Set up local domain names in Ubuntu comprehensive guide

This article will show you a step by step guide on how to set up local domain names in Ubuntu

1.Add entry in /etc/hosts file

Edit your /etc/hosts file by adding you desirable local domain. By default, It looks something like this.

127.0.0.1 localhost
127.0.1.1 HOSTNAME (Varies with computer)

# The following lines are desirable for IPv6 capable hosts
::1 ip6-localhost ip6-loopback
fe00::0 ip6-localnet
ff00::0 ip6-mcastprefix
ff02::1 ip6-allnodes
ff02::2 ip6-allrouters

I will  add sinosoft.local to my hosts file,  final etc example will look as below

127.0.0.1 localhost
127.0.0.1 HOSTNAME
127.0.0.1 sinosoft.local

N/B you may add as many local domains as you wish

2.Create Virtual hosts in Apache

Create a file  e.g sinosoft.conf in Apache’s virtual host configuration directory using the following command.

$ sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/sinosoft.conf

3. Add this configuration in the Apache Virtual Host application you have created above

<VirtualHost *:80>

ServerAdmin root@sinosoft.local
ServerName sinosoft.local
DocumentRoot /path/to/project/sinosoft.local/public_html

ErrorLog /var/log/apache2/sinosoft-error.log
CustomLog /var/log/apache2/sinosoft-access.log combined

</VirtualHost>

4. Enable Site and Reload Apache using these commands

$ sudo a2ensite sinosoft.conf
$ sudo service apache2 reload

How to create a Virtual Host in Nginx

Creating Virtual Host in Nginx is the same process but the syntax of Nginx configuration are very different than Apache. To do so run the below command

$ sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/sinosoft.conf the add the following code in the file you just created

server {

listen 80;
server_name sinosoft.local
root /path/to/project/sinosoft.local/public_html

access_log /var/log/nginx/sinosoft-access.conf
error_log /var/log/nginx/sinosoft-error.log

}

Activate Site using the below commands

$ sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/sinosoft.conf /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/sinosoft.conf
$ sudo service nginx reload

N/B If you using Chrome browsser, do not use .dev domain name as Google Chrome will force redirect the URL from http to https.

Conclusion

To test if your configuration is working go to your browser and type your domain name in my case sinosoft.local.

Credits: Interserver