You can view or set the host name for a linux computer using the ____________________ command.

Linux Hostname Command Examples

A hostname command is used to view a computer’s hostname and domain name (DNS) (Domain Name Service), and to display or set a computer’s hostname or domain name.

A hostname is a name that is given to a computer that attached to the network that uniquely identifies over a network and thus allows it to be accessed without using its IP address.

The basic syntax for the hostname command is:

In this short article, we will explain 5 useful hostname command examples for Linux beginners to view, set or change Linux system hostname from the Linux command-line interface.

If you run hostname command without any options, it will displays the current host name and domain name of your Linux system.

If the host name can be resolved, you can display the network address(es) (IP address) of the host name with the -i flag and the -I option establishes all configured network interfaces and shows all network addresses of the host.

To view the name of the DNS domain and FQDN (Fully Qualified Domain Name) of your machine, use the -f and -d switches respectively. And the -A enables you to see all the FQDNs of the machine.

To display the alias name (i.e., substitute names), if used for the host name, use the -a flag.

Last but not least, to change or set hostname of your Linux system, simply run the following command, remember to replace “NEW_HOSTNAME” with the actual hostname that you wish to set or change.

Note that the changes made using the above command will only last until the next reboot. Under systemd – system and service manager, you can use the hostnamectl command to permanently set or change your system hostname as explained in the following articles.

That’s It! In this short article, we explained 5 hostname command examples for Linux newbies. If you have any questions, use the feedback form below to reach us.

Hostname is a unique name for a computer and computer network node in a network. It is also known as a Nodename, computer name or Sitename where it is a label that is assigned to a device that is connected to the computer network. Hostname has simple names consisting of words and phrases or they may be well-structured.

Example:

• In the URL www.geeksforgeeks.org, the hostname is www.
• Mail servers are often named after their function or protocol used and receive the corresponding hostname like mail, pop3, IMAP, etc.

Rules of Hostname

• Host name will be a single word or phrase with no space.
• A Hostname consists of only a combination of letters, numbers, periods, or hyphen.
• Maximum length of the hostname will be 253 characters.
• DNS(Domain Name Space) may be appended to the hostname.
• The hostname cannot have an underscore.

How to display Hostname in Linux?

Step 1) Firstly open your terminal on Linux.

Step 2) Command ”Hostname” is used in order to display hostname in Linux operating system as shown below:

Also, without typing the command hostname you can identify your Linux hostname. 

In the above image see jagroop@jagroop-SVE1513CYNB so after @ you can identify your hostname which is:

 jagroop-SVE1513CYNB

How to display Domain Name?

Command “Domainname” is used to return the domain name of the Linux System. If your Linux device domain name is set then you will get “none” message as output. Else you will get your Domain name. In my Linux system, I don’t have any domain name so it will result in none as shown:

How to display hostname with more detailed information?

In order to display hostname with more detailed information we will use wither below command:

hostnamectl

Or, In order to display hostname with more detailed information various types of commands are used, and these commands we will get by using command “hostname -h” which means that we want help regarding hostname. In the below output, all the commands applicable for hostname is shown as:

For example: I want to know the IP address of my hostname so, will choose the option -i which is implemented as:

How to set a hostname?

Step 1) Change the hostname using “hostnamectl”command using the syntax:

sudo hostnamectl set-hostname geeksforgeeks

When we run the above syntax, the system will ask password and execute it as shown:

Step 2) After step 1, restart your Linux system

Step 3) After restart, open the terminal.

Step 4) Now type command “hostname”, you will get your changed hostname output as:

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Introduction

The Linux hostname command is used to view or change a system’s domain and hostname. It can also check a computer’s IP address.

In this tutorial, we will cover all the ways you can use the hostname command on Linux and how to change your computer’s hostname on a Linux system.

Prerequisites

• A system running Linux
• Access to the command line / terminal window

The hostname command uses the following format:

Use the [options] parameter to add more specific instructions to the hostname command. Without it, the default output shows your computer’s hostname:

Use the [new_hostname] parameter when you want to change your computer’s hostname.

The hostname command has a number of options you can use for more specific outputs:

• -a, --alias: Displays the alias name of the host.
• -A, --all-fqdns: Displays every FQDN (Fully Qualified Domain Name) of the computer.
• -b, --boot: Always set a hostname.
• -d, --domain: Display DNS domain name.
• -f, --fqdn, --long: Display the FQDN.
• -F, --file: Check a file to recover and display the hostname.
• -h, --help: Print the help message as the output.
• -i, --ip-address: Display the computer’s IP address.
• -I, --all-ip-addresses: Display all of the computer’s network addresses.
• -s, --short: Display the short version of the hostname.
• -v, --verbose: Expand all output to verbose.
• -y, --yp, --nis: Display the NIS domain name.

Using the hostname command without any additional options displays the computer’s hostname:

Use the -s or --short option to display the short version of the hostname, which is cut off at the first dot:

Use the -a or --alias option to display the alias (substitute hostname) of the host if one is set. There are very few cases where this option is useful, and its use is no longer recommended.

Use the -F or --file option to search a specific file (such as hostname or hosts) and change your computer’s hostname to match the content of the file:

Note: When using the -F or --file options, also specify the path to the file you want to check.

If you don’t want to have a specific file containing the hostname, or want to leave that file empty, use the -b or --boot option. This makes your computer use the default hostname (localhost) until you set a different one:

Use the -d or --domain option to display the name of your DNS domain:

If you want to display a system’s FQDN, use the -f, --fqdn, or --long option:

A FQDN contains the short hostname and the DNS domain name.

To display each FQDN of your machine, use the -A or --all-fqdns option:

This option lists out all of your network addresses and their DNS domain names. It skips any addresses that it can’t translate.

Note: Different network addresses may translate to same DNS domain names. This can result in duplicate output entries when using -A or --all-fqdns options.

If you’re using NIS (Network Information Service), you can check your NIS domain name with the -y, --yp, or --nis option:

Use this command with the following format to change your NIS domain name:

The hostname command also lets your display network addresses tied to a hostname. To do this, use the -i or --ip-address option:

This command only works if the hostname can be resolved.

Use the -I or --all-ip-addresses option to display all of the host’s network addresses. Unlike -i, this option doesn’t depend on hostname resolution:

You can change your computer’s hostname with the hostname command. To do this, use the following format:

Any changes to the hostname you make using this command will only last until the next reboot.

To change the hostname permanently, use a text editor like Nano to make changes to the hostname and hosts files:

You can also use the hostnamectl command to permanently change the hostname:

Use the -V or --version option to print out the version of the hostname software package on your Linux system:

If you need help with any of the commands, use the -h or --help option to print out a help message:

Conclusion

After following this guide, you now know how to use the hostname command in Linux and all the options that can extend its use.

For more Linux commands, check out our Linux Commands Cheat Sheet.