Problem:

An installation of Adobe ColdFusion 11 is currently utilizing a Standard Edition License. This installation is intended for development purposes and the license needs to be removed.

Solution:

Remove the Adobe ColdFusion license information from the server by removing the key from the licenses.properties file or deleting this file entirely.

Solution Steps:

1. Show that the current Adobe ColdFusion License is “ColdFusion Standard”
2. Stop Adobe ColdFusion Services
3. Remove (or modify) the License.Properties File
4. Start Adobe ColdFusion Services
5. Verify that the Adobe ColdFusion License in use is “ColdFusion Developer”

Show current Adobe ColdFusion License is “ColdFusion Standard”

Log into the ColdFusion Administrator and click the system information icon (middle button at the top right of the screen) to access the System Information page.

Stop Adobe ColdFusion Services

Stopping/Starting Microsoft Windows services requires Administrator privileges. Make sure to open PowerShell with “run as Administrator”.

Show that Adobe ColdFusion Services are running with PowerShell command.
> Get-Service *ColdFusion*        

Stop Adobe ColdFusion Services with PowerShell command.
> Get-Service *ColdFusion* | where {$_.status -eq ‘running’} | Stop-Service

Show that Adobe ColdFusion Services have stopped with PowerShell command.
> Get-Service *ColdFusion*

Remove the “license.properties” File

The “license.properties” file is located in the “\cfusion\lib” folder of the installation. The root folder of this installation was C:\ColdFusion11.

Show that the license file exists with PowerShell command.
> dir C:\ColdFusion11\cfusion\lib\license.properties        

Here are the contents of the license.properties file. Incidentally this is where you can find your license key if you lost it. Key Values in the image have been obfuscated to protect the innocent guilty.

Either edit the “license.properties” file and remove the serial number information from the “sn=” line or just delete the file and it will be recreated with defaults when the Adobe ColdFusion Services are restarted.

Delete the “license.properties” file with the following PowerShell command. After the deletion of the file a directory command shows that the file is gone.
> del C:\ColdFusion11\cfusion\lib\license.properties

Start Adobe ColdFusion Services

Show Adobe ColdFusion Services with PowerShell command.
> Get-Service *ColdFusion*

Start Adobe ColdFusion Services with PowerShell command.
> Get-Service *ColdFusion* | where {$_.status -eq ‘stopped’} | Start-Service

Show Adobe ColdFusion Services with PowerShell command.
> Get-Service *ColdFusion*        

Show current Adobe ColdFusion License is “ColdFusion Developer”