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localhostaliashostname

Alias hostname for localhost

Assuming that a local Python-Script is running a webserver.

Is there any way to set an alias, so that http://localwebapp/ equals http://localhost:1234/?

Edit: Or at least http://localwebapp:1234/ equals http://localhost:1234/?

Solution

  • When the browser sees http://localwebapp/ it first tries to determine the IP address of localwebapp. If this succeeds, the browser establishes a TCP connection with that host, using a specific port (which is 80 for HTTP, unless some other port is mentioned in the URL).

    Resolving localwebapp to an IP address does not take port information into account, so pointing http://localwebapp/ to http://localhost:1234/ can only be done by means of a HTTP redirection.

    To make http://localwebapp:1234/ the same as http://localhost:1234/, edit the hosts file of your operating system by adding the line

    127.0.0.1 localwebapp

    The location of the hosts file depends on the operating system:

    • For UNIX-like operating systems, it's usually /etc/hosts.
    • For Windows, it's usually: C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts