Deploy concrete alongside live site for testing before launch

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I am preparing to deploy a newly constructed Concrete5 site but would like to test it alongside the current live site first. Is it ill advised to install Concrete5 alongside an already running Apache site?

How would one go about testing a Concrete5 site on the destined server before launch?

 
JohntheFish replied on at Permalink Reply
JohntheFish
Here is the domain and directory structure I use

directory structure:
/htmlroot/
/htmlroot/sitename/
/htmlroot/sitename/existing_site/
/htmlroot/sitename/staging_site/

then
http://www.mysite.com points to /htmlroot/sitename/existing_site/
http://www.staging.mysite.com points to /htmlroot/sitename/staging_site/

To go live I then change the domain mapping to:
http://www.mysite.com points to /htmlroot/sitename/staging_site/
http://www.oldsite.mysite.com points to /htmlroot/sitename/existing_site/

With a couple of edits to the respective .htaccess and config/site.php files to make C5 work at the new home and the old site work at the old subdomain (not essential, but it keeps reversion options available)

I don't actually use the directory names existing_site and staging_site, those are just names to illustrate the process. I actually use directory names that I can roll on ready for the next incarnation via the next staging version of the site ad infinitum.