream (which will be was recorded). Folks who are members of the Online ColdFusion Meetup will already have gotten notification about this, but for those who are not, here are the details:

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Special offer: upgrade to ColdFusion 2021 from CF2016 or earlier, saving perhaps thousands of $$

If you're running CF2016 or earlier, now's your chance (though the end of the year Feb 28, 2023) to save potentially thousands of dollars in upgrading to the latest current version, CF2021. Intergral, the folks who make the FusionReactor monitoring tool and service, are again offering a special deal of 25% off to upgrade CF2016 or earlier to CF2021 (a deal which even Adobe does not offer).

Read on for more details.

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I'll be presenting at the online CFMeetup, on Adobe's 'new' CFSetup tool, useful for any CF version

This topic may (should) interest folks using CF2021 or even OLDER CF versions. Did you know there's a command line tool to help view/manage as well as export/import CF Admin settings? I will be presenting a talk on this, Thursday. Anyone can attend online.

Folks who are members of the Online ColdFusion Meetup that I run will already have gotten notification about this, but those who are not:

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My upcoming talk, "ColdFusion at 25: not the kid most have stuck in their minds"

As you may have heard by now, the free Adobe CF Developer Week 2021 will be held June 22-24. My session will be on June 22 at 4p Central in Track 2. While currently the DevWeek site only offers session titles and speakers (descriptions were added after I posted this: click the + sign to the right of each talk), here is mine, from the "presentations" page here on my site:

ColdFusion at 25: not the kid most have stuck in their minds

As ColdFusion turns 26 next month, many seem stuck remembering it only as the "teen" they knew or even the "child", when instead it's grown up to be a capable "adult", impressive in many ways, and even more so recently. In this session, we'll look back at how CF has indeed evolved into a very capable platform, with quite modern features that seem to surprise many--including people working with it currently. If you struggle "finding CF people" or "getting buy-in", perhaps these observations could help you with both challenges. If nothing else, they're things designed simply to help you get your job done, while keeping up with modern practices.

We'll start with many modern coding techniques--which will be familiar to those using more "modern" languages but that many don't realize CF supports, and may have for years. We'll then look at ways that things such as CF installation/deployment, configuration/administration, monitoring, security, and more have improved over the years. And we'll look not only at CF itself but the community surrounding it, ranging from resources for help and learning to tools and services that others have created, making CF a far more complete ecosystem than most give it credit. Put another way: it's not your father's CF!

I look forward to presenting this topic and hope you'll come check it out.

New updates released for Java 8 and 11, April 20 2021

For those using the Long-term Support (LTS) versions of Oracle Java, 8 and 11, please note `there were new updates released last week (Apr 20), specifically Java 11.0.11 and 8.0_291. For some, that's all they need to hear. They will take that ball and run with it.

For most, you should read on, especially about an important change regarding TLS support (and calling out to servers not yet running TLS 1.2 or above). I cover that and other important topics:

  • What's in the JVM update, do you need to update to it?
  • A key change in this Java update: calls out to TLS 1.1 or 1.0 no longer allowed, by default
  • Re-enabling support for calling out to old TLS versions
  • Groundhog day: you'll need do make this java.security file change on any later JVM updates
  • Should you update to the new JVM version?
  • The importance of testing such updates/changes
  • More questions you may surely have, and finding answers to them
  • Obtaining the updated Java installers

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Confirming ColdFusion's Java version, via admin, vars, or code

Have you ever wished you could confirm with 100% certainty what Java version is in use by the CF instance you are running? Or where the JVM's location is (in case you are told to modify files related to it)?

Some good news is that ColdFusion offers simple ways/variables that can show you each of these, via the admin or via CFML code. In this post, I discuss both approaches, including a simple single variable which works in CF2018 and above, a variation for those on CF2016 and earlier, as well as variations for Lucee.

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Be aware that updates to ColdFusion 2016 will end Feb 2021

Note: This blog post is from 2020. 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.
Are you still running ColdFusion 2016? Did you know that its "core" support (meaning, public updates from Adobe) will end in just a couple of months, Feb 21 2021? Same for CFBuilder 2016.

The recent release of CF2021 is a great sign for the continued vitality of CF, but this looming deadline is a reminder that as the years roll on, we not only get new versions but we say good-bye to old ones.

Wondering what you can do? or when CF2018 or CF2021 support ends? And what's the difference between "core" and paid Adobe support plans? For more on these, as well as official Adobe documentation that discusses such things, read on.

[Update: CF2016 users got a "reprieve" of sorts, when Adobe released updates to CF2021 and 2018 in March 2021, and they also offered the final update to CF2016, update 17, especially because it address a security vulnerability. Sadly, some of the changes in the update--not related to the security fix--were "breaking" changes. For more on that update, see the Adobe blog post from March 2021.)

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Why should one be careful about securing ColdFusion ARchive (CAR) files?

Note: This blog post is from 2020. 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.
You may hear (starting today) about a new admonition (a "strong recommendation") from Adobe that one should be careful to "delete CAR files once they are used". What's that about? And why is it a concern? (And is it ever NOT a concern?) Indeed why is it a new admonition? (To be clear: the recommendation should be heeded even by those using CF versions BEFORE this update and older versions like 11, 10, and so on.)

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When and how to upgrade CF web server connector, easier in recent CF releases

Note: This blog post is from 2019. 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.
Did you know that when you update ColdFusion, there is often a need to also update ("upgrade") the web server connector (for IIS and/or Apache)? Did you know that's gotten easier to do since CF2016 came out?

In this post (updated in Oct 2023, for reasons discussed below), I discuss:

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