How to access your web site before DNS propagation is complete

After you update your domain’s name server settings, DNS propagation can sometimes take from 24 to 48 hours to finish . During this point , you can’t use your name . However, you’ll bypass DNS and consider your internet site by employing a shared URL or the hosts file.

Use the hosts file

Bypassing DNS is to utilize the hosts record on your local PC. The hosts document contains space name to IP address mappings. These mappings impersonate the capacity of a DNS worker, and permit you to “stunt” your PC into partner a space name with a specific IP address.

To utilize the hosts document to sidestep DNS for your area, follow these means:

a. Open the hosts document in a content tool. The area of the hosts record relies upon your PC’s working framework:

• On Microsoft Windows PCs, the hosts document is situated at

%SystemRoot%system32driversetchosts.

On Windows Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8, click Start, search for Notepad, right-click the icon, and select Run as Administrator.

On Windows 10, click Start, type notepad, right-click Notepad, and then click Run as administrator.

This starts Notepad with the elevated privileges necessary to open, modify, and save the hosts file. Note that in Notepad’s Open dialog, you must use the All Files filter to see the hosts file.

• On Apple Macintosh computers, the hosts file is located at /private/etc/hosts.
• On Linux computers, the hosts file is located at /etc/hosts.

The hosts file is a plain text file, so you should use a plain text editor like Notepad or nano to edit it. Do not use a word processor like Microsoft Word, which can add additional formatting!

b. When you open the hosts file, you should see an entry that resembles the following line:

127.0.0.1    localhost

c. To create a replacement mapping for your domain, add the subsequent line to the file:

192.0.43.10    example.com www.example.com

Replace the IP address with your new server’s IP address, and replace example.com with your web site’s domain name.

d. Save the hosts file and exit the text editor.

If you are using Mac OS X, you should also clear the DNS cache. For information about how to do this, please see this article.

e. To test the configuration, restart your web browser and go to http://example.com or http://www.example.com, where example.com represents your domain name. You should see your web site’s main page (assuming you have created some content).

After DNS propagation is complete, make sure you go back and remove the relevant entries from the hosts file!