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Note:

In the 2018 release of ColdFusion, we have removed Server Manager. Instead, we have introduced Performance Monitoring Toolset, a better, more intuitive application performance monitoring solution.

For more information, see Overview of Performance Monitoring Toolset.

Adobe ColdFusion Server Manager is an Adobe AIR application packaged with ColdFusion installation. It enables ColdFusion Server administrators to monitor and manage multiple servers and apply the settings from one ColdFusion server to other ColdFusion servers.

Launch Server Manager

Before starting Server Manager, ensure that you have AIR installed because Server Manager requires the AIR platform to run. 
You can download AIR from:
http://get.adobe.com/air/

To launch the Server Manager for the first time:

  1. Log in to ColdFusion Administrator.

  2. Click Server Monitoring > Server Monitor. Click Launch Server Manager. To download the Server Manager AIR application for a standard version of ColdFusion, access the following URL to download the file, ServerManager.air:

    http://<Host>:<Port>/<Context root if applicable>/CFIDE/ServerManager/

  3. Save and run the Server Manager AIR file to launch Server Manager in your server.

    Note:

    When you download ServerManager.air application that runs on IIS 7 web server or a J2EE server, set the mimetype in the respective webserver or J2EE server. If you cannot configure the AIR mimetype, then perform either of the following tasks:

    • Download the ServerManager.zip file, change the file extension to .air, and run it.
    • Run the AIR file located in <CF_HOME>/CFIDE/ServerManager directory.

  4. Run the Server Manager by calling the ColdFusion Server Manager executable from the installation directory.

  5. Set the master password when you log in to the Server Manager for the first time. You can also reset this password.

Register servers

Register each ColdFusion server instance to manage it from the Server Manager.

To register a ColdFusion server:

  1. Click the  sign in the right-pane of the Server Manager.

  2. Enter the following server details:

    • Server name
    • Host name/IP address
    • Port number
    • Context root (for J2EE servers)
    • User name and password of the context root
    Note:

    Register a particular server either using hostname or IP address only once from the Server Manager AIR application. 

  3. Click Apply. The server appears in the All Servers list of the Server Manager. If the server details and authentication details are correct, then the server status displays 'Logged In'. Otherwise, the status displays 'Login Failed' or 'Unreachable'.

  4. Select the icon adjacent to the Server drop-down list in the left-pane to fetch details of the ColdFusion server instances.

By default, the registered servers appear in Quick View in the right-pane of the All Servers tab. If you have associated the server instance or cluster to a group, then it appears under the group tab also.
After you register a server instance, you can apply a hot fix or clear the server template cache. You can perform these tasks for an individual server instance or for multiple servers.

Start and stop ColdFusion server instance

You can set up start and stop remote instance functionality in Server Manager. To enable this feature, install Remote Instance Administrator while installing ColdFusion.

  1. Perform the following in the remote host:

    1. In the remote host, open coldfusion_home\cfusion\jetty\etc\jetty.xml.
    2. Search for the string, org.mortbay.jetty.bio.SocketConnector.
    3. Update the host with the IP address of the remote host.
    4. Start the jetty server. Navigate to the coldfusion_home\cfusion\jetty directory and execute jetty.exe. You can also use the jetty services in the Windows services.

  2. Open wwwroot\CFIDE\ServerManager\ServerManager.air on the local host and specify the connection details.

  3. Click Start/Stop Details and select HTTP.

  4. Step text
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While reconfiguring some settings in ColdFusion, you can restart the server. With Server Manager, you can restart the server without logging into host.

You can configure the start and stop functionality for any of the following server types that has a ColdFusion instance deployed:

  • Tomcat (Standalone)
  • WebLogic
  • WebSphere
  • JBoss

For more information on deploying ColdFusion on an application server, see Installing the JEE Configuration.

  1. For starting/stopping server, deploy the WAR file specific to the application server on the application server to run start and stop operations.
  2. The deployed WAR instance should be in running state in the application server to be able to start or stop a ColdFusion server instance from the Server Manager.

For details on the WAR files corresponding to each application server and the parameters required to run start/stop operations, see:

Stand-alone server (Tomcat) parameters

Set up start and stop remote instance functionality using HTTPS in Server Manager. To enable this feature, install Remote Instance Administrator while installing ColdFusion.

