Re-add old blog posts from Astro

source/_posts/create-virtual-hosts-mac-os-x-using-virtualhostx.md

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+---
+title: Create Virtual Hosts on Mac OS X Using VirtualHostX
+date: 2010-07-02
+excerpt:
+    How to use the VirtualHostX application to manage virtual hosts on Mac OS X.
+tags:
+    - drupal-6
+    - drupal-planet
+    - mamp
+    - virtual-hosts
+    - virtualhostx
+---
+
+This isn't a Drupal related topic per se, but it is a walk-through of one of the
+applications that I use whilst doing Drupal development work. I assume, like
+most Mac OS X users, I use [MAMP](http://www.mamp.info/en/index.html) to run
+Apache, MySQL and PHP locally whilst developing. I also use virtual hosts in
+Apache to create local .dev domains which are as close as possible to the actual
+live domains. For example, if I was developing a site called mysite.com, my
+local development version would be mysite.dev.
+
+Normally, I would have to edit the hosts file and Apache's httpd.conf file to
+create a virtual host. The first to set the domain and it's associated IP
+address, and the other to configure the domain's directory, default index file
+etc. However, using [VirtualHostX](http://clickontyler.com/virtualhostx), I can
+quickly create a virtual host without having to edt any files. Enter the virtual
+domain name, the local path and the port, and apply the settings. VirtualHostX
+automatically restarts Apache, so the domain is ready to work straight away. You
+can also enter custom directives from within the GUI.
+
+There's also an option to share the host over the local network. Next, I intend
+on configuring a virtual Windows PC within VMware Fusion to view these domains
+so that I can do cross-browser testing before putting a site live.
+
+I ensured that my Apache configuration within MAMP was set to port 80, and that
+VirtualHostX was using Apache from MAMP instead of Apple's built-in Apache.
+
+**Note:** One problem that I had after setting this up, was that I was receving
+an error when attempting to open a Drupal website which said _'No such file or
+directory'._
+
+After some troubleshooting, I found out that Web Sharing on my Mac had become
+enabled (I don't know why, I've never enabled it), and that this was causing a
+conflict with Apache. Once I opened my System Preferences and disabled it,
+everything worked fine!
+
+This, along with [MAMP](http://www.mamp.info/en/index.html),
+[Coda](http://www.panic.com/coda), [Sequel Pro](http://www.sequelpro.com), and
+[Transmit](http://www.panic.com/transmit), has become an essential tool within
+my development environment.