Kind of an interesting problem

[Trip59]

I loaded apache, php and mysql onto my main system today. A little background;

Due to hacker problems and paranoia, as well as overall security, I have installed an impenetrable firewall. before you start screaming BS, it is truly impenetrable. I have replaced the PCI NIC with a USB network adapter which I plug in for 15-30 seconds at a time when I need to upload files.

Soooo, basically, it is an offline standalone computer. Thus, the need during testing and development to be able to run CGI and PHP, leading to the installation of apache (yes works different from UNIX, but close enough) PHP and MySQL.

Now, I have two major problems.

First problem is that whenever I try to preview a page from DreamWeaver, it goest to the url just like it should, with the exception htdocs shows up, how do I get rid of that?
(yes, I should prolly ask in the DW forum, but with all the other stuff I figgered it was an apache issue)

Second problem is that there are a number of files in my sites that use absolute url's due to problems I have had on the powweb server using a relative url (only sometimes) Is there a way that I can fake my computer into seeing itself as http://www.mydomains.com as opposed to the current http://localhost WITHOUT screwing up any other DNS functions

[satis]

1... it's an apache problem. Check the configs... hmmm...


2. Yes. You need to put an entry in your HOSTS file. I assume you're running Windows, right? Anyway, for me it's located in c:\Windows\system32\drivers\etc

the contents look like this:


# Copyright (c) 1993-1999 Microsoft Corp.
#
# This is a sample HOSTS file used by Microsoft TCP/IP for Windows.
#
# This file contains the mappings of IP addresses to host names. Each
# entry should be kept on an individual line. The IP address should
# be placed in the first column followed by the corresponding host name.
# The IP address and the host name should be separated by at least one
# space.
#
# Additionally, comments (such as these) may be inserted on individual
# lines or following the machine name denoted by a '#' symbol.
#
# For example:
#
# 102.54.94.97 rhino.acme.com # source server
# 38.25.63.10 x.acme.com # x client host

127.0.0.1 localhost

------------------------eof-----------------------

anyway, just add a new line like this

127.0.0.1 www.mydomains.com

that should make 'www.mydomains.com' automatically resolve back to your localhost without doing a DNS lookup. If/when you don't want this anymore, just remove the line.

BTW, this is also great for killing ads. Spybot S&D has an option to put a huge number of entries in here and massively reduce the amount of ads you have to live with... you just get a 'page can't be displayed' instead of the ad.

Lemme look into the Apache config thing.

*edit*

meh, without having it installed on my machine, I can't really tell you much. Documentation is like most Linux documentation... extremely thorough and virtually worthless. Anyway, I suggest just going over the config file... there should be an area that defines what your root www directory is.

[Trip59]

I'm gonna go try the domain part, and see if I can find something about the apache part...

Of course, the only reason I set it all up on this machine is that the Linux box I had just died. Eventually, when my servers and sparcs get here I sill just run it all of Linux on them, so for the time being, I can go and delete the /htdocs part of the URL, it ain't that big a deal.

Appreciate the help much.

EDIT: The HOSTS file thingy worked F'n beautiful, thanks a million.

[IreneLinda]

Can PowWeb operate with Microsoft's Windows XP ICF firewall installed? We have been told to install a firewall on our stand-alone computer and we'd like to use the one that came with our system.

Thanks for any advice.

Linda

[satis]

eh? WinXP's ICF has nothing to do with powweb... they're a separate system in a separate portion of the internet.

If you mean, will ICF stop you from being about to browse and/or ftp your website? Doubt it. You can always turn it back off again if you start having issues. I'd recommend just switching it on and seeing what happens.

[IreneLinda]

Thanks for the quick reply. Yes, you're right - my concern was if I'd have trouble with our PowWeb email or anything.

Your suggestion of giving it a try and just turning ICF off again if there are problems is easy to do. I really do have to stop being so nervous about doing things with the computer. Am always afraid I'll cause another problem I can't fix!

Appreciate your suggestion and will give the firewall a try!

Linda:p

[satis]

:) No worries, I know how it is. Asking first is usually a good idea. But ICF is real easy to turn on and off, so why not? My understanding of ICF is that it allows all standard web related stuff... like browsing, email, ftp, etc. It just kills incoming stuff that could be hazardous (for instance, attempts to connect to your computer as if it were a server).

Just for the record, I've never been terribly impressed with ICF. Though it may do precisely what you need it to, you may want to check out alternatives. Zonealarm isn't too bad, and it's free ( http://zonelabs.com ). And of course there's a host of commercial firewalls available.

[IreneLinda]

Wow! Thanks a lot. Appreciate the understanding of my hesitation - and the assurance that turning ICF off and on is easy!

Will check out the site for another free firewall and give one of them a try. They're free, so it won't hurt to try! I have heard other less-than-positive comments on ICF, but it sounds okay for our little business and one computer.

Thanks again. Really appreciate your help.

Linda:)