OS X based web developers: If you setup custom virtually hosted domains by either hand editing your hosts file, or by using a tool like VirtualHostX, then you probably want to view your sites through Parallels for IE browser testing.
This info is elsewhere, but my current rule of thumb is: if it takes more than 2 google searches to figure it out, I’ll make a post about it. Here’s what to do:

1. Setup your site locally, editing your hosts file (/private/etc/hosts) or via VirtualHostX
2. Open Parallels if it’s not already open
3. Go to system prefs, open “network”, click on “Parallels NAT” and copy the IP address
4. This is also a good time to verify that you have “web sharing” turned on under “sharing” in system prefs
5. In Parallels, go to the Windows start menu and choose “run…”
6. Paste this in and hit “OK” to open your windows hosts file up: wordpad c:\\windows\\system32\\drivers\\etc\\hosts
7. Add entries to the bottom of the file, just like in your OS X version, but use the IP address you copied earlier from system prefs. The format is IP Address [tab] CustomDomain.
8. Click the save button, close the file
9. Log-out and log back into Windows

So this procedure has to be done for each custom virtually hosted domain you want to setup, but I think it’s worth it – and like so many other things, it’s easier to do than to explain.

Posted in Hosting, Process |

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