/ Hacks

Redirect IP Address to localhost

I had some of my code (terrible as usual) pointing to an IP Address. I had downloaded my code to a local machine and wanted to use the same code to function of my local server!

I had the following options:

  • Update the ipaddresses in my code to the localhost
  • Cleanup the code to use a config file

Both of these are going to take some time and effort.

To overcome the problem, I decided to use a small hack!

I decided to point the address on my localsystem back to my localhost using the following command:

sudo iptables -t nat -A OUTPUT -p all -d 104.131.61.242 -j DNAT --to-destination 127.0.0.1

That's it! My code works on my local machine like magic using the same remote ipaddress code

Credit: hosts - How to change IP address to point to localhost? - Super User

For doing the same on Mac OSX:

To enable:

sudo ifconfig lo0 alias 104.131.61.242

To disable:

sudo ifconfig lo0 -alias 104.131.61.242

Further, check links here: https://serverfault.com/questions/102416/iptables-equivalent-for-mac-os-x/673551#673551

sudo ifconfig lo0 104.131.61.242 alias
echo "rdr pass on lo0 inet proto tcp from any to 104.131.61.242 port 27017 -> 127.0.0.1 port 27017" | sudo pfctl -ef -