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Madhabdhk
Inspiring
January 12, 2026
Question

ColdFusion 2023 Update 17 – Oracle & SQL Server Datasources Failing: “The oracle package is not inst

  • January 12, 2026
  • 3 replies
  • 461 views

Hi everyone,

After applying ColdFusion 2023 Update 17 in our ACPT environment, all of our datasources suddenly stopped verifying. The CF Administrator now shows this error:

 

Connection verification failed for data source: <name>
java.sql.SQLException: The oracle package is not installed.
You can install the package through the CLI package manager (cfpm.bat) by running the command: install oracle.


This is happening on all Oracle and SQL Server datasource. However,

  • Running cfpm list confirms that both oracle and sqlserver packages are installed, e.g.:
    oracle, version : 2023.0.11.330706
sqlserver, version : 2023.0.05.330608
  • Despite this, ColdFusion Admin continues to report the driver as “not installed”.
 

I would like to ask, Is this a known issue where CFPM installs the Oracle package but CF Admin fails to register or load the new driver? and what is the recommended/supported way to ensure ColdFusion Admin maps Oracle datasources after Update 17? 

Any guidance or confirmation would be appreciated before we proceed with updating PROD.
Thanks 

 

 

3 replies

D
Community Expert
Dave WattsCommunity Expert
Community Expert
January 12, 2026

I came here to suggest deleting the contents of felix-cache, but was beaten to the punch. Follow @AbhishekJha for a short fix, or @Charlie Arehart for the background info.

 

Dave Watts, Eidolon LLC
M
MadhabdhkAuthor
Inspiring
January 13, 2026

Thank you @Dave Watts, I appreciate your participation. I do love the detailed guide from @Charlie Arehart. I hope that will fix my issue, I will keep you all posted. 

BKBK
Community Expert
BKBKCommunity Expert
Community Expert
January 14, 2026

Hi @Madhabdhk ,

I would suggest a complete change of plan. Forget about Update 17, now that Update 18 has been released.

 

So, proceed to Update 18. The updates are cumulative, so Update 18 will include Update 17 anyway.

 

As far I know, the easiest way to install it is through the ColdFusion Administrator.:

  • Package Manager page => Packages => Core Server => click on Check for Updates 
    => select ColdFusion 2023 Update 18 from the "Available Versions" list
    => click on install and wait until ColdFusion finishes installing the update
    => restart ColdFusion (just to be sure everything is refreshed and ready to go).
A
AbhishekJha
Inspiring
January 12, 2026

@Madhabdhk 

Can you please try the following:
 
1. Stop the CF services.
2. From the cmd run cfpm.bat and run uninstall oracle followed by uninstall sqlserver.
3. Navigate to ColdFusion2023\cfusion\bin\felix-cache and delete all files (temp files)
4. Navigate to ColdFusion2023\cfusion\wwwroot\WEB-INF\cfclasses and delete all files (temp files)
5. Go to cfpm.bat and run install oracle and then install sqlserver.
6. Start the CF services and check the results.
 
Thank You,
Abhishek
M
MadhabdhkAuthor
Inspiring
January 13, 2026

Hi @AbhishekJha, thank you for sharing the steps. I followed the exact process you outlined, unfortunately, the issue persists, ColdFusion Administrator still reports "The oracle package is not installed" and datasoruce verifcation fails for both Oracle and SQL server. 

 

 

Charlie Arehart
Community Expert
Charlie ArehartCommunity Expert
Community Expert
January 12, 2026

@Madhabdhk , in nearly all cases I've seen of this error, the cause ended up being a failure in applying of the CF update. As you may know that update ENDS with CF automatically trying to first download whatever packages were to be updated (by that update and any you're skipping), and then during the next startup of CF it tries to APPLY the update of any such packaged (by first "uninstalling" it, then by trying to "start" it).

 

Often a failure of the sort you see is because of a failure during either that download of the packages or the uninstalling and/or starting of the "new" package . And sometimes that's influenced by different update approaches you may have tried to use.

