@saturnxviii, while you and others will almost certainly wish there was a simple answer, your question raises multiple issues that will make it not that simple to answer. Indeed, I find there's a lot of confusion about these matters, so it bears digging into.
1) I'll suggest first, though, that you're proabably going to want to talk with Adobe sales directly (email them at cfsup@adobe.com, and they'll get you to the right people). You have several mitigating factors which will dramatically impact whether what you want to do is covered in and perhaps subject to their interpretation of the EULA.
But given the specific points you've raised, I'll share what I know about them (with links to additional resources), for your sake and for other readers. Let's take them one at a time.
2) So when you refer to running CF on an AWS AMI, do you mean you are using the coldfusion ami, as offered in the aws marketplace, made available by Adobe through Coaleace Solu...? That has its own EULA, pricing, and allowed use that's different from a CF installer and license.
3) Then you refer as well to an interest in running cf on a VM. That's another issue entirely.
And are you referring to the ec2 instance on which the ami will run? If it will run that Cf ami, see above. But if instead you are intending to install cf on that ec2 VM, that's different.
But if one plans to do a typical install of CF onto ANY VM, that's indeed covered in the traditional cf EULA. And that EULA clarifies how it's about the number of cores assigned to the VM. (My first writing of this said otherwise. I'd corrected my understanding on rereading the EULA, but I'd forgotten to come back and edit this.)
(BTW, that traditional cf EULA is shown during the install, or available in the root of the cf folder after it's installed, or available online. Just search for: coldfusion eula. More on this in a blog post I've done.)
4) Then you mention also wanting to run CF for non-prod qa/test purposes.
Note that for many, the free developer edition may suit their non-prod needs--but it has its own license limitations covered in that same EULA just mentioned. The dev edition requires no license key/serial number.
For others, they'd not want to or may not be able to use that free dev edition, in which case they'd want to put the license key/serial number (which they purchased for prod) into a non-prod instance. That, too, is covered in the traditional CF EULA.
It's really only a few pages of printed, and clarifies these matters above.
5) But finally you mention running cf in containers, and as you may have experienced you're required to agree to the same EULA when running Adobe's provided cf container images (or that offered by ortus in their Commandbox CF container images). Both kinds of cf container images are indeed free for development (subject to the terms of the EULA).
But as for running those cf container images in prod, that's a different situation. Currently the cf EULA makes no mention of running cf in containers.
And according to what info Adobe DOES offer regarding licensing when running their container images in prod, it varies based on whether you've purchased cf Standard or Enterprise. Further, like with vms, the core counts have to do with the host on which the containers are run, not how the containers themselves are configured.
For more, see a post I've done about this topic.
6) Folks should consider also how, since CF2021, Adobe now does ACTIVATE all use of CF licenses--and in that proces, they know the details of the architecture on which you've implented. Activation details are covered here. The old days where a license key/serial number was "just a string you dropped into a CF installation" are long over.
(And as some know, Adobe has announced recently that CF2025 will be licensed ONLY on a subscruption basis.)
7) Indeed, even before CF2025, Adobe does also CURRENTLY offer a subscription model even for CF2023 and earlier. While there are no details on the Adobe public site that I've ever found, I am aware of it by hearing from others who run that way. They may be running what is called an ETLA (Enterprise Term License Agreement) with Adobe, or they may be running what Adobe refers to as a "virtual core license", as discussed in that Activation document I just shared above.
8) And I have heard of some people who were told that their merely deploying CF in production onto a cloud provider (like AWS, or Azure, or GCP) was itself a violation of the traditional EULA (in its mention of how it allows one to "to install and use the Software delivered hereunder on Computers within Licensee's interal network".
Still others have been told their use of CF to run a site (in the cloud or not) where they create an app which folks must be a member to access violates the EULA's defintion of a "service bureau" (in the "prohibited use" section). That seems a stretch, but there are forum threads here and elsewhere covering that.
Some have sought safe harbor for these two scenarios by running cf through a hosting provider. Those have their own hosting agreement with Adobe that is very different, and which then covers those running cf that way (even on dedicated or "Cloud" servers offered by the host.)
Still others have been offered by Adobe the option to implement CF via a subscription (ETLA) as is discussed in my previous point--but nowhere online that I have found. (I am hoping that the change in CF2025 to having EVERYONE need to get a subscruption to run CF in prod might greatly simplify things like the last few points.)
9) And all this is why I said from the outset that you'll really want to talk to Adobe sales about your plans (cfsup@adobe.com). I appreciate some want to avoid such a call. I've shared the info and resources above for those who want to try to understand and navigate things on their own. Still, when there are multiple factors as in your case, it may be risky going at it on your own.
10) And though it goes without saying, some will insist it be made clear: this is why some hate commercial software, and/or hate paying to run CF, so they look to alternatives like Lucee or the coming Ortus Boxlang cfml compatibility capability as a way to be free of such constraints.
It really is not true that EVERYONE feels that way or is seeking such alternatives, but surely many do. Again, it's also possible that Cf2025's license may be quite different and could be far better suited to modern deployment options.
Until then, I leave the above dissertation to help you and others, as you don't find all this presented in one place anywhere that I know of.
This is my interpretation of things, or course, and I'm not a lawyer so this is not legal advice. You must make your own assessment of things, or ask Adobe directly. (They tend not to speak publicly about licensing matters)
/Charlie (troubleshooter, carehart. org)
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