CF2016: Cannot download updates in CF Administrator

judis93109396: "We are unable to download updates for CF2016 (specifically, update 16) to both our dev and producation servers through the ColdFusion Administrator. "

What do you see when you go to the Server Update page in the ColdFusion Administrator? This is still unclear to me. If it's simply that the download button is invisible, you will see it when you press on TAB on the keyboard.

Judis, when you say you can't download, can you confirm if you mean the button doesn't work? or do you mean that the download happens but fails? Each has different reasons--and neither has to do with how the CF service is running.

First, what CF update are you on now? If it's before CF2016 update 11, then you will find that the update downloads but then "fails to verify". You can fix that by doing update 11 first, as discussed in each of the update technotes since then.

Second, if you can't even get it to download, do you see 3 tabs on the CF Admin page for the Server updates? If you do not, then that's a different problem. You (or someone) changed the CF Admin setting for "default script src" (on the main "Settings" page) to be something other than the default. the lockdown guide tells you to do that--but then you need to also configure the built-in web server in CF to use that modified path.

The quick solution for that is to note what it is, change it back to the default (see the lockdown guide), then get the update, and when finished change it back to what you first found--because you or someone may have changed your web server to set a virtual directory/alias of that name as well, and now THAT would break if you don't set it back.

Finally, if you were to say the update downloads, but then it's the "install" step that fails, that COULD be because you are running the CF service as a limited user. It's unable to stop and start the CF service. You could change the service back to running as "local system", and then do the update (and change it back later, to meet the security intent of having changed it from local system). You could also instead run the update from the command line, among other options. I'm trying to give you quick solutions that may help you (and others, finding this in the future).

One of the problems with the lockdown guide (which I have long lamented) is that if you "do a bunch of stuff" and then restart CF, you have changed a lot of things that now "may not work", and you may not know WHICH thing broke whatever doesn't work. And you may not find out for days or weeks--either because you don't restart CF for some time after the changes, or you try things (like the CF updates) well after having made the changes and restarted CF.

I know that's all a lot to take in, but it may have your solution. If not, I can promise that someone with experience doing these things (liek myself and others here) could readily find and fix whatever is amiss, remotely via screenshare (on a consulting basis). I list such consultants on my site, at https://cf411.com/cftrouble.

But we (all) can continue back and forth here as long as it makes sense for you.