0

I have a Jekyll blog, that I serve locally (i.e. bundle exec jekyll serve at 127.0.0.1:4000/)

I want to use a custom URL that is available locally (in the computers of my LAN). For example thisisatest.yesitis. If I add to my _config.yml file host: thisisatest.yesitis then when running bundle exec jekyll serve I get a jekyll 3.4.3 | Error: getaddrinfo: No such host is known.

What am I missing? I know I could use github to host if I wanted to have the blog available publicly, but I just want to serve it to computers in my LAN. Can't I just make up an URL that only exists locally?

Tero Kilkanen
  • 37,584
jlo
  • 103

1 Answers1

1

It seems that the program is trying to resolve the name you are using for the blog.

If you have a DNS server for the domain you want to use for the blog, you need to add the hostname and IP address in it.

If you don't have a DNS server, you need to add the name to the server's and all client computers' /etc/hosts file (Unix/Mac systems) or C:\Windows\System32\Drivers\Etc\hosts.

Tero Kilkanen
  • 37,584
  • I added '127.0.0.1 thisisatest.yesitis' to the hosts file, but this is only creating an alias for 127.0.0.1 (same as localhost points to 127.0.0.1)

    How can computers in my network connect to my blog if in each of their hosts file it points to their own localhost/127.0.0.1, which is not hosting anything (as opposed to the localhost of my computer). Thanks

     – jlo Apr 11 '17 at 12:46
  • 1
    Add the LAN IP address there, not the localhost address. – Tero Kilkanen Apr 11 '17 at 13:05
  • Ah, I see! Would it be also possible to have all computers point to the same DNS with the same entry I would put in the hosts file and if not there it points to google's DNS (e.g. 8.8.8.8)? How do I go about doing this? – jlo Apr 11 '17 at 15:09
  • 1
    /etc/hosts file maps hostnames to IP addresses in local way. DNS servers do the same thing in a global way. You cannot point anything to DNS in that file. If you don't have a DNS server in your LAN, you need to register a domain and add the A record for the hostname there. – Tero Kilkanen Apr 11 '17 at 23:28