ColdFusion crashes frequently after upgrading from CF 8 to CF2018

Question

We are facing some issues with the server crashing frequently after upgrading from ColdFusion 8 to ColdFusion 2018.

We have tried the performance tuning tool and fixed all the issues found. Still its crashing at least 1 to 2 times daily.

We have fixed some issues, like font missing errors by updating fonts, and fixed the issues found in the `coldfusion-out.log1.

Now we are checking the iterations, SQL queries if there's any chance of a sql timeout or something like that.

Apart from this, is there anything specifically we have to do to solve issues like server shutdown?

Answer 1

There are two possibilities for this:

1) You have updated Coldfusion but have not updated your database version (specifically oracle). This can lead to CF using a outdated connector driver which can cause DB connections to occasionally hangup which in turn causes the CF server to become unresponsive. If this is the case, updating your DB can solve the issue.

2) Look at how you are storing client variables. If they are stored in registry, the server can crash intermittently. Better to change the storage to database OR none if you are not using any client variables. Keep in mind that client variables do not affect session activities like auto-logout etc.

Answer 2

My suggestion. Install FusionReactor monitoring tool ASAP. That will tell you if you have queued up requests or if there is something else going on.

It is one of the best tools I have ever used.

Answer 3

It could be session related. Every time a client enters into a session Coldfusion seems to leave a footprint and may be holding onto a piece of memory, based on your cookie expiration. I am going to guess your server is incrementally eating up memory. One solution is to reduce the clients entering into sessions and the other is the age old CF solution (e.g. add gobs of ram to your server).

Here is some code you can add to quickly reduce the number of lengthy sessions, based upon the needs of your website. I've used this and it helps but won't eliminate memory hungry CF applications completely.

<cfif (

(NOT Len( cgi.http_user_agent )) OR
REFind( "bot\b", cgi.http_user_agent ) OR
Find( "crawl", cgi.http_user_agent ) OR
REFind( "\brss", cgi.http_user_agent ) OR
Find( "feed", cgi.http_user_agent ) OR
Find( "news", cgi.http_user_agent ) OR
Find( "blog", cgi.http_user_agent ) OR
Find( "reader", cgi.http_user_agent ) OR
Find( "syndication", cgi.http_user_agent ) OR
Find( "coldfusion", cgi.http_user_agent ) OR
Find( "slurp", cgi.http_user_agent ) OR
Find( "google", cgi.http_user_agent ) OR
Find( "zyborg", cgi.http_user_agent ) OR
Find( "emonitor", cgi.http_user_agent ) OR
Find( "jeeves", cgi.http_user_agent )
)>

    <cfset THIS.name = "myWebsite_06302019">
    <cfset THIS.sessionManagement="Yes">
    <cfset THIS.sessiontimeout="#createtimespan(0,0,0,5)#"> 
    <!---<cfset THIS.sessioncookie.timeout = "7" >--->
    <cfset THIS.sessioncookie.timeout = "-1" >

<cfelse>
    <cfset THIS.name = "myWebsite_06302019">
    <cfset THIS.sessionManagement="Yes">
    <cfset THIS.sessiontimeout="#createtimespan(0,0,180,0)#"> 
    <!---<cfset THIS.sessioncookie.timeout = "7" >--->
    <cfset THIS.sessioncookie.timeout = "#createtimespan(0,0,180,0)#" >
</cfif>