A Guide to Setting Up Apache 1.3.6, ColdFusion Server 4.x and ColdFusion Studio 4.x on a PC running Windows NT 4

Requirements

This guide is for people who:

• want to get ColdFusion working locally on a PC that's running Windows NT4 (mine has Service Pack 4 installed - I'm not sure what the minimum level is)
• have a printer to print this document (preferable, but maybe not essential)
• have a connection to the Internet
• have an copy of Microsoft's Internet Explorer 4.01 browser installed (as IE can be a real swine to configure I've put some notes for IE users on this page - using Netscape is an easier ride, IME)
• have a purchased copy of ColdFusion Studio, with the Single User version of Server that accompanies it (it will probably also be helpful if you're using the Evaluation version of Studio, but a couple of the details on the Studio installation might be different)
• have an hour or so

First things first

Print this document out. It will help a lot. Honest.

Oh, yeah... and read the disclaimer.

Download the Apache 1.3.6 Server for Windows

The next step to do is to visit http://www.apache.org/ and grab yourself a free copy of Apache32 for Windows. Click the link that says Apache Server. On the next page, click on the link that says Download!, click on the folder link called old and you'll be confronted with a page of downloadable files. Click on the file called apache_1_3_6_win32.exe. Save the file to a handy location on your hard drive.

Download the Apache 1.3.6 Stub for ColdFusion

While we're at it, we're going to grab the Apache Stub (a .dll file) that you will require to get ColdFusion working happily with Apache32 for Windows. Take a trip to ftp://ftp.allaire.com/ with your browser. Click on the folder marked kbftp, then the folder called Apache136stubs, and then the folder called Apache136stubs. Then, click the folder called cf40.

You'll see a page with 2 files. Click on the link marked ApacheModuleColdFusion.dll. That will start to download the stub/module/.dll/call-it-what-you-will. Save it in a memorable location on your hard drive, 'cause you're going to need it later. Ignore the other file (mod_coldfusion.so); it's for Solaris machines.

Install Apache 1.3.6

Using Windows Explorer, locate the file apache_1_3_6_win32.exe on your system. Double-click it, and it will start the installation process. A few pointers:

• Don't accept the default location for the application. Put it in a folder called C:\Apache
• Accept all the other defaults

When the installation is done, you'll be prompted to restart you're machine. When it's finished, select Start | Settings | Control Panel. Select System and then Network. Under the Identification tab, make a note of the Computer Name.

Open up Explorer, and copy the ApacheModuleColdFusion.dll that we downloaded earlier into the folder C:\Apache\modules.

Then, still using Explorer, go to the folder C:\Apache\conf. Double-click on the file called httpd.conf. You may get prompted to choose the application to open this file. Choose Notepad. When Notepad has opened the file, scroll down to the stack of lines that say:

Beneath the last line, add a line that says:

Then, scroll down till you find a line that says:

Beneath it, add these lines:

but replace yourcomputername with the name that we recorded earlier from the Identification tab within the Control Panel.

This paragraph is optional. Immediately beneath the line that says:

add the line

This is useful if you want to store your websites not within the Apache\htdocs folder, but elsewhere on your computer (in this example, a directory called "websites" on the E drive). Then, create a new HTML file and save it as index.html, overwriting the existing file in the folder C:\Apache\htdocs. In it, write the line:

This will create a clickable link on your home page that allows you to browser the folder where you keep all your websites on your local machine.

Save the file and reboot your PC. Then, Select Start | Programs | Apache Web Server | Install Apache as Service (NT only). Then reboot.

When it's completed, select Start | Control Panel | Services. If everything has gone well, you should see:

And that almost wraps it up for Apache. If you're using Internet Explorer 4.01, make the changes below. If you're using Netscape Navigator, open it up, type http://127.0.0.1/ into the Location bar, and you should hopefully get the It's Worked! page that Apache serves up by default.

I've also seen someone offer this advice: if your computername has a space in it, it may cause problems with Apache. One easy solution is to rename the machine. On a Widows 95 PC (not tried it on a machine running NT), when you rename the PC you will be asked for files from your Win95 CD-ROM. Note down what files you are asked for on a piece of paper, and select Skip File for all of them.

