Hosting multiple sites - Mask URL?

Question

I have a hosting account where I have my main site (www.mainsite.com points to root folder), and a subfolder xpto.com, where I want to have another site (www.xpto.com).

I can access www.anothersite.com by typing www.mainsite.com/xpto.com. Also, using cPanel, I've redirected www.xpto.com to www.mainsite.com/xpto.com.

My question is: is there a way to prevent www.xpto.com access by typing www.mainsite.com/xpto.com, so it can be accessed only by typing www.xpto.com?

EDIT: also, I don't want to www.xpto.com to be accessed via www.xpto.mainsite.com. Any help?

Hope I have explained this clearly :)

Answer 1

If mod_rewrite is enabled on your server you may create following .htaccess file in the folder root_folder/xpto.com/:

RewriteEngine on
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} mainsite\.com$ [NC]
RewriteRule .* - [F]

This will check if the request URL ends with mainsite.com and deny access if it does.

EDIT: If you want to return a 404 Not Found, you may use this RewriteRule (first two lines stay the same):

RewriteRule .* - [R=404]

You can also insert other HTTP status codes instead of 404 (but replace the dash with an actual URL for redirects).