ColdFusion V 8

[robertd44465262]

Hello,

We are running a ColdFusion 8 installation on an internal network. We are upgrading the Windows Server it is hosted on to Server 2019.   I am wanting to upgrade the ColdFusion installation and bring it up to date. Is there a migration tool or prefered method to get it to the latest version?

Thank you for any guidence.

Robert

[Charlie Arehart]

Well, there are two ways to answer this.

The first is that you may well find that you can update the OS and it will have NO EFFECT on your existing running CF. Instead, the problem most folks encounter when they have such an old CF version is that its INSTALLER will no longer work on the later OS, or the CF web server config tool will no longer work.  But if you are really just upgrading the server's OS, you may be "ok"...at least until you have to ever run the wsconfig tool (perhaps you never do).

The second is to beware that CF8 is VERY old, and has not been updated since 2012. You are at grave security risk in running anything that old, or CF9, or even 10 or 11, as those are no longer updated either. Such updates fix important security vulnerabilities, and even for an "internal server" that "no one can reach from the outside", you are just asking for trouble (and even could be legally liable for damages) in running such an old version.

[robertd44465262]

Hi Charlie,

The server is being replaced. There is no question that CF will be upgraded. My main question is what will be involved creating the same usable product we currently have on the new CF install? 

[BKBK]

Windows Server 2019 will work.

Suggested steps after the server upgrade:

1) Install on the server the latest version of ColdFusion. It is ColdFusion 2018 Update 10.

2) Transfer your code to the new environment.

3) Open the ColdFusion Administrator and navigate to Debugging & Logging > Code Analyzer. 

    Run the Code Analyzer. It will tell you if any of your code is deprecated or no longer current.

[Charlie Arehart]

Ah, I see now, rdavies-cnp. When you had written originally, "I am wanting to upgrade the ColdFusion installation and bring it up to date", I didn't realize you were saying you wanted to upgrade CF as well. Trust me: many people DO mean only "I want to update my OS and hope not have to touch CF". That was the audience I was speaking to.

So as for upgrading the OS AND CF, there is a lot to consider, as that's a big jump (over CF9, 10, 11, and 2016). BKBK has offered some good starting points. There's more to it, including upgrading the web server connector as well (after updating CF), then also migrating in admin settings, perhaps changing CF installation defaults, etc. You could even set things up to test both CF2018 and CF8 at the same time (on the same machine even, if you upgrade the OS and find CF8 still works). 

Different folks have different intentions in such an upgrade. Some will have a dev/test server on which to explore things, while others do not and want to do everything on the one server--either switching over at once or trying to run both versions at the same time (again, doable if you are careful).

So given all the above, it's hard to offer (or for you to find) any one list of "what to watch out for". You have this forum of course, for asking questions. You can also hire a consultant who can shepherd you through the process. I am one, and there are still others, who I list in a category of my CF411 site, specifically cf411.com/cfconsult. And of course you can also find developers who could aid in converting code if needed, and I offer them at cf411.com/cfdppdev.

Whatever way you go, I hope you'll keep folks here posted on your progress.

You're really not alone in making such a jump. Many orgs have left their CF to languish for even a decade or more and are only now feeling a compulsion to get things updated.  It's totally doable, and some find even such a large jump goes surprisingly smoothly, while others might find some one issue that makes it seem impossible (though there is nearly always a solution to that).