NOW LIVE! Adobe ColdFusion 2023 and 2021 October 2024 updates

[Saurav_Ghosh]

We are pleased to announce that we have released general updates to ColdFusion (2023 release) Update 11 and ColdFusion (2021 release) Update 17. 

The updates include bug fixes and enhancements in Administrator, Language, CFSetup, Database, and other areas. They also contain library upgrades, such as netty, ehcache, etc.

After applying the update, we recommend clearing the Felix cache as a workaround for installing the HTMLToPDF package and verifying the Oracle data source.

The updates also contain enhancements to whitespace management and client variable support in CFPM.

Where do I download the updates from

Download the updates from the following locations:

• ColdFusion (2023 release) Updates
• ColdFusion (2021 release) Updates

For more information, view the following tech notes:

• ColdFusion (2023 release) Update 11
• ColdFusion (2021 release) Update 17

Known issues in the update

• The PDF Services page in ColdFusion Administrator does not load even with the HTMLToPDF package installed. As a workaround, follow the steps:
  • Uninstall the HTMLToPDF package.
  • Stop ColdFusion.
  • Clear the Felix cache (<cf_home>/cfusion/bin/felix-cache).
  • Restart ColdFusion.
  • Install the HTMLToPDF package.
• After installing the latest update, the Oracle DataSource verification fails. To work around this, clear the Felix cache and restart ColdFusion.
• An exception occurs when indexing Open Document Format files, such as those with a .odt extension.

Are the Docker images available

The images are available on the Docker hub and ECR.

Is CFFiddle updated with the changes

CFFiddle is updated with the changes.

Please update your ColdFusion versions and provide your valuable feedback.

[Priyank Shrivastava.]

@Legorol  It is fixed, kindly check.

[Legorol]

Thank you @Priyank Shrivastava. for fixing this, file now matches the checksum. Much appreciated.

[DevScreen]

Currently on ColdFusion Server Enterprise - Version: 2023,0,11,330706

Previous version was Update 10.

Windows Server 2019

I am having an FTP issue immediately after updating to the latest patch.  The error message I am starting to get while attempting to connect to a remote server is:

Algorithm negotiation fail: algorithmName="server_host_key" jschProposal="ssh-ed25519,ecdsa-sha2-nistp256,ecdsa-sha2-nistp384,ecdsa-sha2-nistp521,rsa-sha2-512,rsa-sha2-256" serverProposal="ssh-rsa"

My best guess is that remote server is proposing "ssh-rsa" which the latest patch may have disabled?  How can I get this issue resolved?  I cannot control the remote server, so we will have to make adjustments on our side.

Thanks!

[megha1997]

Hi @DevScreen 

You can add this flag : -Dcoldfusion.sftp.enable-ssh-rsa=TRUE to enable the ssh-rsa algorithm.

Please refer to https://helpx.adobe.com/coldfusion/kb/coldfusion-2023-update-11.html for more information on the fix done for https://tracker.adobe.com/#/view/CF-4221161

[DevScreen]

Hi Megha,  Thank you very much for your quick reply.  I will give that flag a try.  I appreciate your help!

[DevScreen]

Hi Megha,

Can you please let me know where exactly to add this flag?  Thanks.

[Priyank Shrivastava.]

@DevScreen  You can go to \ColdFusion2023\cfusion\bin, take the backup of jvm.config file and then open this file and under Argument to VM, add this flag. I am sharing the screenshot for your reference. Also once you add the flag, restart ColdFusion service. 

[DevScreen]

Perfect.  Thank you very much Priyank!

[Eugene318956046e6u]

I recently attempted to install manually ColdFusion 2023 Update 11 on two CF servers: one was a developer version and the other an Enterprise version. The operating system in both cases is Windows Server 2022 Standard, and in both cases the CF version is run as a standalone server. Adobe’s instructions to update offline manually include the note to “Ensure that the JRE bundled with ColdFusion is used for executing the downloaded JAR. For standalone ColdFusion, this must be at, <cf_root>/jre/bin.” This is what I did.

However after executing the instructions for a manual installation, I received the message reading, “Error: A JNI error has occurred, please check your installation and try again Exception in thread "main" java.lang.UnsupportedClassVersionError: install has been compiled by a more recent version of the Java Runtime (class file version 55.0), this version of the Java Runtime only recognizes class file versions up to 52.0” The Java version on my ColdFusion installations is 17.0.6. It is my understanding this always will be the case for the version installed at <cf_root>/jre/bin/ even if I were to upgrade my Java version.

