SfC Home > ColdFusion >
Explanation how to use set up and configure ColdFusion Studio 4.5. Also refer to Allaire, web server software, personal web server, ColdFusion Enterprise Server, Spectrum, Internet service provider, Ron Kurtus, School for Champions. Copyright © Restrictions
Setting Up ColdFusion Studio
by Ron Kurtus (revised 9 August 2000)
Before developing ColdFusion applications on your PC using Windows 95 or 98, you must prepare your computer to use web server software, install and configure the ColdFusion software, and finally verify everything is working properly.
Questions you may have on this process are:
- What preparations must be made before installing ColdFusion?
- How do you install and configure the necessary ColdFusion elements?
- How do you verify everything is working?
This lesson will answer those questions. There is a mini-quiz near the end of the lesson.
Prepare before installation
When using ColdFusion Studio on your PC, you are simulating interfacing with your Internet service provider (ISP). Thus, before you install ColdFusion Studio in Windows 95 or 98, you must first verify that you have the TCP/IP protocol working and install web server software. These requirements are not explained in the documentation received with the software. A better explanation is given in The ColdFusion Web Application Construction Kit book (see Resources).
Verify TCP/IP working
Your operating system must have the TCP/IP protocol installed to run web services. The way to check that is to first right-click Network Neighborhood and select Properties. TCP/IP should be listed.
Then to verify that TCP/IP is installed and operating, go to DOS and type: ping localhost. You should get replies from your local host Web address at 127.0.0.1 that verify TCP/IP is working.
Install web server software
To test the code you have developed, you want to simulate interfacing with your Internet service provider (ISP). To do this, you must have web server software installed and operating locally on your PC. Also, this is necessary since the ColdFusion server works as an add-on to your web server software.
Choose web server
You can use such web server software as Apache or use the Microsoft Personal Web Server, which is usually included on your Windows CD-ROM.
I used the Personal Web Server for my work. The default home directory for the Personal Web Server is C:\inetpub\wwwroot, but since my web development area is under C:\My Webs, I designated that as my home directory.
Verify it works
You can verify the web server is working by accessing http://localhost or http://127.0.01/ on your browser, provided you have index.htm or default.htm in the home directory.
Install ColdFusion Studio
The ColdFusion Studio 4.5 CD-ROM setup lists Studio, Enterprise Server and Spectrum as possible items to install.
ColdFusion Studio
Studio is the web development tool that can be used for ColdFusion development, as well as standard HTML page development. Installation is straightforward, following the wizards.
ColdFusion Enterprise Server
In order to view local ColdFusion pages on your browser, you need to have the ColdFusion server software installed to work in coordination with your web server software. This is not obvious according to the documentation that came with the software.
ISP needs server
A single user version comes with ColdFusion Studio. Your ISP must purchase and install the proper version of ColdFusion server for your pages to work over the Internet. The same is true for companies using ColdFusion on an Intranet.
Placement of files
During installation, ColdFusion asks to place the files in C:\Cfusion or another location. To avoid clutter in my directory system, I tried to use C:\Program Files\Cfusion, but an alert said that spaces were not allowed, so I left it in the default location.
Also during installation, ColdFusion asks to identify which web server you have installed and its root or home directory. In reality, if you choose a different directory, the Welcome to ColdFusion 4.5 file and ColdFusion Administrator will not work. You must accept the default. The files were placed under C:\My Webs\ in my configuration.
ColdFusion Spectra
The installation of Spectra is straightforward and automatic.
Verify everything works
After everything is installed, you can test to verify the installation is complete by displaying the Welcome to ColdFusion 4.5 file. But first you may need to make some adjustments to get things to work properly.
- Configure your web server
- Test installation
Configure web server
The most important thing is to see that the Microsoft Person Web Server (PWS) is configured for the correct virtual directories under your home directory. The installation should set up the ColdFusion document, administration and example files in the PWS.
You will need to configure the PWS for any directories used in your ColdFusion development. You do this by clicking on the PWS icon on your toolbar or through Start > Programs > Accessories > Internet Tools. The Personal Web Manager displays. Select Advanced to see a tree of your virtual directories for your PC-based web site. You can edit the properties or add new items.
When adding a new item, you must enter the complete path on your C-drive and then provide the directory with an alias.
Also, I added the directories in my development web sites where I planned to have ColdFusion files.
Test the installation
Go to the Welcome to ColdFusion 4.5 shortcut in your ColdFusion Server program list. Choose Test your Installation to verify ColdFusion is working on your PC.
Summary
You must verify you have the TCP/IP protocol set up, install and configure your web server software on your PC for the directories you will be using under your home or root web directory. Then you can install the ColdFusion components and verify everything is working properly. If anything is different from the default settings, adjustments must be made.
Set up things properly
Resources
The following resources provide information on this subject.
Websites
Books
Mini-quiz to check your understanding
1. How do you verify TCP/IP is working on your PC?
2. Why must you install ColdFusion Enterprise Server?
3. Do you need your files on a special Internet server?
If you got all three correct, you are on your way to becoming a Champion in ColdFusion Development. If you had problems, you had better look over the material again.
What do you think?
Do you have any questions, comments, or opinions on this subject? If so, send an email with your feedback. We will try to get back to you as soon as possible.
Share link
Feel free to establish a link from your website to pages in this site.
Or use our form to send this link to yourself or a friend.
Students and researchers
The Web address of this page is
www.school-for-champions.com/coldfusion/setup.htm.
Please include it as a reference in your report, document, or thesis.
Where can you go from here?
Setting Up ColdFusion Studio 4.5