Has anyone seen any weirdness with the CAR archive wizard in CF 2018? Does it supposedly work?

No different weirdness than other versions, at least that I have experienced. And it not only "supposedly works" but definitely does: I help people use it regularly. :-) 1) But I have seen people complain in the community over the years about different things, whether using the UI, or getting the export saved, or getting the import performed. Which of those (or all) are not working well for you? 2) It's not your only option, though. First, note that starting with CF2021 there is now the command-line cfsetup tool, which can be used as an alternative to the CAR approach, to export/import admin settings (as well a view/change/delete them). And though the docs warn against it, I've used it with CF2018 and earlier. I did a talk on it, available at carehart.org/presentations. 3) Finally, there is the cfconfig tool for Commandbox, which precedes the cfsetup tool and can do much more. So you don't need to put up with CAR weirdness: there may be a solution (or an explanation in its log files), or there are at least alternatives. Tell us more about what doesn't work well for you.

Thanks @carehart, main problem was an impedance mismatch between my brain and that UI, sorted. There are no Save or Next/Previous buttons on the wizard pages, you just click each section and edit it as needed. I'm weird, apparently, since it took me a minute to understand that. That said, I do have some questions, for you or anyone: 1. The heading near the top of the Directory Mappings "page" is "Included Files and Directories in Archive". That's just wrong, isn't it? This page is for the mapping settings defined in CF admin, and no files or directories get included in the archive based on the settings here. Right? 2. I'm creating a new 2021 server that will eventually replace a 2018 one. I want to export the old server's settings, but many of them need to be edited due to server name, file path, and datasource differences etc, and also I want to run the auto lockdown tool. What's the preferred sequence of actions in that case? Export a car file from 2018, import it into 2021, manually edit as needed, then run the lockdown tool? Thanks in advance for any thoughts.

First, the impedance mismatch makes sense. Again, people have complained of the UI for years: it's a creaky old one, virtually unchanged since before the turn of the century. To your questions: 1. As for the heading, yes, that's a mistake. Note it's the same as the preceding link, "Assoc. Files/Dirs", where it's appropriate. This one should just be "Registered CF Mappings", to follow the pattern of naming in most of the rest that follow. Would you consider filing a bug report at tracker.adobe.com? If you do, please offer the link here, so others can add a vote. If you will not, let us know that also. 2. No "preferred sequence". It would make sense to import the settings and correct them, but what the lockdown tool does is mostly unrelated to whether you do or do not. As for doing the lockdown tool, if you've not used it before, I sure hope you are a) trying it in another non-prod server first, and b) making a backup/snapshot of the server you're about to apply it on. Many people have regretted applying that tool without doing those things first.

Thanks for confirming that it's not entirely my brain that's weird in failing to understand that UI. No I haven't used the lockdown tool before, we've done similar things manually. But we missed some stuff, which I was hoping to avoid this time, and it took a while too. Not super happy to hear that some people got unexpected results. And yes I'll back up first. Should that just be the cfusion directory, and the site source code? I don't quite get what it could do to site code that wouldn't requiring running it again if you added new files, which of course everyone will. QUESTION: The archiving docs say this:

Note: ColdFusion_ does not deploy Administrator and RDS passwords, nor does it unpack archives created in earlier versions of ColdFusion._

Are we not supposed to use this tool to migrate from say CF 2018 to 2021?

Dave, sorry for my delay in replying. Just very busy in my troubleshooting consulting (no single thing affecting many; just the usual random issues I help folks with). 1) So about the CAR tool, it absolutely works with older versions. It's MEANT for moving settings between versions, and I've used it in skipping multiple releases. As for that doc you quote, I don't even know what "unpacking" it's referring to; FWIW, a car is just a zip. I suspect it's verbiage from before the turn of the century, something that maybe applied in the early days. That said, I do recall some occasions where one jumping several versions might find some thing or two not to work right--but not entirely be unable to migrate anything. 2) About the lockdown and my recommendation to backup, no I meant the ENTIRE machine. The lockdown tool makes changes to cf, the web server (IIS or apache), the file system, and more.. So no, it's NOT just about the cfusion folder and/or your source code. 3) Indeed, as for your hoping to hear more from others, I can pretty much GUARANTEE that if you raise that question OUTSIDE this thread you'll get AMPLE response, pro and con. Asking in this thread (on the CAR feature) is like seeking Ramaswamy volunteers at a Biden rally. :-) 4) Finally, great to see the bug report. I'd have added a vote, but it's not possible on a mobile device (chrome on android): the vote button somehow is parked at the very bottom--blocked by links to the faq, TOU, and privacy policy. That is SO annoying. But I know @Mark Takata (Adobe) is working hard to get a major revision to the whole bug reporting experience, which is wonderful news.

Thanks Charlie, very helpful., agreed on all points.

@Charvi @Bagish Mishra FYI some good points here for flow on update mechanics and a point on mobile device utilization of the Tracker tool.