![[APACHE DOCUMENTATION]](../images/sub.gif)
The term Virtual Host refers to the practice of maintaining more than one server on one machine, as differentiated by their apparent hostname. For example, it is often desirable for companies sharing a web server to have their own domains, with web servers accessible as www.company1.com and www.company2.com, without requiring the user to know any extra path information.
Apache was one of the first servers to support IP-based virtual hosts right out of the box. Versions 1.1 and later of Apache support both, IP-based and name-based virtual hosts (vhosts). The latter variant of virtual hosts is sometimes also called host-based or non-IP virtual hosts.
Below is a list of documentation pages which explain all details of virtual host support in Apache version 1.3 and later.
If you are trying to debug your virtual host configuration, you
may find the Apache -t -D DUMP_VHOSTS command line switch
useful. That is, type the following command:
/usr/local/apache/bin/httpd -t -D DUMP_VHOSTS
This command will dump out a description of how Apache parsed the configuration file. Careful examination of the IP addresses and server names may help uncover configuration mistakes. (See the docs for the httpd program for other command line options)
