ColdFusion: Cumulative Hot Fix Installs

If you try to install an updater over the wrong base install, you will get an error message. For example, the CFMX 7 Updater 2 upgrade installer (coldfusion-702-updater-win.exe) will fail if you try to install it over CFMX 7.0 as it requires CFMX 7.0.1. Hot fixes are jar files and you apply them either through the Update File field in the CF Admin's System Information screen or by putting them in cf_root/lib/updates and restarting. There's no installer to warn you or detect the underlying deployed system. However the technotes containing the hot fixes tell you for which version of CF they apply.

An automated upgrade facility at Adobe.com might have been discussed in the past (Macromedia days) but there's too many variables. People install CF in all types of configurations. For example, look at the issues that occur if you install CFIDE to the web server root but then apply an upgrade but point that installer to the internal web server root. Now you have a mixed environment. Its even worse if you do a side-by-side install and configure the external web server, then goto remove the older version just to have CFIDE wiped out.