Creating subdomain(s) in any web development environment is essential. For example, I have 2 projects going on at the same time and developement is concurrent. And subdomains were not created. So we have this scenario:
- http://localhost/alphaproject/
- http://localhost/betaproject/
- http://localhost/phpmyadmin/
As you can see, I am assuming a Apache/PHP/MySql developemnt stack. 3 localhost urls that will be frequently accessed. Imagine what will happen when you want to access beta project? You “control+t” a new browser tab, and type in “localhost” only to have the url bar showing its history of the above 3 urls. Then you press the down arrow key to access the required url.
Waste of keystroke I will say. Now we create subdomains and we have:
- http://alphaproject.localhost/
- http://betaproject.localhost/
- http://phpmyadmin.localhost/
So now when we want to access beta project? Type in “beta” and simply selected the required “remembered” url. Save some keystrokes and it will save up a a sizable amount of effort over time.
So how to create subdomain in Ubuntu?
Simple, I will cover the basic steps here. (Windows users, sorry, not here my friends).
Edit /etc/host and add the following line
127.0.0.1 alphaproject.localhost
Create a new configuration file in /etc/apache2/sites-available/alphaproject using
gksudo gedit /etc/apache2/sites-available/alphaproject
In this configuration file, have the following:
<VirtualHost *> DocumentRoot /home/username/alphaproject/ ServerName alphaproject.localhost<Directory /home/username/alphaproject/> Options Indexes FollowSymLinks MultiViews +Includes AllowOverride None Order allow,deny allow from all </Directory> </VirtualHost>
Save the file, and run the following:
sudo a2ensite alphaproject
Finally restart the Apache Server. Which I assume you should be using Apache2.
sudo /etc/init.d/apache2 restart
And by going to http://alphaproject.localhost/ you should be able to access you newly created subdomain.
On a ending note, phpmyadmin does come installed as a package but default to http://localhost/pma which I do strongly encourage users to change it to http://pma.localhost/
Think of the key strokes you be saving. And yes, do name your subdomain smartly, try picking each subdomain to have a different starting character.
