I've put another site on this IP and can't see it in a broswer

I'm stuck on the basics, I guess. Help, please

[oddsod]

I've added a new domain to my account and posted the files in /var/www/newdomain (shared hosting)

My original site is in /var/www/html

I can see my old site when I type my unique IP into a browser but how do I see the files in new domain without moving the files to /var/www/html/newdomain?

(I haven't setup the NS to point here yet. I want to make sure everything's working first)

[ChadSEO]

oddsod,

If you wanted to test it without updating the DNS, you could edit the HOSTS file on your computer. The file is located in c:\winnt\system32\drivers\etc\hosts (or c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts depending on which version of Windows you have). If you add a newline at the bottom with:

111.222.333.444 example.com

Substitute your unique IP address and the new domain name, and then you should be able to request that new domain. You may have to restart your browser.

[oddsod]

Thanks for your quick reply ChadSEO but that does not seem to work.

I've removed all lines in hosts and left just
00.00.000.000 newdomain.com

but when I restart IE and type the IP in I get the old site.

[ChadSEO]

It sounds like the webserver is not configured for the new website yet. Do you know if the hosting company has set this up already? If they have set it up, and it's still not working, you'll probably need to point the DNS to that server in order for them to test it and make sure it's working.

[oddsod]

I've modified the entries to point the domain to the /var/www/newdomain folder but I'd like to check the pages before I change the NS and everything goes live. If I move the files to /var/www/html/newdomain I can see them in the browser. But to avoid possible confusion I don't want to have this new domain in the html folder where the old site resides. I wanted it in /var/www/newdomain

[ChadSEO]

but when I restart IE and type the IP in I get the old site.

That'll teach me to not read very carefully. What happens when you type in the new domain in IE?

[oddsod]

er, it still goes to the old server as I haven't changed the NS.

I'm confused. How does the change in the hosts file tell the browser where on the new IP this domain's files reside?

[ChadSEO]

The short answer is, it doesn't. Basically it works like this:

1) You type in example.com in your browser.
2) Your computer attempts to resolve this domain to an IP address. The first place it looks is your HOSTS file, then it tries DNS.
3) If it resolved, then a request is sent to that IP address, which contains the domain name that you typed in.
4) The web server at that IP address does one of two things:
a. If it's configured for only one domain, it returns the default site.
b. If it's configured for multiple domains using "Virtual Aliasing", then it looks up the location based on the domain name it was provided.

Back to the problem at hand, you said it's still returning the results from the old webserver? After you update your HOSTS file, if you restart your browser, then it should forget what it knows about your domain and attempt to resolve to an IP address, starting with your HOSTS file.

If it's still not working, send me a stick mail with the new domain and the IP address, and maybe I'll catch something.

[oddsod]

>> it should forget what it knows about your domain and attempt to resolve to an IP address, starting with your HOSTS file
So it's doing that OK.

>> If it's configured for multiple domains using "Virtual Aliasing"
Ah, I need to find out what this is, have a chat with the hosting company and figure out if it's something they do or something I have to do. (I've already logged into the Domain Management section of the Site Manager at westhost, added the new domain, and pointed it to relevant sub directory ....but there's obviously something I'm missing)