404 on ColdFusion CFM files while default document is still loading

Have you noticed something like this on your ColdFusion server? The default document is loading just fine. This means that your clients can view the homepage or the folders where the index.cfm file is provided.

On the other hand, all pages referring to CFM files are returning 404 errors. On our IIS based server, the error was rather cryptic, but we spot that there is a problem with jakarta/isapi_redirect.dll

The problem lies in the ColdFusion connector. The jakarta/isapi_redirect.dll is the bridge between the server and the ColdFusion engine. In our scenario, we just upgraded our CF server and after this upgrade, the connector stopped working.

How to recreate connectors?

In order to recreate connectors, you should run the Web Server Configuration Tool which is typically located here:

C:\[CF installation directory]\cfusion\runtime\bin\wsconfig.exe

Remember to run this application as an administrator.

The first step is to remove all connectors from the Configured Web Servers window. Unfortunately, you have to remove them one by one.

Once the list is empty, you can click on an Add button and configure them back. For some servers, we are using an option to configure “All” websites at once. However, in such a case you have to remember to add each new site connector afterwar the website creation. Or you can simply remove and create “All websites” connector once again.