CF 11 Update 15 - CF ODBC server no more starts

[brahms_x01]

After installing the latest update hotfix 15 (see ColdFusion 11 Update 15 ) on our coldfusion 11 server (Win 2008 R2 with latest patches and latest java jdk) the CF server restarts (access to CF admin is working) but the CF ODBC service does no more start. After un-installing the update it works again. Any idea how to fix this? Is this a known issue?

[eccentricDBA]

Having the same issue with the update running on windows server 2012 r2.  When I run the executable defined in the service (E:\ColdFusion11\cfusion\db\slserver54\bin\swstrtr.exe "ColdFusion 11 ODBC Server" ) I get an error with the title swsoc.exe - System Error and body "The program can't start because MSVCR71.dll is missing from your computer.  Try reinstall the program to fix this problem."

[Dave Watts]

That DLL is part of the Microsoft Visual C++ Runtime. You can download this runtime, install it, and try again.

Dave Watts, Fig Leaf Software

[eccentricDBA]

I'm showing that MSVCR71.dll is part of the Visual C++ .NET 2003 runtime?  Is this an error on adobe's part linking the wrong dll?  I'm showing 2005 - 2017 installed on my server and In the ColdFusion11\cfusion\bin directory I see mfc100.dll and msvcr100.dll.  I verified my test system is configured the same way but has update 14 instead of update 15 and runs correctly. When I run the command from the cmd prompt.

[Dave Watts]

This is probably the right version for the ODBC services application. You can install multiple Visual C++ runtimes and different applications will use whichever one is appropriate for each.

Dave Watts, Fig Leaf Software

[Charlie Arehart]

**UPDATE **

Agh, after I posted this comment and my next, I realized that this thread has been talking about CF11, not CF2018. So sorry. I will try to check out the same and report similar details about an attempt with CF11. So sorry for the confusion.

Let me share a few things, to help the OP and others having this problem with CF2018 update 1.

First, FWIW, I just applied the update (on a test machine where I had the ODBC services running), and it worked. The ODBC service could be restarted both before and after the update. So this is not a universal problem affecting those using CF2018 and the ODBC services.

Second, to perhaps help those having problems, I confirmed first that my update worked with no errors (per the update log in the HF-updates, as discussed in my blog post referred to above).

Then, since eccentricDBA​ has discussed his observations about CF11 and the msvcr*.dll file, I will share in another reply here what I see about that in my CF2018 setup, after the update, in case it may help anyone.

But I wanted to state first (above) that the update DID work and did not cause failure of the ODBC services for me. (FWIW, I am on Windows 10.)

More about those msvcr*.dll files in a moment.

[Charlie Arehart]

OK, so extending my last comment, and about the msvcr*.dll files, here is what I can report on my machine (where CF2018 update 1 worked and the ODBC services have no problem starting). Perhaps this will help those for whom it is NOT starting. (But again, be sure to check first that there are NO errors in your hf-updates update log, as discussed in my aforementioned blog post.)

1) So first, I can report that on my working machine, there is a msvcr120.dll in the \coldfusion2018\cfusion\bin and \coldfusion2018\jre\bin (and one the cfusion\jetty\jre\bin, but I think it has nothing to do with this discussion, per se).

I can confirm also that the 120 version of the file was "created" when I installed CF2018 in July, so it's not new as of this update.

2) Next, I see that as part of the update, the update log shows that as part of the backup process, a msvcr80.dll was copied from D:\ColdFusion2018\cfusion\db\slserver54\bin to the update's backup folder:

D:\ColdFusion2018\cfusion\hf-updates\hf-2018-00001-311402\backup\db\slserver54\bin\msvcr80.dll (and also to the backup\slserver54\admin folder)

And then that file was DELETED from the D:\ColdFusion2018\cfusion\db\slserver54\bin  (and \admin) folder.

2a) I ALSO see that it says a msvcr71.dll was DELETED as well from the D:\ColdFusion2018\cfusion\db\lserver54\bin folder, though no backup was made to the backup folder, which is interesting. (Ah, I see now that in the OTHER log in hf-updates, hotfix_filelist.log, it does NOT mention that the file was deleted. I guess the other log was saying that the update would TRY to delete it if it was there. But it did say "deleted".)

(I wanted to attach here the two logs from my hf-updates folder for update 1, in case those who have it failing could compare theirs to mine. I am not seeing how to attach files--and have never needed to before, I guess. Any one know if it's possible?)

3) I can confirm as well that there is now NO msvcr*.dll file of any name left in that D:\ColdFusion2018\cfusion\db\slserver54\bin (or \admin) folder.  But again there IS still that 120 version of the file now in the cfusion\bin and jre\bin above.

