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I'm trying to find out alternative ways to access a website (not mine), which has temporarily lost its domain name due to it expiring. The site owner didn't realise the domain would expire and it has expired. However, I DO know that the site is still running just fine - I just need a way to access it other than via its domain.

But this website happens to NOT be the only site on its (hosting provider's) server IP address. Entering in its IP address will not point to the site I want to access.

I do know, that if a given website happens to be the subdomain for ANOTHER domain, you can try and use online tools to find a 'naked' subdomain url that the owner has specified for the site in question. (e.g. siteiwanttoaccess.someotherparentsite.com)

But the site I want to access, is not a subdomain, it's a parent domain. On shared IP address hosting.

The only other way I know of accessing a site other than via its 'given' domain, any alternative domains pointing to the same site (which you just happen to know or discover via domain research), or a 'naked' subdomain if it turns out to be such, is via THIS type of URL, which the hosting provider gives the siteowner at the beginning for use use until their intended domain's DNS propagates:

http://ser.ver.ip4.addy/~hostingaccountusername/

Is this url type above the only other way to access a parent domain's site? And if you don't know what this is, (because you are not the siteowner) is there any way, apart from brute-force attack, to figure out what this 'raw' server IP site URL is?

You can always figure out the server IP bit, just not the bit after that pertains to their cpanel/webhosting account username.

Are we reduced to guessing or brute-forcing this, or are there tools that can shed some light on finding out this 'raw' URL address?

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    What are you actually trying to do? Figure out how to keep accessing a site where you know the domain will expire? You seem to be working under the assumption that all websites have a secret 'raw URL address' but this is not the case.
    – Tim Fountain
    Commented Jun 12, 2013 at 19:17
  • No the assumption is that the site IS still up and that ONLY, the domain has stopped working...the site, is still running, so I want to know how to access it in ANY way other than its 'normal' 'given' domain (in public)... I suppose not all websites necessarily have a 'raw' address that is accessible. But let's assume the configuration is 'normal', for lack of a better explanation - no fancy dns/ns records business, just a website which DOES have that 'server IP site URL' which I've mentioned...
    – user26888
    Commented Jun 12, 2013 at 21:45

6 Answers 6

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Your hosting provider should send you temporary URL for your hosting account and website.

If they didn't, check your cPanel or whatever control panel and take out the ip address and paste it here:

http://67.23.***.**/~yourhostingloginname/
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  • Unfortunately this is not possible with Namecheap shared hosting.
    – ksav
    Commented Apr 13, 2019 at 11:21
  • this is not working in bluehost as well.
    – Dapo Momodu
    Commented Dec 4, 2023 at 14:44
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If you do not know of a URL to access a site, there may simply not be one. The files may still exist on the server, but that does not necessarily mean there has to still be any DNS records pointing to that server or server settings pointing to those files.

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  • Assuming THEY (the siteowner) can access, via normal HTTP 'public' (not-logged in) access, some sort of 'raw server IP site URL', I also can. This is what I want to know more info about, in terms of how to find it if you don't know it (assuming it exists...again - this is my premise).
    – user26888
    Commented Jun 12, 2013 at 21:45
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See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_hosting

A workaround in this case is to add the IP address and host name to the client system's hosts file. Accessing the server with the domain name should work again. Users should be careful when doing this, however, as any changes to the true mapping between host name and IP address will be overridden by the local setting. This workaround is not really useful for an average web user, but may be of some use to a site administrator while fixing DNS records.

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Mate you should clarify Hosting Control Panel. I assume this is a shared hosting account using cPanel.

If this is the case use the server or domain IP address. (I know you said that this is not the only one hosted there) Follow this steps.

Using a Browser

1) Find website IP address by either

2) Access cPanel with IP by either

  • shared.ip.number.here:2082
  • shared.ip.number.here:2083
  • shared.ip.number.here/cpanel

3) Use provided FTP/cPanel username & Password

Using a FTP client

1) Find website IP address by either

Using one of the option above.

2) Use IP found as FTP Host. Then, provided FTP/cPanel username & Password.

**If the website has been registered and hosted by someone else, you wont be able to use this method to find IP.

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What you're asking is, essentially, how to access a website that is inaccessible to the internet. Short answer: not possible, unless (possibly) you're on the same LAN as the web server.

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    My assumption, is that is IS accessible via AT LEAST the url under this pattern I've given: http://ser.ver.ip4.addy/~hostingaccountusername/ So this means, it's absolutely accessible. The server apache stuff etc is keeping it running...
    – user26888
    Commented Jun 12, 2013 at 21:49
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If I understand your issue correctly, your website is not accessible due to DNS not working. Can you not try to connect using IP of your site ? I mean, only job of DNS is just to resolve name to IP...

For example, When I started to host my blog for first time with new domain name I was told by my hosting provider (Namecheap) that for couple of days I will not be able to access my blog by it's name due DNS propagation thing ... but I was able to browse it using IP given by my hosting service provider.

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  • euh, I've already explained all this in my question, and shown how I understand this! (And that thus your answer doesn't address the question) :S Please read it again. The scenario is when it's NOT my website, as worded. The scenario is that the site is a neighbour to OTHER sites on the same server (used by other people, on different hosting accounts), so the server's ip on its own simply won't work...
    – user26888
    Commented Jun 12, 2013 at 21:54
  • I understood you question and that is why I wrote my experience with my hosting service provider. Me too is using shared server (because that is cheaper than dedicated one), so I am sure me too have neighbors but in my case I was given specific IP to connect to. Now I am not sure if that is hosting service provider specific feature or not (that's why I mentioned my hosting provider)
    – JackLock
    Commented Jun 13, 2013 at 13:08
  • Ohhhh. Apologies. I keep needing to provide provisos then. Assumptions to rule out other server/hosting configuration examples. I'll edit my question to include this proviso.
    – user26888
    Commented Jun 13, 2013 at 16:42
  • Unfortunately this is no longer possible with Namecheap shared hosting.
    – ksav
    Commented Apr 13, 2019 at 11:24

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