Temp URL Not Working. Tried Apache mod_userdir Tweak but no use.

[Fusion6]

Have been running a VPS/Hybrid server for a quite a while now and only recently hit this issue which I cannot seem to fix. The problem is the temp url for sites who's domain has not yet propagated is not working. I just get a 404 error, page not found. Yet all the files are on the server and the address is correct. Before when this happened I would simply set that account as an exclusion in Apache mod_userdir Tweak and it worked fine but that solution no longer works. I have also set the user 'nobody' as an exclusion but again this makes no difference.

This issue is preventing the install of and set up of web sites in preparation for the domains going live.

Does anyone know of anything else I can try? bearing in mind this did work before and I have not changed anything recently. To reiterate, the files are there and the temp url address is also correct.

I have checked the logs which are as follows:

[Mon Jun 30 14:05:13 2014] [error] [client 86.170.134.94] File does not exist: /usr/local/apache/htdocs/ ~devacc1
[Mon Jun 30 14:05:13 2014] [error] [client 86.170.134.94] File does not exist: /usr/local/apache/htdocs/ ~devacc1, referer: /http://212.48.xx.xx/~devacc1/
[Mon Jun 30 14:05:13 2014] [error] [client 86.170.134.94] File does not exist: /usr/local/apache/htdocs/ favicon.ico
[Mon Jun 30 14:05:13 2014] [error] [client 86.170.134.94] File does not exist: /usr/local/apache/htdocs/ favicon.ico

From that I can see it's saying the files do not exists but they most certainly do. I'm at a loss

By the way that devacc1 above does not exist, I replaced the real account name in the text with that just as an example.

 

[cPanelMichael]

Hello

Try updating the hosts file on your computer so that it points the domain name to the IP address of the new server. This will allow you to visit the domain name directly in your web browser before propagation occurs.

hosts (file) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Apache Mod_Userdir can sometimes conflict with certain configurations or Mod_Rewrite rules.

Thank you.

 

[Fusion6]

Thanks for the reply and apologies if I'm not understanding but, why would editing the hosts file on my computer have anything to do with a web site on my server? This is not a local server by the way but one located in a data centre.

Thanks.

 

[cPanelMichael]

Thanks for the reply and apologies if I'm not understanding but, why would editing the hosts file on my computer have anything to do with a web site on my server? This is not a local server by the way but one located in a data centre

Yes, updating the hosts file on a local machine allows you to modify which IP address a domain name resolves to from your computer. Thus, if you modify that file so the domain name points to IP address it's assigned on the cPanel server, then you can access the domain name directly from your browser to see how it will look once the name servers propagate. This is more reliable than using a temporary URL with Apache Mod_Userdir.

Thank you.

 

[Fusion6]

Thanks again for your reply. The problem with this method is I cannot provide a link for my clients to view their web sites before they go live. With sites that simply being transferred from one Cpanel hosting to ours of course it's not an issue but for new sites I need the client to be able to view and monitor progress.

I can't understand why the temp url was working fine before but now no longer works. Also why the mod_userdir Tweak does not work?

I really need to get the temp url thing working. Is there no way to do this?

 

[cPanelMichael]

Apache Mod_Userdir can sometimes conflict with certain configurations or Mod_Rewrite rules. To clarify, does the issue persist when updating the hosts file on your local machine? Check to see if you experience the same problem using that method, as that can help determine if the issue is related to Apache Mod_Userdir or an entirely separate issue.

Thank you.

 

[Fusion6]

Ok I edited the hosts file on my mac and I can now get to the Joomla install page in my browser, which is what I wanted to do. So would this indicate that there is some sort of conflict on the server which is stopping Apache Mod_Userdir from working? Is there any way to find out what might be conflicting with it?

thanks

 

[cPanelMichael]

There are several conditions under which Apache mod_userdir will not work. You can find them under the "Warnings" section of the following document:

Apache Mod_Userdir Tweak

Thank you.