Unable to Update ColdFusion 2021 via CF Admin

[bw_bloodletter]

We recently updated 5 servers from CF 2016 to CF 2021.  After installation, we immediately updated to update 6 via CF Admin.

Now, when trying to move to update 8, we have two separate issues.

1:  On 3 of our 5 servers, we are unable to download the update.  On 2 servers, we're able to downlaod the update just fine.

C:\ColdFusion2021\cfusion\logs\update.log doesn't state anything for the 3 servers where we can't download the update.  But it does have a line for the successful download on the 2 servers that can download the update.

2:  After manually copying the update file over to C:\ColdFusion2021\bundles\updateinstallers\, the buttons in CF Admin update to Re-download, Install, and Close.  Clicking Install results in a blank dialog box opening up.  Nothing ever happens as far as I can tell.

All 5 of our servers have the CF service running via a separate user account, but that user account has full access to the CF installation folder.  All 5 servers were installed using the same CF installer.  (ColdFusion_2021_GUI_WWEJ_win64.exe, version 2021.0.0.2, signed 11/2/2020.)

Any ideas what might account for the difference between the servers (2 being able to download, but 3 not)?

Any ideas what might be preventing us from installing the update from CF Admin once the update is placed in C:\ColdFusion2021\bundles\updateinstallers\ ?

Should we perhaps stop the CF service, then change it back to running as SYSTEM to install the update?

Thanks,

See also:

https://community.adobe.com/t5/coldfusion-discussions/cannot-download-or-install-coldfusion-2021-rel...

https://community.adobe.com/t5/coldfusion-discussions/not-able-to-connect-to-update-site-connection-...

[bw_bloodletter]

Update:

Switching the service to run as the local system account did not resolve the download issue via CF Admin.  It also did not resolve the installation issue via CF Admin.

I updated the 3 servers that couldn't download / install via CF Admin by manually installing the update.

The manual installation instructions say to place the unzipped hotfix repo folder in a location accessible to the CF service.

Can this folder be removed after successful update installation?

The manual installation instructions also say:

Update "packagesurl" in cfusion/lib/neo_updates.xml of cfusion and all its child instances to point to <InstallerReposityUnzippedPath>/bundles/bundlesdependency.json present inside the downloaded folder.

I only saw one instance of packagesurl in neo_updates.xml, and there's no other neo_updates.xml anywhere else.  What are the "child instances" I should be looking out for?  Do they mean separate CF server instances?  (We only have the single, default cfusion instance.)

Also, after installing the update and checking again for any core & package updates via CF Admin, I reverted this setting to the default URL.  Is this ok?

Thanks

[Charlie Arehart]

First things first: grab the url in the settings tab of the cf admin update page. Run that url on a browser on the server, for one of these where the download doesn't happen. Does that url respond?

Second, confirm (don't presume) the jvm version reported in the cf admin settings summary page. 

[omegafb1111]

I'm having the same issue with CF 2021. Last update installed is 6. When I logged in, the star at the top said 2, which is correct for updates 7 and 8. When I went to install these updates from CF Admin, they were not available in the updates drop-down and the number 2 dissapeared from the star in the top right. 

The same happened on my local dev version install where last update installed is 3.

[omegafb1111]

update url in settings is https://www.adobe.com/go/coldfusion-updates and I am able to open it in the browser. It redirects to https://cfdownload.adobe.com/pub/adobe/coldfusion/xml/updates.xml.

When I updated the update url in cf admin to https://cfdownload.adobe.com/pub/adobe/coldfusion/xml/updates.xml, the updates showed up and everything is working as expected

[Charlie Arehart]

Those urls are indeed what I was asking the op here to check. As for your changing it, that absolutely should not be needed...unless someone on your server/network is blocking urls and blocked that first one.

Just beware that in changing to point to the redirected url, someday Adobe could change that (but not the original one), and now you could find the updates would not download again.

Better for you both to find why the first url would not work (from a browser on the server)., It may also be that you need to enable proxy settings (on that cf admin update page's settings). 

[bw_bloodletter]

I did check the URL in a browser (on the same server) and it redirected and loaded the xml file just fine.  CF Admin also knew that the updates existed in the first place, it just couldn't download them (or install them).

I don't know if popping that redirected URL into the setting will allow me to download it or not.

Since I manually updated the 3 servers that had the download issue, I won't be able to check this until the next update, I guess.

