Accessing IIS Website on Hostname via Android Phone on Wi-Fi Network

To develop websites on your local Windows 11 machine that is running IIS, you can follow these steps to bind a hostname to your website and add an entry in the Windows hosts file.

Step 1: Create a new website in IIS

1. Open IIS Manager by searching for it in the Start menu.

2. In the Connections pane, expand the Sites node.

3. Right-click on Sites, then select Add -> Website...

4. In the Add Website dialog box, enter the following information:

   • Site Name: myTestSite
   • Physical path: Select the folder where your website files are located
   • TCP Port: 80 (for HTTP) or 443 (for HTTPS)

5. Click Next, then click Finish.

Step 2: Bind a hostname to your website

1. In the Connections pane, select your new website (myTestSite).

2. Double-click on the HTTP (or HTTPS) binding in the bindings section.

3. In the Edit Site Bindings dialog box, click Add...

4. In the Add Site Binding dialog box, enter the following information:

   • Type: http (for HTTP) or https (for HTTPS)
   • IP address: All Unassigned
   • Port: 80 (for HTTP) or 443 (for HTTPS)
   • Host name: Enter the hostname you want to use for your website (e.g., myTestSite.local)

5. Click OK, then click Close.

Step 3: Add an entry in the Windows hosts file

1. Open Notepad as an administrator by right-clicking on the Notepad shortcut, then selecting Run as administrator.

2. Click on File -> Open...

3. In the Open dialog box, navigate to C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\ and select the hosts file.

4. In the hosts file, add the following line at the end:

   127.0.0.1   myTestSite.local
   

   Replace myTestSite.local with the hostname you used in Step 2.

5. Click File -> Save to save the changes.

Now, you should be able to access your website using the hostname you specified (e.g., http://myTestSite.local).

References

1. How to Create a Website on IIS
2. How to Configure Bindings for Sites in IIS
3. How to Edit the Hosts File in Windows