Search icon
Arrow left icon
All Products
Best Sellers
New Releases
Books
Videos
Audiobooks
Learning Hub
Newsletters
Free Learning
Arrow right icon
Implementing AppFog
Implementing AppFog

Implementing AppFog: Getting to grips with the AppFog service is easily achieved with this hands-on guide, which walks you through creating and deploying applications to the cloud. You'll be developing your first application in minutes.

€19.99 €13.98
Book Nov 2013 86 pages 1st Edition
eBook
€19.99 €13.98
Print
€24.99
Subscription
€14.99 Monthly
eBook
€19.99 €13.98
Print
€24.99
Subscription
€14.99 Monthly

What do you get with eBook?

Product feature icon Instant access to your Digital eBook purchase
Product feature icon Download this book in EPUB and PDF formats
Product feature icon Access this title in our online reader with advanced features
Product feature icon DRM FREE - Read whenever, wherever and however you want
Buy Now

Product Details


Publication date : Nov 19, 2013
Length 86 pages
Edition : 1st Edition
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781849698184
Table of content icon View table of contents Preview book icon Preview Book

Implementing AppFog

Chapter 1. Getting Started with AppFog

You can create an AppFog account and have your first application up and running in minutes. This chapter shows you how to perform this, and also demonstrates some of the features of the application control panel.

Note

You can create and deploy several applications using AppFog's free service level, which allows you to use up to 2 GB of RAM. You can use the free service level without supplying a credit card number. Some advanced features, such as use of external domain names, SSL, and team access, are only available to the paid users.

About AppFog


AppFog is a platform that you can use to host and deploy your applications to the cloud. You can write applications in Java, Node.js, Ruby, Python, or PHP and it also has built-in support for MySQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, Redis, and RabbitMQ. Applications and their services can all be configured from a simple dashboard in a matter of minutes. AppFog also provides scalable architectures with load balancing so as your applications grow, you can easily increase the number of instances you have running.

There are free and paid plans. The paid plans currently start at $20 and go up from there depending on how much memory, storage, and instances you need. There are also enterprise level plans for larger businesses.

One of the main benefits of using AppFog is that it reduces the amount of time you need to spend on configuring servers, installing and configuring firewalls and security, and managing load balancers.

Creating an account


Create an AppFog account using the following steps:

  1. Go to www.appfog.com and click on Sign Up.

  2. The Create an account form appears. Fill it in and click on Signup.

  3. After clicking on Signup, you will need to verify your e-mail. Once activated, you will be taken to your profile page.

  4. On your profile page, click on Create App. This will take you to the new apps page. We will cover this page in the next section.

Creating and deploying a preconfigured application


The new apps page helps you create and deploy a preconfigured application. Applications can be in one of several programming languages, including Ruby, Python, Java, PHP, and Node.js. These languages can be used with various application frameworks and backend services. In this chapter, you will create and deploy a basic "Hello World" application written in the Ruby programming language and utilizing the Sinatra application framework. No knowledge of Ruby or Sinatra is needed for this initial step.

  1. Go to the New Apps page. If you've just created your account, you will go to the profile page and can then click on New App. Otherwise, go to console.appfog.com and click on create app.

  2. Choose an application platform. The first section of the New Apps page is a list of platforms labeled Step 1: Choose an application. Your first application will run on Ruby and Sinatra, so click that icon.

  3. Choose an infrastructure. This is the cloud hosting provider that will run your application. For this simple application, you can choose any infrastructure that supports Ruby. You will see a red exclamation mark on any infrastructures that do not support your selected application. Have look at the following screenshot for reference:

    Note

    Buttons for infrastructures that support Ruby have RUBY in a white-on-gray rectangle. Infrastructures that do not support Ruby will have a red exclamation mark.

  4. Choose an application name. This name will form part of a URL you can use to access your application in a Web browser. Click on Create App, as in the following screenshot:

    Note

    • The web form refers to the application name as a "domain" or a "subdomain" because it's part of a web site URL. You'll mainly use this name to identity the application to the command-line tool, so this book calls it the "application name".

    • You can assign additional domain names to the application after you deploy it.

  5. After you click on Create App, you go to a page that describes the progress of the application towards creation, staging, and running. Once it is running, you can click on the Your App is ready link to see it:

Using the application control panel


After you create an application, its control panel appears automatically. To access it otherwise perform the following steps:

  1. Go to console.appfog.com. A list of applications appears:

  2. Click on the application name in the left column. The application control panel appears:

This console has many features, which we will explore in later chapters. For now, let's focus on just two features, which are listed in the following bullet list:

  • If you click on the Visit Live Site button (upper-right), you go to your application, which is already running.

  • If you click on Domain Names (left-side) you can assign additional domain names for application access. To support external domain names (such as mysite.com), you must upgrade your AppFog account to a paid level. The domain name itself is managed by a registrar, which is separate from AppFog.

Note

To create a domain name, visit the website for a domain name registrar. You will need the A Record and CNAME Record data for the infrastructure you are using. This data is available on AppFog domain names screen. You can read AppFog help guide on custom domain names for more details.

Summary


In this chapter we learned how to:

  • Create an AppFog account

  • Create a preconfigured AppFog application

  • Deploy the application and see it running

  • Use AppFog control panel

In Chapter 2, Using the Command-line Tool, we are going to use AppFog command-line tool to download the application we created here, update it, and then redeploy it to AppFog.

