Set up a virtual host in MAMP to host multiple websites from one localhost!

If you’re looking to develop multiple websites on your local machine, setting up a virtual host in MAMP is a must.

This guide is for web developers who want to learn how to set up a virtual host in MAMP to streamline their workflow and improve their development process.

Getting started

Before we dive into the steps, let’s define what a virtual host is.

A virtual host is a way to run multiple websites on a single server.

By setting up a virtual host in MAMP, you can create and manage multiple websites with ease, without having to switch between different server configurations.

How to

1. Open MAMP and click on the “Start Servers” button to start the Apache and MySQL servers.
2. Open the MAMP preferences and go to the “Ports” tab. Change the Apache port to 80 and the MySQL port to 3306.
3. Go to the “Hosts” tab and click on the “Add” button to create a new virtual host.
4. Enter a name for your virtual host in the “Name” field.
5. In the “Document Root” field, enter the path to the directory where your website files are located.
6. Enter the domain name you want to use for your virtual host in the “Server Name” field. This can be anything you want, but it should be unique and not already in use.
7. Click on the “Save” button to create your virtual host.
8. Open your web browser and enter the domain name you just created in the address bar. Your website should now be accessible from your local machine.

Best practices

• Always use unique domain names for your virtual hosts to avoid conflicts with other websites.
• Make sure to set the document root to the correct directory where your website files are located.
• Test your virtual host by accessing it from your web browser to ensure it’s working properly.
• Update your virtual host settings as needed if you make changes to your website files or server configuration.

Examples

Let’s say you’re a web developer working on two different websites: “example.com” and “testsite.com”.

You want to be able to work on both websites locally without having to switch between different server configurations.

To set up a virtual host for “example.com”, follow these steps:

1. Open MAMP and click on the “Start Servers” button to start the Apache and MySQL servers.
2. Open the MAMP preferences and go to the “Ports” tab. Change the Apache port to 80 and the MySQL port to 3306.
3. Go to the “Hosts” tab and click on the “Add” button to create a new virtual host.
4. Enter “example” for the name of your virtual host.
5. In the “Document Root” field, enter the path to the directory where your “example.com” website files are located.
6. Enter “example.local” in the “Server Name” field.
7. Click on the “Save” button to create your virtual host.
8. Open your web browser and enter “example.local” in the address bar. Your “example.com” website should now be accessible from your local machine.

To set up a virtual host for “testsite.com”, follow the same steps but use “testsite.local” as the server name instead.