hostname

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## Name

hostname — Local host name configuration file

## Synopsis

`/etc/hostname`

## Description

The `/etc/hostname` file configures the name of the local system that is set during boot, with the sethostname(2) system call. It should contain a single newline-terminated host name string. The host name may be a free-form string up to 64 characters in length, however it is recommended that it consists only of 7bit ASCII lower-case characters and no spaces or dots, and limits itself to the format allowed for DNS domain name labels, even though this is not a strict requirement.

Depending on the operating system other configuration files might be checked for configuration of the host name as well, however only as fallback.

You may use hostnamectl(1) to change the value of this file from the command line.

## History

The simple configuration file format of `/etc/hostname` originates from Debian GNU/Linux.

## See Also

systemd(1), sethostname(2), hostname(1), hostname(7), machine-id(5), machine-info(5), hostnamectl(1), systemd-hostnamed.service(8)