On my linux pc i access webisite by going http://site1.local
I have setup virtual host in httpd.conf
I want that when i should be able to access that address from windows PC.
In the windows hosts file i have written
192.168.1.81 site1.local
But still i can't access the page.
i can ping that adress but not get the webpage to work
You can change your virtual host from 127.0.0.1 to your network ip which is 192.168.1.81:80 or you can make it *:80.
I would recommend the 2nd option so it will keep working on both, internaly on the server and within your internal ip.
The reason it won't work for your other computer is probably because it is bounded to 127.0.0.1.
So it would be:
NameVirtualHost *:80
<VirtualHost *:80>
The NameVirtualHost *:80 is needed so it won't let other sites conflict with each other, but make sure you have only one entry of NameVirtualHost in your httpd.conf or vhosts.conf.
ServerName my.domain.com then at your windows hosts file you must make it 192.168.1.81 my.domain.com if that is the ip to your server
service httpd restart
It should be a matter of checking if apache is listening on port 80 with
sudo netstat -anp | grep :80
for which you should see your apache and IP:PORT that it is listening on.
If it listens on the right interface (or on all interfaces) then it can be a problem of the right firewall or name resolution on the other local station.
HOSTS file might be or not be fine, test if it works over http://192.168.1.81
httpd.confat yourvirtual hostis it binded to 192.168.1.81 or all interfaces ? is your firewall blocking anything on your server by any chance ? you might want to say which OS youre using on both it might help others to answer you. every bit piece for information you can provide will help solving your problem.