  1. Perform following in the remote host:

    1. In the remote host, generate a private key in a keystore file. Provide the details at prompt.

      <CF_installation>\jre\bin\keytool -genkeypair -alias certificatekey -keyalg RSA -validity 7 -keystore keystore.jks

    2. Export the certificate. You should have a self-signed certificate or a certificate from a Certificate Authority.

      <CF_installation>\jre\bin\keytool -export -alias certificatekey -keystore keystore.jks -rfc -file selfsignedcert.cer

    3. Copy the .jks file created in the remote host to the jetty\etc directory.
    4. Open the jetty\etc\jetty.xml file.
    5. Search for the string, To add a HTTPS SSL Listenerand then add the following entry:

      <Call name="addConnector">
      <Arg>
      <New class="org.mortbay.jetty.security.SslSocketConnector">
      <Set name="Port">8443</Set>
      <Set name="maxIdleTime">30000</Set>
      <Set name="keystore"><SystemProperty name="jetty.home" default="." />/etc/server.jks</Set>
      <Set name="password">changeit</Set>
      <Set name="keyPassword">changeit</Set>
      <Set name="truststore"><SystemProperty name="jetty.home" default="." />/etc/server.jks</Set>
      <Set name="trustPassword">changeit</Set>
      </New>
      </Arg>
      </Call>

    6. Update the keystore name, password, key password, and jks file in the entry.
    7. Search for the string, org.mortbay.jetty.bio.SocketConnector.
    8. Update the host with the port number of the remote host.
    9. Restart the jetty server.

  2. Perform the following in the local host from where you can add the remote instance:

    1. Copy the .cer file created in the remote host to any of the locations.
    2. Import the certificate.

      <CF_installation>\jre\bin\keytool.exe -importcert -keystore "<CF_installation>\jre\lib\security\cacerts" -file selfsignedcert.cer -storepass password

  3. Open wwwroot\CFIDE\ServerManager\ServerManager.air in the local host.

  4. Specify the connection details.

  5. Click Start/Stop Details and select HTTPS.

  6. Provide the following information:

    • App Server Username: The User name for the admin component while installing ColdFusion. Default value is admin.
    • App Server Password: The password for the admin component.
    • Port: The HTTPS port of the remote instances of ColdFusion.
    • Server: The name of the remote instances of ColdFusion.
    • ColdFusion Version: The ColdFusion version number.
    • Admin Server Port: Default https port is 8443. The port of the Jetty server.
    • Context Root: The value is AdminServlet.

  7. Click Apply.

Setting up remote start and stop functionality using HTTP in Server Manager

You can set up start and stop remote instance functionality in Server Manager. To enable this feature, install Remote Instance Administrator while installing ColdFusion.

  1. Perform the following in the remote host:

    1. In the remote host, open ColdFusion_installtion\cfusion\jetty\etc\jetty.xml.
    2. Search for the string, org.mortbay.jetty.bio.SocketConnector.
    3. Update the host with the IP address of the remote host.
    4. Start the jetty server. Navigate to the ColdFusion_installation\cfusion\jetty directory and use jetty.exe. You can also use the jetty services in the Windows services.

  2. Open wwwroot\CFIDE\ServerManager\ServerManager.air on the local host and specify the connection details.

  3. Click Start/Stop Details and select HTTP.

  4. Provide the following information:

    • App Server Username: The user name for the admin component that you specified while installing ColdFusion. The default value is admin.
    • App Server Password: The password for the admin component.
    • Port: The HTTP port of the ColdFusion remote instances.
    • Server: The name of the ColdFusion remote instance.
    • ColdFusion Version: The version of ColdFusion.
    • Admin Server Port: The port of the Jetty server. Default https port is 8985.
    • Context Root: The value is AdminServlet.

  5. Click Apply.

WebLogic Server-specific parameters

Deploy the wlogicappstartup.war file on WebLogic server, either in admin or non-admin server but to the same domain where ColdFusion is deployed.

The WebLogic parameters in the Start/Stop Details tab of Server Manager are:

  • User name (user name of the domain on which ColdFusion application is deployed on WebLogic Server)
  • Password (password corresponding to the user name)
  • Port (port number for accessing the admin console)
  • Context root (name of the WAR file when no context root is specified)
  • ColdFusion Application Name (name of ColdFusion application deployed on WebLogic Server.)
  • Admin Port (port number for accessing the deployed WAR file, which is typically the administrator server port)

WebSphere-specific parameters

Deploy the wsappstartup.war file on WebSphere in the same profile where the ColdFusion instance is deployed.

The WebSphere parameters in the Start/Stop Details tab of Server Manager are:

  • User name (WebSphere Admin user name)
  • Password (WebSphere Admin password)
  • Context root (context root of the deployed WAR file)
  • ColdFusion Application Name (Name of ColdFusion application deployed on WebSphere.)
  • Admin Port (port number for accessing the deployed WAR file, which is typically the administrator server port)

JBoss specific parameters

For JBoss, deploy the jbossappstartup.war file on JBoss server.

The start/stop operations work only when secure access of JNDI over HTTP is enabled.

