install on site that is not pointed yet

I have a client that is going to start hosting with our company and we are redesigning his whole site. His old site did not have a store and when we sold him, he decided to purchase a store. Well, he does not want his site pointed to our servers until it is complete--including the store. I have FTP'd the files over but when I go to hisdomain.com/catalog/zc_install it says the page cannot be found. We are assuming it is giving that error becuase he is not on our servers yet.

How can I finish the install on this gentleman's website so we can complete his site and get it switched over to our servers? Any suggestions? (if I even explained it all okay!)

Use the IP instead of the URL.

we tried usingi the IP address and get the same error message

Please post the includes/configure.php

here you go!!

<?php
/**
* dist-configure.php
*
* @package initSystem
* @copyright Copyright 2003-2006 Zen Cart Development Team
* @copyright Portions Copyright 2003 osCommerce
* @license http://www.zen-cart.com/license/2_0.txt GNU Public License V2.0
* @version $Id: dist-configure.php 3071 2006-02-27 23:09:54Z drbyte $
* @private
*/
// Define the webserver and path parameters
// HTTP_SERVER is your Main webserver: eg, http://www.yourdomain.com
// HTTPS_SERVER is your Secure webserver: eg, https://www.yourdomain.com
define('HTTP_SERVER', 'http://localhost');
define('HTTPS_SERVER', 'https://localhost');

// Use secure webserver for checkout procedure?
define('ENABLE_SSL', 'false');

// NOTE: be sure to leave the trailing '/' at the end of these lines if you make changes!

// * DIR_WS_* = Webserver directories (virtual/URL)
// these paths are relative to top of your webspace ... (ie: under the public_html or httpdocs folder)
define('DIR_WS_CATALOG', '/');
define('DIR_WS_HTTPS_CATALOG', '/');

define('DIR_WS_IMAGES', 'images/');
define('DIR_WS_INCLUDES', 'includes/');
define('DIR_WS_FUNCTIONS', DIR_WS_INCLUDES . 'functions/');
define('DIR_WS_CLASSES', DIR_WS_INCLUDES . 'classes/');
define('DIR_WS_MODULES', DIR_WS_INCLUDES . 'modules/');
define('DIR_WS_LANGUAGES', DIR_WS_INCLUDES . 'languages/');
define('DIR_WS_DOWNLOAD_PUBLIC', DIR_WS_CATALOG . 'pub/');
define('DIR_WS_TEMPLATES', DIR_WS_INCLUDES . 'templates/');

define('DIR_WS_PHPBB', '/phpBB2/');

// * DIR_FS_* = Filesystem directories (local/physical)
//the following path is a COMPLETE path to your Zen Cart files. eg: /var/www/vhost/accountname/public_html/store/
define('DIR_FS_CATALOG', '/');

define('DIR_FS_DOWNLOAD', DIR_FS_CATALOG . 'download/');
define('DIR_FS_DOWNLOAD_PUBLIC', DIR_FS_CATALOG . 'pub/');
define('DIR_WS_UPLOADS', DIR_WS_IMAGES . 'uploads/');
define('DIR_FS_UPLOADS', DIR_FS_CATALOG . DIR_WS_UPLOADS);
define('DIR_FS_EMAIL_TEMPLATES', DIR_FS_CATALOG . 'email/');

// define our database connection
define('DB_TYPE', 'mysql');
define('DB_PREFIX', 'zen_'); // prefix for database table names
define('DB_SERVER', 'localhost'); // eg, localhost - should not be empty
define('DB_SERVER_USERNAME', 'root');
define('DB_SERVER_PASSWORD', '');
define('DB_DATABASE', '');
define('USE_PCONNECT', 'false'); // use persistent connections?
define('STORE_SESSIONS', 'db'); // leave empty '' for default handler or set to 'db' or optionally 'mysql' in some cases

// The next 2 "defines" are for SQL cache support.
// For SQL_CACHE_METHOD, you can select from: none, database, or file
// If you choose "file", then you need to set the DIR_FS_SQL_CACHE to a directory where your apache
// or webserver user has write privileges (chmod 666 or 777). We recommend using the "cache" folder inside the Zen Cart folder
// ie: /path/to/your/webspace/public_html/zen/cache -- leave no trailing slash
define('SQL_CACHE_METHOD', 'none');
define('DIR_FS_SQL_CACHE', '/enter/your/path/to/public_html_or_htdocs/and/zencart/here/zen/cache');

?>

You cannot access the site using his domain if it's not repointed yet, because all the internet pointers go to his site.

You can override that using a couple different means. The one I use most often is an edit to the "hosts" file:
In windows XP, use NOTEPAD to open c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts. (note, it's NOT hosts.txt)
The most reliable way to do this so that notepad doesn't "assume" to add the .txt to the file, is to:
- click Start, Run, and type in: notepad c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts.
- press Enter or click OK

You should get a file with some comments at the top, and a line about 20 lines down that says:
127.0.0.1 localhost


Add another line to the bottom of the file, with the IP address of his NEW server and his OLD domain name, like this:

Code:

---

204.55.88.322        hisdomain.com

---

(yes, my example uses an invalid address... you should use the real address of your server where you're hosting his new domain)

Then save the file.


Now when you open "hisdomain.com" in your browser, you'll ONLY see the new site, not the old one.



Alternatively, you could create stuff in another domain/account that you use only for development, and when it's all done, simply move everything to his new account on the new server, make a few configuration edits/changes, and go "live".