Enabling ColdFusion MX and ColdFusion MX 6.1 on Windows XP Service Pack 2 with the Windows Firewall enabled

Note: The text of this TechNote refers to ColdFusion MX 6.1; however, these instructions also apply to ColdFusion MX.

After installing Windows XP Service Pack 2, the Windows Firewall is enabled by default. This prevents ColdFusion MX 6.1 from functioning correctly. This TechNote describes the steps that need to be taken in order to overcome this.

Macromedia has identified three specific areas of ColdFusion MX 6.1 that are affected by installing the new Windows XP SP 2 when the Windows Firewall is enabled:

Browsing ColdFusion templates from a computer other than where ColdFusion is installed
Using the cfftp tag with the attributes Action="Close" and StopOnError="yes"
Starting the Verity K2 service

When trying to browse ColdFusion templates from a computer other than where ColdFusion MX 6.1 is installed, the web browser will spin indefinitely. In order to be able to run ColdFusion templates, the webserver port that serves ColdFusion templates needs to be enabled. Use the following steps to do so:

Launch the Windows Firewall program.

Click on the Advanced tab.

Select the Settings button in the Network Connection Settings area to get to the Advanced Settings screen.

On the Services tab, select the Web Server (HTTP) option; by default it is unchecked. This will enable ColdFusion templates to be processed via IIS.

On the Services tab, click the Add button to go to the Service Settings screen:

Enter values in the following fields:

Description of Service: A description of the service, for example, cfmx.

Name or IP Address: Name or IP address of the ColdFusion MX 6.1 Server.

External Port number: External port number for the service.

Internal Port number: Internal port number for the service. For example, enter port 8500 in order to enable the ColdFusion MX 6.1 internal webserver.

Click OK.

If you use the cfftp tag with the attributesAction="Close" and StopOnError="yes", you will get the following error:

java.net.SocketException: Connection reset at java.net.SocketInputStream.read(SocketInputStream.java:168) at java.io.BufferedInputStream.read1(BufferedInputStream.java:220) at java.io.BufferedInputStream.read(BufferedInputStream.java:277) at java.io.BufferedInputStream.fill(BufferedInputStream.java:183) at java.io.BufferedInputStream.read(BufferedInputStream.java:201) at coldfusion.oroinc.net.telnet.TelnetInputStream.__read(TelnetInputStream.java:93) at coldfusion.oroinc.net.telnet.TelnetInputStream.run(TelnetInputStream.java:330) at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:534)

To work around this, change the StopOnError attribute to "No".

By default, Windows Firewall will block the K2Server process. There are two ways to unblock it.

When the K2 Server Service starts, Windows will display the following Windows Security alert. Click the Unblock button to allow the K2Server process to run. This only needs to be done once, Windows will not block this process when starting the K2Server in the future.
Another way is to add the K2Server to the Windows Firewall exceptions by taking the following steps:
1. Launch the Windows Firewall Program.
2. Select the Exceptions tab.
3. Click Add Program.
4. Enter a name, k2Server for example, and enter the following program path: cf_root\lib\k2server.exe.
5. Click OK.