To configure secure access of JNDI over HTTP:

  1. In <jboss-home>/server/default/deploy/http-invoker.sar/invoker.war/WEB-INF/web.xml, uncomment the servlet mapping,

    <servlet-name>JNDIFactory</servlet-name>
    <url-pattern>/restricted/JNDIFactory/*</url-pattern>
    </servlet-mapping>

  2. In <jboss-home>/server/default/deploy/http-invoker.sar/invoker.war/WEB-INF/jboss-web.xml, uncomment the line:

    <security-domain>java:/jaas/jmx-console</security-domain>

  3. In <jboss-home>/server/default/conf/login-config.xml, add the following <policy> if it does not exist.

    flag = "required">
    <module-option name="usersProperties">props/jmx-console-users.properties</module-option>
    <module-option name="rolesProperties">props/jmx-console-roles.properties</module-option>
    </login-module>
    </authentication>
    </application-policy>

    The files props/jmx-console-users.propertiesand{{ props/jmx-console-roles.properties}} must contain the entries in the following format:

    /jmx-console-users.properties:

    Format: {username}={password}

    /jmx-console-roles.properties

    Format: {username}={comma-separated list of roles}

    For more information on enabling secure access of JNDI over HTTP. The JBoss parameters in the Start/Stop Details tab of Server Manager are:

    • User name (user name mentioned in jmx-console-users.properties)
    • Password (password of the corresponding user)
    • Port (port number for accessing the admin console)
    • Context root (name of the deployed WAR file)
    • Admin Port (port number from where the deployed WAR file can be accessed, which is usually the admin server port)

View diff of two server settings

You can find out the differences in configuration of two server instances or clusters using the Diff With option available with Server Manager. This option allows you to check for differences in the configuration settings of two server instances. You can run Diff With on any two servers with the Logged In status.

To run Diff With:

  1. Right-click any server that you need to run Diff With on.

  2. Click Diff With and select the other server to compare your selected server instance.

  3. In the Diff of Setting between dialog box, select the settings that you need to compare.

  4. Click Next.

  5. Expand the settings by clicking the  sign. Any settings that are different for the two server instances, are highlighted.

Create Groups

Using the Server Manager, you can create groups and associate a registered or new server to one or more groups. To create groups and associate servers to groups:

Using the Server Manager, you can create groups and associate a registered or new server to one or more groups. To create groups and associate servers to groups:

  1. Click Groups > Add from the Groups menu.
  2. In the Add Group dialog box, enter the name of the new group and click Apply.A new tab for the group is created in the right-pane of Server Manager.
    To associate a server instance to a group:
  3. Select the server instances and click Edit.
  4. In the Edit Server dialog box, select the group to which you need to add the server instance.
  5. Click Apply.
    To verify that the selected server has been added to the group, click the group tab.
    To edit or remove existing groups from Server Manager, click the group tab. From the Groups menu select Edit or Remove to modify or remove a group from Server Manager.

Manage multiple servers

You can perform batch operations on multiple ColdFusion Server instances from Server Manager. 
When you drag and drop any setting, if that setting exists on the server where the settings are being dropped, the settings get overridden with the new settings. For example, if data source named XXX is being dropped on a server and if that data source already exists on the other server, then the data source gets overridden with the new setting, without any warning.

In a batch operation, you can perform the following tasks:

Apply configuration settings on multiple servers

The left-pane of Server Manager lists the settings that you can configure for one or more ColdFusion servers. To apply configuration settings on multiple ColdFusion servers:

  1. Configure the settings for one ColdFusion server using the settings available in the left-pane of the Server Manager.
  2. Select the other ColdFusion servers to which the settings have to be applied.
  3. Right-click a setting and select the Apply to Selected Servers option. Alternatively, you can drag-and-drop the setting to the selected servers in the right-pane of the Server Manager. At the bottom of the Server Manager window, a progress bar displays the status of the setting being applied. Once the task is completed, a message is displayed to confirm if the task was successful.
  4. On the right-side of the progress bar, there are two icons, Remove and Save Snapshot. To save a batch operation log, click the Save Snapshot icon and save the log file.
    Apart from applying settings to multiple ColdFusion servers, you can use the Server Manager to perform the following actions:

Settings

Actions

Datasources
  • Add a datasource by right-clicking the Datasources setting in the left pane.
  • Edit an existing datasource by right-clicking the datasource in the left pane.
  • Remove an existing datasource by right-clicking the datasource in the left pane.
  • Verify an existing datasource by right-clicking the datasource in the left pane. If the verification is successful, a green icon appears beside the data source node. Otherwise, an error message is displayed along with a red icon beside the data source.
  • Verify all data sources by right-clicking the Data Sources node in the left pane.

Mappings
  • Add a mapping by right-clicking the Mappings setting.
  • Edit an existing mapping by right-clicking the mapping in the left pane.
  • Remove an existing datasource by right-clicking the mapping in the left pane.

