Re: Configuring virtual hosts without DNS

[Sorry to re-post, but when I sent this the weekend the response was one of deafening silence!]

I know I've raised this issue before, but I really need to do something about it now.

I've got some domains hosted with Enom, who provide DNS services for them, through which I've got the domains pointed at an existing server. I want to repoint the domains at my WebTen server as virtual hosts. I tried to set up the virtual host info so that it would be all ready & waiting once I'd changed the server IP with Enom's DNS, and users wouldn't notice any difference as the DNS change propagated across the net and they started to hit the new server.

HOWEVER...

WebTen in its finite wisdom won't let me set up a virtual host for the domain because it trys a DNS lookup and finds that the specified IP is not one assigned to my server. This is rather inconvenient to say the least. It is also, IMHO and as far as I can see with my limited knowledge, pointless 'nannying' of the user - after all does it really matter if the user creates phantom virual hosts because no traffic will arrive for them if the DNS is not configured to point that domain's traffic to the server's IP.

the machine should be looking to itself for DNS resolution and then the virtual hosts would not fail. In your TCP/IP set your DNS to your box, then set the appropriate IP's in WebTen, then enter the Vhost in your DNS pointed to this box. Then enter the Vhost. That should all work fine.

What's missing for you is that your box is trying to resolve DNS from a different Name server so it would never function properly.

Is this 'feature' really necessary, Tenon? It certainly causes problems if you have your DNS elsewhere, as currently I would have to change the DNS settings, wait & keep checking for the DNS to update, and only then could I set up the virtual host. In the period between the DNS updating and me seeing this, creating the virutal host and uploading the content, any visitors would presumably just get my default WT home page. This is not A Good Thing.

It is a good idea to show the error to the admin IMHO.

I tried fooling WT by switching on WT's DNS, setting up a basic primary zone record for the domain and then trying to set the DNS IP in the preferences dialogue to the server's own IP. But it wouldn't stick, and kept reverting to the previous IP of my ISP's DNS.

Check your TCP/IP address for DNS before you startup webten.

So, now what I'm wondering is this: Can I bypass the DNS check when setting up a new virtual host by adding the virual host manually to the appropriate (httpd.conf?) config file, before doing any detailed config via WT's admin server? If so, can anyone advise on the best way to do this? Do I need to quite WT before I duplicate & edit the file? Are there any other config files I need to edit? What is the minimum information I need to insert?

while of course this is dooable it's not recommended. In addition to the httpd.conf file you'd need to edit all your named files. in /etc/named.

Good luck

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