Managing multiple server instances under CF2018

[John_Allred]

Trying to get a few local server instances set up under CF 2018, and I’m having inconsistent results. Sometimes a new instance will start and run. Sometimes it won’t. Sometimes a modified instance (e.g., change port #) will run. Sometimes it won’t. Thus far, I’ve had as many as five running at once, and if I shut all of them down, the sames ones that refused to start before still don’t start.

I can’t produce any consistent results that help me understand what causes certain servers to start and others not to.

Is this something others deal with? Or could I have something weird in my installation of CF 2018?

For those who notice such things, some weeks back, I was trying to set up CF to run under IIS, but I finally gave up in favor of the CF server. I never had such difficulty with IIS. Create / modify server instances all I wanted, they would all work reliably.

Any advice?

Thanks!
John

[Charlie Arehart]

John, I realize how frustrating that must be for you, but the good news is that it all should work (if all is configured properly, and assuming you have the resources/memory on the machine to run the multiple instances at once), so there must be an explanation for what's amiss.

But honestly there are so many factors that could influence what you are seeing. Let me throw out a few to consider initially.

• Since you say you've had as many as 5 running, then that would indicate that you don't have any port problem (such as having more than one instance set to use the same port).
• Yet since you say that changing ports helps and sometimes does not, that begs the question as to what specific port (in CF) you are changing. There are several, and some will keep CF from starting if that port is already in use (such as by another running instance using that same port).
• But since you say that there are times that a given instance won't start at all, then there must be an explanation for why those would not start. It may be about ports, or about resources on the box, or it may be something else entirely.
• As for the instances not starting, there may be SOME indication of why they don't start in the CF logs for that instance, but some problems happen such that nothing is logged. In that case, you would want to try starting the instance from the command line, using the /bin/cfstart (bat or sh) in the instance's folder. You may find that renders explanations you weren't otherwise seeing.
• When you say they don't start, are you confirming that there is no coldfusion.exe (on Windows, or java in Linux) for the instance? There are ways to get Task Manager or ps to show you WHICH instance a given instance process is running on behalf of. It may be that when you are trying to start one that won't start, it's that it's already running--but you may not have noticed it. One common cause of that is if you run the CF updates from the command line, it's about a 50/50 shot whether it will start CF as the SERVICE or start CF running as YOU (whatever use you are logged in as).

Maybe one of those will get you to your solution. Otherwise sadly, I think this may be too complex a problem to solve via back and forth here. It's possible, of course.

But I will say that I am confident that if we spent even just a little time together in a remote screensharing consulting session, I should be able to solve this for you, and also help you to connect some dots that will help you further once the instances ARE running. I explain my rates, approach, and satisfaction guaranteed at carehart.org/consulting. I think we may solve this in as little as 15 minutes (my minimum billable time). But I realize it's possible you can't or won't want to leverage that. Perhaps someone else (including Adobe) may come along to offer to assist for free.

And of course if you offer thoughts in reply, I may have more to propose. (I can't guarantee I will reply quickly, because I only dip into the forum messages a few times a day, as I can between other engagements.)

[John_Allred]

Thanks for the reply, Charlie. I thought of, and did, edit my registry, thinking there might be values that CF sees as ports or server names already in use somehow. The only thing that works is creating new instances with NEW names (rather than earlier ones I'd really like to use) and letting CF create new port numbers. I can't say it works any better if I let CF create a new folder or if I specify an already existing folder. 

The only real problem here is my irritation that I can't reuse previously running names or ports. You know when you get it in mind that you want a folder/server named just so?

I was hoping there was a known solution to what appears to be CF not cleaning up after itself particularly well.

Thank you, once again, for your willing assistance!

John