IIS 7 Website Migration & Configuration

Question

I am in the process of migrating an existing webserver running IIS 6 to IIS 7. I have setup the new websites on the new server but cant seem to test them as once I have entered the domain name when I selec t "browse" from within IIS 7 I get the site on my original server. How can I test the configuration of my new sites on my new server before migrating the domain names (eg updating the DNS records etc.)?

Any help much appreciated.

Answer 1

On the server, edit the hosts file to force the server into thinking the website is located on its self, instead of the IIS6 server.

The hosts file is located at C:\\WINDOWS\\system32\\drivers\\etc\\hosts .

Just add a line in like:

192.168.0.1 www.mywebsite.com

where 192.168.0.1 is the IP address of the IIS7 server, and www.mywebsite.com is the website address to test.

Then restart Internet Explorer and enter www.mywebsite.com (or browse from within iisadmin ) again, and it should give you the IIS7 site.

You could also do this on your PC and leave the server alone.

Don't forget to remove the line from your hosts file when you're done!