Using a https certificate in Vista

Quite often I find the need to develop locally for a site using https. You can do this with Self-Signed Certificates in IIS 7.0. You don't have to install anything, so it's much easier to set it up than it has been in the past.

1. Open IIS
2. Expand your local server
3. Click on Server Certificates
4. Select 'Create Self-Signed Certificate' on the right.
5. Enter a name (ie - local)
6. Click on Web Sites
7. Right click on Default Web Site and select Bindings
8. Add a new Web Site Binding for https and select your 'local' certificate
9. Click ok and close.
10. For whatever reason, a restart was required, but this may not be the case for everyone.

Password Manager XP on Vista - Part 2

So, the guys over at CP-Lab finally got their password manager working properly on Vista. You need version 2.2.365 which you should be able to find here or the beta location if it hasn't been posted yet (2.2.363 was the latest posted version at time of writing).

Make sure you right click on the install file and install it as an administrator, otherwise you will probably run into issues when the browser integration is installed.

Script Debugger for IE on Vista

Since upgrading to Vista I have really missed the script debugger, it comes in extremely handy when working through your JS issues on IE. If you've never used it, you are missing out. It's quite a bit more powerful than the standard syntax checker that comes with Firefox, but I assume there are is a similar plug-in for Firefox.

To start, go download it here. You need to save it locally, perform the install, then update your IE settings under tools --> internet options --> advanced --> uncheck 'disable script debugging...'. Once that's done, you might want to play it safe and restart your pc. At least that's what I had to do.

I want to stress the fact that you need to save it locally, and then install it, as 'running' it from the microsoft site does not kick off the install properly.

Password Manager XP on Vista

Ironically enough, Password Manager XP will not install nor run under Windows Vista. Under the hood, it uses EXECryptor.exe which isn't supported by Vista. They are hoping to have a new version up and running sometime in November.

http://www.cp-lab.com/

Cisco VPN Client

So, I ran into yet another roadblock with Vista when trying to install the Cisco VPN Client. I got it to install, but then could never get it to start. After doing some research, I found that they finally released a Vista capable version of the VPN Client.

You need to get version 4.8.01.0410 from Cisco, which requires you talk to your network admin and get the necessary credentials, or of course, you can try googling '4.8.01.0410' and you might come up lucky.

SQL Server 2000 on Vista?

I read a number of articles that mentioned SQL Server 2000 will not install and/or is not supported on Vista. I just wanted to let you know that it WILL install. The only major caveat that I ran into was in enterprise manager when trying to connect to the 'local' instance. I had to dump that connection and connect to the actual named install of the sql server (which was my server name).

There is also an issue with SQL Server starting properly when Vista loads up. The MSSQLSERVER service was set to start up "Automatic" but in fact this doesn't work. If you change the startup type to "Automatic (Delayed Start)" things will work as expected.

All of that aside, based on the articles I read, along with all of the prompts Vista throws at you to essentially not install it, I don't know if I would install it on a production system, as Microsoft probably won't support it.

Good luck!

CFMX Setup on Vista

I just installed CFMX 7 on Vista Ultimate but it wasn't a very streamlined process. The CFMX installer doesn't support IIS 7 so a number of manual steps were needed after the fact. There is also a compatibility adjustment that you must make.

First, you need to run the ColdFusion Installer using the Program Compatibility Wizard. This will normally appear after the installer hangs. If it doesn't, the location to create a shortcut with is "%SystemRoot%\system32\mshta.exe res://%SystemRoot%\system32\acprgwiz.dll/compatmode.hta". There are a few options that you are going to want to choose.

• Microsoft 2000 (Using Windows XP will not work)
• On the next screen, choose 256 colors and all of the 'disable' options
• Next, make sure you run this program as an administrator

This should get you through the basic install. For whatever reason, the isapi filter that normally handles each request is not created. A Script Map needs to be created in the Handler Mapping in IIS for your server.

Prior to setting up the Handler Mappings, you need to download jrun.dll from another installation and make sure that file exists in the following directory : 'c:\cfusionMX7\runtime\lib\wsconfig\1' -- You may want to simply copy the entire "1" directory under wsconfig.

First, pop open the IIS Console which looks like so, although you probably won't have either of the ISAPI options if you did a default install of IIS.

You will want to then open up the Handler Mappings option and create a new Script Map. You need to create one for your cfm files and another for your cfc's.

When you're done, the list of Handler Mappings should look familiar to this.

A this point, you should probably restart CF and IIS and give it a go.