This article will guide you in verifying your website on a new server or hosting account during the migration phase, while your site is still active and directed to the old server. It is crucial to ensure that your website functions correctly on the new server before notifying our support team to direct your website's IP address to the new server, thereby completing the migration.
Here are the steps to review your hosts file:
1. Find the HOSTS file on your computer. It is generally located in one of the following directories:
Windows NT/2000/XP/2003/Vista/7 : C:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts
Windows 95/98/Me : C:\windows\hosts
2. Open this file using a text editor like Notepad or Wordpad.
3. Right-click on Notepad and choose the option to Run as Administrator, or you may be unable to save the file later.
Next, open the file. It is advisable to perform a “Save As” to create a backup copy of the original file for future restoration.
You will notice two columns of data, with the first showing IP addresses and the second displaying host names.
By default, a Windows hosts file typically looks like this:
You can add more lines to this file that will direct requests for a specific domain to your new server’s IP address. For example:
123.100.254.4example.com
123.100.254.4www.example.com
5. Save your modifications.
6. Restart any currently open browsers. It might also be a good idea to flush your DNS cache.
In Windows XP, go to Start, then Run, type “cmd” and hit enter. Enter the following:
ipconfig /flushdns
7. Access your new site using http://example.com/ or http://www.example.com/