Left arrow icon Right arrow icon

Key benefits

  • Create applications from scratch using the AppFog web console
  • Learn the knack of deploying applications to the Cloud using AppFog
  • Know the steps to avoid compatibility issues using the node module function of AppFog.

Description

AppFog is the leading platform-as-a-service provider of PHP, Ruby, Node.js, and Java solutions. It is used by developers worldwide to deploy tens of thousands of applications. AppFog delivers a reliable, scalable, and fast platform for deploying applications in the cloud.This book is a hands-on guide that will walk you through creating and deploying applications to the cloud using AppFog, which will allow you to get your application deployed without the hassle of setting up servers.This book demonstrates how to use the AppFog service to build an application and have it running in the Cloud. It will walk you through the initial AppFog setup process and explain how to create your first application in minutes.You will also discover how to use services such as databases to make your applications more powerful. You will also learn how to create applications from scratch.You will find out everything you need to know to get an application running in the cloud for the first time.

What you will learn

Set up an account on AppFog Download your application from the cloud so that you can make updates Upload new versions of your application Modify your application to use a database hosted by AppFog Use the AppFog command line tools including a reference guide to all the command line options

What do you get with eBook?

Product feature icon Instant access to your Digital eBook purchase
Product feature icon Download this book in EPUB and PDF formats
Product feature icon Access this title in our online reader with advanced features
Product feature icon DRM FREE - Read whenever, wherever and however you want
Buy Now

Product Details


Publication date : Nov 19, 2013
Length 86 pages
Edition : 1st Edition
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781849698184

Table of Contents

13 Chapters
Implementing AppFog Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Credits Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
About the Authors Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
About the Reviewers Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
www.PacktPub.com Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Preface Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Getting Started with AppFog Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Using the Command-line Tool Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Configuring Services Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Creating an Application from Scratch Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Command-line Reference Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Installing the AppFog Gem Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Index Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Customer reviews

Filter icon Filter
Top Reviews
Rating distribution
Empty star icon Empty star icon Empty star icon Empty star icon Empty star icon 0
(0 Ratings)
5 star 0%
4 star 0%
3 star 0%
2 star 0%
1 star 0%

Filter reviews by


No reviews found
Get free access to Packt library with over 7500+ books and video courses for 7 days!
Start Free Trial

FAQs

How do I buy and download an eBook? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Where there is an eBook version of a title available, you can buy it from the book details for that title. Add either the standalone eBook or the eBook and print book bundle to your shopping cart. Your eBook will show in your cart as a product on its own. After completing checkout and payment in the normal way, you will receive your receipt on the screen containing a link to a personalised PDF download file. This link will remain active for 30 days. You can download backup copies of the file by logging in to your account at any time.

If you already have Adobe reader installed, then clicking on the link will download and open the PDF file directly. If you don't, then save the PDF file on your machine and download the Reader to view it.

Please Note: Packt eBooks are non-returnable and non-refundable.

Packt eBook and Licensing When you buy an eBook from Packt Publishing, completing your purchase means you accept the terms of our licence agreement. Please read the full text of the agreement. In it we have tried to balance the need for the ebook to be usable for you the reader with our needs to protect the rights of us as Publishers and of our authors. In summary, the agreement says:

  • You may make copies of your eBook for your own use onto any machine
  • You may not pass copies of the eBook on to anyone else
How can I make a purchase on your website? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

If you want to purchase a video course, eBook or Bundle (Print+eBook) please follow below steps:

  1. Register on our website using your email address and the password.
  2. Search for the title by name or ISBN using the search option.
  3. Select the title you want to purchase.
  4. Choose the format you wish to purchase the title in; if you order the Print Book, you get a free eBook copy of the same title. 
  5. Proceed with the checkout process (payment to be made using Credit Card, Debit Cart, or PayPal)
Where can I access support around an eBook? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
  • If you experience a problem with using or installing Adobe Reader, the contact Adobe directly.
  • To view the errata for the book, see www.packtpub.com/support and view the pages for the title you have.
  • To view your account details or to download a new copy of the book go to www.packtpub.com/account
  • To contact us directly if a problem is not resolved, use www.packtpub.com/contact-us
What eBook formats do Packt support? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Our eBooks are currently available in a variety of formats such as PDF and ePubs. In the future, this may well change with trends and development in technology, but please note that our PDFs are not Adobe eBook Reader format, which has greater restrictions on security.

You will need to use Adobe Reader v9 or later in order to read Packt's PDF eBooks.

What are the benefits of eBooks? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
  • You can get the information you need immediately
  • You can easily take them with you on a laptop
  • You can download them an unlimited number of times
  • You can print them out
  • They are copy-paste enabled
  • They are searchable
  • There is no password protection
  • They are lower price than print
  • They save resources and space
What is an eBook? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Packt eBooks are a complete electronic version of the print edition, available in PDF and ePub formats. Every piece of content down to the page numbering is the same. Because we save the costs of printing and shipping the book to you, we are able to offer eBooks at a lower cost than print editions.

When you have purchased an eBook, simply login to your account and click on the link in Your Download Area. We recommend you saving the file to your hard drive before opening it.

For optimal viewing of our eBooks, we recommend you download and install the free Adobe Reader version 9.