How to test a subdomain / webpage in VS, with localhost

Question

Hi,

I'm building a ASP.NET MVC app, using VS2019. For this app, the url in Prod should be: www.myapp.com; and the functionality for this application requires a list of pages customied for each client, for example:
For client 1, they should go to: client1.myapp.com;

For client 2, they should go to: client2.myapp.com;

For client 3, they should go to: client3.myapp.com;

etc.

Each of these subdomains should go to a different, customized page each client.

Currently in VS, for local testing, I'm using: "http://localhost:44351/", for "www.myapp.com".
My 1st question is: how do I test the subdomains for multiple clients within VS2019, with the "localhost"? Can I test "client1.localhost:44351/" in VS2019?

Also, question #2: what is the best way to structure the backend code, controller etc. for these subdomains? I'm thinking about how to define a route for this and add to the RouteCollection. I can retrieve "client1", "client2" etc from the database, and pass it in as a parameter. However, I'm not clear on how to direct "client1.exmplae.com" to the correct controller action, with "client1" as a parameter passed in?

BTW - these pages for subdomains will be very similar, with only a few places showing client-specific info. So I want to use 1 controller action to handle all of them, with the clientID passed in as parameter, so I can use the clientID to display different client-specific info as needed.

An example would be very helpful.

Please advise.
Thanks,

Claudia

Answer 1

Hi @Claudia Pinson,

I think you can refer to this post which has detailed steps.

how do I test the subdomains for multiple clients within VS2019, with the "localhost"? Can I test "client1.localhost:44351/" in VS2019?

You can achieve this by adding ports to localhost via the hosts file that resides at this path:

(C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts),You must be an administrator (right click on notepad, run as administrator),

And append lines like the following to it:

127.0.0.1    example.com
127.0.0.1    subdomain.example.com

what is the best way to structure the backend code, controller etc. for these subdomains?

You can do it by creating a new route and adding it to the routes collection in RegisterRoutes in your global.asax. Below is a very simple example of a custom Route:

More information

public class ExampleRoute : RouteBase
{

    public override RouteData GetRouteData(HttpContextBase httpContext)
    {
        var url = httpContext.Request.Headers["HOST"];
        var index = url.IndexOf(".");

        if (index < 0)
            return null;

        var subDomain = url.Substring(0, index);

        if (subDomain == "user1")
        {
            var routeData = new RouteData(this, new MvcRouteHandler());
            routeData.Values.Add("controller", "User1"); //Goes to the User1Controller class
            routeData.Values.Add("action", "Index"); //Goes to the Index action on the User1Controller

            return routeData;
        }

        if (subDomain == "user2")
        {
            var routeData = new RouteData(this, new MvcRouteHandler());
            routeData.Values.Add("controller", "User2"); //Goes to the User2Controller class
            routeData.Values.Add("action", "Index"); //Goes to the Index action on the User2Controller

            return routeData;
        }

        return null;
    }

    public override VirtualPathData GetVirtualPath(RequestContext requestContext, RouteValueDictionary values)
    {
        //Implement your formating Url formating here
        return null;
    }
}

Best regards,
Lan Huang

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