We are happy to announce the beta availability of Micro Cloud Foundry™ as a free download at http://micro.cloudfoundry.com
What is in Micro Cloud Foundry?
Micro Cloud Foundry is a complete version of Cloud Foundry that runs in a virtual machine on a developer’s Mac or PC. It is a full instance of Cloud Foundry that provides the flexibility of local development while preserving your options for future deployment and scaling of your applications.
Micro Cloud Foundry supports Java on Spring, Ruby on Rails/Sinatra and Node.JS frameworks as well as MySQL, MongoDB and Redis application services. It supports both Cloud Foundry’s scriptable command line interface (vmc) and integration with the Eclipse-based SpringSource Tool Suite (STS). This allows developers to retarget deployments between on-premise and public environments without code modifications.
With built-in dynamic DNS support, developers can run their Micro Cloud Foundry wherever they happen to be working – whether at home, office or coffee shop – without any reconfiguration required.
Micro Cloud Foundry is available as a downloadable virtual machine image compatible with VMware Fusion for MacOSX, VMware Workstation and VMware Player (available as a free download) for Linux and Windows. It provides an easy install, setup and VM management mechanisms.
How to get Micro Cloud Foundry Set Up & Installed
Pre-requisites
- Register for a CloudFoundry.com account
- Install vmc and/or STS (If you want to deploy Spring Apps)
- Micro Cloud Foundry is built on 64-bit Ubuntu Linux image, this requires a 64-bit CPU
- You must have installed one of the following: VMware Fusion, VMware Workstation or VMware Player
Obtaining Micro Cloud Foundry
First go to http://micro.cloudfoundry.com , login with your CloudFoundry.com account, accept the license agreement and download the VM.
Obtaining your Micro Cloud Foundry DNS Configuration Token
Type in your desired sub-domain name and click “Create”
This will generate a unique DNS token (remember this token, as it will be required when you configure the Micro Cloud Foundry instance).
Running and Configuring your Micro Cloud Foundry
After the download completes, uncompress the archive file containing the VM.
Windows users, please note that the Micro Cloud Foundry image is a *.tgz file and you will need a TAR compatible program to uncompress it.
The archive will contain a directory named “micro” with two files located inside:
Double click the micro.vmx file and VMware Fusion, Workstation, or Player will start and begin booting the Micro Cloud Foundry instance.
If you are prompted to upgrade the virtual machine – CHOOSE “Don’t Upgrade”.
You will then be prompted to configure your Micro Cloud Foundry instance.
Select Option 1 to configure
First, you will be prompted to set the Micro Cloud Foundry VM user password, which will set the password for the ‘root’ and ‘vcap’ users on the VM. The ‘root’ and ‘vcap’ users are the administrative/control accounts for your Micro Cloud Foundry VM. It can be used to ssh into the VM to diagnose problems. This is not required for normal Micro Cloud Foundry operations.
You will also be asked to verify the password that you entered.
You will now be prompted to configure the Micro Cloud Foundry networking.
Select 1. DHCP (This is currently the only supported configuration).
You will then be prompted for Proxy information. If you are behind an HTTP Proxy, you should enter that information here (e.g http://proxy.mycompany.com:3128).
If not, just press Enter to continue.
You will then need to type the DNS configuration token that you received on the page where you downloaded the Micro Cloud VM.
Once the verification and update of the DNS is complete, the Micro Cloud Foundry instance has enough information to complete the installation and configuration process.
Once your Micro Cloud Foundry installation has completed (this may take a few minutes), press Enter, and you will see the following screen.
This is it! Your Micro Cloud Foundry is ready.
Connecting to your Micro Cloud Foundry
You can now begin using the vmc or STS client by targeting the url displayed on the Micro Cloud Foundry console:
Micro Cloud Foundry operational, to access use:
vmc target http://api.mycloud.cloudfoundry.me
From the command line of your development computer, type
vmc target http://api.mycloud.cloudfoundry.me
Please replace “mycloud” with whatever domain you have chosen for your Micro Cloud Foundry instance.
Logging into Micro Cloud Foundry for the first time
To use the Micro Cloud Foundry instance, you must first register a user.
Using vmc this is done by typing:
vmc register
You will then be prompted to input a username (e-mail address) and a password
Once you have successfully registered, you can log in through vmc or STS using those credentials.
Using vmc this is done by typing:
vmc login
At this point, you are ready to use Micro Cloud Foundry the same way that you would use CloudFoundry.com.
Micro Cloud Foundry offers symmetry with CloudFoundry.com, which means that you can target api.cloudfoundry.com and push the same code that you push to your Micro Cloud Foundry instance.
Micro Cloud Foundry is a developer focused offering, designed to support development and test scenarios. The power of your machine, will determine how many applications can be run simultaneously.
We will provide frequent Micro Cloud Foundry updates to include additional frameworks, services, and features. Stay tuned on this blog and follow us on Twitter for new announcements.
For further details on how to use Micro Cloud Foundry, please see the following documentation:
Introduction to using Micro Cloud Foundry
Introduction to using Micro Cloud Foundry with Spring STS
-The Cloud Foundry Team
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