Configuring MAMP for Multi-Site Development: Virtual Host Setup Guide


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When you first install MAMP, it's configured to serve content from a single directory (typically /Applications/MAMP/htdocs). For developers working on multiple projects simultaneously, this single-site approach becomes limiting quickly. The solution lies in configuring virtual hosts.

Here's how to set up multiple development sites:


# 1. Edit hosts file
sudo nano /etc/hosts

# Add entries like:
127.0.0.1   project1.local
127.0.0.1   project2.local

Navigate to /Applications/MAMP/conf/apache/httpd.conf and uncomment or add:


# Virtual hosts
Include /Applications/MAMP/conf/apache/extra/httpd-vhosts.conf

Then edit /Applications/MAMP/conf/apache/extra/httpd-vhosts.conf:


<VirtualHost *:80>
    DocumentRoot "/path/to/project1"
    ServerName project1.local
    <Directory "/path/to/project1">
        Options Indexes FollowSymLinks
        AllowOverride All
        Require all granted
    </Directory>
</VirtualHost>

<VirtualHost *:80>
    DocumentRoot "/path/to/project2"
    ServerName project2.local
    <Directory "/path/to/project2">
        Options Indexes FollowSymLinks
        AllowOverride All
        Require all granted
    </Directory>
</VirtualHost>

For developers who prefer port-based access:


Listen 8081
Listen 8082

<VirtualHost *:8081>
    DocumentRoot "/path/to/project1"
    ServerName localhost
</VirtualHost>

<VirtualHost *:8082>
    DocumentRoot "/path/to/project2"
    ServerName localhost
</VirtualHost>

For frequent setup changes, consider creating a bash script:


#!/bin/bash
echo "127.0.0.1 $1.local" | sudo tee -a /etc/hosts
mkdir -p "/Users/youruser/Sites/$1"
cat << EOF >> /Applications/MAMP/conf/apache/extra/httpd-vhosts.conf
<VirtualHost *:80>
    DocumentRoot "/Users/youruser/Sites/$1"
    ServerName $1.local
    <Directory "/Users/youruser/Sites/$1">
        Options Indexes FollowSymLinks
        AllowOverride All
        Require all granted
    </Directory>
</VirtualHost>
EOF

After making changes:

  1. Restart MAMP servers
  2. Test each site by visiting the configured domains
  3. Check MAMP's Apache error logs if sites don't load

When developing multiple websites locally using MAMP (Mac/Apache/MySQL/PHP), virtual hosts allow you to run separate sites under different domain names on your development machine. This mimics a production environment where each site has its own domain.

First, edit your Apache configuration file. In MAMP PRO, this can be done through the UI. For regular MAMP:

# Open httpd.conf
sudo nano /Applications/MAMP/conf/apache/httpd.conf

# Ensure this line is uncommented
Include /Applications/MAMP/conf/apache/extra/httpd-vhosts.conf

Edit the virtual hosts file:

sudo nano /Applications/MAMP/conf/apache/extra/httpd-vhosts.conf

# Add configurations like this:
<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerName project1.test
    DocumentRoot "/Users/yourname/Sites/project1"
    <Directory "/Users/yourname/Sites/project1">
        Options Indexes FollowSymLinks
        AllowOverride All
        Require all granted
    </Directory>
</VirtualHost>

<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerName project2.test
    DocumentRoot "/Users/yourname/Sites/project2"
    <Directory "/Users/yourname/Sites/project2">
        Options Indexes FollowSymLinks
        AllowOverride All
        Require all granted
    </Directory>
</VirtualHost>

Map the domains to localhost:

sudo nano /etc/hosts

# Add these lines
127.0.0.1   project1.test
127.0.0.1   project2.test

After making these changes:

# Restart MAMP servers through the UI or command line
/Applications/MAMP/bin/apache2/bin/apachectl restart

Create test files in each project directory:

# For project1
echo "<?php phpinfo(); ?>" > /Users/yourname/Sites/project1/index.php

# For project2
echo "<h1>Project 2 Works!</h1>" > /Users/yourname/Sites/project2/index.html

Now visit http://project1.test and http://project2.test in your browser to verify.

For SSL development, add HTTPS virtual hosts:

<VirtualHost *:443>
    ServerName secure.test
    DocumentRoot "/Users/yourname/Sites/secure"
    SSLEngine on
    SSLCertificateFile "/Applications/MAMP/conf/apache/server.crt"
    SSLCertificateKeyFile "/Applications/MAMP/conf/apache/server.key"
</VirtualHost>
  • Check Apache error logs at /Applications/MAMP/logs/apache_error.log
  • Ensure DocumentRoot paths are correct and accessible
  • Verify ServerName matches exactly what's in your hosts file
  • Clear browser cache when testing changes

For developers managing many projects, consider creating setup scripts:

#!/bin/bash
# new_vhost.sh
echo "Creating virtual host for $1..."
echo "<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerName $1.test
    DocumentRoot \"/Users/yourname/Sites/$1\"
    <Directory \"/Users/yourname/Sites/$1\">
        Options Indexes FollowSymLinks
        AllowOverride All
        Require all granted
    </Directory>
</VirtualHost>" >> /Applications/MAMP/conf/apache/extra/httpd-vhosts.conf

echo "127.0.0.1   $1.test" >> /etc/hosts
mkdir -p "/Users/yourname/Sites/$1"