What do I need to publish my ASP.Net application to a URL locally?

Question

I don't want to pay for a domain, but simulate a url exists, something like 'www.myapplication.app'. Is this possible?

I'm guessing I need to configure some thing with IIS7 or something right?

This is for a college course and instead of just doing the bare minimum I'd like to make something very nice to show.

I realize this question might be broad but any links would be great. :) Especially if it starts from the beginning of IIS configuration.

My ultimate plan is to have a Windows Server 2008 on a Virtual Machine and publish it there, is it possible?

Answer 1

c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts

In this file you can mimic domains, for example you would put:

127.0.0.1 www.myapplication.com

Where 127.0.0.1 is always referring to you locally (== localhost)

Added obvious step: You then create an application in IIS where you use this domain in the HostName of the application. You then can acccess your own domain from your browser.