Migration Documentation

[Guest]

First I feel it is necessary to point something unique about our webserver environment.  We are correcting a discrepancy with our web services workflow.  Currently our production server is our development server.

During the first step of creating a separate production server and development server we are upgrading the production server hardware and software.  Currently the existing web server is running CF 8 on Win Server 2003 32 bit.  The new server is running Win Server 2008 R2 64 bit with CF 9.

I've uncovered some documentation with some specifics, but I'm looking for more generic documentation for migrating CF previous version x, preferably 8, to CF upgrade version y, preferably 9, which are running on two different servers.  I don't want to accidentally overwrite the CFIDE system files contents is my main concern, but at the same time I want to migrate all the previous settings that can be brought over and know which ones I have to manually set that cannot.  I would also appreciate if the structure of the CFIDE directory would be explained even if just briefly.

The two specific migration documents that I thought would be helpful in my case were:

http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/530/cpsid_53017.html

http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/527/cpsid_52797.html

Any assistance that points out steps or highlights potential pitfalls will be appreciated.

[Guest]

Persistant searching revealed another forum post, http://forums.adobe.com/message/2850213, that had some mention of technique.  The creation of a CAR file appears to be the key.  Searching for migration and CAR files revealed what I consider to be a satisfying answer.  http://forums.crystaltech.com/index.php?topic=35217.0

This may or may not be my ultimate answer to the how to.  I'm still curious about the directory structure and snippits of info that describe the purposes of certain folders or contents.

[Guest]

It appears that Adobe doesn't think that some licensed (paid) users don't deserve to enjoy easy upgrade options!  The feature comparison shows I'm out of luck because standard licensing doesn't feature the backup and restore option I need.  This really is annoying and very unprofessional!

I've seen workarounds to swap back and forth between development licensing and paid for licensing, but I'm not sure if that is what is the best approach.

[Charlie Arehart]

To be clear, the upgrade process is indeed seamless and painless: if you're moving from one version of CF to another, on a given box. The installer is designed to automatically import the settings from the old version into the new one. (That said, many folks do choose to instead do a fresh install: an old version of CF can live alongside a newer one. I'm pretty sure that the installer for that does also still offer to pick up the settings from the previous release.)

But yes, if you want to export the settings from one box to another, then Adobe does not provide for that in the Standard edition. The solution is what you have seen: remove the license key from the old version (during a period that you can limit access to the server) and restart it, so it will be running the Developer edition, then use the ColdFusion Archive feature to export those settings and import them into the new version (which also must be Developer or Enterprise to do the CAR import). Once you've confirmed it has worked, you can put the license back in the old one and restart it.

Note my specifics: make sure the import works first. Many people make mistakes with the CAR mechanism and end up with nothing in the export. If you follow the prompts carefully, and even read the docs in the Admin/Config manual, it does work (yes, I know some swear it doesn't for them for some reason, but it's never failed for me.)

There are others who will eschew the CAR mechanism and talk about importing the lib\neo*.xml files. That's takes considerable care to do well, so I would avoid it if possible.

Hope that's helpful.

/charlie arehart

charlie@carehart.org

Providing fast, remote, on-demand troubleshooting services for CF (and CFBuilder)

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

[Guest]

The idea is to not disturb the existing webserver as much as possible since it is the production machine.  In some cases that is not possible, but I have a feeling unusual option is available that I have not seen published anywhere as of yet.  Keeping in mind the idea is not to disturb the production machine, is it possible then to install CF 9 on the older production box to "inherit" the settings of the CF 8 instance while in developer mode and then be used to export the settings to the new CF 9 server which would also be in developer mode temporarily to inherit the settings?

Does that seem to be a reasonable and functional alternative to the swapping of licenses or tooling with the lib\neo*.xml files?

If that is an option, how would I go about locking down the production box instance of CF 9 since it will be in unsafe developer mode while still allowing the CF 8 instance to serve pages without a disturbance?

[Charlie Arehart]

Yep, that would work, too. As for the CF9 instance that would exist on the old prod box, you don't need to "lock it down". Since you're using it only for this purpose, you could just choose to not enable it to have any connection to your external web server (IIS or Apache). That's an option offered during installation.

By declining it, you would then access the CF9 instance's admin using a port, like 8500 or 8501. The installer will choose it, and will also then open the Admin for you at that port (and create a shortcut for it). So no one outside the server will be able to access it (either because your firewall blocks ports other than 80, or also simply because no one would know you'd done this to even try to get in.)

Hope that helps.

/charlie arehart

charlie@carehart.org

Providing fast, remote, on-demand troubleshooting services for CF (and CFBuilder)

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

[Guest]

This is the best news I've had all week!  Its a liberating feeling when discovery of a workable solution comes into light!

Anyway, thanks Charlie for the advice!  I'll post back next week when the migration is completed and close this thread.

[Charlie Arehart]

Glad to help, as always. Looking forward to hearing how it went.

/charlie

[Guest]

The migration was completed some weeks ago.  Despite any documentation or claims that side by side installations of CF are completely benign the system admin refused my request to install CF 9 on the existing CF 8 box to extract the settings and then export them from the CF 9 instance running in Developer licensing mode.  Instead he decided to take a virtualization approach using what he called physical to virtual copy that failed to operate as it should for various reasons including: failure to copy non-os drive to vm, firewall issues, IIS failure to present content.

My efforts to migrate were compounded with extra fun when I learned the existing production box CF admin interface was no longer working.  I believe the cause of the extra fun was because of a 8.0.1 update to CF somehow went awry. I turned to the vm clone to try and troubleshoot, but I couldn't get IIS to cooperate.  My logic was that some applications must have failed to copy correctly or had ties to incorrect paths of directories and a reinstall of IIS would resolve, which it did not. 

My second attempt to restore the CF admin interface on the vm box I decided to reinstall CF8 which did not resolve the problem. I eventually abandoned efforts to restore the CF admin interface with the existing production box and have been focusing on finishing the migration.

Some pitfalls I ran into during the migration I'm sure get some people now and then.  In efforts to enhance security I requested the root of the site be placed in an non standard location such as x:\wwwroot\intetpub.  If that is done then it will be necessary to replace any paths called in code to reflect that.  The 32 bit to 64 bit jump can be a pain if the site uses access.  I found this KB article which essentially requires system admin's assistance: http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/408/kb408162.html

Speed bumps aside I want to thank Charlie for throwing out the idea that made the migration a lot less manual labor intensive.

[Charlie Arehart]

Thanks for the kind regards. As for your challenges, sorry to hear of them. Yes, it sounds like someone botched a cumulative hotfix. Sadly, that’s easier and easier to do as more recent ones have required extracting zips: you can either put them in the wrong place (if you have many places where CFIDE lives, for instance), or you can extract them incorrectly (into a subdirectory of where you intend, rather than into the intended directory itself). Undoing that isn’t hard, if you follow what the technote said to do and double-check things. Hope that may help. So, too, will the new automated hotfix mechanism announced as coming in the next release.

I’ll note that sometimes it will just be faster to enlist the help of a hired gun experienced in such things (whether solving problems, cleaning up after bad hotfixes, or applying them in the first place). I do that, as do others. I list them (and myself) at http://www.cf411.com/cfconsult. Hope that helps.

/charlie