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Hosts file

Hosts file

Mapping localhost to a custom domain

Mapping your localhost to a custom domain can be a useful trick for web development and testing purposes. It allows you to access your local web server using a domain name rather than just "localhost" or an IP address. This article will guide you through the process of mapping localhost to your custom domain using the /etc/hosts file on Linux and its Windows equivalent.

How to use /etc/hosts (Linux/macOS)

  1. To begin, open a terminal on your Linux machine. You'll need superuser privileges to modify the /etc/hosts file, so you may need to use the sudo command.

  2. Use your preferred text editor to open the /etc/hosts file. For example, you can use the following command:

 sudo nano /etc/hosts
  1. In the hosts file, you can add an entry to map your custom domain to the localhost IP address (127.0.0.1). For example, to map mycustomdomain.com to localhost, add the following line:
127.0.0.1 mycustomdomain.com

  1. Save the file and exit your text editor.

  2. Open a web browser and navigate to http://mycustomdomain.com. You should now see your local web server.

How to use the Hosts File (Windows)

  1. Open Notepad as an administrator. To edit the hosts file on Windows, you need to run Notepad as an administrator. Right-click on the Notepad icon and choose "Run as administrator".

  2. In Notepad, go to "File" > "Open" and navigate to C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc. Change the file type filter to "All Files" to see the hosts file.

  3. Similar to Linux, add an entry to map your custom domain to the localhost IP address (127.0.0.1). For example:

127.0.0.1 mycustomdomain.com

  1. Save the hosts file and close Notepad.

  2. Flush DNS cache (optional). Sometimes, Windows caches DNS entries. To ensure your changes take effect immediately, open a Command Prompt as an administrator and run the following command:

ipconfig /flushdns
  1. Open a web browser and navigate to http://mycustomdomain.com. You should now see your local web server.

Conclusion

Mapping localhost to a custom domain using the /etc/hosts file on Linux or the hosts file on Windows is a straightforward process that can simplify web development and testing workflows. It allows you to access your local web server using a more user-friendly domain name. Remember to remove the entry from the hosts file when you no longer need it to avoid any conflicts with actual domain names on the internet.

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