Scheduling Tasks

On Scheduling Tasks setting:

  • Add a scheduling task by right-clicking the Scheduling Tasks setting
  • Edit an existing scheduling tasks.
    On a task:
  • Run a task by right-clicking the task item and clicking Run.
  • Pause a task by right-clicking the task item and clicking Pause.
  • Resume a task by right-clicking the task item and clicking Resume.

JVM

Edit and refresh the JVM settings by right-clicking the setting in the left pane.

Mail

Edit and refresh the mail settings by right-clicking the setting in the left pane.

Chart

Edit and refresh the chart settings by right-clicking the setting in the left pane.

Memory

Edit and refresh the memory settings by right-clicking the setting in the left pane.

Server

Edit and refresh the server settings by right-clicking the setting in the left pane.

Request Tuning

Edit and refresh the request tuning configuration by right-clicking the setting in the left pane.

Logging

Edit and refresh the log settings by right-clicking the setting in the left pane.
Note:

To edit any settings, first refresh them to fetch the latest setting and then edit them. The options for editing the configuration settings are the same as in ColdFusion Administrator.

Clear template cache

Using Server Manager you can clear the template cache for multiple servers simultaneously. To clear the template cache:

  1. Select the servers by selecting the Apply server task and settings check box.
  2. Click the Server Tasks option from the upper-right corner.
  3. Click Clear Template Cache. A progress bar at the bottom displays the cache clearing status. After the task is completed, you can save the cache log by clicking the Save Snapshot icon or remove it by clicking Remove.

Apply hot fix

You can update multiple ColdFusion Server instances, once they are registered with Server Manager.

Note:

After applying a hotfix, restart the server for the hotfix to take effect.

To apply a hot fix to multiple servers:

  1. Select the servers instances that need to be updated by selecting the Apply server task and settings check-box.

  2. From the upper-right menu bar, click Server Tasks > Apply Hot Fix.

  3. To confirm, click Yes.

  4. Navigate to the location of the JAR file to be used as hotfix.

  5. Click Open to apply the hot fix to the server instances. Once you apply a hot fix (.jar) to a server instance, that JAR file appears in the /lib/updatesdirectory.

Note:

This is useful only if the hotfix is a JAR file. Place this JAR file under directory. If you place a hotfix file to any other location, then you have to implement it manually.

Set Server Manager preferences

To set the Server Manager preferences, click Settings > Preferences. You can set the following preferences in Server Manager:

  • Polling Interval: Use this option to set the interval (in seconds) for Server Manager to check for any alerts and warnings on ColdFusion server. In addition, if the status of your server instance on Server Manager is "Unreachable", then Server Manager tries to reconnect to the server after the specified polling interval.
  • Stop batch operations on error: This check box is selected by default. If you deselect this check box, Server Manager continues to perform the batch operations even if an error occurs. Batch operations include tasks such as applying hot fix, clearing template cache, fetching settings from server, or applying settings from one server to multiple servers.
  • Alert window position: Use this drop-down list to select the position where the notifications and alerts would be displayed in Server Manager.
  • Close the dialog box after receiving a server acknowledgment: Select this option to close any edited server configuration dialog box only after receiving the acknowledgment.
  • Show batch progress: This option is selected by default. If you do not want to see the progress of the batch operations at the bottom of the Server Manager window, then deselect this option.
  • Use inbuilt browser: By selecting this check box, you can open any server URL in the internal browser or the default browser in system.

Monitor multiple servers

Server Manager provides different views to monitor servers that you register with the application. To toggle between these views, click the required view icon from the upper-right corner.
Following views are available with Server Manager:

  • Quick View: Displays a quick snapshot of server online time, alerts, warnings, and log in status.
  • Detail View: Displays an elaborate server status with details about the type of alerts and the request/response time. To view server details, expand the server row by clicking the green arrow in the right corner of that row.
  • Error View: Displays details about the errors that have occurred while the server instance is running. It includes details such as error time, fault code, fault string, and fault details.

Instant server alerts in Server Manager

When any alert like JVM memory, slow server, unresponsive server, or timeouts occur on the ColdFusion server instance it reaches the Server Manager and is shown as a pop-up menu at the right bottom corner of Server Manager. These alerts can be viewed only when the application is running.

To be able to view these alerts, enable the option to notify the client every time there is a server alert.

To enable this option in ColdFusion Administrator:

  1. Click Server Monitoring > Server Monitor > Launch Server Monitor.

  2. Click Alerts > Alert Configuration.

  3. Now for any of the alert configuration tabs for which you want to receive alerts on Server Manager, select the Notify Client check-box.

    Note:

    Make sure that you configure alerts on the server side to be able to view them on Server Manager.

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