ColdFusion 10 on Cloud

ColdFusion 10 on Cloud is an initiative to help customers leverage ColdFusion as a scalable service via Amazon Web Services (AWS). A preinstalled version of ColdFusion 10 will be made available as an Amazon Machine Image (AMI) via AWS. For more information on AMIs, see https://aws.amazon.com/amis/.

Using ColdFusion 10 on Cloud lets you obtain a flexible, secure, and cost-effective infrastructure for your ColdFusion installation. It also ensures that the infrastructure for managing your business applications is handled by AWS. Therefore, it allows you to invest and focus more on core competencies of your line of business.

On AWS, ColdFusion is available as Windows and Ubuntu AMIs. For the Windows AMI, ColdFusion is configured on Microsoft Windows 2008 R2 and with IIS (Internet Information Services) as an external web server. The Ubuntu AMI is configured on Ubuntu 12.0.4 and with Apache 2.2.4 as an external web server. Both Windows and Ubuntu AMIs are configured  to work with the MySQL 5.5.x database server. ColdFusion 10 AMI is packaged with JRE 1.7.0_15.

ColdFusion AMIs are available for Large and Extra-large instance types of AWS. On using an instance type other than Large and Extra-large, developer edition of ColdFusion 10 is installed.

Important: ColdFusion 10 on Cloud has ColdFusion 10 Update 7 pre-installed. However, it is recommended that you install the latest hot fix updates before usage.

For more information about the offering, see this article.

Setting up and getting started with ColdFusion 10 on AWS is a three-step process.

1. Procure ColdFusion 10 AMIs on AWS
2. Access the ColdFusion AMI on Amazon Web Services
3. Use the JumpStart tool to configure ColdFusion 10

1. Go to http://aws.amazon.com/ and Sign Up to create an AWS account.
2. Log in to AWS Market Place using your credentials.
3. Purchase Windows or Ubuntu AMIs available at the following locations:
   • Windows: https://aws.amazon.com/marketplace/pp/B00BQNEX5S
     
   • Ubuntu: https://aws.amazon.com/marketplace/pp/B00BR6SYHW

For more information on procuring, using, and launching AMIs, see this article.

Once you complete purchasing AMIs, you can choose to launch them using either the EC2 console or 1-Click mechanism. The one-click method allows you to leverage the default Security Groups set up for an easy getting started experience. For more information on Security Groups, see Modifying Security Settings on AWS Instance.

Follow the instructions provided in this article, and launch your ColdFusion AMI.

Based on operating system selected for AMI, you can now connect to the ColdFusion instance and configure the ColdFusion server. ColdFusion is preinstalled on both Ubuntu and Windows AMIs. Configuring the server using jumpstart tool is the final step before you can begin using the ColdFusion on Cloud.

The jumpstart tool is launched and run automatically when the ColdFusion instance is accessed for the first time. The jumpstart tool guides you through configuring ColdFusion server. And once the configuration is complete, the ColdFusion server is started automatically. The jumpstart tool is run until the ColdFusion server is configured successfully. If the configuration fails, the jumpstart tool is run automatically when the ColdFusion instance is accessed the next time.

Note: You cannot start the ColdFusion server on the instance until this configuration is completed successfully.

After configuring ColdFusion, change Security Settings for the Security Group associated with your AWS instance. Do the following:

1. Log in to AWS Console, and click EC2.
   
2. On the navigation tree, drill down to NETWORK & SECURITY > Security Groups.
   
3. Select a Security Group and click the Inbound tab.
4. Select a rule from the Create a New Rule drop-down and specify the Port Range. See below for a list of ports you can enable, for specified rule types, to best leverage ColdFusion functionality. You can choose to select and apply rules as per your requirements.