DNS – How to see sites before propagation of Name Servers
For FTP "Problems" e.g. if domain has only recently been registered, for my dedicated hosting, I can add "host: 199.116.253.59" in the FTP to get access. If I want to actually see what the site looks like, keep reading....
To fool my computer into seeing the webpage I’ve created at a URL before the domain names have propagated, I need to alter the “hosts” file.
On my windows 10 PC, it’s here:
NOTE -Make a BACKUP of the hosts file before editing!!!
For Windows 10
- Press the Windows key.
- Type Notepad in the search field.
- In the search results, right-click Notepad and select Run as administrator.
- From Notepad, open the following file: c:\Windows\System32\Drivers\etc\hosts
- Make the necessary changes to the file.
- Click File > Save to save your changes.
E.G. The changes to make to the file are:
I added two lines at the bottom of the file – 199.116.253.59 which is my dedicated hosting IP address.
Once the domain has fully propagated (24 hours?) then I can change the hosts file back to what it was.
More notes on this at https://support.rackspace.com/how-to/modify-your-hosts-file/
- Restart any currently open browsers. You may also want to flush your DNS cache. Go to Start, and then Run, then type "cmd" and hit enter. Type the following:
ipconfig /flushdns
