Testing a Versio website without changing the DNS

You can test your website without the domain name pointing to the new server. You can do this by editing the hosts file. This allows you to check whether the website is functioning properly before adjusting the DNS of the domain name. We will explain how you can do this in Windows and Mac.

Content

• Windows
• Mac

Windows

Step 1: Launch notepad as Administrator

• Find Notepad in the Start menu;
• Right click on the icon; 
• Choose Run as administrator.

Step 2: Open hosts file in notepad

• Go to File and click Open;
• Select All files;
• Open the file :/windows/system32/drivers/etc/hosts

Step 3: Entering your domain name in the hosts file

• In the hosts file put your domain name on a new line;
• For instance: 159.253.0.110 versio.uk www.versio.uk;
• Save the file.

Step 4: Visiting your domain name

• Relaunch your browser;
• Go to your domain name;
• This should now refer to the hosting package of which you provided the IP.

Mac

Step 1: Open hosts file

• Go to Applications;
• Click on Utilities;
• Choose Terminal;
• Type the following: sudo nano /private/etc/hosts
• You must provide your password after this.

Step 2: Entering your domain name in the hosts file

• In the hosts file put your domain name on a new line;
• For instance: 159.253.0.110 versio.uk www.versio.uk
• Save the file by pressing Ctrl + X;
• Press Y (yes) to save the file;
• You will see the name of the file. Press Enter;
• The screen of the word processor will be closed;
• Execute the command: dscacheutil -flushcache

Step 3: Visiting your domain name

• Relaunch your browser and go to your domain name;
• This should now refer to the hosting package of which you provided the IP.