After creating a new domain (name based IP) in Plesk how can you FTP to the site and view the site before the domain resolves? I looked through the manual but I couldn't find the info. Shouldn't you be able to view the site at IP address/directory or host url/directory? I know you can do this in CPanel but Plesk doesn't make it clear how to do this.

While the plesk faq at http://www.plesk.com/html/support/faq/psa/client.htm#q2 does seem a little vague, I'd suggest using the standard IP and account name access method.


Lats...

Unfortunately I can't do that...I just signed up for a reseller plan and its name based IP domain creation.

Seems to be a little difficult :eek:

I found this at the plesk forum:

http://forum.plesk.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=969

Good luck!


Lats...

Lats, thanks for trying to help. I just got the answer from my host and I want to share it with anyone else having this problem. Here's what he said:

You can ftp to the IP with the ftpadmin name/password you set in the hosting setup for that domain. xxx.xx.xxx.xxx

You can see the site (unfortunately php/cgi doesn't work this way) with http://xxx.xx.xxx.xxx/~domain.com/ (replace domain.com with the domain, no www).

I tried it and it seems to work fine. That's a relief because I wanted to move domains I have already up with other hosts to this host and I needed to be able to preview the site to make sure everything was OK before putting in the new nameservers for the domain, so there is no downtime for the site.

Hope this helps others...I still can't find this info in the Plesk manual.

There are a couple of other ways to handle this, which allow you FULL access to your domain name rather than just partial. They were discussed here (http://webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=37533&highlight=domain+before+propagation) Also, the method that your host is using, is not automatic. That must be setup on the host side, in order to be able to access domains like that.

-Dan

If you want to be able to use all services on the domain before it propogates, and you want to be able to see it in a browser using the domain name on a shared IP -- do the smart thing:

Set your local secondary/primary DNS server to that of the webserver hosting the virtual site.

Then you remove the dependency of waiting for propogation. You can change your DNS servers back to your ISP when you're done "testing", or the domain has propogated.

Just an additional FYI here:

If your client is using Win2K and has tried numerous times to resolve their domain name, chances are Win2K has cached the old or non-existant IP in the DNS Resolver Cache.

The quick way to clear this is open a DOS window (Start->Run->"cmd") and type "ipconfig /flushdns".

Jstanden, thanks for the info, but I have know idea what you are talking about. Could you repeat that in layman's terms or (DNS for dummies)? Thanks. :confused:

He's referring to the same thing that I posted in the link I provided above. Just add your host servers name servers to your desktop network settings. I described roughly how to do it in the other post.

-Dan

serve-you, OK, I wasn't sure he was talking about the same thing as the procedure described in the other post. It sounded like he was suggesting something different. Thanks

Greg,
When I hit the main ip of my box and try to access an account on it that is namebased, it won't work using your method.

I'm trying (mainiphere)/~their-site.com and it says not found.

Brian

Originally posted by serve-you
Also, the method that your host is using, is not automatic. That must be setup on the host side, in order to be able to access domains like that.

Hehe, whoops. How would I do that?

Brian

Enable the UserDir Directive in your httpd.conf.
Please note that this is a server wide setting that will allow all domains home directories to be accessed via http://anydomain.com/~ftpaccount

-Dan

I'm not sure I'm either familiar with the UserDir Directive (or I just forgot about it), but I have used what was described in the plesk thread (posted above): http://forum.plesk.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=969 and that worked well enough for most cases. Have to look the UserDir thing up and see what that does...

DUH... yes, familiar with that one, though I'm not sure how that helps to resolve a domain that hasn't propogated yet. Have to think about this one a bit...

The UserDir directive allows you to access any domain via say hostdomain.com/~user. Personally, I don't see much use in it. If a client wants that badly to see their site before DNS propagates, they can add the NS to their computer and do what they need to. Then delete it once propagation happens.

-Dan

What about uploading their site to the server before it propogates so they can view it without experiencing downtime during the switch over.

Brian

They can FTP to the shared IP. It automatically directs them to their directory based on the user/pass.

-Dan

Some time ago we tried UserDir directive on our Plesk servers and it didn't work. There is another solution we tested, using AliasMatch. With this directive you get domain.com/temp/customer.com address (or similar).

This proved to be extremely dangerous, since php does not get parsed correctly and the actual code is displayed in the visitor browser (!).

Since this can work server-wide, anyone can see any php code from any web site on the server, all they need to know is the URL... ..../temp/customer1.com .../temp/customer2.com etc.

How is php handled when using UserDir directive?

Ales