During web development, sometime you (I always) need to test with a domain name, whether inside local computer or online. This post will tell you how to run multiple domain on your local PC, without setting up a DNS server. I am using Apache 2.0.53.
Case: You want to develop a website for your-domain.com and need to test it online under certain domain name.
Solution:
[1] Create a local domain name
To differ between online and local domain, you need to create a local domain name (sub domain is okay), i.e: local.yourdomain.com
[2] Edit your hosts file
In Windows XP, the “hosts” file can be found at “C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc”. Put your local domain/subdomain there with the following order:
127.0.0.1 local.yourdomain.com
[3] Add a Virtual Host into your apache configuration file (httpd.conf)
<VirtualHost *:80>
ServerAdmin webmaster@local.yourdomain.com
DocumentRoot “D:\path\to\your\web_directory”
ServerName local.yourdomain.com
ErrorLog logs/local.yourdomain-error_log
CustomLog logs/local.yourdomain-access_log common
</VirtualHost>
[4] Done.
Point your web browser to http://local.yourdomain.com. I have a result like this.
From now on, you can run multiple domain on your local PC, without the need to install DNS server.
Questions are welcome. Just leave it here and I am ready to help you.
do we a static ip to assig our subtomain to our local system
The Static IP is
127.0.0.1Oh ! thanks you very much ! I’m creating a local domain name . but I am not sure ! I hope I read a lot of posting about this topic . Thanks again .
Thanks, it worked like a charm. For those of you wondering, I even entered a standard domain name like xyz.com and the computer is recognizing it as a locally.
Hi, I hope you can answer my question about How can i manage more than one site using WordPress? do i have to download wp more than once? I already downloaded it through my Cpanel once and now i need to work on my other domains.
thank you
You can added multiple author on your WordPress or installed WordPress MU
thanks for the step-by-step guide. this would help a lot especially to those who are just starting. more power to your site.
Finally I found here, thank you mas.
It is great to know that this post is useful for you.
Thanks for visiting.