Virtual Hosts

Name: Virtual Hosts
Rating: 3.3300970873786406 (103 reviews)
Author: http://codefreak.net/

Access virtual hosts of a server without the need of host redirection or DNS.

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Virtual Hosts Chrome Extension

Virtual Hosts allows developers to overwrite the HTTP Host header in Chrome, enabling access to specific virtual hosts on remote servers without the need to edit local hosts files or wait for DNS propagation. This extension intercepts HTTP requests and redirects them according to configured virtual host domain and IP address settings, making the development and testing of replacement or stand-in sites seamless and hassle-free.

Key Features

Easily toggle the extension on or off via the toolbar icon.
Specify virtual host domain names and IP addresses for targeted redirection.
Avoid editing system hosts files or waiting for DNS updates.
Non-intrusive: only affects specified virtual hosts; browsing other sites remains unaffected.
Open-source with the code available on GitHub for community contributions and enhancements.

Ideal for web developers and testers, Virtual Hosts streamlines managing multiple virtual host environments directly within Chrome, enhancing productivity and simplifying workflows.

Extension

By:

http://codefreak.net/

Users:

10,000

Rating:

3.33

(103)

Version:

1.2 Last updated: 2015-10-29

Creation date:

2015-10-29

Risk:

Permissions:

webRequest
webRequestBlocking
<all_urls>
storage

Size:

9.93K

URLs:

Website

Full description:

Source:

Chrome Web Store

Updated:

a day ago

Ranking

# 7,596 ▲ 40

Other rankings

#7037 in Developer Tools ▼ 33 #188 in domain keyword 18 ▲ 10 #202 in header keyword 49 ▲ 11

Other platforms

Virtual Hosts (v1.0)

262 3.75

(4)

User reviews

The Virtual Hosts Chrome extension offers a simple and easy-to-use tool for redirecting domains to IP addresses or other domains, useful for quick development tasks and accessing backup servers. However, it lacks true hosts file functionality, only supporting a single mapping and often redirecting subdomains incorrectly. Many users report it as broken or ineffective on various platforms. Overall, it's a limited workaround with some utility but cannot replace the system hosts file for comprehensive virtual hosting needs.

Pros

Easy to use.
Works for simple domain to IP redirection in some cases.
Can be used to redirect one domain to another domain as a workaround.
Helps in accessing backup or old servers that otherwise redirect back to main server.
Simple and quick solution for site development purposes.

Cons

Only supports one virtual host mapping at a time; cannot handle multiple hosts or subdomains separately.
Does not truly mimic the behavior of the OS hosts file; it merely redirects URLs to IPs which makes using multiple virtual hosts behind the same IP ineffective.
Does not work reliably on all platforms; many users report that it does not work on Mac or is generally broken.
Changes URL by replacing domain with IP rather than overriding DNS resolution, leading to issues with site functionality and hosting file managers.
No ability to override hostname to IP resolution as in actual hosts file edits; not suitable for complex development scenarios.

Recent reviews

könnyen kezelhető

Já*****, 2025-04-07

Не работает.

Дм*****, 2024-08-08

just redirects to the specified ip

Ha*****, 2024-04-18

View all user reviews ›

Extension safety

Risk impact

Virtual Hosts requires a few sensitive permissions. Exercise caution before installing.

Risk impact analysis details

Critical Allows access to all websites, posing a significant security risk as it can monitor and modify data from any visited site.
High ****** *** ********* ** ******* *** ******* ******* ** ****** *** *** ******** ******

Risk likelihood

Virtual Hosts has earned a fairly good reputation and likely can be trusted.

Risk likelihood analysis details

High This extension has low user count. Unpopular extensions may not be stable or safe.
Low **** ********* *** ******* **** **** * ****** **** ***** ******** *** **** ****** ** ** ****** *** *****
Low **** ********* *** ***** **** **** * ****** **** ***** ********** *** **** ****** ** ** ****** *** *****
Good **** ********* *** **** **** *******

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