Hey everyone,
I've been tasked with reviving an old Windows 2000 server that was running an IIS and ColdFusion application for one of my customers. Unfortunately, I didn't have any prior experience with this server, but I managed to recover the files and access database from the hard drives. Now, I'm looking for guidance on how to rebuild a functional virtual server using these files. Also, are there any recommended alternatives to ColdFusion for this type of application? I've heard about Railo and BlueDragon, but I'm not sure if they're still relevant. Maybe someone has the old CF5 setup executable stashed away? Any help would be greatly appreciated!
3 Answers
If you're looking for alternatives, Railo has become Lucee. You’ll find various CF versions suitable for your needs at cfmlrepo.com. Also, just a heads up, you're maintaining some seriously outdated tech—definitely a security risk!
You might want to consider rewriting essential parts of the app in modern CFML or even migrating to a different platform altogether, depending on how complex the application is and its importance to your business. It could be a good chance to modernize it!
It's basically just an old CRUD app that displays forms and does some basic financial calculations directly in the browser.
Going with Lucee or BoxLang is a solid choice. Ortus has CommandBox, which makes it super easy to work with any engine you pick. You can quickly set up an ACF, Lucee, or BoxLang server—all manageable!
I know! It's just a small app for the CEO, accountant, and finance guy, and it's running on a local server in a specific VLAN, so it's not exposed to the internet. We’re planning on rebuilding a complete app with workflows, but you know how it goes—"we always used this because we trust this app!" 🙂