| Downloading the Developer Edition of ColdFusion MX is completely free, and you can find it at www.macromedia.com/software/coldfusion/. Simply follow the instructions and download the version that is right for your operating system. After you download the software, all you should need to do is double-click the file you downloaded to start the installation process. Before you get too far into it, however, you should understand the two configuration options you will be presented with when you install ColdFusion MX Server. The two install options are as follows: Standalone Configuration ColdFusion MX Server comes with its own built-in web server software. This built-in web server is probably not suited to a production environment, but it is just fine for development and for the purposes of this book. When you choose the standalone configuration, ColdFusion Server serves up .htm files as well as possessing the .cfm files. This configuration is desirable because it enables you to install ColdFusion on the same machine as an existing web server, but the two will not interfere with each other. If you already have a web server, such as Microsoft's IIS installed, you can install ColdFusion MX in the standalone configuration right alongside, and it will not effect the configuration of IIS. If you choose this option, however, ColdFusion's web server will operate on port 8500 (as opposed to the default port of 80). This is why the two servers will not interfere with each other. To access files on the ColdFusion Server, however, you would have to add this nonstandard port number to the request, such as http://localhost:8500/index.cfm. If you like, you can change the port to 80 by following this procedure: -
Open the file C:\CFusionMX\runtime\servers\default\SERVER_INF\jrun.xml in a text editor. -
Perform a search for 8500. You should find a block of code that deals with <service name="WebService">. -
In this block of code, change the port number to 80. -
Save the file and restart the ColdFusion MX service.
If you are going to use ColdFusion MX on port 80, you must stop all other web servers, such as IIS, that might be using that port. Integrated Configuration During the installation process, the installer will detect any other web servers (such as IIS or Apache) that might be running. If you want to have your ColdFusion Server integrate with the existing web server, simply select the server and click Next. In the integrated configuration, the existing web server serves up all the .htm pages, and the ColdFusion Server simply handles the .cfm processing. |