Frequently Referenced Resources
Following are resources that Charlie frequently refers people to, gathered into one list for easy reference.(Last Updated: Sep 12, 2024)
They're listed in order of frequency of being referred to, rather than their recency (hey, old content can often be just as valuable years later--and Charlie will update any older resources of his own when needed to reflect newly learned information, or will create a new one based on it).
See the following groupings:
- Charlie's key blog posts
- Key blog posts from Adobe
- Key blog posts from others
- Charlie's key resources
- Key resources from Adobe
- Key resources from others
- Key tools Charlie often recommends
Charlie's key blog posts
(In order of frequency that Charlie refers folks to them, not chronological order.)- A table of what Java versions can be used with what ColdFusion versions
- Solving problems calling out of CF via https, by updating JVM
- CF911: 'Help! I've updated the JVM which ColdFusion uses, and now it won't start!'
- Solving metaspace errors, once and for all
- How and why your sites may break, and what to do, after applying March 2020 update to CF2018 or 2016
- How to solve common problems with applying ColdFusion updates (in 10 and above)
- Free, simple code to find out what SQL statements are running slow in SQL Server right now
- When and how to upgrade CF web server connector, easier since CF2016
- Helpful keyboard shortcuts for working with "windowed" Remote Desktop: switching windows, more
- Finding the EULA (End User Licensing Agreement) for your installed CF version (while I can no longer find the CF 2018 EULA online, I offer it here (with the contents of the license.html file as I found it in the root folder of my CF2018 installation)
- Hidden Gem: Importing CF Admin settings in ANY release via 'import wizard', even AFTER installation
- Looking for CF people, or CF work? What can you do?
- Could CF image processing be killing your ColdFusion server? Explanation and solutions
- Adobe should consider a different model for handling CF security fixes
- Come speak on the CFMeetup (online CFUG). A FAQ for prospective speakers
- Filing issues for things like ColdFusion docs, Docker images, PMT, CFFiddle, and even the bug tracker itself
- "Charlie, we'd like to buy CF. Are you an Adobe reseller?"
- Hidden Gems in ColdFusion 2018, part 1: Series Overview (first of a series)
- CF911: Lies, Damned Lies, and CF Request Timeouts...What You May Not Realize
- Tending the SQL Server garden: tuning and maintenance resources (updated and useful)
- Configuring FusionReactor to show "real ip address" when behind a load balancer or other proxy
- Getting started with Adobe's ColdFusion Docker images
- CF2020 to offer still-better deployment on Docker, cloud
- Urgent CF security update released March 1 2019, for CF11/2016/2018, Part 1 (first of a series)
- Suffering CPU/DB/memory problems in CF? Spiders, monitor pings, and more may be to blame
- What's an admin to do: Oracle's changed stance on production use of Java, going forward?
- What's new in CF2018, part 1 and part 2
- CF911: Why/when you MUST update the web server connector for ColdFusion 10/11 and may have missed it
- Monitoring ColdFusion web server connectors, more on Tomcat 'Status Workers'
- Solving error connecting to SQL Server from ColdFusion on Localhost
- Writing a CFML error handler? Don't forget to log the error!
- Did you know: Release Notes page summarizes key changes in all CF updates
- Why should one be careful about securing ColdFusion ARchive (CAR) files?
- How to implement a special hotfix that Adobe may give you
- ColdFusion now supports Java 12, which is already EOL. Should you use it? Java 13? 11?
- Top 10 CArehart.org blog posts of 2018 (and of 2017, and and 2016)
- Are you still running CF11? Beware its countdown clock is ticking
- How to get the checksum for a file on Windows
- Keeping your FusionReactor updated
- On ColdFusion and its support for Java 9, 10, and 11
- Recordings for nearly a dozen recent FusionReactor webinars I've done
- Long-time CFer needing to find new non-CF work? You may know more than you realize
- Easily finding cached versions of a site/page when it's down or gone
- The 100 most interesting posts on the Adobe ColdFusion blog, the past 3 years
- Multi-part series on what was new or changed about CF2016
- Great set of substantial, practical, but brief videos on IIS
- Looking to buy ColdFusion? Get it at a discount from the FR folks, and an additional discount off FR
- CF911: Help, How do I connect sites to a new instance w/ the ColdFusion 10/11 webserver config tool?
