CFHTTP

Question

Okay I will describe our problem.

We are running CF 6.1 and IIS 6 on server 2003.

We have a service that people post to and get a response. In
the script we have a CFHTTP call to a remote URL. If the CFHTTP
takes longer than 18 seconds which can happen IIS seems to lose
site of the CFHTTP. The web browser does nothing. It literally just
sits there.

So what we have been doing is setting the timeout value on
the CFHTTP to 17 seconds to prevent this hang.

We thought maybe it was a CF problem so to rule it out we
wrote an ISAPI filter that has nothing to do with cold fusion where
you can pass in the time to sleep.

Here is the URL to the script that calls the dll. Pass in
time is in miliseconds so 18 seconds will be 18000. Try it for
18000 then 19000 and you will see the effect.

http://mercury.velocitygroup.co.uk/sleepTestPost2.htm

So as it is calling a dll cold fusion does not appear to be
the problem

We cannot work out where this arbitrary 18 seconds is coming
from. We need our CFHTTP to last for 31 seconds. Does anyone know
where this 18 seconds is coming from and how to change it.

VelocityPay · Accepted Answer

Beware of ISAPI extensions. Assuming you intend to use the IIS server exclusively for ColdFusion, it is the recommended practice to disable all other Web Service Extensions in the IIS Manager, with the exception of Macromedia Server Extensions.

I agree with Mr Black's point about script timeouts relating only to ASP files. However, ISAPI-induced timeout effects are usually not that straightforward. As far as IIS is concerned, ColdFusion's functionality is on a par with that of the next ISAPI application. IIS forwards CFM, CFC, CFR, etc. requests to the appropriate Coldfusion DLL for processing. The server DLL sends the result back to IIS, which in turn sends it to the client as the response to the client's request. Any ISAPI filter that can disrupt the global timeout settings of the IIS server can therefore affect the performance of CFM pages, albeit indirectly.

Thanks all we have worked out what the problem is.

Our office broadband box firewall closes connection at 18 seconds. So in actual fact there had never been a problem on the production system. So we had invented a solution to problem that never existed. It just appeared to exist. No magical setting missing.

This one was driving us crazy and it was only random luck we picked up on it.

Thanks all for your help and input.

Thread Closed

BKBK · Answer

First, if you're using the IIS server exclusively for ColdFusion, then it is advisable to disable all other Web Service Extensions in the IIS Manager, with the exception of Macromedia Server Extensions. Second, have you verified that the value of the default timeout value for scripts in IIS isn't too low? To find the setting, open the IIS snap-in, right-click on the website, and follow Home Directory => Configuration => Options.

Sign up

To post, reply, or follow discussions, please sign in with your Adobe ID.

Sign in to Adobe Community

To post, reply, or follow discussions, please sign in with your Adobe ID.