WordPress MU

Hello,

I have two instances of WPMU running on virtual hosts that share the same IP address. I am migrating a blog that uses domain mapping from one instance to the other, so the A record for the mapped domain is already pointing at the IP address. Mapping is successfully working on the current server.

I've successfully duplicated the site on the 2nd instance of WPMU. My plan was to simply delete the mapped domain from the first instance and add it to the second. However, it didn't automatically map to the site on the 2nd instance, instead delivering an error page. So I cleared my cache and checked it from other browsers, to no avail. I waited a bit and tried again, still no luck. I had to turn it back on as the site is live (albeit not yet promoted in any way).

Is there a domain mapping cache I need to clear after deleted the mapped domain on the first instance? Is there any length of time to expect the change to take effect? Is it even possible for me to make this changeover take effect without deleting the first instance of WPMU?

Many thanks.

Patrick

DNS (which is what the domain mapping plugins use) usually takes 24-48 hours to refresh after you make a change. So leave the domain mapped on both sites until it switches over, then take it off the old WPMU instance.

"so the A record for the mapped domain is already pointing at the IP address. "

Which MU site answers to the IP address? If it's the first one & you're moving to the other one, that's the problem.

Sorry for the delay in replying... got pulled onto another priority issue.

They both answer to the same IP address. When I visit the domain mapping screen on either instance, it lists the same IP address. Both have been successful with domain mapping using the same IP address, its only this switchover that has caused the problem.

Is there a way to clear the domain mapping history so that there is no residual data telling the first instance to respond to the request?

No porb. I went to New York. :D

Let me rephrase: if I typed in the IP address in the browser, which one site shows up first?

Hope NY was fun!

If you type the IP address, you simply see the Apache test page.

I set up websites using a control panel provided by my webhost (not a cpanel). All of my domains share the same IP address. If I set up domain mapping on the second domain without having first set it up on the first domain, it works perfectly. Its only this instance where it has lived as a mapped domain before that it won't resolve.

"If you type the IP address, you simply see the Apache test page. "

That's the issue. If you type in the IP address, you should see the main WPMU install.

Actually, I figured it out, and its a stupid oversight on my part.

In order for domain mapping to work on my configuration, I also have to create a full mirror pointer on the host domain to the mapped domain. I had forgotten to delete it from the first host domain and add it to the second host domain.

A really simple solution that I just overlooked.

Thanks for your help, and thanks for the great work on WPMU and DM!

That's definitely a "Doh!" moment. :D Glad you found it and it was simple.

I have a similar issue. I have wpmu set up on an addon domain on my shared hosting (hostgator) and if I simply point the mapped domains a record to the servers ip address, it redirects to my primary domain.

The only way I have found to point to the wpmu domain is to use a parked domain redirection for the mapped domain.

However, this points the mapped domain to the home page of the wpmu site not to the sub domain that has the mapped domain entered in the domain mapping options.

Would the full mirror pointer work for me and how would I set this up?

However, this points the mapped domain to the home page of the wpmu site

That's what you're supposed to do. :) When the requests comes in, then MU looks it up in the db and serves the right URLs.

In some places where the install is not the primary domain, I've had to use the add-on domain area instead of the parked domain, and in the add-on menu you can specify the folder it points to. Instead of using a new folder for each one, edit the info to point to your mu install.

This is okay if you're doing a few, or if they are all your own. If you want this more automated, get another IP address. You will have less work in the long run, and IP's are cheap enough.

Hey Andrea,

You're always helpful :)

The problem is that when the parked domain redirects to my wpmu install, it just shows up the main site and not the sub blog that its supposed to.

However, when I click on any links on the subblog, it redirects to the mapped domain (which redirects again to the main site).

I hope I am explaining the problem clearly. Ill try adding the mapped domain as an add on and report back.

Thanks!

Did you set up the mapped domain in the backend of the blog you wanted to map? :)

Hey Andrea, yes I had done that. I've tried add on domains and at first look it seems to be working.

However I haven't had a chance to fully test out the system so I'm going to do that before celebrating. Also, the site seems much slower than without the domain mapping. Is that as expected?

Thanks for the tip about the add on domains :)

For the slowness, how many domains did you map?