Your Ad Here

Forget IP Addresses! Use /etc/hosts!

Written by Matt on August 16, 2008 – 12:13 pm -

After realizing the endless possibilities of having a Linux server in my home, I quickly set one up (using Ubuntu Server Edition). Now I have a server with SSH, HTTP, FTP, and NFS setup in my basement. I love using all these features, but I can’t stress enough that typing the internal IP address of the server (192.168.1.250) got old very fast. So I found a quick and easy solution: /etc/hosts

Simply open /etc/hosts in your favorite text editor (you’ll need root priviliges), go to the bottom line, and follow this format:

192.168.1.250 Server

The first option is the IP address of whatever you’d like to add a name to, and the second option is the name. So after saving this file, I can now type Server instead of 192.168.1.250 anytime I’d like to access my server. So now I can SSH into my server by typing “ssh Server”. Have an HTTP server setup? Open Firefox and simply type “Server” in the address bar! How simple is that?


Posted in Usability Tips | 6 Comments »
View blog reactions

Google Picasa’s Lesser Known Features

June 20, 2008 – 6:54 pm

Google's Picasa, now at version 2.7, has really matured in ...

1 Comment »

“Save” Album Art In Amarok!!!

May 24, 2008 – 8:08 pm

Simply put, Amarok is the greatest piece of software ever. ...

1 Comment »

x360mediaserve - Stream Music To Your 360 In Linux

April 7, 2008 – 7:27 pm

Remember that time you threw your controller at your Xbox ...

11 Comments »

Apturl in Ubuntu

April 5, 2008 – 8:33 pm

Imagine the next time you are trying reading a great ...

39 Comments »

Measure Pixels With Kruler

March 15, 2008 – 8:09 am

As a web developer, measuring pixels and colors is important. ...

No Comments »

Combining Files With Cat

March 14, 2008 – 7:05 pm

Cat is one of the wonderful programs that makes Linux ...

1 Comment »

DVD Playback In One Easy Step

February 18, 2008 – 3:27 pm

    Although many distros are now becoming very user friendly, ...

3 Comments »

KDE-Improve Your Lock Screen Button!

February 17, 2008 – 9:36 am

    Most Linux users will probably admit to having a ...

4 Comments »

KDE4 Wallpaper and Icons Download

February 13, 2008 – 9:23 pm

  KDE4 is simply beautiful. Combining ...

2 Comments »