New site is redirecting

What issue or error are you experiencing?

I have a brand new site that is redirecting to a different URL, making it unable to access even upon creation.

I initially created the site with a different listed name from the domain. For example, I set the name as exsite and expanded the advanced options and made the domain examplesitename.ex.

After the site spun up, I moved some live files via FTP into the local folder and updated the database. This is a process I’ve done many times with success. When accessing my local site, I noticed that it was redirecting to “exsite.ex”, which wasn’t the domain that I set. I was getting a search for that site with AT&T’s dnserrorassist instead.

Unsure, what exactly happened, I deleted my site entirely to start over. This time I didn’t change the name of the site at all, keeping the name and domain examplesitename and examplesitename.ex respectively.

After the site completed the creation process, I went to open it before moving any files but was met with a redirect back to “exsite.ex”, which is still the wrong domain, and got a “DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN” error.

It’s almost like there is something stuck in the app files that is connecting this site with and incorrect domain, and deleting the site files and starting over isn’t working.


What steps can be taken to replicate the issue? Feel free to include screenshots, videos, etc

I’ve recreated the site fresh with no success.

I’ve checked the wp_options table in the database, and verified that the desired domain is in fact showing for siteurl.

I’ve also flushed the DNS settings using sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder && echo macOS DNS Cache Reset


System Details

  • Local Version: Version 9.2.3+6776

  • Operating System (OS) and OS version: MacOS 14.5 (23F79)


Local Logs

Attach your Local Logs here (Help Doc - Retrieving Local’s Log)
local-lightning.log (530.3 KB)


Security Reminder
Local does a pretty good job of scrubbing private info from the logs and the errors it produces, however there’s always the possibility that something private can come through. Because these are public forums, always review the screenshots you are sharing to make sure there isn’t private info like passwords being displayed.

Hi @DyNOraZa

Do you have any plugins and themes that hold on to cache, have a CSS regeneration option or contain any redirection URLs?

Here’s a good example list: The Flywheel guide to clearing your theme/plugin cache

What about if you check in another browser or with an incognito window? Any change?

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I think I just figured out what happened and fixed it. I essentially had to go and clear the recent browsing data so that my browser would stop redirecting.

I think what happened was that the database I imported actually had a different URL structure from what I was aware of and this set a redirect in my browser somehow, and this started the madness. Because the new site still had the same URL, my browser was implementing that weird redirect.

All that to say, for anyone who may come across a similar thing in the wild, clear your browsing history to fix the problem.

The good old cache and cookies refresh! Thank you for following up and letting us know @DyNOraZa! Happy Developing :green_heart:

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