Hi, I would like to setup a couple of VMs local in my PC with Virtualbox in order to make some tests before deployment to the production system (multi-server). My question is if ISPconfig works (the installer) with local IPs and names that don't actually resolve over the internet or if it needs for some reason a real public IP. Thanks
It is fine to use local IP addresses. Just take care that you configure the hostname in /etc/hosts of the server so it can resolve itself.
ISPConfig generally works also with local IPs. Just make sure that you have a working DNS setup so that the ISPConfig servers can resolve each other.
It works fine. Personally I use a cheap VPS from Hetzner as main testing box, and local VM's to test new features/bug fixes.
I have an old rack server where I have installed Proxmox. That is very nice for testing multiserver setups and ISPConfig in general. The server is very noisy, though. Put it in another room or something.
I've got a very powerful computer so will run the VMs there as I need many to simulate exactly my live environment.
For my DNS tutorial, I set up three ISPConfig server in my office Proxmox. Though servers only run in the Intranet, I could test and verify everything about DNS setup and could set up PTR records. For my e-mail tutorial, I set up the ISPConfig server on OVH hosting, I figured I can not get certificates if server is not accessible from public Internet, and e-mail setup would need to be non-standard.