4) I see also in the log that it mentions implementing a new file of a similar name (vcruntime140.dll) also in the D:\ColdFusion2018\cfusion\db\slserver54\bin and \admin folders. I can see that that file DID already exist in my CF2018 \cfusion\bin and \jre\bin folders (among other places).

So I hope that breakdown may help someone, who is finding things "not working".

I wonder if those having troubles might find that they somehow do NOT have that 120 version in the cfusion\bin or jre\bin folders. (If not, perhaps that was a problem during the install--or perhaps there were slightly different installer versions that led to slightly different results. That has happened before. I sure hope that's not the case this time. Then we have to know "which" version of the installer people ran.)

Hope we get to the bottom of things.

PS When it comes to searching for files by name, you can certainly rely on the Windows search (pokey) or your favorite editor's "find files" feature, but I strongly recommend that those on Windows (which this thread is about) consider the great free tool Ultrasearch. It can search find files by name across your entire drive in seconds (and of course it can be told to look starting in just a given folder). And if you're ever looking for files by CONTENT, I recommend instead File Locator Lite. (Yes, I know there are many others which fans could recommend. See my CF411.com/filefind category to see if I already have yours listed, for people to consider.)

[Charlie Arehart]

OK, I can follow-up my last reply to clarify that now I did it on CF11 with update 15, and again it worked fine. The ODBC services would restart both before and after the update. And as before I can confirm that I had no errors in my hf-update install log.

Now, one thing I will note is that (as I said in my previous confirmation message), I am running this on Windows 10. I see now that the OP and others complaining of this are running it on Windows Server. My server is now running 2018 and no longer has 11 on it for me to test, and I don't have a VM running those at hand for me to try quickly.

But FWIW, in my last note (mistakenly checking cf2018), I listed the msvcr*.dll (and related) files that were manipulated by the installer. I can now confirm that in my CF11 install, pretty much all the info about those msvcr files was the same. The only difference was where in that other one it was the msvcr71.dll that didn't exist but said it was deleted, in CF11 it was the msvcr80.dll file that did not exist but it said was deleted. It did backup and delete the 71 file. It also put in place the vcruntime140.dll I had mentioned.

So perhaps all that info may still be of value for those on CF11 (and windows server OS's) suffering this problem. Just change the path references from cf2018 to 11.

Hope to hear if it (or the approach I lay out, or where and how to look at some things) may help anyone.

[Priyank Shrivastava.]

Hi Charlie,

Your analysis seems to be correct, this msvcr*.dll DLL is missing. My colleague was able to reproduce the issue and when we compared the directory this dll was not there. We replaced this from the backup folder and put that in C:\ColdFusion11\cfusion\db\slserver54\bin and it services started properly.

I have reported this to the development team and we are also investigating this. As this issue is not reproducible on will, we are trying on the different machines to check the issue which can help us track the issue.

Thanks,

Priyank Shrivastava

[eccentricDBA]

Confirmed this resolved my issue.

Copied the msvcr71.dll file from <drive>:\ColdFusion11\cfusion\hf-updates\hf-11-00015\backup\db\sqlserver54\bin and placed it in <drive>:\ColdFusion11\cfusion\db\slserver54\bin\.  I was then able to start the ODBC Server service.

[Charlie Arehart]

Great to hear both from Priyank and eccentricdba, that this may be a temporary workaround.I suspect at some point a new build of the update will be made available that corrects the problem.

[Charlie Arehart]

And I'll repeat that in this thread, so far those having the problem were on Window Server 2008 or 2012, while I said it worked for me on Windows 10.

Priyank, have you been checking those specific editions? I wonder if those on Windows Server 2016 (which shares core functionality with Windows 10) would also find it working fine, while perhaps those on Windows 8 or 7 (which share functionality with Server 2008 or 2012) could also experience the problem.

[Priyank Shrivastava.]

Hi Charlie,

We tried this in different OS and Windows 2008 R2, where we reproduced the problem. As this problem is not reproducible on will, it is really hard for the development team to debug. We will be sharing the server with the development team where we replicate the issue for further investigation.

Thanks,

Priyank Shrivastava

[Charlie Arehart]

Priyank, I wonder if it could be a question of whether the folks had used a different CF11 installer (there were different ones over time). Unless they still have the installer exe, it may be hard to know.

But to those with the problem, if you are motivated to try to help, it would be interesting to hear.

You could report the date of your CF11 installer (but the dates can change depending on your own actions), and you could report the file size (though that may not be too accurate either, for various reasons). The best thing would be to report the CRC value for the files, but you need to get a tool on Windows to calculate that. (Google the phrase windows crc tool to find for more.)

