[Created Dec 2020, updated Apr 2021]

Revamped ColdFusion Zip Install Option

Adobe ColdFusion (2021 release) now comes with a revamped, lightweight ZIP deployment/install option by which you can install ColdFusion with minimal/core packaging, as well as a package manager to add needed modules.

Note that the familiar GUI (and command-line) installer also remains available, which installs all modules by default. And both installer types are available for the supported operating systems, Linux, MacOS, Solaris, and Windows.  

The rest of this post discusses the installation process, from extracting the zip (and optionally verifying it), to running a script to configure the instance in several ways (including doing that via a scripted/silent installation), as well as how to do that when deploying ColdFusion as a WAR on a JEE server.

The post also discusses other steps that might need to be performed after the installation, such as the process of migrating ColdFusion Admin settings from a previous CF version, enabling various modules (to support additional functionality not included in the minimal core installation), configuring web server connections, enabling ColdFusion and related services, and more. It also covers uninstalling ColdFusion when it’s been installed with this ZIP installer.

See also the available documentation on the zip deployment installation process.

Benefits of new “zip deployment”

 The immediate benefits of this lightweight deployment/install process include: 

• Reduced size – The size of the zip file has been reduced to less than 150 MB for core ColdFusion services, including a JRE. Compare this with the GUI (or command-line)  installer which is ~1 GB. ​  
• Reduced start-up time – The server start–up time has been reduced to ~5 seconds from 20+ seconds in earlier releases.  
• Reduced memory footprint – The runtime server memory has been reduced to ~250 MB from 850 MB+ in earlier releases  

With these benefits come more scriptable configuration steps, as discussed in this post. For a more traditional installation experience, the full GUI installer or its command-line equivalent remain available.

Obtaining ColdFusion zip file and installers

As with previous releases, ColdFusion installers (whether the traditional GUI/command-line installer or this new ZIP file) can be obtained either from the Adobe ColdFusion product site or the Adobe Licensing site (if you have purchased a ColdFusion license). Note that there is a separate zip file for each supported operating system (Windows, MacOS, Linux, Solaris), just as with the traditional installer files.

Signed installer 

For a secure experience, the ColdFusion ZIP installer is now signed. If you wish to verify the signature, the below command be used: 

 jarsigner -verify ColdFusion_2021 _WWEJ_*.zip -verbose 

Extracting the zip

After downloading the zip file, you can extract it, where you will find a META-INF folder and a ColdFusion2021.zip:

• The META-INF folder, which contains the file used to verify the signature of the zip installer, can be deleted. 
• The ColdFusion2021.zip, should then itself be extracted.

You will find a ColdFusion folder, which contains the files and folders typical of a ColdFusion installation. We will refer to that folder below as <CF_Root>.

Running the CFINSTALL Script  

To get the ColdFusion server up and running with minimal configuration steps after the zip installer has been extracted, we have introduced a new script called cfinstall, which is placed in <CF_Root>/cfusion/bin>.  There is support for completely scripted “silent” installation (see below), otherwise the cfinstall script will prompt for the necessary configuration settings.

This script can be used to configure the below server properties: 

• Acceptance of the EULA

• Install type:  

1. 1. Install a new version of ColdFusion (2021 release) 
   2. 30-day trial 
   3. Developer edition 

• ColdFusion server profile: 

1. 1. Production profile + Secure profile 
   2. Production profile 
   3. Development profile 

• Internal web port  
• Admin password  
• RDS password  
• Service name for Windows  
• Runtime user for Linux and Solaris 
• Deployment Type 

Also, note that if a non-default windows service name has been specified for ColdFusion when running the cfinstall script, instances created later using the Instance Manager page in the Admin will be prefixed with this non-default service name. For example, if the service name of the main instance is CF2021 and the name of the child instance is c1, the child instance service name will be “CF2021 c1”.  

EULA Acceptance 

Accepting the EULA terms and conditions is mandatory for a successful server start operation.   

The EULA file can be accessed at: 

• For standalone, <CF_Root>/Readme/en/license.txt 
• For JEE, <cf_webapp_root/WEB-INF/Readme/en/license.txt>. 

Note – CF EULA is also available at https://www.adobe.com/go/cf2021_eula 

Run cfinstall in silent mode 

To script or silently install the service, enter the following command: 

 Windows 

• Execute cfinstall.bat –file-name <file name> –installer-mode silent 
• Execute cfinstall.bat -f <file name> -i silent 

Non-Windows 

• Execute ./cfinstall.sh –file-name <file name> –installer-mode silent 
• Execute ./cfinstall.sh -f <file name> -i silent

More details can be found at  

https://helpx.adobe.com/coldfusion/using/install-coldfusion-2021.ug.html

Run cfinstall script using absolute path 

You can also run cfinstall script outside the /bin folder by giving absolute path.  

For example, /Applications/ColdFusion/cfusion/bin/cfinstall.sh  

Note – You will see a warning if you attempt to run cfinstall more than once. If you choose to continue, the settings will be overwritten and could cause few stability issues.  

