Cannot connect to domain despite successful pings

Question

Pings to my domain name work, but I can't connect via http. I've been trying various methods for a week now, but haven't come up with anything that worked. Any idea what's causing this?

/etc/apache2/httpd.conf

ServerName machinename.local

<VirtualHost *:80>
  ServerName chipperapp.com
  DocumentRoot "/Users/myusername/appname/public"
  <Directory "/Users/myusername/appname/public">
    AllowOverride all 
    Options -MultiViews
  </Directory>
</VirtualHost>

/etc/hosts

127.0.0.1 chipperapp.com

I can access the app from my local machine, but not on any other. I've set up dynamic DNS.

Thanks!

Thought that might be the problem, so I shut it off while testing—still no luck. — airlok, Apr 04 '12 at 16:33
What happens when you connect to http://127.0.0.1:80/ and http://chipperapp.com:80/? Apache is running, right? — Kyle Smith, Apr 04 '12 at 16:38
Apache is running: httpd (pid 50205) already running. I get my Rails app when running this from my local computer, but it times out when I try to access it from any other. — airlok, Apr 04 '12 at 16:40
Have you tried accessing the site from another computer on the same network? You may be having trouble because of NAT at your network edge. — becomingwisest, Apr 04 '12 at 17:23
I tried accessing the site from the same network and an outside network. — airlok, Apr 04 '12 at 17:34

score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered Apr 04 '12 at 16:47

3

Placing an entry in your /etc/hosts will not cause other hosts in your network to know your computer as 'chipperapp.com', even with dynamic DNS. Dynamic DNS typically associates your local hostname with a DNS name inside of your DNS servers zonefile. That's likely not 'chipperapp.com'. You would need to either add 'chipperapp.com' to the /etc/hosts of the systems you are trying to connect from, or to a DNS server that is authoritative for that zone.

answered Apr 04 '12 at 16:47

Kyle Smith

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I have added it to a DNS server. When I ping chipperapp.com, I get responses back from my computer's public IP—the DNS is working fine. – airlok Apr 04 '12 at 16:57
When you say public IP, do you mean the Internet side of your WAN device, or your LAN IP (like 192.168.x.y, 10.x.y.z, etc.)? – Kyle Smith Apr 04 '12 at 19:10
The internet side, not LAN (ie. 10.x.y.z) – airlok Apr 04 '12 at 20:13
It looks like your domain (on the Internet side) is pointing to `68.170.77.58`. Are you expecting that I should be able to reach the site from here? If so, what sort of device (firewalls, routers, etc.) connects your computers to your BelAir Internet connection? – Kyle Smith Apr 04 '12 at 20:18
Yes, I'd hoped that the IP address would be accessible. How I connect to the internet is a bit of a black-box for me, since I'm on an apartment-wide internet connection. – airlok Apr 04 '12 at 20:26
Well, that black-box would need re-configuration in order to allow inbound connections. I think you're out of luck with regards to getting this site accessible from your home. – Kyle Smith Apr 04 '12 at 20:32
Alright, thanks for all your help. At least know I know the problem. – airlok Apr 04 '12 at 20:37

RomeNYRR · Answer 2 · 2012-04-04T17:07:51.423

0

I had the same issue a few days again with 2 websites I was trying to access from my webserver. The fix was adding alias and restarting apache. here's my vhost entry in httpd.conf ; hope this helps

<VirtualHost *:80>
   ServerAdmin server@server.com
   ServerName www.yourapp.com
   ServerAlias *.yourapp.com
   DocumentRoot /var/www/html
</VirtualHost>

Also make sure that the following is uncommented

# Use name-based virtual hosting.

NameVirtualHost *:80

edited Apr 04 '12 at 17:07

answered Apr 04 '12 at 16:46

RomeNYRR

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Did you mean ".com.com"? – Kyle Smith Apr 04 '12 at 16:48
Obvious mistake... – gparent Apr 04 '12 at 16:50
sorry about that typo, fixed :) – RomeNYRR Apr 04 '12 at 16:58
Gave this a shot, still no luck. – airlok Apr 04 '12 at 20:26

Cannot connect to domain despite successful pings

2 Answers2