[plug] wierd virtual domain problem -- solved, sort of

[Greg Mildenhall]

On Fri, 6 Nov 1998, Peter Caffin wrote:
> Peter Caffin wrote:
> Well, I've just stumbled upon the answer to my problem, in the current
> docs that I'd overlooked.
Perhaps you'd care to read it more carefully?

> In v1.3.0, virtual hosts must be on a separate IP address to the "main
> server". 
No, they don't have to be.

> There is no fix at all *sigh*. 
Yes, there is.

> Well, at least it's documented I suppose.
Yes, it is. You will find great doco here:
http://www.apache.org/docs/misc/FAQ.html#namevhost
It took about 30 seconds to find from the moment of typing 
"www.apache.org" into netscape. Perhaps you should point this out to
whoever wrote your docs?

---------------------------FAQ #63------------------------------
Q63.I upgraded to Apache 1.3 and now my virtual hosts don't work! 

A      In versions of Apache prior to 1.3b2, there was a lot of confusion
regarding address-based virtual hosts and (HTTP/1.1) name-based virtual
hosts, and the rules concerning how the server processed <VirtualHost>
definitions were very complex and not well documented. 
       Apache 1.3b2 introduced a new directive, NameVirtualHost [LINK],
which simplifies the rules quite a bit. However, changing the rules like
this means that your existing name-based <VirtualHost> containers probably
won't work correctly immediately following the upgrade. 
       To correct this problem, add the following line to the beginning of
your server configuration file, before defining any virtual hosts: 
              NameVirtualHost n.n.n.n 
Replace the "n.n.n.n" with the IP address to which the name-based virtual
host names resolve; if you have multiple name-based hosts on multiple
addresses, repeat the directive for each address. 
       Make sure that your name-based <VirtualHost> blocks contain
ServerName and possibly ServerAlias directives so Apache can be sure
to tell them apart correctly. 
       Please see the Apache Virtual Host documentation [LINK] for further
details about configuration. 
----------------------------End of FAQ #63---------------------

> Looks like I'll be downgrading.
Looks like you'll be upgrading your doco.

In the opensource world, the discontinuation of an important feature like
this is almost unheard of. (Does your WhyTo mention this, Leon?) 
Which just tells us to look harder when the unheard appears to have
happened. Hope this helps, Peter,

-Greg Mildenhall