Manage servers in ColdFusion Builder

The comprehensive Server Management feature of ColdFusion Builder lets you start, stop, and restart the ColdFusion server, and access the ColdFusion Administrator and Server Monitor from a single Servers view. For more information about the Servers view, see Using Servers View.

You add a server, and associate it with a project to debug or preview files in the project. You also associate a server with a project to install and run the extensions that are packaged with ColdFusion Builder. For more information about adding servers, see Adding ColdFusion servers.

Before you set up and manage your server, read through the following topics to understand web server terms and concepts that are used in the documentation.

For detailed information about web servers and configuring them for ColdFusion, see Web Server Management in the ColdFusion Administrator's Guide

Document root

The term Document Root refers to a file system directory, from where your web server serves web pages. The term can vary from server to server, but the same concepts apply to most web servers.

URL prefix

A URL prefix maps a local file system resource with a URL.

In ColdFusion Builder, you use a URL prefix to preview or debug projects outside your web root or document root.

You can specify a URL prefix while creating a server, or by editing settings for an existing server. For more information, see URL Prefix.

You can also specify a URL prefix to an existing project or folder. For more information, see Set URL Prefix.

Usage Scenario

You have a project called "Project1". Project1 is configured to server1, whose document root is at C:\server1\MyDocs and URL is  http://www.example1.com. Within Project1, you have a linked folder called " xyz ". The folder xyz points to the document root of server2, which is C:\server2\MyDocs and the URL to access it is http://www.example2.com. You want to preview all the files within the xyz linked folder in ColdFusion Builder.In this scenario, to preview files within the xyz linked folder, you create a URL prefix. You create a URL prefix by specifying the following details:

• Absolute path: C:\server2\MyDocs\
• URL to access the xyz folder: http://www.example2.com

Virtual host

The term Virtual Host refers to the method of hosting multiple websites (domain names) on a single web server. The multiple websites are differentiated by their apparent host names. For example, you can run websites www.example1.com, www.example2.com, and www.example3.com, on a single IP address.

In the ColdFusion Builder context, you can use a single ColdFusion server to run multiple websites that are configured as virtual hosts on an external web server like IIS or Apache.

For information on how to configure virtual hosts in the web server, see the web server- specific documentation.

When you associate a project with a virtual host, ColdFusion Builder functionality like, previewing, debugging, Content Assist, and building extensions, is extended to all the folders and subfolders within the project.

Virtual directory

The term _Virtual Directory _refers to a folder that is not physically contained in the document root although it is accessible through the server URL. To create a virtual directory, you specify an alias for the folder’s path in the URL. The alias name is used to access resources within the folder.

Suppose the document root for your website (www.example.com) is c:\xyz\docs, and the folder that provides contents to your website is at d:\abc\content. Then, you define an alias for this folder called content. You can then access the website using the URL: http://www.example.com/content/

Adding ColdFusion servers

You add a ColdFusion server to test projects or applications that you create in the ColdFusion Builder workspace. The ColdFusion server can be a development server for testing and running your applications before you deploy them on a production server. You can add a local or remote ColdFusion server.

Add a local server

In the Servers view, do one of the following:

• Right-click and select Add Server.
• Click .

Enter the following details in the ColdFusion Server Setup wizard:

General Settings

• Server Name: ColdFusion server name.
• Description: (optional) Description of the server.

• Application Server: Select the drop-down list and select JRun or select Other to configure a non - Jrun server.

• Host Name: Name of the ColdFusion server host. For example, localhost or 127.0.0.1.
• Select Is Local.

Other Settings

• Webserver Port: Specify the port number of the ColdFusion server instance you are configuring. The default port number of the ColdFusion server is 8500.
• Context root: (applicable only for JRun servers with JEE configuration) Enter the context root. The JEE environment supports multiple, isolated web applications running in a server instance. Hence, JEE web applications running  in  a server are each rooted at a unique base URL, called a context root (or context path).
• Application Server Name: (applicable only for JRun servers with JEE configuration) Name of the JRun Server on which ColdFusion is deployed.
• RDS User Name: (optional) If you are using RDS, specify the RDS user name.

• RDS Password: (optional) Specify the RDS password.

• Select Enable SSL to enable SSL support in ColdFusion Builder. Servers registered in the Server Manager can communicate using SSL.
• Select Auto Start and Auto Stop to automatically start and stop the ColdFusion server every time you launch and exit ColdFusion Builder.

Click Next.

Local Server Settings

Select the Local Server Settings tab, and specify the following local server settings, as applicable.

• Server Home: (applicable only for Server configuration deployments running on Windows) Browse and select the ColdFusion Server home directory. For example, C:\ColdFusion11\cfusion.
• Document Root: Browse and select the web root location. If ColdFusion is configured with a web server, say IIS, then select the document root of the web server; for example, c:\inetpub\wwwroot.This setting is required for previewing, debugging, and CFC name resolution in ColdFusion Builder.
• Version: (applicable only for Server configuration deployments running on Windows) Select the ColdFusion server version from the Version drop-down list.
• Windows Service: (applicable only for Server configuration deployments running on Windows) The Windows Service option is available only for Server configuration deployments, and not JEE configuration deployments of ColdFusion. If you want to start and stop the ColdFusion server using the Windows Service, select Use Windows Service To Start/Stop Server.

