My website is Loading via Domain, but i cant load it via IP address, i keep getting error 404.

Hi Samuel!

If your website loads via the domain but gives a 404 error when accessed via the IP address, it’s likely due to how your web server (like Nginx or Apache) is configured.

Basically, web servers use Virtual Hosts (in Apache) or Server Blocks (in Nginx) to map requests to the correct site based on the domain name (the Host header). If no specific configuration matches the IP address, the server returns a default 404 error.

To learn more about virtual hosts and server blocks check out these two articles:

For Nginx:

https://www.digitalocean.com/community/tutorials/how-to-set-up-nginx-server-blocks-virtual-hosts-on-ubuntu-16-04

For Apache:

https://www.digitalocean.com/community/tutorials/how-to-set-up-apache-virtual-hosts-on-ubuntu-20-04

To fix this you will have to check a few things:

1. Check Virtual Host or Server Block Configuration
   Make sure your server configuration includes a default host that serves your website when accessed via the IP.

   For Apache:

   <VirtualHost *:80>
       ServerName your_domain.com
       ServerAlias your_server_ip
       DocumentRoot /var/www/html
   </VirtualHost>
   

   For Nginx:

   server {
       listen 80;
       server_name your_domain.com your_server_ip;
       root /var/www/html;
   }
   

2. Restart the Web Server
   After updating the configuration, restart your web server:

   sudo systemctl restart apache2   # For Apache
   sudo systemctl restart nginx     # For Nginx
   

3. Check Firewall Settings
   Ensure port 80 (HTTP) or 443 (HTTPS) is open:

   sudo ufw allow 'Apache Full'    # For Apache
   sudo ufw allow 'Nginx Full'     # For Nginx
   

4. Verify the IP Address
   Confirm you are using the correct public IP of your server.

Feel free to share more details on your exact setup and the guides that you’ve follow to set it all up and I can give you more information on how you could solve this if the above does not work.

Let me know if this helps!

- Bobby

Heya,

This is entirely up to your Nginx/Apache configuration. Can you share which one you are using? So, basically, it’s not related to your Domain but your WebService configuration file.