CF Admin dysfunctional after changing webroot

[yukonzach1]

Hi all,

After changing the "server.xml" to point to my new (built-in server) webroot and pointing the appropriate Resources to the CFIDE and WEB-INF folders, the CF 2018 Admin webpage becomes unusable.  The login page loads.  I am able to log in.  The buttons show up for a split second, but are then greyed out as the Search Bar becomes the only thing I can click and type in.  Typing something in the Search Bar and submitting it does nothing.  Clicking the X on the Search Bar does not close it and the other function buttons are unclickable.

I am using the same 'change webroot' method outlined for CF 2016, which works great on that version.  I fear that by using this method somehow messes up the new 2018 Admin interface.  Any help or ideas would be appreciated.  Below are the code in the "server.xml" file and a screenshot of the CF Admin page...

(yes, I installed CF on my D: drive...I like to keep things off of my Windows directory.  I am using Windows 10)

        <Context path="" docBase="E:/webroot" WorkDir="D:/ColdFusion2018/cfusion/runtime/conf/Catalina/localhost/tmp" >

          <Resources>

            <PreResources base="D:\ColdFusion2018\cfusion\wwwroot\CFIDE" className="org.apache.catalina.webresources.DirResourceSet" webAppMount="/CFIDE"/>

            <PreResources base="D:\ColdFusion2018\cfusion\wwwroot\WEB-INF" className="org.apache.catalina.webresources.DirResourceSet" webAppMount="/WEB-INF"/>

          </Resources>

        </Context>

TIA

Zach

[Charlie Arehart]

There's really no reason to make that change. Can you point to what docs tell you to? I think you'll find you can do whatever you want another way. Are you using a web server other than cf's? If not, why not?

Anyway,. If you insist on changing things this way, see if solve it by creating another preresouces line for cf_scripts, pointing to the folder of that name in the cfusion/wwwroot.let us know if that solves this.

[yukonzach1 · Accepted solution]

Charlie that worked.  Here is what is in my server.xml now (I also put the new 'restplay' in there):

        <Context path="" docBase="E:/webroot" WorkDir="D:/ColdFusion2018/cfusion/runtime/conf/Catalina/localhost/tmp" >

          <Resources>

            <PreResources base="D:\ColdFusion2018\cfusion\wwwroot\CFIDE" className="org.apache.catalina.webresources.DirResourceSet" webAppMount="/CFIDE"/>

            <PreResources base="D:\ColdFusion2018\cfusion\wwwroot\WEB-INF" className="org.apache.catalina.webresources.DirResourceSet" webAppMount="/WEB-INF"/>

            <PreResources base="D:\ColdFusion2018\cfusion\wwwroot\cf_scripts" className="org.apache.catalina.webresources.DirResourceSet" webAppMount="/cf_scripts"/>

            <PreResources base="D:\ColdFusion2018\cfusion\wwwroot\restplay" className="org.apache.catalina.webresources.DirResourceSet" webAppMount="/restplay"/>

          </Resources>

        </Context>

To answer your first question, yes, there is no reason to do this.  But for years I have partitioned my drives to keep content away from installs and installs away from Windows.  This also places the webroot in a convenient spot for me and (just like the old days of CF) keeps the CFIDE out of your actual webroot.  I realize this practice probably isn't needed anymore, but it just works for me anyway.

Thank you for your help!

Zach

[BKBK]

Hi yukonzach1​, please mark this as correctly answered.

[Charlie Arehart]

Thanks for the confirmation and clarification. (I marked your answer as the "correct" one, since you show the complete answer and acknowledge my contribution to it.)

But do I surmise correctly that you do all this not just for stated reasons, but primarily because you choose not to use a separate web server, like iis or apache or nginx? If you did use one, then THAT would be where your app webroot would be defined. And the cf_scripts would be put there as a virtual directory by the wsconfig tool (but not the CFIDE, since cf2016).

I understand how that may seem like "extra work", but so is what you are doing. 🙂 Most important, if this is a dev workstation, an advantage of this is that you'd then be able mimic how your prod is setup. That's using an external web server, right?

Still, I know old habits die hard. You may simply prefer to do what you do. I'm not saying it's wrong. I'm just saying it's not typical, and I offer these clarifications for consideration, whether by you or future readers who find this, with the same "problem". 🙂

[Vikram Kumar M]

Hi Zach,

Let's try this:

Take a backup of neo-runtime.xml located at \ColdFusion2018\cfusion\lib and then open it in text editor.

Search for “CFFormScriptSrc” and make sure it's pointing to  /cf_scripts/scripts/.

Restart the ColdFusion service and try again.

Thanks,

Vikram 

[Charlie Arehart]

Vikram, can you consider and offer any thoughts on my response which preceded yours?