I have the following in my C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts:
127.0.0.1 example.com
It works when I use: http://example.com
But does not work when I use: https://example.com, which gives error ERR_CONNECTION_REFUSED.
Any idea how to use hosts with an HTTPS site?
If not, any alternative?
The following in your hosts file
127.0.0.1 example.com
...makes both http://example.com and https://example.com go to 127.0.0.1, hence: your own machine. (Even more: anything that refers to example.com, such as ping or telnet would go to 127.0.0.1 when run from your computer.)
Apparently you have a web server running on your own computer on port 80 (HTTP), but nothing on port 443 (HTTPS). Even more, getting ERR_CONNECTION_REFUSED actually proves your hosts file is used, as otherwise you would see the default website from https://example.com.
Note that if you would have the server on your computer also support HTTPS on port 443, you'd get certificate errors, as there is no way you can buy a certificate for the domain example.com.
I got tricked thinking that the site serves traffic via https://example.com where in fact the URL is using a subdomain e.g. https://www.example.com In that case just add one more record to the hosts file with www.example.com like below:
127.0.0.1 example.com
127.0.0.1 www.example.com
Or in fact to avoid errors on local web server (if you are running one for development purposes)
0.0.0.0 example.com
0.0.0.0 www.example.com
The following in your hosts file, working for me:
127.0.0.1 https://example.com
127.0.0.1 https://www.example.com