Then, run Find Files for all those on your list - they are all in the Windows folder somewhere. Copy (don't move) them to a Temp folder, and then go back to Start | Settings | Control Panel | Network | Identification tab | Computer Name and rename your computer again. When prompted for the CD-ROM again, just point to the Temp folder and it will rename it for you.

Setting up Internet Explorer 4.01

IE4 has given me hell trying to get it to work with a server on my machine. Then, one day, I seemed to hit on the right settings for it to work properly, and wrote them down straight away. Below are the settings that seemed to do the trick but but they may not be right for everybody. With the exception of the Home page setting (http://127.0.0.1/), to save space I've only given information from the Connection tab. If a box is not mentioned, it's not checked.

However, if you can, get hold of a copy of Internet Explorer 5. It seems a lot more reliable that 4, and is not so susceptible to the problems experienced with v4.

Now close any copies of IE4 you might have open. Then, open a fresh copy. If all's gone well, your Home page should be http://127.0.0.1/, and you should get the It's Worked! page from Apache.

Trouble is, IE4 seems pretty temperamental. One day it'll work fine, and the next day you won't be able to click on any links (it'll tell you that it can't retrieve a page by showing the hand with a No Entry sign next to it). Sometimes, a reboot will fix it.

If anyone manages to get IE4 to work for any length of time, please let me know. If in doubt, install a copy of Netscape as well. Well, to be honest, you're daft if you're designing web pages and not viewing them in all the major browsers. Often, Netscape will give you less problems than IE4. So it seems strange that I still prefer IE over NN then.

Installing ColdFusion Server

From here on, it should all be downhill. Start off with a reboot. Then, pop your Allaire ColdFusion Studio CD in the drive. When the menu comes up (assuming you haven't disabled AutoPlay on your CD-ROM drive), select the option that says ColdFusion Server 4.0 Single User.

Then, just follow the installation. Accept all the defaults. When it says that it hasn't detected any server software and gives you the option of Other Server, don't panic - that's just fine. Click OK on the dialogue box that follows.

When the installation process asks you for the Web Server Document Directory, type C:\Apache\htdocs in the space provided.

Later you will be asked to provide some passwords. Write down whatever you've given it in a safe place somewhere, just in case you forget them.

If (like me) you receive two error messages saying Unable to stop WWW service. Error number = 6 and Error number = 1060, don't panic. They don't appear to matter.

Reboot when you're prompted at the end of the installation and that's it.

Troubleshooting

However, if when you close down you find that your PC hangs and presents you with a dialog box that has a heading (something similar to) OLEThreadWndName, then you need to take the following steps:

1. Select Start | Settings | Control Panel
2. Select Services
3. Highlight Cold Fusion Application Server
4. Select Startup
5. Uncheck Allow Service to Interact with Desktop
6. Select OK
7. Select Close

That should fix it.

Installing ColdFusion Studio

Pretty easy, really. After a reboot, open and close the CD drive to bring up the ColdFusion installation screen again (as long as you haven't disabled AutoPlay on your CD-ROM drive).

Then select the ColdFusion Studio 4.0 option. Accept all the defaults, and reboot at the final prompt.

Follow up

There is an open ColdFusion mailing list called CF-Talk which is full of ColdFusion programmers and developers. They are a great crowd and always willing to help. Join the list by taking a visit to http://www.houseoffusion.com/.

Without a doubt, the book to buy if you'd like to learn more about ColdFusion is The ColdFusion Web Application Construction Kit by Ben Forta. The latest incarnation is the 3rd Edition, which covers ColdFusion 4. Grab a copy from http://www.waterstones.co.uk/ or http://www.amazon.co.uk/ if you're in England, or http://www.amazon.com/ if you're in the States.

Disclaimer

Here is where I have to declare that I'm not going to be held responsible for any data loss, machine damage, wasted hours, etc etc from following these notes. They constitute what I did (to the best of my memory) to get Apache 1.3.6 and ColdFusion 4 (the latest versions of both at the time of writing - April 1^st 1999) set up on a PC which was running Window NT 4 Workstation, with Service Pack 4 installed.

Whilst I'm confident you won't have any problems, you follow these notes at your own peril. B-b-b-back