Website migrations - testing if new server will serve correct content before changing DNS

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timmmay

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#178958 20-Aug-2015 18:25

I do quite a few little jobs where I move websites between servers. Before I change DNS I'd like to check that the new server will respond to the request with the correct content before I make the DNS change. I know I can make a change in my local hosts file, but that's a bit annoying. Is there a better way?

sidefx

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#1371047 20-Aug-2015 18:49

I used this firefox plugin a fair bit a while ago (I can't recall why)

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-us/firefox/addon/hostadmin/

I seem to recall it essentially automating the process of modifying your hosts file, so I'm not sure how well it fits what you're looking for, but might be worth a look.

"I was born not knowing and have had only a little time to change that here and there." | Octopus Energy | Sharesies
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timmmay

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#1371081 20-Aug-2015 20:05

Seems to crash in the latest version. Guess I'll use a hosts file for now.

rphenix

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#1371648 21-Aug-2015 15:18

Windows: I use fiddler2 set your browser to use it as a proxy, under tools it has hosts manager which you can tell it to replace certain host names with another hostname or ip address works well. Wildcards on domain names are supported.

Linux I just run my own local dns server and edit that way.

timmmay

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#1371760 21-Aug-2015 18:06

Fiddler, good idea, worth a shot. Seems like simply changing the hosts file may be the easiest way though.

rphenix

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#1371764 21-Aug-2015 18:29

I find fiddler faster since it supports wildcards and you can toggle the DNS mapping off and on with one click rather than having to comment out multiple lines like I tend to have to in windows hosts file.
+ I can verify where a page I just requested was actually pulled from which is a help since sometimes if you have the page open in another tab it keeps requesting from a host your not expecting after updating the hosts file.

timmmay

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#1371786 21-Aug-2015 19:13

Sounds ideal. I used fiddler once before, something to do with HTTPS diagnosis.