[bw_bloodletter]

JVM version for all 5 servers is 11.0.19+9-LTS-224.

The version included with CF 2021 (located in <cf_root>\jre\bin\) for all 5 servers is 11.0.1+13-LTS.

[Charlie Arehart]

Are you getting that Java version info from the cf admin, like the settings summary page? If not, please do. If the jvm is old, that could be the issue. 

[bw_bloodletter]

Yes, CF Admin indicates that the Java version is 11.0.19+9-LTS-224.

The version included with CF 2021 (located in <cf_root>\jre\bin\) is 11.0.1+13-LTS.  I got that by running java.exe -version.

[bw_bloodletter]

As a further update, since update 9 just got released, so I'm able to test again.

On the 3 servers that won't download the update:

CF Admin knows the update is available and notifies me.

If I hit the download button, I get an empty progress bar.

I can manually connect to the update URL via a browser just fine:  https://www.adobe.com/go/coldfusion-updates

The update URL redirects to https://cfdownload.adobe.com/pub/adobe/coldfusion/xml/updates.xml, which has the expected content.

Looking at the browser console after I hit the download button, I see the following:

The CF Admin page connects to /CFIDE/administrator/updates/download.cfc a few times and asks for various things related to the download.  All of the connections get a response (HTTP 200 / OK) with normal-looking data.  (isSessionValid, true; getCurrentOpenedUpdate, hf-2021-00009-330148; download, ACCESSERROR false)

The CF Admin page then repeatedly connects to /CFIDE/administrator/updates/download.cfc with method getstatus and id hf-2021-00009-330148 (GET /CFIDE/administrator/updates/download.cfc?method=getstatus&id=hf-2021-00009-330148).

It instantly gets a response (HTTP 200 / OK), but with no payload.  It's {} and some blank lines afterward.

This continues forever.

If I change the update site URL to https://cfdownload.adobe.com/pub/adobe/coldfusion/xml/updates.xml (the page that https://www.adobe.com/go/coldfusion-updates redirects to, as omegafb1111 suggested), the behavior is exactly the same as above.

The user account that CF is running as has full permissions to write to its directory.

Any ideas?

[Charlie Arehart]

Yes, do a cfhttp to that second url. Does it return that same "expected output" (the xml describing all the updates)?

You may find it does not. And there maybe an error message of use. You may then wonder "how could it work in a browser on the server but not in cf". It may be that your browser on the server routes traffic through a proxy. In that case, note that you can configure that Cf admin updates page's "settings" tab to specify such a proxy (which would help the update download, but not the cfhttp).

Let us know what you find. 

[bw_bloodletter]

Seems to work just fine with CFHTTP (doing a GET of https://www.adobe.com/go/coldfusion-updates).

Returns immediately with HTTP 200 / OK and the same response body I get from a browser.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> <rss version="2.0"> <channel> <link>http://www.adobe.com/products/coldfusion-family.html</link> <title>ColdFusion Server Updates</title>...

[Charlie Arehart]

How about checking to see if the update settings page MAY have some proxy, which again cfhttp would not use (and your browser may not). 

We could also wonder if whatever cf update YOU ARE on may have had an error when applied. Have you checked its install within hf-updates?

Finally, if you "just want the update done", you can follow the manual offline steps offered in the update technote.

[bw_bloodletter]

The update page doesn't have any proxy settings set.

When we installed CF 2021 a few months back, it immediately offered a bunch of package updates and a core update to Update 6.

We downloaded and applied Update 6 through CF Admin without issue (on all 5 servers).  We also verified that it showed Update 6 and the expected version number.

Last week when Update 7 and Update 8 were available, we went to install Update 8 the same way.  3 of the 5 servers had this issue, 2 did not.  (We haven't actually updated those 2 yet since we're waiting for a maintenance window, but we have successfully downloaded the update via CF Admin on both of them.)

We installed Update 8 on the other 3 servers manually, without issue.  I did reboot the servers after and then verified that CF Admin showed the correct version number afterward.

(I also had some questions about the manual update process - see https://community.adobe.com/t5/coldfusion-discussions/unable-to-update-coldfusion-2021-via-cf-admin/....)

If we can't find the cause of this, updating things manually isn't too much of a hassle.  We'd rather have the ability to do it all in CF Admin, though.

Thanks again