UPDATE: After posting this comment I realized I was mistaken on two points. First, while you can get a CRC value, better is a checksum (that's typically offered when you are looking at a download page, where they offer specifically the md5 checksum value for a file.) There is a notion of a CRC as well, but we can ignore that for now.

Second, to get the md5 checksum for a file on Windows, we don't need to get any tool. One is included in Windows. To get the m5 checksum on your Windows 11 64-bit installer (assuming you're in the same directory as it), just use this:

certutil -hashfile ColdFusion_11_WWEJ_win64.exe MD5

I'll share more in reply to Brahms's response to this, below. But I'm adding this for those who may find this thread in the future and be reading from the top down.

(Update: when I first posted this reply, I listed md5 rather than MD5 for that last argument to certutil. In some past versions of Windows, that was case-sensitive and so should be capitalized for maximum reliability.)

[brahms_x01]

Dear Charlie,
our installer for CF 11 (ColdFusion_11_WWEJ_win64.exe) is dated from 13th January 2015 14:37:55. The size is 589.766.408 Bytes.

[Charlie Arehart]

brahms_x01, about your CF installer,  while the name, date, and size are one way to go, the better way to go (to know if one is different from another) is to check the checksum or CRC value, as I indicated in my last comment. (I had only mentioned CRC, but I should have said checksum. And there is in fact a tool in Windows to do that, as I just noted in an update to that comment).

Here is how to find the checksum for a file on Windows (and this is built-in to Windows 7 and above), specifically to get the md5 checksum (often reported on download sites, to help you confirm that what you got is what they were offering). Assuming you're in the same directory as the file to be checked:

certutil -hashfile ColdFusion_11_WWEJ_win64.exe MD5

In my case, that reported:

MD5 hash of ColdFusion_11_WWEJ_win64.exe:

5187db89496be4cd97b4503e31d6487e

CertUtil: -hashfile command completed successfully.

What does it show for you?

(Update: when I first posted this reply, I listed md5 rather than MD5 for that last argument to certutil. In some past versions of Windows, that was case-sensitive and so should be capitalized for maximum reliability.)

[brahms_x01]

The MD5 hash cannot be calculated with command "certutil -hashfile ColdFusion_11_WWEJ_win64.exe md5". It shows error 0xd00000bb (-805306181)

When I call the command "certutil -hashfile ColdFusion_11_WWEJ_win64.exe" without the "md5" at the end it shows the SHA1-Hash: b7 67 71 d3 0d f0 94 ee f5 e1 6a e1 7b 86 21 ff 8d 65 db 92

[Dave Watts]

I don't know about certfile, but there are tons of free downloadable MD5 hash utils out there that you could use instead.

Dave Watts, Fig Leaf Software

[Charlie Arehart]

Try capitalizing the MD5. On some versions of Windows, that arg was case sensitive.

/charlie

[brahms_x01]

Dear Priyank,

can you please provide some information about the current status? When can we await a working update process for our CF11 installation?

Thank you,
Manuela

[Priyank Shrivastava.]

Hi Manuela,

I have to check the status with the development team and update the thread.

Thanks,

Priyank Shrivastava

[brahms_x01]

Dear Priyank,

four weeks later - what about the current status?

Rgds

Manuela

[brahms_x01]

Dear Priyank,

again two weeks later.. When are you or your colleagues back from holiday to get an update?

Rgds

Manuela

[Priyank Shrivastava.]

Hi Manuela,

Let me check this with the development team. Just to let you know after this issue, we never received any issue related to ODBC services.

Thanks,

Priyank Shrivastava

[brahms_x01]

Dear Priyank,

the problem never has been solved. Also the latest update 16 for CF 11 produces the same problem.

We are very unhappy as Adobe does not act. Ever heard the term "customer satisfaction"?

Since at the same time costs for coldfusion licences have exploded, we are currently discussing migration to Lucee and spending our money there.

Regards

Manuela

P.S. We were using CF since the Allaire brothers have started to develop this wonderful product in the 90ies, loved the product and have bought licences for every version until CF 11. Looks like this relationship comes to an end now.

[Dave Watts]

Not many people use ODBC any more, so I suspect Adobe spends less time on that than other bugs. That's just my suspicion, though - I don't know anything. But in my experience, sometimes people use ODBC when they have a better alternative. Most modern databases support "pure JDBC" connections. If you can use one of those instead, things will generally work better in many respects. What database are you using, if you don't mind my asking?

Dave Watts, Eidolon LLC