 

So let's get answers to a few questions:

  1.  What update were you on BEFORE update 17? (If you "don't know", you can infer it from what was the latest folder in the cfusion/hf-updates folder, where a new folder is created for each update you run. It's not a PERFECT way to know, but at least see if it jives with what you may wonder was the previous version)
  2.  In that cfusion/hf-updates folder will now be a subfolder for update 17.  In that, there are at least 2 logs. Look at the one with the very long name, which is "the update log". And if there is more than one, open the most recent one.  Near the top of that (at about line 75) will be a table tracking successes, fatalerrors, nonfatalerrors, and warnings. Are there 0 for the last 3?

  3.  In that same update log, look at the bottom . About 10 lines from the bottom is a line listing what, if any, files related to package updates were downloaded. If you turn on word wrapping, it will show up like a paragraph if there are at least a few being downloaded. Do you see any errors related to that download of the package files?

  4.  Next look at the coldfusion-out.log, which among other things tracks the startup of CF. It should be in your cfusion/logs folder (but that can vary. Let us know if you don't find it there, tracking the startup of CF at the date/time of your update.)  In that log, go to the bottom.  If your server's not too busy the bottom of the log may show the dozens of log lines related to when CF starts up. If it does not, search "up" from there for the words "coldfusion started". That will be the END of when CF last restarted. Find the chunk of such lines related to the time you did the update. 

  5.  In that chunk of lines tracking CF startup (which may be as many as 100 lines), toward the top of the chunk (after CF tried to start) should be lines indicating "uninstalling" of the package files related to whatever packages were being updated. Again, CF uninstalls them first. Any errors during that?

  6.  Assuming there are none, it then follows that with potentially dozens of lines showing each package being "started".  This is most important to watch: were there any errors during that attempt to START the package? If so, there's the clear indication of the problem. Next we need to determine WHY it happened. And there is a rather common cause.

  7.  First I'll ask how did you do the update? From within the CF Admin or from the command line (java -jar pointing to the update jar file)?  

  8.  If you did it from the command line, did you perhaps need to do a "manual offline install" (as is discussed in the update technote)? That is needed when a CF instance can't reach the Adobe servers holding the update and package updates. The steps would have you download (by some other means) first the update jar and then a zip holding all the packages/bundles appropriate to that update. Then it tells you how and where to extract the zip and change a cf config file to point to a bundlesdependency.json file within that.

  9.  And if you DID do that last step, WHERE did you extract the zip? Some people try to take a shortcut of extracting that to the bundles folder (within their CF folder). Note that's NOT what the technote says to do: it says to extract it somewhere ELSE and point the update config file at THAT. It's a source of confusion (and some contention and debate, and at some point I want to write more about it). But for the sake of your challenge, please just let us know if that is or is not what you did.

 

Again, hopefully your problem will be reflected in errors in either the update log of the startup log (coldfusion-out.log).  Once you let us know, and answer the other questions, we can share more. Or perhaps you may find you can resolve things based on what I've shared. If so, please let us know the conclusion.

 

And of course others may offer still different ideas and suggestions (which may pay no mind at all to what I've said). In that case, I hope you'll still please consider answering what I've asked for, if the problem remains.  It will help if you offer it in reply to my comment rather than as a new one, to help readers keep different threads of discussion organized. 

 

Sorry for the blog length reply. It's just that yours is a frequent enough problem that beyond helping you I also hope with my detail to help others, as often the details are lacking in other discussions of the topic. 

/Charlie (troubleshooter, carehart. org)
M
MadhabdhkAuthor
Inspiring
January 13, 2026

@Charlie Arehart thank you so much for your detailed analysis and guidance. I’ve reviewed the logs and here’s what I found:

  1. Previous Update: We were on Update 16 before applying Update 17.
  2. Update Log Summary: 
Installation: Successful
457 Successes
0 Warnings
0 NonFatalErrors
0 FatalErrors​
  • Package Download: No explict errros for downloading, but I did notice repeated connection reset attempts: 
I/O exception (java.net.SocketException) caught when processing request to https://cfmodules.adobe.com:443: Connection reset
Retrying request...
The packages repository https://www.adobe.com/go/cf2023_packages is not accessible.
You can only load the packages that are available locally in the C:\ColdFusion2023\bundles directory.​

Status still show SUCCESSFUL, but this seems important.

  • coldfusion-out-log: No errors during uninstalling packages.
  • Startup Log: The issue appears duing starting packages - it shows jar cannot be downloaded. Error: Not Found.
  • Update method: I installed using command line (java -jar), but did not download the zip bundles for offline install. I assumed it would work like before. But for the Dev envronment, It worked the same way. 

 

So it looks like the update succeeded, but the package start process failed because the jars couldn't be downloaded (likely due to connectivity issues during update). This might explain why CF Admin reports the drivers as "not installed" even thought CFPM shows them as installed. 

My Question now:

  • Should I now perform the manual offline bundle install as per the technote?
  • Or is there a way to force CF to reapply/restart the packages without reinstalling the entire update?
  • If I download the zip bundle, do I need to point CF to bundlesdependency.json and restart?

 

Thanks again for your detailed help,  this is very insightful and I appreciate your time.

Charlie Arehart
Community Expert
Charlie ArehartCommunity Expert
Community Expert
January 13, 2026

Thanks for the kind regards, and glad to have helped.

 

1) So yes, you've confirmed what I suspected: both the error at the bottom of the update log and then during the startup both reflect the inability of your cf instance to reach the Adobe server with the updated packages.

 

So now we know for sure the problem--and also why tips like clearing the felix-cache (while appropriate to other update-related problems) would not help your situation--which is why I didn't even suggest it.

 

2) As for the solution, yes, you'll need to do the manual offline update of the packages. But first yes, you CAN SKIP running the update itself, if you've confirmed that it took place (the admin reports you being on update 17).

 

Just do instead the remaining steps outlined in the technote about such a manual offline update: get the zip on another computer, and place it on this one. Next you'll extract it somewhere.

 

3) Pay attention that Adobe's technote suggests you put them in some folder OTHER than the cf bundles folder, and that you then point the neo_update.xml file at the bundledependencies.json within that folder. 

 

3a) But I'll point out that since your admin is working, you can do that config instead from within the admin, on the page reached via the package manager page's "settings" link. Change the "package url" for the packages (not for the core update) to point to that file in that extracted folder. This approach does not require a cf restart to proceed to the next step. 

 

4) Even better, you should find you can then just go back to the package manager page and use its "update all" button to update your packages. (I'd recommend you try just one first, perhaps one you think "doesn't matter much". If that updates, then do "all".)

 

Or yes, one can use the cfpm tool (but it also requires the previous steps be done first.) 

 

Let us know if that gets you going. 

 

5) If it works, two more things. First, once the packages are updated you should consider changing that packages url back to its default. Note there's a "reset default" button on the settings page to do just that. Here's why:

 

6) Next, perhaps you can  investigate WHY this cf instance couldn''t reach that url which failed. Note that If you find it works FROM A BROWSER on the server, then maybe the issue about cf is that something on the server needs to be configured to allow cf itself to call out to that url. There are at least two possibilities:

 

6a) Some orgs implement firewall or other security tools to limit what software can make calls to the web. And maybe you can get them to change that to allow cf to call those urls on that settings page.

 

If you go that route, note that the 2 urls each do a redirect to another, as you'll see if you visit them in a browser with net access. You'll need to ensure that any such firewall blocking cf is changed to allow ALL 4 urls to work.

 

6b) Finally, still another option may be that your org might have enabled instead a proxy url/port, which cf can be told end its traffic through. Many don't know that Cf can be configured to use such a proxy.

 

It's done on that same package mgr settings page, which also provides fields for optionally configuring such a proxy, which is then used for both these updates and for cf license activation.

 

Let us know how it all goes. And all this will be more fodder for the blog post I'll do. 🙂 

/Charlie (troubleshooter, carehart. org)
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