Accessing web site by its ip address

[dimas]

Please kindly help with this matter. Is it possible to access a web site in browser by its ip address if I have several web sites at this ip address?

For example, I have several web sites at this ip 85.249.237.55: domain1.com, domain2.com, domain3.com etc

If I just type http://85.249.237.55 ispconfig of course displays a shared ip message

Can I access, say, domain1.com without actually typing http://domain1.com?

I need this for two following reasons.
1) sometimes a client wants to set up and actually see his site before a new dns entry fully propagates
2) say there's a working site somethere http://www.somesite.com, and its owner asks our web studio to redesign this site, and once it's finished, change the dns records of somesite.com to point to our server. obviously the easiest way is to set up somesite.com at our ispconfig server at once (so we won't have to move this site later), do the redesign work and when it's over just ask the client to change the dns records. but of course during this period the client would want to see how the work is progressing and so this site must somehow be accessible.

Looking forward to your replies!

[till]

You can not access a name based vhost by its IP address.

But you can add a line to the hosts file on your workstation (works with windows / mac / linux) to resolve the domain to the correct IP before the dns records are propagated.

Another possibility is that you assign a temporary domain to the website that resolves already to your server.

[dimas]

Dear Till, thank you for your reply.

Ok, I could assign a temporary domain to the website that resolves already to my server, but then there's another problem (I'm referring to situation (2) as described in my previous post). Ok the client will see his site being developed at this temporary domain, but when everything's finished I'll need to move the site to this client's account and his domain (that will start pointing at my server once everything is done).

If the site in question is a simple html site, then it's OK - I'll just copy the contents. But what if it's a complex site based on some CMS (Content Management System), for example, Joomla? With MySQL databases, etc?

So my question is - is there a way in ispconfig to move a site fully from one domain (in this case, temporary) to another domain? (I understand that 'move sites' tool in ispconfig only moves a site from one client to another).

[till]

You dont have to move a site from one domain to another. Just assign the additional domain as co-domain.

[dimas]

Thank you, I think I see what you mean, but I would highly appreciate if you could comment on whether I understood you correctly.

Say the customer's current site is http://www.customer.com
(it's a functioning site, and the customer wants it to function until the moment when the redesigned site is fully ready). This site has nothing to do with my server at the moment (it is hosted elsewhere), and the name servers of customer.com domain are not the name servers of my ispconfig server.

For the sake of clarity I'll repeat that once the redesigned site is ready the customer wants to change hosting from its current location to my ispconfig server, BUT keep the current name servers.

So - what do I need to do? I guess first I have to create a regular web site http://www.customer.com at my ispconfig server, and make NO dns entries. Then when the redesigned site is ready, I'll just ask the customer to change the 'A' dns entries of customer.com to the value of the shared ip at which the site is set up at my ispconfig server - and everything should be OK.

So now there's only a question of how to be able to see the site in its development (before it is ready) on my ispconfig server.

Do I need to ask the customer to create a co-domain, say, test.customer.com - and have it point at the newly created site on my ispconfig server? In order for this to work I guess I must first create this co-domain myself (again, no dns entries).

So when the site is ready, I move the site from http://test.customer.com to just http://customer.com by moving all files from the "web/test" folder to "web" folder, and have the customer change the 'A' dns entry of customer.com to the value of the shared ip of my ispconfig server.

Will it work the way I described?

[till]

Do I need to ask the customer to create a co-domain, say, test.customer.com - and have it point at the newly created site on my ispconfig server? In order for this to work I guess I must first create this co-domain myself (again, no dns entries).

You have to add a co-domain were you have a existing dns a-record pointing to your server.

So when the site is ready, I move the site from http://test.customer.com to just http://customer.com by moving all files from the "web/test" folder to "web" folder, and have the customer change the 'A' dns entry of customer.com to the value of the shared ip of my ispconfig server.

You dont have to do anything or move any files when you are ready because the site is already perfectly prepared. Just tell your customer to point his domain to your server, thats all. No moving of sites, files or any reconfiguration.

[dimas]

Thank you!

[Dylan]

I realise this is an old thread, but I just want to let Dimas know that there really is a way to do exactly what he intended.

Using the method below, you can install CMS on a folder on your server called example.com . Then build the site via the IP method [see below] and point the domain to your servers later. FANTASTIC!

See below from: Voodish

How to view website on a shared IP
Not all websites require a dedicated IP address, and most simple sites will be using a shared IP, but how do you view a website on a shared IP before it propagates?

Simply use the ~ACCOUNTUSERNAME method to access their website.

http://IPADDRESS/~accountusername/