Highest possible version of Java with CF2016

[ACS LLC]

Has anybody gone beyond Java 8?

I currently have JDK 1.8.0.162, I see build 202 is currently available which I presume will be ok with it being version 8 still however I'm wondering if I can move to a higher version?

[Charlie Arehart · Accepted solution]

Short answer: no, you cannot currently go beyond Java 8 with cf2016, but you will be able to go to Java 11 after the next cf2016 update coming soon (and Adobe will be licensing it for us to use for free, which is just as important). You will not be able to go to Java 9 or 10.

Longer answer:

At this writing, that is indeed the highest jvm supported for cf2016 (1.8.0_202). Support for the short-lived Java 9 or 10 were never added to cf2016.

(FWIW, CF2018 came out last July on Java 10, which was the current/latest Java version at the time. Then Java 11 came out in late 2018 as the next long-term Java release, but CF2018 did not support it.)

As important to all this, Oracle announced in 2018 that Java 11 would NOT be free for production use, nor would updates to Java 8. One would need to pay Oracle for those, which was a rather chilling prospect for CF users.

But great new is that Adobe announced in recent weeks their plan both for an update to cf2016 and 2018 with dupport for Java 11 (due later this month) AND that they had licensed both Java 11 and updates to Java 8 for us using CF.

For more on that, see Adobe's post:

Oracle Java support for Adobe ColdFusion - ColdFusion

And for more context on the issue of Oracle's changed stance on licensing required for production use of Java 11 and updates to Java 8), see my post (written a few months before that Adobe post resolved things):

https://www.carehart.org/blog/client/index.cfm/2018/11/15/on_production_use_of_java_going_forward

Finally, for more on CF and Java 9/10 (again from last year, explaining the oddity of these short term Java releases), see:

https://www.carehart.org/blog/client/index.cfm/2018/5/9/on_coldfusion_and_its_support_for_Java_9_10_...

[ACS LLC]

Thanks for the info Charlie. That's great news. Hopefully the CF2016 update will be out soon and then I'll jump from Java 8 right to 11, excellent

[BKBK]

Java 11 as from today!

https://helpx.adobe.com/coldfusion/kb/coldfusion-2016-update-8.html

https://helpx.adobe.com/coldfusion/release-note/coldfusion-2016-updates-release-notes.html

https://helpx.adobe.com/coldfusion/kb/bugs-fixed-coldfusion-2016-update-8.html

[Priyank Shrivastava.]

Hi,

You can download the Java 11 and Java 8 from this link.

https://www.adobe.com/support/coldfusion/downloads.html#additionalThirdPartyInstallers

Thanks,

Priyank Shrivastava

[kwilsonwfu]

Can we get a little guidance on switching to the Java 11 download from the Adobe site? As I recall, I would normally point the path in jvm.config to the jre folder under the JDK install location. But there is no jre location present. Has Adobe published specific upgrade instructions yet or can anyone point me to more info?

Thanks,

Ken

[Dave Watts]

There's no nested jre folder, at least with the Windows version of Java 11. You can just point it to the jdk folder itself, which has a bin and lib nested within it. On a default Windows install, this is C:\Program Files\Java\jdk-11.0.2.

Dave Watts, Eidolon LLC

[kwilsonwfu]

Thanks Dave, worked fine.

Ken

[ACS LLC]

Does anybody know if JDK 12 is compatible with CF 2016?

I'm at 11.0.3 right now.

Thanks

Mark

[pete_freitag]

You probably want to stick with Java 11, instead of Java 12. Version 11 is a long term support (LTS) version, meaning it is meant to be stable and supported for a long time. Version 12 is not a LTS version and will go unsupported in September 2019. So Java 12 is kind of a stepping stone release as they get to the next LTS release.

You might find my blog entry on this useful: https://www.petefreitag.com/item/860.cfm

[ACS LLC]

Thanks for that info Pete, I did not realize that only some versions were LTS. I'll stick with the latest 11 then.

[ACS LLC]

I completed an install this morning on Windows Server 2016 of CF2016 from Update 7 to 8, along with Java 8 to Java 11.0.2 with no issues. Here's the notes I made should I ever have to do it again, very straight forward.

Upgrade CF2016 Update 7 to Update 8 (Windows server)

https://helpx.adobe.com/coldfusion/kb/coldfusion-2016-update-8.html

Current Version

Updating CF update 7/Java - jdk1.8.0_181 (C:/Program Files/Java/jdk1.8.0_181/jre)

• 1. Download Java 11

Download Java JDK 11.0.2 (jdk-11.0.2_windows-x64_bin.exe)

https://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/downloads/jdk11-downloads-5066655.html

or

https://www.adobe.com/support/coldfusion/downloads.html#additionalThirdPartyInstallers

• 2. Update ColdFusion

Open CF Administrator – Server Update – Updates – Download and Install the update

• 3. Install Java 11

Install updated Java 11 (jdk-11.0.2_windows-x64_bin.exe)

Deselect SOURCE CODE from the install options

• 4. Back up config

Back up CF JVM config file in case anything goes wrong as CF may not start! Replace this file to revert back to previous Java before making the change below

Back up: C:\ColdFusion2016\cfusion\bin\ jvm.config

• 5. Change CF config to new Java

Go back to CF Administrator – JAVA and JVM

Change Java Virtual Machine Path

Note: Not forward slash not back slash – Also no longer has JRE subfolder

Change from: C:/Program Files/Java/jdk1.8.0_181/jre

To: C:/Program Files/Java/jdk-11.0.2

• 6. Restart CF

Stop/Start ColdFusion 2016 Application Server

• 7. Verify CF and Java versions

Reload ColdFusion administrator – SERVER SETTINGS – SETTINGS SUMMARY

Server Details: Was 2016,0,07,311392 should now be 2016,0,08,313934

JVM Details, Java version 1.8.0_181 to 11.0.2 

• 8. Update web server connectors

Sites did work however instructions on https://helpx.adobe.com/coldfusion/kb/coldfusion-2016-update-8.html state connectors must be replaced.

Run wsconfig.exe

Select the current configured web server and delete

Select ADD and create a new one

[ACS LLC]

Wondering if there is any news up any potential to support higher versions of the JDK on CF2016? (I am currently on 11 still)

Looking at the next LTS ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Java_version_history ) it looks like the next LTS is going to be in September 2021, so maybe there is no interest in supporting higher than 11 until 17 with LTS is released.

[Charlie Arehart]

Yes, your read is correct. The next LTS version of Java seems will be 17, in Oct. Until then, it seems Adobe has (wisely, I'd say) opted to "hop off the merry-g-round" of JVM updates between that and the current LTS releases of 8 and 11.

They did come out with support for Java 12 (for CF2016 and 2018) in Sept 2019, but by the time they did, it was just about to reach its EOL, as I discussed in a post in Oct 2019:

https://coldfusion.adobe.com/2019/10/coldfusion-now-supports-java-12-already-eol-use-java-13-11/ 

As for your CF2016, as you may know it came out on Java 8 and then if you applied CF2016 update 8 or above, you could then switch to Java 11. And I have a post with a table of what JVM versions are supported by what CF versions, here:

https://coldfusion.adobe.com/2021/01/table-of-java-to-cf-versions/

Hope that helps.