Preview Website before DNS propagation with HOSTS file Print

To test your website with your own domain name before DNS propagation has completed, you can use your local computer's HOSTS file. Your computer will use the entries in your HOSTS file before it looks up the DNS information for your domain. When you are finished testing, remember to remove the custom lines that you added.

You will need to know your server's IP address in order to complete the instructions below.   Your server's IP address is noted in your VIRTBIZ portal under the webhosting service.

A few things to note

Certain features on your site may not work as expected if you are not using the actual domain name in the URL.

• WordPress sites and other websites may force a rewrite of the URL to the domain name, so the site may redirect to your previous host, or may not display at all. You can either temporarily update the WordPress URL to your preview URL, or read below for another option.
• Files called with absolute rather than relative links will still be pulling data from your previous host.
• SSL certificates, and visiting sites over HTTPS will work without errors only with the exact domain name.

Windows

1. Locate the HOSTS file on your computer. Typically it is in the following location:
   • Windows 10 or newer - C:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts
2. Open this file with a text editor such as Notepad or Wordpad.
   • Right-click on Notepad and select the option to Run as Administrator - otherwise, you may not be able to open this file.
   Then, open the file. Consider performing a "Save As" so you have an original copy of the file that you can restore later. You will see two columns of information, the first containing IP addresses and the second containing hostnames. By default, a windows hosts file should be similar to the following:

   Filename: hosts

   127.0.0.1 localhost

   You can add additional lines to this file that will point requests for a particular domain to your new server's IP address. Example:

   Filename: hosts

   127.0.0.1 localhost
   11.22.33.44 example.com
   11.22.33.44 www.example.com
   

3. Save your changes.
4. Restart any currently open browsers. You may also want to flush your DNS cache. Go to Start, and then Run, then type "cmd" and hit enter. Type the following:

   ipconfig /flushdns

5. Visit your new site using http://example.com or http://www.example.com/

Mac OS X

1. Open Terminal, which is in Applications, then the Utilities folder.
2. You may want to first make a backup copy of your existing hosts file:

   sudo cp /private/etc/hosts /private/etc/hosts-orig

   Enter your user password at the prompt.

   Type the following command to edit your hosts file:

   sudo vi /private/etc/hosts

   Enter your user password at the prompt.

3. You will see a file with contents similar to the following:

   Filename: hosts

   ##
   # Host Database
   #
   # localhost is used to configure the loopback interface
   # when the system is booting. Do not change this entry.
   ##
   127.0.0.1 localhost
   255.255.255.255 broadcasthost
   ::1 localhost
   fe80::1%lo0 localhost
   

   Add your domain and IP address to the bottom of the file. For example:

   Filename: hosts

   ##
   # Host Database
   #
   # localhost is used to configure the loopback interface
   # when the system is booting. Do not change this entry.
   ##
   127.0.0.1 localhost
   255.255.255.255 broadcasthost
   ::1 localhost
   fe80::1%lo0 localhost
   11.22.33.44 example.com
   11.22.33.44 www.example.com
   

   vi tip:

   Press "i" to enter "insert mode" so you can type and copy/paste. Press "Esc" to exit "insert mode" when you are done modifying the file. Type ":wq" to save and quit.

4. You may also need to grant yourself sudo privileges if you got a permission error in Step 2. In your "Help" menu, search for "root" and select the instructions for "Enabling the root user." Follow these.
5. Restart any currently open browsers. You may also want to flush your DNS cache:

   dscacheutil -flushcache

6. Visit your new site using http://example.com/ or http://www.example.com/