- Understanding SQL Server Statistics: A great, free, relatively brief ebook
- Solving slow CF startup: Charlie's elaborating on an Adobe blog entry on a possible solution
- Hidden Gem in ColdFusion 11: ColdFusion Archive (CAR) support now in Standard
- Finding ColdFusion installers, updaters, hotfixes, and docs for all recent releases
- CF911: High CPU in ColdFusion? Some common but perhaps unexpected causes
- Applying hotfixes to ColdFusion 9 and earlier? A guide to getting it right
- Four free tools I (nearly) always install on a new machine and use everyday
- CF10 Hidden Gem: New method to obtain ColdFusion instance name via CFML code
- Charlie Arehart's Ultimate List of 200+ New ColdFusion 10 Features
Key blog posts from Adobe (that Charlie often recommends)
- Adobe's announcement in Jan 2019 of their licensing Oracle Java for CF users. For more on the licensing issue, see Charlie's blog post on the matter from before the announcement
- Adobe ColdFusion Backward Licensing
- ColdFusion performance issues and optimization
- ColdFusion 11 IIS Connector Tuning
- Configuring Status Worker in Connectors
Key blog posts from others (that Charlie often recommends)
- Perfect Storm for Upgrading to a Modern Version of SQL Server (to SQL 2017 or above)
- Understanding log buffer flushes in SQL Server
- How to configure data sources with Microsoft JDBC Driver 4.0 for SQL Server (from 2010, but still a classic even with more recent CF versions)
- ColdFusion and JVM Versions and SSLv3-TLS Security Magic
- Quick example of CFTHREAD - and a warning (from 2007, but still a classic)
Charlie's key resources
- Charlie's CF411.com site of over 2000 tools and resources of interest to CFers
- Charlie's Youtube playlist of CFMeetup recordings
- Charlie's Youtube playlist of FusionReactor webinar recordings
- Charlie's CFUpdate page, with resources for helping in updating CF, Java, the web connector, FusionReactor, and more
- Charlie's UGTV list, offering links to recordings of several hundred presentations by hundreds of folks in the CF community
Key resources from Adobe (that Charlie often recommends)
- ColdFusion 2023 Updates (and for ColdFusion 2021, CF2018, CF2016, CF11, and CF10)
- Adobe ColdFusion Portal (and blog)
- Adobe CF Forums
- Adobe CF Docs and support resources
- Adobe CF Bug Tracker/Feature Request Form
- Docker images for ColdFusion
Key resources from others (that Charlie often recommends)
- FusionReactor monitor for ColdFusion, Lucee, Tomcat, and other JEE servers
- Buy CF at Discount (from the makers of Fusion Reactor)
- Akbarsait's ColdFusion 2021 Tutorials and Resources, where he gathers resources from others about the new release. Also available for CF2018, CF2016, CF11, CF10, and CF9
- Command-line CF Security Analyzer, open source (intergrates with CF Code Security Analyzer)
Key tools Charlie often recommends
- File Locator Lite, free and commercial, for Windows (great tool to search for files by contents or name)
- UltraSearch, free, for Windows (faster search for files, by name only)
- BeyondCompare, commercial, multiplatform (great file/folder/text compare tool)
- Database Health Monitor for SQL Server, free and commercial, for Windows
- DBMarlin DB Monitor, free and commercial, for Linux and Windows, and multiple database platforms
- Ola Hallengren's free SQL Server database maintenance scripts
- Brent Ozar SQL Server First Responder Kit: free SQL Server troubleshooting scripts