Web Sharing?

[cutman1000]

Hi, I just registered a domain name today, and I was wondering if I could set up the Apache Web Server in OSX so that web site is at the domain name I registered instead of at http://your.computer.address/~yourusername. Does anyone know how to do this? Is it possible? thanks.

cutman

[jcpowers21]

I think that you have to do something with DNS, I am not sure about this though.

[theed]

I know the answers, I'm just not certain I'm sure what your question is.

The default directory on Mac OS X for apache is /Library/WebServer/Documents/
if you put things in there, they will appear under /www.yourname.com/

the ~username is a shortcut to go to any users directory on that machine, it's pretty convenient. I even placed dummy folders in my apache root called ~theed and ~ryan so that people can click on them and it'll take them to my folder or Ryan's folder. The folders I put in there are empty, the path gets resolved to the user.

As for resolving DNS, if you registered with someone who also provides DNS service you can simply point to your machine from that service. ... if your machine has the same IP all the time. DNS takes like a week to trickle through the internet, if you daon't have your IP address for more than a week at a time, DNS won't do you any good.

There are many more answers to be had, just ask more questions.

[cutman1000]

Thanks for the help, but I'm still confused. I'll elaborate on my situation. I registered www.lowcountryhunters.com on April 26, and I want to host the site on my G4 running OS X. To be honest, I have no idea what I'm doing, but I have created what I want the first page of the site to be. Now, what I want to know is...how can I set up the page I created to show up at www.lowcountryhunters.com? When I turn on Web Sharing, the site I created is under the index at http://my.ip.address/~my user name. That's not where I want my site to show up...I want it at www.lowcountryhunters.com. Does that make sense? Or am I still being to vague...

Also, while I'm at it...what program would y'all recommend to create my webpage. The only free program I could find was
Claris Home Page 2.0, and I ran it in OS 9.1. I'm not very impressed with it. I am at a college, so I might have access to some nice programs (or atleast some discounts) Any suggestions? Thanks again.

cutman

[theed]

1. I use DreamWeaver ... nice, but it has some rough edges as a mac program, feels like a windows port in a lot of places. Also, it's really not free.

2. You need to set up DNS so that the name you bought points to the IP address you have. This assumes you have a real, and static IP address. If your IP address begines with 10. or 172. or 192. or if it changes all the time ... you're screwed. You need to pay me $20 / month to host your site for you. :-)

3. anything after the / is the path on the computer, and is resolved by your machine. Before the / (between http slashes and the slash after .com) are the internet resolution and that's where DNS comes in. The root of the site on your machine is at /Library/WebServer/Documents - put your files there to show up at your.ip/
if the first thing after the slash is a ~ then your machine (and the apache webserver) interpret this to be a request for a user's directory instead of the web root mentioned above.

On the subject of DNS, I'll give you some specifics in hopes of squashing any ambiguity in my explanation. If you registered with Register.com - you'll be able to log in there and specify the IP of the machine you'd like the name to point to. This will magically make yourname.com/ come up the same as your.ip/
If you registered with Network Solutions, you'll need to provide a DNS server ... a brief explanation...

When you type in a name of a place on the internet you'd like to go, your request first asks the master servers on the internet who holds the information for this domain? The answer points to your DNS server. Then, your machine has to ask the DNS server what machine is pointed to by this specific address. The answer is your.ip. Then the client proceedss to make requests from your.ip

Register.com provides DNS servers for you that you can modify so that all you have to provide is a machine running a webserver (or whatever) whereas Network Solutions only provides master lookup so that you can specify your DNS server. If you don't have your own DNS server ... $20 ;-)

[cutman1000]

Theed,
Thanks for all the help, but I think that I am screwed. First of all, I have a 172. IP Address, so I guess that I can't host my own site. However, when I leave school in a couple of weeks, I will have my @home cable modem account again...do you have any idea if that will work for me? I might end up having to pay someone to host the site after all.
I did in fact register with register.com, so I guess that I just need to get all the correct information from them. Thanks again for your help, and I'll let you know if I need you to host!

cutman

PS My school uses Dreamweaver, so maybe I can get it through them!

[theed]

computers at my school had real IP's but we had numerous issues with boxes getting hacked into from the outside and used to disrupt network traffic or just generally trashed. Mostly linux boxes were the victims.

Perhaps it's best that you don't have real IP's, it means less hacking.

As for cable modems - the vast majority of cable modem providers dynamically allocate IP's, meaning your IP will be real, but it will change every day or so. Wait and see I guess. Best of luck. ... and keep in touch. ;-)

[cutman1000]

Theed,
I just noticed that my IP Address begins with 152. not 172., so I may not be screwed after all. I put the web page I wanted in the Library/Webserver/Documents, but when I go to the site on the internet (www.lowcountryhunters.com), it takes me to the "Test Page for Apache Installation." It says that "If you can see this, it means that the installation of the Apache web server software on this system was successful. You may now add content to this directory and replace this page." I already copied my page lowcountryhunters.html file into the Documents folder....how do I replace the Test page? Thanks.

cutman