I'm new to apache server so I'm having some challenges figuring some things out. Maybe what I want to do is not possible, but figured I would ask anyway.

I installed xampp on my HP Pavillion running Vista Ultimate (ugh!) on an external 160G usb hard drive (WD Passport). So far everything seems to be working except for FileZilla, but that is for a different forum.

I'm using Apache as a testbed before I ftp my sites to the web. I have them setup in different subdirectories indicating the web host and domain name. So, the file I'm working on now is in /htdocs/HostICan/yourturn. I can access the site by going to http://localhost/HostICan/yourturn, but is there a way I can shorten this address to something like http://yourturn.local?

I've played around with the hosts and the apache configuration files (VirtualHost) but so far am drawing a blank. Any help or ideas appreciated.

Thanks ||| I just wrote a whole bunch here and, somehow, I managed to lose everything. Gah!.

Anyway, open your hosts file, on Vista this is usually located at C:/s/System32/drivers/etc. Add the following line to it:

Expand|Select|Wrap|Line Numbers ||| That's interesting.
I've always wondered how I could do that, but never really figured it out.

I wonder how I could do that same with a networked computer.
Like say, if I had an Apache server set up on a computer at IP 192.168.1.5, would editing my PC's hosts file be enough, or would I have to change something on the server to.

... damn. Now I won't be able to stop until I figure out a way to do that :P

Edit:
Yea. Turns out I just had to edit the hosts file on my PC. (W7)
Awesome... no more having to type IP addresses everywhere :) ||| We are a network of experts and professionals in IT and software development that help one another with answers to tough questions and share insights. Get the best answers to your questions from over 228,103 network members.