Hi. I decided to set up a web server on my Slackware 10.1 desktop machine just for the learning experience. I downloaded and installed apache then moved the files for my test site to /var/www/htdocs. Then I stated up the http daemon. Now when I visit http://127.0.0.1 in my web browser it displays my site just like it should, everything seemed to be working perfectly.

So then I signed up for a dyndns.org account, created a Dynamic DNS address and assinged it to my current IP address. But when I point my browser to http://mysite.dyndns.org, instead of my site I am presented with my router's configuration page! My router is a BT Voyager 205 if that's any help. Does anyone have an idea as to why this would happen and how to fix it?

You have to forward port 80 on the router to port 80 on your server's lan card mac address or ip (if you are using port 80 on your server setup).

What computer are you browsing from?
If you browse from the computer which is running the webserver:
Make sure that the hosts file is set up correctly,
Make sure that your dyndns name is on the same line as 127.0.0.1
If this happens when browsing from another computer (OUTSIDE the router i.e. not on your LAN) an idea might be to check if your router is forwarding port 80 to your computer. This is a bit of a stab in the dark, but it might work.

Hope this helps!

Thanks for both of your replies.

Tuttle: I really don't know much about Linux networking, is port forwarding a router-specific thing, or is there a general "do this to forward port x" instrucion that works for all routers?

infinity42: 'hosts file'. Is that an Apache config file, or a Linux config file, and where would I find it?

Thanks again for the replies.

The hosts file is a linux config file, and should be found at /etc/hosts (you will have to be root to edit it). If you don't know how to use vi it can be a pain to use - you could try nano instead. So something like:
When in nano just navigate to the end of the line that starts '127.0.0.1' (use the arrow keys), put a space then 'mysite.dyndns.org' on then end. Press [Ctrl]-[O] to write the file, then [Ctrl]-[x] to exit. That should set up your hosts file.

Now, onto router config. The port forwarding is done by the router - and it differs hugely between routers. Try this page http://www.portforward.com/btvoyager...forwarding.htm
You need to forward port 80 to port 80 on your computer's IP

Good luck, Hope that helps.

Thanks a lot, it's working perfectly now. I just needed to edit the hosts file and activate port forwarding like you said. Thanks again.

Great, glad we could help. Have fun with apache.