/etc/hosts not working

server dns hosts

6,314

Solution 1

From man hosts:

This manual page describes the format of the /etc/hosts file. This file is a simple text file that associates IP addresses with hostnames, one line per IP address. For each host a single lineshould be present with the following information:
IP_address canonical_hostname [aliases...]

Thus,

chassisOne     10.0.0.1

is wrong.

It should be

10.0.0.1 chassisOne

Solution 2

You're writing it in the wrong order, the ip is supposed to go before the domain.

Try using this instead:

10.0.0.1 facebook.com
10.0.0.2 google.com

Then when you navigate to facebook.com or google.com on your browser, it'll display the following error:

Good luck.

6,314

Dale Smith

By Day: I work in the telecommunications field aggregating and tapping 2G/3G/4G traffic for analysis. I've worked in Europe, North and South America. By night: I like to learn new things, drink my excellent home brewed beer, and watch something like Fring, Firefly, Castle, or Elementary. I like SciFi and WWII history for reading. Funsies: Seeing beautiful places.

Updated on September 18, 2022

Comments

Dale Smith over 1 year
I populated /etc/hosts with device names and IP addresses. For example:
```
chassisOne     10.0.0.1
chassisTwo     10.0.0.2
.
.
.
etcetera.
```
I am able to ping the IP address of both chassisOne and chassisTwo. Pinging the hostname returns:
```
ping: unknown host chassisOne
```
My nsswitch.conf file is:
```
host:   files mdns4_minimal [NOTFOUND=return] dns
```
What am I missing?
Dale Smith almost 5 years

Oh Lord ... ...I made a noob mistake! Thank you.
vidarlo almost 5 years

Please mark answer as accepted, so it doesn't pop up again in a year:)
Dale Smith almost 5 years

Working on it. Looking for the "Accepted" button. :)
Terrance almost 5 years

@DaleSmith It is the little check mark next to this answer here below the up and down vote arrows.
ShadowRunner almost 5 years

@Dale-smith: the button (check-mark shaped) probably appeared now, next to this answer's score.
vidarlo almost 5 years

Note that there's no wildcard matching. Thus, facebook.com will not match `www.facebook.com
LogicalBranch almost 5 years

@vidarlo I know, that screenshot was from an old example.