32-bit Coldfusion with IIS on 64-bit Windows

Many of you might have faced the following error while running any version of Coldfusion previous than CF Enterprice 8.0.1 update. Coldfusion Enterprise 8.0.1 Update was released later by Adobe and that felt good with the IIS on 64bit Windows(Vista and now with Windows 7 – 64bit). but the Coldfusion till CF8 was not good to work with IIS on 64bit Windows.

Just look at the HTTP Error 500 you normally get when try to run any Coldfusion8  32-bit application on IIS7.

Be patient, let it be described first. One thing to take in mind is that you do not get any kind of issue while installing any 32-bit Coldfusion version on the 64-bit Windows. But the problem bound specifically to IIS running on the 64-bit Windows when you request any Coldfusion 32-bit  application on that server. In that situation above is the error what or like what you get in your browser.

Microsoft, previously, made it enabled in Windows Server 2003 SP1, for IIS6 to run 32-bit Web applications on 64-bit Windows using the WOW64(Windows-on-Windows-64). Follow the link below to read the article at Microsoft website.
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/WindowsServer2003/Library/IIS/13f991a5-45eb-496c-8618-2179c3753bb0.mspx?mfr=true

You should read the following article as well to configure your IIS6 to run the 32-bit Coldfusion web applications
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/WindowsServer2003/Library/IIS/405f5bb5-87a3-43d2-8138-54b75db73aa1.mspx?mfr=true

Coldfusion8 32-bit on IIS7

And for the purpose, using IIS7 to run 32-bit Web applications on Coldfusion8 or earlier CF versions, you need to set your IIS7 to run in 32-bit mode instead of 64-bit. You should try the following steps if you are stuck with using Coldfusion8 or earlier versions and want to run it under IIS7.

1. Click Run in the start menu and type “cmd” to open the Command Prompt.
2. Type the following command in the Command Prompt.
   %windir%\system32\inetsrv\appcmd.exe set config -section:system.applicationHost/applicationPools -[name='DefaultAppPool'].enable32BitAppOnWin64:true
3. And press “Enter” key

What now? looking for more? There is nothing more. You are all done. Your IIS7 is now set to run 32-bit Coldfusion Web Applications. You should not face the above error again and you should be able to run your earlier Coldfusion apps with IIS7 without any problem.