Dreamweaver - Can't Connect to Website (Locally)

Author

Can't Connect to Website (Locally)

David B

2004-08-26, 12:20 pm

I have Apache installed on my computer, with virtual hosts, so I can
preview my sites at http://geobop/, http://geozoo/, etc.

I just created a new site, which I SHOULD be able to preview at
http://wbrain/ - but that takes me to
http://www.everydaycompanion.com/played/WBRAIN.asp instead.

I've checked and double-checked both Dreamweaver and my Apache conf
file, and I can't figure out what the problem is. It looks like I have
Dreamweaver's testing server set up the same as for all my other sites,
and this is what I put in my conf file:

<VirtualHost 127.0.0.1>
ServerAdmin webmaster@wbrain
DocumentRoot "c:/sites/wbrain"
ServerName wbrain
ServerAlias *.wbrain
ErrorLog logs/wbrain-error.log
ScriptAlias /cgi-bin/ "c:/sites/wbrain/cgi-bin/"
<Directory "c:/sites/wbrain">
Options All Includes Indexes
</Directory>
</VirtualHost>

Am I forgetting part of the process? Is there something else in the conf
file I'm supposed to modify, another file I'm supposed to modify, etc.?

David B

2004-08-26, 12:20 pm

darrel wrote:

>
>
> Virtual hosts are for actual domain names, aren't they? If you're trying to
> access these on your local system, I believe you need to modify your local
> hosts file that your browser/OS is using for DNS lookup.
>
> But that's just a wild guess. I may be completely wrong. ;o)
>
> -Darrel

Hmmm... I'm pretty sure what I'm using is called virtual hosting. It's a
really common Apache feature, though I didn't try it out until just a
few months ago.

What is the "local hosts file that your browser/OS is using for DNS
lookup"? That sounds kind of familiar, but I can't pinpoint it. Does it
have a standard name or location?

Thanks.

David B

2004-08-26, 12:22 pm

darrel wrote:

>
>
> Right, but Apache is just intercepting a request for a page on port 80. Your
> browser has to KNOW to talk to your local machine. This is normally done via
> a DNS entry. A domain name is pointed at an IP address. That domain is sent
> to that IP address where Apache then intercepts it an then decides which
> pages to serve you.
>
> I think you're missing the in-between DNS entry.
>
> Something has to tell your browser to send 'wbrain' to your particular
> machine.
>
>
>
>
> I think it's usually just called the hosts file. On my Windows2k machine
> it's located at:
>
> c:\I386\hosts._
>
> Though I'm not exactly sure of the syntax to get what you want to happen to
> work. Alas, someone else with a bit more knowlege will need to jump in on
> this.
>
> -Darrel

Thanks, Darrel. Your suggestion jogged my memory, and I tracked down the
missing file. Everything's working now.