Knowledgebase

Can I View My Site Using Domain Name Before Dns Propagation?

To access the website before its domain name starts resolving to the new IP address, please follow the following steps: (while you access the website from a Windows PC)

You can setup a HOSTS file entry in the "hosts" file to view the web site. This file is a standard windows file. You can find it in the path below, depending on your windows:

Windows 95/98/Me
c:/windows/hosts

Windows NT/2000
c:/winnt/system32/drivers/etc/hosts

Windows XP
c:/windows/system32/drivers/etc/hosts
or
c:/winnt/system32/drivers/etc/hosts

STEPS:
1) Open this file in Notepad and

2) Add this line to it:
IP www.yourdomain.com
(where IP is the IP address of your shared server)

3) Save it

4) Open your browser and type the complete URL www.yourdomain.com. It should work fine and bring you the main page (index.html etc.) from public_html directory.

If running Windows VISTA, please follow these steps:

By default, if you try to modify your hosts file in Vista, it will not let you save it. It tells you that you don't have permission. To successfully modify the hosts file, run notepad.exe as an administrator and open the file.

1) Browse to Start -> All Programs -> Accessories

2) Right click "Notepad" and select "Run as administrator"

3) Click "Continue" on the UAC prompt

4) Click File -> Open

5) Browse to "C:WindowsSystem32Driversetc"

6) Change the file filter drop down box from "Text Documents (*.txt)" to "All Files (*.*)"

7) Select "hosts" and click "Open"

8) Make the needed changes and close Notepad. Save when prompted.

NOTE: Once the domain name is ready, you should edit this file and remove the line above.
Please also note that "hosts" is a simple text file without any .txt or any extension. It is a standard way to bypass the DNS servers for testing and debugging.