Charlie Arehart - Server Troubleshooting - cf11

A table of Java versions supported by given ColdFusion versions

Thu, 13 Mar 2025 23:57:00 -0500

Now that CF2025 has come out, supporting Java 21--and as ColdFusion and Java versions continue to evolve--you may wonder which version(s) of Java you can use with your current (or a given) version of ColdFusion. You can't just use "any" jvm version with CF: it depends on first on what version of CF you are using, and then may even depend on what CF update has been applied to that CF version. (You also can't use Java from any vendor: Adobe supports only use of Oracle Java, and they license it for our use, as I discuss later.) And to be clear, currently ONLY CF2025 supports Java 21. (And with Java 24 coming out in Mar 2025 as the latest LTS or "long-term support" Java releases, note that NO CF version currently supports that.) So in this post, I offer a table that clarifies things, listing the various recent CF versions (even those no longer supported) and what (LTS) Java versions they supported, including if some CF update of a version changes the Java version supported. [More]

Last chance to save 25% off CF2023, for those on CF2018 and earlier

Fri, 17 Jan 2025 15:30:00 -0500

Here's great news for those still running CF2018 or earlier, who may have been holding off upgrading to CF2023 (because you would have to pay full price for it). It's news I first shared back in July, and the deal has been extended one last time, thus this post. TLDR; Now through Feb 28, 2025 those running CF9, 10, 11, 2016 or 2018 can upgrade to CF2023 for 25% off its full price. (Those running CF2021 can already/always could upgrade at 50% off the full price.) This is a deal offered only by Intergral, makers of FusionReactor, who are also resellers of CF. Adobe doesn't even offer this deal themselves. For more, see their blog post at https://fusion-reactor.com/blog/news/save-25-on-adobe-cf2023-upgrades/. Act now, it could save you hundreds or even thousands of $$s on a single license! For more, read on. [More]

Announcing Java updates of Jul 2024 for 8, 11, 17, 21, and 22 -thoughts and resources

Tue, 16 Jul 2024 10:40:00 -0500

It's that time again: there are new JVM updates released today (Jul 16, 2024) for the current long-term support (LTS) releases of Oracle Java, 8, 11, 17, and 21, as well as the new short-term release 22. TLDR: The new updates are 1.8.0_421 (aka 8u421), 11.0.24, 17.0.12, 21.0.4, and 22.0.2 respectively. Crazy that there are now 5 current Java releases, I realize. More below, including more on each of them including what changed as well as bug fixes and the security fixes each version contains (including their CVE scores regarding urgency of concerns), which are offered in Oracle resources I list below. Oracle calls these updates "critical patch updates" (yep, "CPU"), but they are in fact scheduled quarterly updates, so that the "critical" aspect of this nomenclature may sometimes be a bit overstated. As is generally the case with these Java updates, most of them have the same changes and fixes across the four JVM versions, though not always. For some folks, that's all they need to hear. For others, read on. [More]

Limited-time discount on upgrade to CF2023 from CF2018 or earlier

Mon, 08 Jul 2024 18:35:00 -0500

Here's great news for those still running CF2018 or earlier, who may have been holding off upgrading to CF2023 because you would have to pay full price. TLDR; Now through ~~Sep 30, 2024~~ Feb 28, 2025 those running CF9, 10, 11, 2016 or 2018 can upgrade to CF2023 for 25% off its full price. (Those running CF2021 can already/always could upgrade at 50% off the full price.) See their form to request the discount at https://fusion-reactor.com/blog/news/save-25-on-adobe-cf2023-upgrades/. For more, read on. [More]

Recordings and links for my presentations in Jan 2024, Dec 2023

Fri, 26 Jan 2024 11:06:00 -0500

I've done a few online presentations in recent weeks, and while I've done a blog post announcing each when it was upcoming, I was torn about also doing a blog post after each, just to mention their recording URL. I don't want people to feel there are "too many" posts. Also, since I use youtube live for the CFMeetup sessions, technically the url for the meeting is indeed the same one to use to view the recording of it: so if you know one, you know both. But some people seem to notice when news is shared of a recording being made available, so here you go.:-) These are 4 sessions I've done in Jan 2024 and Dec 2023. [More]

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

Wed, 17 Jan 2024 00:23:00 -0500

(Posted originally in Jan 2024, updated in Oct 2025.) 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. [More]

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

Tue, 12 Dec 2023 15:53:00 -0500

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: [More]

Announcing ColdFusion emergency update released March 14 2023 - what to do about it

Fri, 17 Mar 2023 03:00:00 -0500

If you've not heard, a new update has been released (March 14, 2023) for ColdFusion 2021 and 2018. Despite what you may hear, this is an URGENT (rated "Priority 1" by Adobe) update that everyone should apply ASAP, for reasons I will explain in this post. In fact, Hackernews reported yesterday (Mar 16) that the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) had issued an urgent warning about this, giving federal agencies a deadline to apply the update. TLDR; For some folks, the above may be all you need to hear: you may be dropping your coffee and donuts now to get the update applied. Still others will see this "huge post" and think, "crap, I don't have time for this". For you, skip to the bottom and its "concluding key points". You can then decide what you think you do or don't "need to know" and pick and choose from the sections as you like. Finally, for those who prefer because of the importance of all this to be led more carefully through understanding things (in a way that's worked for the many people I have helped so far this week, and is far more than either Adobe or Hackernews has shared), please do read on. [More]

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

Mon, 31 Oct 2022 18:05:00 -0500

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. [More]

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

Tue, 27 Sep 2022 11:09:00 -0500

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: [More]

My presentation will open CF DevWeek this week - CF, more modern than most realize

Sun, 17 Jul 2022 22:31:00 -0500

Just thought I'd post a reminder for folks that I am giving the opening session for the 2022 CF Dev Week, running July 18-22. Registration is free, of course. My session will be at 9a 930a Eastern on Monday July 18: [More]

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

Tue, 08 Jun 2021 10:02:00 -0500

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.

Announcing Java updates of Apr 2021 for 8 and 11 - thoughts and resources

Mon, 26 Apr 2021 18:37:00 -0500

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

[More]

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

Mon, 05 Apr 2021 11:13:00 -0500

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. [More]

Be aware that updates to ColdFusion 2016 will end Feb 2021

Mon, 23 Nov 2020 21:37:00 -0500

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.) [More]