After failing to install Update 11 manually, I next tried to install Update 11 via the ColdFusion Administrator. This worked on “Machine 1.”

So on my next machine, “Machine 2,” I proceeded directly to the CF Administrator to install Update 11. The attempt failed. The install appeared to freeze, and I simply exited the CF Administrator. I next attempted a manual installation on Machine 2. That also failed yielding the same message as indicated above (on Machine 1). Playing a hunch, I tried one more time to install Update 11 via the CF Administrator. This time, the installation succeeded.

I have one more machine on which to install Update 11 (let’s call it “Machine 3”), but I hesitate to do so because my “successes” so far have been kludgey. Also, I assume the JNI error that I experienced recently will continue to occur with future attempts to install updates manually. Upgrading to a newer version of Java does not seem likely to resolve the issue since I need to point to the current/older version of Java located at <cf_root>/jre/bin/ during the manual install. Also, I have had problems installing updates via the CF Admin, which is my reason for perferring manual installs for years. Why is this occurring now—when I never experienced this problem employing manual installations with previous versions of CF, and how do I remedy it?

[Priyank Shrivastava.]

Hi @Eugene318956046e6u ,

can we connect on a screen share to check the issue. I will send you the details over the DM. 

[BKBK]

Hi @Eugene318956046e6u ,

can we connect on a screen share to check the issue. I will send you the details over the DM. 

By @Priyank Shrivastava.

Love the service.

[Eugene318956046e6u]

Yes, of course.  If it helps to know, I am on Eastern Standard Time.

[Sireex]

Running Server 2019, CF2021 Standard edition.

Seems that something has changed with cfhtmltopdf after updating CF2021 from Update 16 to 17.

After updating, PDF's no longer show attached pictures or stylesheets.

First, I did as instructed after installing Update 17:

• Uninstall the HTMLToPDF package.
• Stop ColdFusion.
• Clear the Felix cache (<cf_home>/cfusion/bin/felix-cache).
• Restart ColdFusion.

After this, none of our PDF reports show images or register any attached CSS stylesheets.

We did a simple test. Images and stylesheets are in the same folder as the cfm page producing the PDF.

This is the test code:

<cfhtmltopdf pagetype="A4">
<cfoutput>
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<link rel="stylesheet" href="stylesheet_C2_v2.25.css">
</head>
<title>HTML Tutorial</title>
<body>
<img src="image.png" alt="test">
<h1>This is a heading</h1>
<p>This is a paragraph.</p>

</body>
</html>
</cfoutput>
</cfhtmltopdf>

On the server where Update 16 is installed, we can see that everything is Ok:

But after updating two of our test servers with Update 17 and running the same code, both are showing:

[Dave Watts]

I don't know the answer to your question. But here are some things I'd try. First, what happens if you make the paths absolute instead of relative? 

Second, what happens if you run this on a licensed production server where you don't get the "developer/trial" watermark?

[BKBK]

Hi @Sireex ,

I am thinking along the same lines as Dave. Apparently, your code generates a PDF. So the problem is likely caused by an HTML, rather than a PDF, issue.

For example, it seems that file paths have changed. Check that the files stylesheet_C2_v2.25.css and image.png are in the same directory as the CFM page. 

To test, save the following as test.html in the same diectory, and open it in a browser: 

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<link rel="stylesheet" href="stylesheet_C2_v2.25.css">
</head>
<title>HTML Tutorial</title>
<body>
<img src="image.png" alt="test">
<h1>This is a heading</h1>
<p>This is a paragraph.</p>

</body>
</html>

As Dave says, the PDF watermark suggests you have yet to attach a production license to the ColdFusion installation. You could activate the CF2021 license using offline activation, for example. 

[Sireex]

Sure, our other test server is using production licence, but it made no difference. I tried using absolute paths to pictures, but that didn't help either. If I run this test code without cfhtmltopdf tags , it displays just fine.

[BKBK]

Sure, our other test server is using production licence, but it made no difference. I tried using absolute paths to pictures, but that didn't help either. If I run this test code without cfhtmltopdf tags , it displays just fine.

