Access virtual host from another machine over LAN

Question

• I am using Windows 7 with Wamp 2.2 server.
• I have setup 2 virtual hosts: www.project1.com and www.project2.com.
• I have modified the "hosts", the httpd.conf, and the httpd-vhosts.conf files, to the changes I mentioned below.

Using my browser, when I type www.project1.com or www.project2.com, I successfully get my web pages opened on the laptop that has the server installed on.

Changes in the "hosts file": I've appended the followings to the end of the file:-

127.0.0.1       localhost 127.0.0.1       www.project2.com 127.0.0.1       www.project1.com 

Changes in the httpd.conf file:-

Include conf/extra/httpd-vhosts.conf 

Changes in httpd-vhosts file:-

NameVirtualHost *:80  <Directory "D:/websites/">     AllowOverride All     Order Deny,Allow     Allow from all     </Directory> <VirtualHost 127.0.0.1>     DocumentRoot "D:/websites/wamp/www/"     ServerName localhost </VirtualHost>   <VirtualHost 127.0.0.1>     DocumentRoot "D:/websites/project1/"     ServerName www.project1.com </VirtualHost>   <VirtualHost 127.0.0.1>     DocumentRoot "D:/websites/project2/"     ServerName www.project2.com </VirtualHost> 

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Now; since I can open these web pages from a browser in PC_1 (the one with the server), how can I access these web pages from a browser in PC_2? (I mean any PC connected to PC_1 via LAN.)

Answer 1

In addition to danp's answer, you can access the virtual host without having to change the client machine's etc/hosts file by assigning a port to the virtual host. This is ideal if you want to access the server with a mobile or tablet device:

1. Edit server's httpd.conf file at:

   \wamp\bin\apache\apache2.2.x\conf\httpd.conf 

   Search for "Listen" (around line 61). You should see the following that allows for Apache to listen for port 80:

   Listen 0.0.0.0:80 Listen [::0]:80 

   Add the following lines to add listening for port 81 (or any port):

   Listen 0.0.0.0:81 Listen [::0]:81 

2. Edit the httpd-vhosts.conf file at:

   \wamp\bin\apache\apache2.2.x\conf\extra\httpd-vhosts.conf 

   Change your "Virtual Host" tag to port 81:

   <VirtualHost *:81>     DocumentRoot "D:/websites/project1/"     ServerName www.project1.com </VirtualHost> 

3. Restart Apache server.

4. On the client machine/tablet/mobile, on the web browser, enter the server's IP address (192.168.0.10, or whatever IP) followed by the port number in the following format:

   http://192.168.0.10:81