Inside Coldfusion MX

Of course, the first step in the configuration of ColdFusion MX is a successful installation of the product. As mentioned, if you've installed ColdFusion Server before, the installation process for ColdFusion MX should seem somewhat familiar to you.

Before installing ColdFusion MX, it's important to ensure that you have hardware that meets the recommended requirements for installation.

Table 2.1 gives the system requirements for installing ColdFusion MX on Windows and UNIX. An important note for Solaris customers is that with the release of ColdFusion MX, ColdFusion can no longer be run on Solaris i86 machines. To run ColdFusion MX on Solaris, you must be running a SPARC version of the Solaris operating system (OS).

Table 2.1. Recommended and Required Minimum System Configurations for Installing ColdFusion MX

System Resources

For ColdFusion MX Professional

For ColdFusion MX Enterprise

Random-access memory (RAM)

Recommended

256MB

512MB

Required

128MB

256MB

Free disk space

Recommended

500MB

750MB

Required

300MB

500MB

Depending on the OS you are using, you can install ColdFusion MX in one of two ways. First, we examine a typical Windows installation.

Installing ColdFusion MX on Windows

To install ColdFusion MX on a Windows system, you need to be certain that the target system meets some minimum patch requirements for the installation to complete successfully.

Table 2.2 lists the patches required prior to installing ColdFusion MX on a Windows system.

Table 2.2. Patches Required for Installation on Windows

Windows Version

Patches Required

Windows XP

No patches required at this time

Windows NT 4.0

Service Pack 5 or higher, MDAC 2.5 SP1 or higher, and MFC/MSVC 6.0

Windows 2000

Service Pack 1, MDAC 2.5 SP1 or higher, and MFC/MSVC 6.0

After you've examined the system and patch-level requirements, you can begin the install. Installation should automatically begin when you insert the ColdFusion MX CD into the CD drive. If it doesn't, you can simply browse the CD for coldfusionmx.exe and double-click the executable file to kick off the installation wizard.

After ColdFusion MX is installed, it should automatically detect any web servers present on the target system. ColdFusion MX includes support for Internet Information Server (IIS), iPlanet, and Apache as standalone web servers. You are given the opportunity either to select an existing web server on the system or to use the web server that comes bundled with ColdFusion MX. If you are installing ColdFusion MX on a production system, it is strongly recommended that you choose something other than the built-in ColdFusion MX web server; this web server is provided by Macromedia strictly for development servers.

After you've selected the web server with which you would like ColdFusion MX to pair itself, the web server is automatically configured for you to respond to requests for CFM files.

Java Runtime Environment (JRE) Note

As part of the ColdFusion MX installation, a JRE is installed on your system. ColdFusion MX will use the JRE for its libraries. It is strongly recommended that you leave this JRE set to the defaults (instead of manipulating the installation to use a preexisting JRE) because this is the only configuration supported by Macromedia. This holds true for both Windows and UNIX systems.

Installing ColdFusion MX on UNIX Systems

Just as in a Windows-based installation, installing ColdFusion MX on a UNIX-based system requires that your system meet certain patch levels prior to attempting the installation.

Table 2.3 lists the patches required prior to installing ColdFusion MX on a UNIX system.

Table 2.3. Patches Required for Installation on UNIX

UNIX Version

Patches Required

Cobalt RAQ 3, RAQ 4, and XTR

Compat-libstdc++ RPM

HP-UX

All the latest patch bundles as available from the HP web site

Solaris 2.6

105181-17 or higher, 15591-09 or higher, 105210-25 or higher, and 105568-14 or higher

Solaris 2.7

106541-08 or higher, 106327-08 or higher, and 106980-07 or higher

SuSE 7.0

Apache.rpm

Installing ColdFusion MX on a UNIX-based system requires that you know a little about your system. You should make sure that you're logged on as root when installing. On most UNIX-based systems with ColdFusion MX, you have your choice of a regular or graphical user interface (GUI)-based installation script. In most cases, you'll enable the installation script to automatically detect your system configuration and stick with the default settings.

Unlike previous versions of ColdFusion, ColdFusion MX does not require a symbolic link from the /opt directory, so you can install ColdFusion MX to any target volume that you choose.

After you begin the installation, be aware of a common problem in UNIX-based installations. When ColdFusion MX installs, it requires room to unpack all its files prior to beginning the installation. All these files are unpacked to the default temporary directory on your system (in most cases, /tmp). If there is insufficient space in the /tmp directory (you need around 300MB free), you have to free up more space or change the location of your system default temporary directory to an area of the disk with more free space (for the duration of the installation).

As noted previously, after ColdFusion MX is installed, it should automatically detect any web servers present on the target system. You are given the opportunity to select an existing web server on the system or to use the web server that comes bundled with ColdFusion MX. If you are installing ColdFusion MX on a production system, it is strongly recommended that you choose something other than the built-in ColdFusion MX web server; this web server is provided by Macromedia strictly for development servers.

After you've selected the web server with which you would like ColdFusion MX to pair itself, the web server is automatically configured for you to respond to requests for CFM files.

Summary

Now that you've installed the ColdFusion Server, you understand a little bit about how ColdFusion works. Let's next move to your development environment.
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