Before installing ColdFusion 8, review the considerations for installing or upgrading on your platforms.

Installation considerations for all platforms

The following are installation considerations for all platforms:

• Adobe supports installing ColdFusion 8 side-by-side with ColdFusion MX 7, ColdFusion MX 6.1 and ColdFusion MX.
• If you installed a Beta version of ColdFusion 8, you must uninstall it before you install the release version.
• Adobe recommends using the built-in (internal port-based) web server for development, but not in a production environment.
• Earlier versions of ColdFusion, including ColdFusion MX 6.1, can coexist with ColdFusion 8; however, you cannot install ColdFusion 8 in the directory where the earlier version resides.

  You can switch to use a different web server for ColdFusion 8 after the installation, by following the instructions for your platform and the web server in Configuring web servers.

• During installation of the server configuration, if you select the built-in web server, your web root directory is C:/ColdFusion8/wwwroot by default. This web server runs on the 8500 port. To display a page, append 8500 to the end of the host name or IP address; for example, http://localhost:8500/MyApp.cfm. If the page still does not appear, ensure that the document is located in the ColdFusion 8 web root directory; for example, C:/ColdFusion8/wwwroot\MyApp.cfm. For more information, see Using the built-in web server.
• ColdFusion 8 is built in Java. By default, ColdFusion installs and runs on JDK 1.6. If you install ColdFusion 8 on any J2EE server that is not running on JRE 1.6, you must replace the tools.jar file in the lib directory with the tools.jar file from the appropriate JRE.
• In an optimal production environment, each ColdFusion application is hosted on a dedicated server; database, mail, and other servers are not on the same computer.
• Before you install ColdFusion 8, you should shut down ColdFusion MX 7 Verity to ensure proper migration of Verity collections.

Installation considerations for Windows

The following installation considerations are for Windows systems only:

• Do not configure the server running ColdFusion as a Primary Domain Controller (PDC) or Backup Domain Controller (BDC). Adobe follows the Microsoft network model, in which the first level is the PDC or BDC. These systems only manage the network or domain and are not designed to run application servers. ColdFusion should reside on the second level of Microsoft Windows 2000 or Microsoft Windows 2003 stand-alone systems. Stand-alone servers can participate in a network or domain.
• Windows 2000 Professional or Microsoft Windows 2003 handles only ten TCP/IP connections concurrently. Therefore, Adobe does not recommend using this operating system in a production environment; use Windows 2000 Server or Microsoft Windows 2003 Server instead.

Installation considerations for UNIX

The following are installation considerations for UNIX systems only:

• For troubleshooting purposes, the installer creates the following log file during an installation or upgrade in UNIX: cf_root/Adobe_ColdFusion_8_InstallLog.log. If you contact AdobeTechnical Support for installation support, you must send them this file.
• If you are deploying the J2EE configuration on a platform other than Linux or Solaris, use the coldfusion-80-other.jar installer. This Java-only installer does not include features that require platform-specific binary files, such as Verity and C++ CFX support.