jzou2000 5:54 pm on September 22, 2016  

Set Hostname on Linux

Types of hostnames

The hostname can be configured as follows

  1. Static host name assigned by sysadmin. For example, “server1”, “wwwbox2”, or “server42.cyberciti.biz”.
  2. Transient/dynamic host name assigned by DHCP or mDNS server at run time.
  3. Pretty host name assigned by sysadmin/end-users and it is a free-form UTF8 host name for presentation to the user. For example, “Vivek’s netbook”.

hostnamectl command

Let us see how to use the hostnamectl command.

How do I see the host names?

$ hostnamectl
## OR ##
$ hostnamectl status

Sample outputs:

   Static hostname: centos-7-rc
         Icon name: computer
           Chassis: n/a
        Machine ID: b5470b10ccfd49ed8e4a3b0e953a53c3
           Boot ID: f79de79e2dac4670bddfe528e826b61f
    Virtualization: oracle
  Operating System: CentOS Linux 7 (Core)
       CPE OS Name: cpe:/o:centos:centos:7
            Kernel: Linux 3.10.0-229.1.2.el7.x86_64
      Architecture: x86_64

How do I set the host name?

The syntax is:

# hostnamectl set-hostname Your-New-Host-Name-Here
# hostnamectl set-hostname "Your New Host Name Here" --pretty
# hostnamectl set-hostname Your-New-Host-Name-Here --static
# hostnamectl set-hostname Your-New-Host-Name-Here --transient

To set host name to “R2-D2”, enter:

# hostnamectl set-hostname R2-D2

To set static host name to “server1.cyberciti.biz”, enter:

# hostnamectl set-hostname server1.cyberciti.biz --static

To set pretty host name to “Senator Padmé Amidala’s Laptop”, enter:

# hostnamectl set-hostname "Senator Padmé Amidala's Laptop" --pretty

To verify new settings, enter:

# hostnamectl status

Sample outputs:

   Static hostname: server1.cyberciti.biz
   Pretty hostname: Senator Padmé Amidala's Laptop
Transient hostname: r2-d2
         Icon name: computer
           Chassis: n/a
        Machine ID: b5470b10ccfd49ed8e4a3b0e953a53c3
           Boot ID: f79de79e2dac4670bddfe528e826b61f
    Virtualization: oracle
  Operating System: CentOS Linux 7 (Core)
       CPE OS Name: cpe:/o:centos:centos:7
            Kernel: Linux 3.10.0-229.1.2.el7.x86_64
      Architecture: x86_64

How do I delete a particular host name?

The syntax is:

# hostnamectl set-hostname ""
# hostnamectl set-hostname "" --static
# hostnamectl set-hostname "" --pretty

How do I change host name remotely?

Use any one of the following syntax:

# ssh root@server-ip-here hostnamectl set-hostname server1

OR set server1 as host name on a remote server called 192.168.1.42 using ssh:

# hostnamectl set-hostname server1 -H root@192.168.1.42

 

 

 

Reference

 

Note:

  • hostnamectl exists on RHEL/Centos7, Debian8 (validated)

 

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