URL Prefix

(optional)

Select the URL Prefix tab and enter the following details:

Virtual Host Settings

(optional)

To configure a virtual host, select the Virtual Host Settings tab, and do the following:

To modify the virtual host settings, select the virtual host from the List Virtual Hosts table, modify the settings, and click Update.

To understand more about virtual hosts, and its relevance in the ColdFusion Builder context, see Virtual host.

Install Extensions

Select Install Extensions to install the extensions that are packaged with ColdFusion Builder.

Click Finish to create the ColdFusion local server instance. For information on using these extensions, see Using Extensions.

Adding a bundled ColdFusion server

Bundled ColdFusion Server

Add a remote server

Before you add a remote server in ColdFusion Builder, do the following tasks, if you plan to use the feature within ColdFusion Builder to start/stop the remote instance.

Run the Admin server instance in the remote ColdFusion server

Depending on your remote server version and configuration, do the necessary tasks.

Server remote server version 7.0.2, 8.0.1

1. Unzip the file AdminServerComponents.zip to {CFHome}
   The following files are copied to {cfhome}/runtime/bin:

• adminstart.bat
• admin_jvm.config
• adminstart.sh
  The Admin Server instance is copied to {cfhome}/runtime/servers

1. Go to {cfhome}/runtime/bin and run adminstart.bat (for Windows) or adminstart.sh (for Mac OS)

Multi-server/JEE remote server version 7.0.2, 8.0.1

1. In the AdminServerComponents.zip file, unzip the following files to JRun_Home/bin:

• admin_jvm.config
• adminstart.bat (for Windows) or adminstart.sh (for Mac OS)

1. Go to JRun_Home/bin and run adminstart.bat (for Windows) or adminstart.sh (for Mac OS)

Server/Multiserver/JEE remote server version 9 and above

For ColdFusion 9 versions 9 and above, the Admin Server components are shipped by default and implemented if the Admin Server components are selected during installation.

• For Server configuration, go to {cfhome}/runtime/bin and run the adminstart script file.
• For multi-server configurations of ColdFusion 9 or earlier, go to JRun_Home/bin and run the  adminstart  script file.

Update security properties for the remote ColdFusion server

Specify the remote server settings in ColdFusion Builder

In the Servers view, do one of the following:

• Right-click and select Add Server.
• Click  .

Enter the following details in the ColdFusion Server Setup wizard:

General Settings

• Server Name: ColdFusion server name.
• Description: (optional) Description of the server.

• Application Server: Select the drop-down list and select CF+Tomcat Bundle (for CF 11 Server), or select JRun (for CF9 Server or earlier), or Other to configure another JEE server.

• Host Name: Name of the remote server host.

• Select Is Remote.

Other Settings

• Webserver Port: Specify the port number of the ColdFusion server instance you are configuring. The default port number of the ColdFusion server is 8500.
• Context root: (applicable only for JRun servers with JEE configuration) Enter the context root. The JEE environment supports multiple, isolated web applications running in a server instance. Hence, JEE web applications running  in  a server are each rooted at a unique base URL, called a context root (or context path).
• Application Server Name: (applicable only for JRun servers with JEE configuration) Name of the JRun Server on which ColdFusion is deployed.
• RDS User Name: (optional) If you are using RDS, specify the RDS user name.

• RDS Password: (optional) Specify the RDS password.

• Select Enable SSL to enable SSL support in ColdFusion Builder. Servers registered in the Server Manager can communicate using SSL.

• Select Auto Start to automatically start the ColdFusion server every time you launch ColdFusion Builder.

Click Next.

Remote Server Settings

To modify the virtual host settings, select the virtual host from the List Virtual Hosts table, modify the settings, and click Update. To understand more about virtual hosts, and its relevance in the ColdFusion Builder context, see  Virtual  host.

Click Next.

Install Extensions

Select Install Extensions to install the extensions that are packaged with ColdFusion Builder.

Click Finish to add the remote ColdFusion server instance. For information on using these extensions, see Using Extensions.If the remote server is connected successfully, then the server status in ColdFusion Builder is displayed as Running. If the remote server is not connected successfully, the server status is displayed as Unknown. For more details about the error, see Console view.----

Using Servers View

Use the Servers View to start, stop, and restart servers in ColdFusion Builder. You can also launch the ColdFusion Server Monitor and ColdFusion Server Administrator from the Servers View.

If the Servers View is not already displayed in the workbench, add the Servers View by selecting Window > Show View > Other. Then, in the Show View dialog box, select ColdFusion > Servers View.

Start, stop, restart, or delete a server

Start ColdFusion Server Administrator

Connect to remote systems

You can connect to remote systems, such as, ftp, ssh, sftp, and so on.

To connect to a remote system,

Import RDS server settings

If you have an RDS server configured, you can import the RDS server settings directly and add your RDS server to the Servers view.

You can now associate the server with your project, and debug, preview, and test your project.