By @Sireex

OK, here is something else to try: reset the PDF service. You could do it as follows:

1.  If you haven't yet done so, download and install the Add-On Service for ColdFusion 2021.
        Restart ColdFusion 2021.
2.  Make sure the packages relevant to PDF are installed. To do so, open the ColdFusion Administrator and go to the Package Manager page. Navigate to Packages > Available Packages. Check: are there packages available for installation? If so, click on Install All, and install them all. (Once you get PDF working, you can uninstall any redundant packages you don't need.) 
3.  Verify the PDF Service Manager. To do so, open the ColdFusion Administrator and go to Data & Services > PDF Service.. Click on the button to verify the service. Confirm that the connection status 'OK' appears.
   
4.  Enable the PDF service. To do so, click on the button to enable the service
   
5.  Launch the CFM page containing the cfhtmltopdf code.  

[Sireex]

Sadly, this didn't help either. Also, when I downgrade to Update 16 level, the same problem still remains. I think installing Update 17 has somehow gone very wrong on both test servers we have.

[BKBK]

Sad to hear that the problem is still unresilved. However, it follows that errors would have been written to ColdFusion's logs when you followed the steps in my last post.

Check the logs. Were there any errors at the time? If so, could you please share them?

[Sireex]

There were no errors in any logs.

However, when I reinstall the update, I can access PDF Service Manager without deleting felix-cache. But when trying to produce PDF documents I get an error: 

"Error","ajp-nio-127.0.0.1-8020-exec-8","11/06/24","13:11:48","test_env","Error occurred while generating PDF.Reason: SERVER ERROR The specific sequence of files included or processed is: D:\---deleted----\index.cfm, line: 219"
coldfusion.document.webkit.PDFgErrorHandler$ServiceManagerConversionException: Error occurred while generating PDF.
at coldfusion.document.webkit.PDFgErrorHandler.handleConversionError(PDFgErrorHandler.java:190)
at coldfusion.document.webkit.HttpPDFRequestHandler.requestPDFGeneration(HttpPDFRequestHandler.java:178)
at coldfusion.tagext.htmltopdf.HtmlToPdfTag.processPDFgRequest(HtmlToPdfTag.java:1149)
at coldfusion.tagext.htmltopdf.HtmlToPdfTag.handlePDFgConversionRequest(HtmlToPdfTag.java:1301)
at coldfusion.tagext.htmltopdf.HtmlToPdfTag.convertToPDF(HtmlToPdfTag.java:1236)
at coldfusion.tagext.htmltopdf.HtmlToPdfTag.doEndTag(HtmlToPdfTag.java:1414)

I suspect if I'd delete felix-cache, and restart CF this would work like before, i.e it would generate documents without images of stylesheets .

[BKBK]

Why do you interfere with felix-cache?

[BKBK]

Let's test PDF generation in another way. What happens when you replace cfhtmltopdf with cfdocument, like this:

<cfdocument format="PDF">
<cfoutput>
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<link rel="stylesheet" href="stylesheet_C2_v2.25.css">
</head>
<title>HTML Tutorial</title>
<body>
<img src="image.png" alt="test">
<h1>This is a heading</h1>
<p>This is a paragraph.</p>

</body>
</html>
</cfoutput>
</cfdocument>

[BKBK]

A further idea to try: use the Package Manager cfpm tool to install all the packages.

The hope is that this would correct any errors that might have resulted when Felix cached the bundles.

Suggested steps:

1.  Open the command prompt (CMD) as administrator;
2.  Use the DOS command CD to navigate to C:\ColdFusion2021\cfusion\bin;
3.  Type cfpm.bat and press ENTER. That should bring up ColdFusion's Package Manager tool.
4.  Type uninstall all and press ENTER.
   The Package Manager should then proceed to uninstall all the packages. Wait till this finishes.
5.  Leaving the CMD window open, restart ColdFusion.
6.  Now, type install all and press ENTER.
   The Package Manager should then proceed to install all the packages. Wait till this finishes.
7. Type quit and press ENTER.
8.  Close the CMD window.
9.  Restart ColdFusion 2021. 
10.  Repeat the cfhtmltopdf test

[Sireex]

Because of this:

Known issues in the update

• The PDF Services page in ColdFusion Administrator does not load even with the HTMLToPDF package installed.

[Sireex]

So, getting pretty weird now. cfdocument doesn't crash immediately, but functions like cfhtmltopdf before: