Cannot create ear file in CF9

[JCox]

Hi,

I have a brand new installation of CF9, on a brand new server, configured in multiserver mode.  The intial instance seems to be fine and I am trying to create an EAR file so that I can build other instances.  When I run the build from the CF Administrator, it looks like it's doing some thing but then times out.  If I reload the page, the archive looks like it has been created.  However, when I try to use it while adding a new instance, it says the package can't be found.  What am I doing wrong?  The only think I can think of is that I used a .car file from a stand alone CF8 version after the CF 9 installation.  If that is the problem, what do I do to get rid of the car file data?

Thanks.

[Charlie Arehart]

Here are a few thoughts:

1) are you trying the WAR approach because creating a CAR from the source instance somehow didn't work? If not, why not? (For readers not familiar, in CF Enterprise you can create either a WAY or a CAR as a way to package up the settings and config of that instance, to use to build new CF deployments later.)

2) since the first problem seems to be the creation of the WAR from an existing instance, have you looked in the CF logs (both the CF logs and the JRun logs) to see any explanation of what may have gone amiss in the creation of the WAR? (If the source instance is a Server/Standard form of deployment, look in \logs and \runtime\logs. If the source instance is a Multiserver instance, look in \servers\[instance]\cfusion.ear\cfusion.war\WEB-INF\cfusion\logs and \logs.)

I'm pretty sure that the CF Admin page for creating the archives (either CAR or EAR/WAR) have a large timeout, so that shouldn't have been a problem. But the logs may tell you more.

3) You refer later to having implemented a CF8 CAR file into this CF9 instance. Is the instance from which you're trying to creating the WAR that same CF8 instance? Are you trying the WAR approach because the CAR approach did not work?

4) And as for building the new instance, are you trying to use the EAR deployment option because you want/prefer to? Or because you are somehow assuming you have to?

As one more clarification, if all you want to do is build new instances that have some pre-set Admin settings, you don't need to use either the CAR or EAR options. You can just modify the cfusion instance to have what you want (assuming you want all the instances to have those settings). Then, when you create a new instance, all the Admin settings made in the CFusion instance are propagated automatically to any new instances.

5) Finally, when you refer to having used a CAR to import CF8 settings into a CF9 server, no, there's no way to "get rid of the CAR data" (or, in other words, to reverse the CAR process).

/charlie arehart

charlie@carehart.org

Providing CF and CFBuilder troubleshooting services

at http://www.carehart.org/consulting

[JCox]

Charlie,

Thanks a ton for the info.  I think I can boil my question down a little better.

1.  I currently have a single server CF 8 instance.  I just bought CF 9, put it on a new server as a multi-server install and I'm trying to figure out how to move all the data sources, scheduled tasks, ect on my CF 8 server  to my new, multiserver CF 9 installation.  Is that a WAR file kind of transfer or is that not possible?

2.  When I create new instances on CF 9, do I have to re-enter all the data sources that are in the cfusion instance in all the 'child' instances?  I've read the manual over a couple of times and it just doesn't seem clear.  One section says that all changes are propagated to the newly created instance but the 'create an instance' instructions indicate you have to use a .EAR file.  How does this work?

Thanks,

Jim

[ilssac]

2)

At the time a new instance is created, all datasources and other settings in the cfusion instance will be copied to the new instnace as the cfusion instance provides the template used to create a new instance.

Once the instance is created, adding new datasources or settings to the cfusion instance WILL NOT propagate to other currently created instances.

HTH

Ian

[Charlie Arehart · Accepted solution]

Well, the good news is that the CAR file deployment should be the way to go. As I feared, you saw the WAR option and like others were perhaps led to think it was "the" way to go (whether from the interface, the docs, or perhaps someone's suggestion). It really serves a different purpose (though, yes, it COULD be used for this purpose too. More on that in a moment.)

First, I'll say also that I assume that you chose to switch to the Multiserver mode on the new server because you thought it would give you some new flexibility. It will, though if you're only going to have one instance on the new server, you don't really need to use multiserver. As this episode shows, with its power comes also more need to understand its ins/outs (not least of which are the vastly different directory locations, as I showed in the last note). I know some pundits suggest it's "the way" to go, but not everyone needs it. And to be very clear, you can certainly install CF9 in Server mode (or as you called it "single server"), and then if you wanted later you could also install CF 9 in Multiserver mode on the same box.

But back to your question, yes, the CAR file approach is the simplest way to move the CF Admin settings from one CF server to another. It should have worked.

So it seems you’re saying here that the servers in question (source and destination) are the ones you referred to in the first note. You said in that note that you HAD already done the CAR file export/import, and then you were trying the WAR file approach. Did the CAR file approach not work well for some reason?

And to answer your last question about propagation of Multiserver Admin settings, I can understand your confusion. It's not as clear as it could be in the docs or interface. Again, if you change any settings in the first/main/cfusion instance, then when you create a new instance, the settings in the cfusion instance are propagated into the new instance. That could be a benefit or a detriment, depending on one's expectations. It's also a point-in-time thing: the settings are not kept in sync after that.

As for the reference you found to the EAR file deployment, again, that's really a more elaborate approach that is primarily for those who prefer to do EAR/WAR deployments (whether from the CF installer or from another Enterprise server/instance). For your needs, you don't need it, which is why I pressed the point. I kind of suspected.

It's too bad that things can be so confusing. I know that the CF team is well aware of the challenges and we can hope that they will improve things in the future. (No need for folks to chime in with comments about how bad it is. Again, that's not new information to anyone.)

/charlie arehart

charlie@carehart.org

Providing CF and CFBuilder troubleshooting services

at http://www.carehart.org/consulting

[JCox]

Charile,

Thanks again for the response.

What I did was to create a .car file from my CF 8 machine.   I then deployed it on the CF 9 machine and it worked.  Then, under the mistaken impression that I needed to create an .EAR file for deployment on every subsequent instance that I created, I tried to do just that.   When I did, the .EAR file creation just flat timed out and all the logs repeated that message.  However, when I went back to the J2EE archive page, it appeared to be there.  But, when I tried to deploy it to a newly created instance, I got a 'package not found' error. 

At this point, as long as I don't have to retype everything for the subsequent instances, I don't really care.

Thanks again,

Jim

[Charlie Arehart]

Glad to help. Just to be clear: about the "package not found" error, are you saying you had moved the WAR or EAR file from the source machine to the destination one?

Second, again, no, it seems you don't need to do it at all so can abandon that effort and move on. But you say "as long as I don't have to retype everything for the subsequent instances, I don't really care." It's not clear what you "don't care" about.

For new instances, you either want to do either of two things:

1) if you want all the instances to share the same Admin values, you can change the main cfusion Admin (or import a CAR into it) and then when you build new instances, they will use those values

2) or you can leave the cfusion instance "clean" and when you create new instances, you can use a CAR import into that (whether from your original CF 8 instance, or one of these new CF9 instances)

Would you say that with that, your questions here have been answered? If so, note that you have the option to mark any of the messages in the thread as "the answer" (from the web interface for the forum, not from email if you're reading it that way). Marking a thread answered just helps some who view things in the web forum and use that indicator to decide if a question is outstanding. Cheers.

/charlie