A hosts file is used to map domain names to IP addresses in order to test the functionality of any website.
This is extremely helpful when you want to view how a website will look on any server without having to wait for a DNS change to propagate or avoid making any DNS changes at all.
Step 1: Login to Your BigScoots Dashboard.
If you are a fully managed WordPress (WPO) client, you will want to sign into your WPO portal here: https://wpo.bigscoots.com/. If you are a shared or VPS client, you will want to sign into your cPanel account.
Step 2: Copy Your Domain Name and Server IP.
For WPO Clients:
For cPanel Clients:
Step 3: Add Local Host Entry in Hosts File.
The following is where you can find the hosts file on your local computer:
For Windows users: C: Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts
For MAC and Linux users: sudo /etc/hosts
Note: To open the hosts file in Windows, you must first ensure that the user has administrative access.
Copy and paste the server IP and domain name (both with and without www) in the hosts file.
Step 4: Save The Hosts File After Adding The Local Host Entry.
Your local device now points to your BigScoots server!
You may now test your website from BigScoots while your users/customers continue to access the original server.
**Please note: Please test the website using an incognito/private browser to avoid seeing browser-cached results. When you've finished testing and making DNS adjustments, remember to remove the host's entry from your host's file.
If you have any questions or run into trouble, please submit a support ticket at any time and our team would be more than happy to assist you with doing so right away.