Migration of prior version Administrator settings

When using the ZIP installer, if you wish to migrate the settings from previous ColdFusion installation(s) on first launch of the Administrator, you need to do the following- 

• Create the below folder in <CF_root>/cfusion/lib of the 2021 release, as applicable for your previous version: 

1. • cf2018settings (if migrating from 2018 release). 
   • cf2016settings (if migrating from 2016 release) 
   • cf11settings in <if migrating from 11 release) 

• Copy and place the neo-*.xml files and the seed.properties file from the previous version(s) in the newly created folder. For example, copy neo-* files and seed.properties file from CF2018/cfusion/lib and place in <CF_2021_root>/cfusion/lib/cf2018settings folder. 

• Stop ColdFusion server. 
• In adminconfig.xml, change the following: 

1. 1. <migratecf2018>true</migratecf2018> 
   2. <runsetupwizard>true</runsetupwizard> 
   3. <runmigrationwizard>true</runmigrationwizard>  

• Using CFPM, install the packages. 
• Restart ColdFusion and launch the ColdFusion Administrator. 

Note – The migration guide can be accessed at https://www.adobe.com/go/cf2021_migration_guide

Java EE installation 

The steps above refer to using the ZIP installer to setup a “standalone” ColdFusion deployment (with an embedded Tomcat server).

If you wish instead to deploy ColdFusion as a JEE deployment, there is also an available WAR file as an alternative to the ZIP or GUI installers. With that, you would do the following after deploying the WAR: 

• For application servers such as Tomcat and Websphere where the WAR file is expanded only after the app server is started: 

1. 1. Stop the app server. 
   2. Run the cfinstall script to accept the EULA and set other server properties. 
   3. Start the app server. 

• For application servers such as WebLogic, WildFly, and EAP where you need to expand the WAR file manually: 

1. 1. Run the cfinstall script to accept the EULA and set other server properties. 
   2. Start the app server. 

For detailed information, see JEE configuration.  

Post–installation  Steps

Deploying application packages 

• Out–of–the–box, the only modules that are pre-installed are the core server, Administrator, and Admin API. If your application requires other packages, you will need to install the relevant packages using either the CFPM utility or the ColdFusion Administrator > Package Manager page. 
• The CFPM utility can be used to identify and optionally install packages or modules needed for your application. It will automatically scan through the specified code base and will return the list of packages that need to be installed.  

• • To only scan the codebase, run the following command: 

                     scan <path_to_your_code_base> http://[CF_SERVER_HOST]:[port]

• • To scan the codebase and install the required packages, run the following command:  

                   scanandinstall <path_to_your_code_base> http://[CF_SERVER_HOST]:[port]

                    For example, scanandinstall <code_base/wwwroot/cfm> http://localhost:8500. 

Webserver configuration 

The 2012 Visual C++ Redistributable runtime is needed for connector configuration and for the HTMLtoPDF module. As this runtime is not bundled by default in the ZIP installers, you will need to set it up first before you can either configure your connector or use the HTMLtoPDF functionality or both.  

You can download the 2012 VC Runtime from here https://www.microsoft.com/en-in/download/details.aspx?id=30679 

ODBC service 

The GUI installer had the option to configure the ODBC service at install time. In the case of the ZIP installer, as the ODBC package is not bundled by default, you will need to use the cfpm utility to download it in case your application is using ODBC functionality. The ODBC service is automatically configured once the ODBC packages are installed 

DotNet and Solr/PDFg services 

DotNet and PDFg/Solr are no longer configurable options when using the ZIP installer. If you intend to use either of these, you can download and run these installers from https://www.adobe.com/support/coldfusion/downloads.html  

 Others 

The below properties were configurable in the GUI installers but are not available in the ZIP installers 

• Performance Monitoring Toolset Hostname/IP address – This can now be configured from Administrator > Performance Monitoring Toolset page. 
• The servlets (RDS, JS debug, CF Reporting) is enabled by default, you can disable the servlet by commenting on the required servlet block in the <ColdFusion Web_root>/WEB-INF/web.xml. 

Uninstallation 

To uninstall ColdFusion that has been installed using the ZIP installer, run the following command 

Windows 

• cfuninstall.bat 

Non-Windows 

• ./cfuninstall.sh 

Note that the cfuninstall script will only unconfigure the Windows service (on Windows) or remove the init script (for non-windows). The other components will need to manually taken care of. 

 Before deleting the ColdFusion folder manually, ensure the following steps are performed as well: 

• If instances have been created as a windows service, remove the service using either one of the two options given below 

1. 1. Go to Administrator > Enterprise Manager>Instance Manager>Delete (delete the instance) 
   2. Delete the instance service using the command:
            sc delete <service_name> 
      

• Unconfigure the connector (if configured) using the following command:
          ./wsconfig -uninstall 
  

• Remove the ODBC services (if installed).  
• Backup log files and any files that have been created in the wwwroot folder  
• Finally, you can Delete the ColdFusion folder. 

Miscellaneous 

• Multiple ZIP installations on the same machine or ZIP installation + GUI installation on the same box – Not recommended. It might still work if the needed port changes are done manually in the server.xml file  

• Note that if you are using the GUI installer, the ODBC sub-component checkbox shows up as disabled and is unchecked by default. This is because the ODBC module is installed by default. 
• In the GUI installers, all the modules are pre-installed.