Re: [cobalt-users] Previewing a name-based virtual site

[Will DeHaan <will@xxxxxxxxxx>]

The best way to test a name-based web site before your DNS domain
registrations are complete is to take control of your own DNS service. 
Every RaQ and Qube out there has a DNS server built-in.  Simply add a
forward (A) record in your DNS from your
www.namebasedbutnotyetregistered.com to the IP address used by that
site.  Save Changes.  Set the RaQ to your primary DNS server on your
local PC.  Now pull up that site on your web browser, test away.

The public can never access a name-based site without correctly
configured public DNS service.  Register those domains if you haven't
already.  www.123domains.com is running a sale, $28 for two years
service.


	-- Will

Kevin Murphy wrote:
> 
> Hello.
> 
> We have been using a Coblat RaQ2 for quite some time for a single
> client, and are beginning now to host multiple sites on it.  We are
> planning to use name-based hosting to accomplish this.
> 
> My question is deceptively simple.  When a virtual site is added to the
> primary IP address on the server, how do I access that site in order to
> test it?
> 
> Currently, we "stage" all our sites as users in the home directory.
> This allows us to send clients to 'our.cobalt.server/users/theirsite',
> and works well.  But I don't want to be forced to move their sites when
> they go "live" because of the limits of this server.  There's got to be
> a better way!
> 
> >From what I can tell, the directory structure of the server prevents you
> from accessing a new  site directly by IP, as the IP-based hosting
> points at a specific web directory, and not the "root" of all web directories.
> 
> I have tried adding a symlink to the directory created by the new domain
> in /home/sites/home/users, but I always get "file not found" when I try
> to access it in the browser.
> 
> I also tried adding a second entry in the ServerAlias line in
> httpd.conf, and that didn't seem to work, either - it just redirected
> the site over to the existing domain!  Not useful for my purposes.
> 
> So, I'm stuck.
> 
> Do I need to change the DocumentRoot for the IP I'm going to host all
> the sites under so it  points at a higer level directory, and then put
> in a new ServerName line for the existing machine on that IP?  But won't
> that screw up the Cobalt Interface?  Or is httpd.conf written
> separately, and only re-written when it's asked to?
> 
> Any hints are greatly appreciated.  I'm sure I'm not the first person to
> encounter this problem.
> 
> Thanks!
> 
> -Kevin
> 
> --
> Kevin Murphy
> Director of Technology
> 
> Glen Group
> Marketing and Advertising Design
> P.O. Box 2838, 170 Kearsarge Street
> North Conway, New Hampshire 03860
> http://www.glengroup.com
> 
> Voice: 603-356-3030 * FAX: 603-356-3991
> 
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