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hosts (file)

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For other uses, see Host (disambiguation).

The hosts file is a computer file used by an operating system to map hostnames to IP addresses. The hosts file is a plain text file, and is conventionally named hosts.

Purpose

The hosts file is one of several system facilities that assists in addressing network nodes in a computer network. It is a common part of an operating system's Internet Protocol (IP) implementation, and serves the function of translating human-friendly hostnames into numeric protocol addresses, called IP addresses, that identify and locate a host in an IP network.

In some operating systems, the hosts file's content is used preferentially to other methods, such as the Domain Name System (DNS), but many systems implement name service switches (e.g., nsswitch.conf for Linux and Unix) to provide customization. Unlike the DNS, the hosts file is under the direct control of the local computer's administrator.[1]

File content

The hosts file contains lines of text consisting of an IP address in the first text field followed by one or more host names. Each field is separated by white space (blanks or tabulation characters). Comment lines may be included; they are indicated by a hash character (#) in the first position of such lines. Entirely blank lines in the file are ignored. For example, a typical hosts file may contain the following: 

# This is an example of the hosts file
127.0.0.1  localhost loopback
::1        localhost

This example only contains entries for the loopback addresses of the system and their host names, a typical default content of the hosts file. The example illustrates that an IP address may have multiple host names, and that a host name may be mapped to both IPv4 and IPv6 IP addresses.

Location in the file system

The location of the hosts file in the file system hierarchy varies by operating system. The hosts file is usually named "hosts" without any .txt extension.

Operating System Version(s) Location
Unix, Unix-like, POSIX /etc/hosts[2]
Microsoft Windows 3.1 %WinDir%\HOSTS
95, 98/98SE, Me %WinDir%\hosts[3]
NT, 2000, XP (x86 & x64),[4] 2003, Vista, 7 and 8 %SystemRoot%\system32\drivers\etc\hosts [5]
Windows Mobile Registry key under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Comm\Tcpip\Hosts
Apple Macintosh 9 and earlier
Mac OS X 10.0 – 10.1.5 [6] (Added through NetInfo or niload)
Mac OS X 10.2 and newer /etc/hosts (a symbolic link to /private/etc/hosts)[6]
Novell NetWare SYS:etc\hosts
OS/2 & eComStation "bootdrive":\mptn\etc\
Symbian Symbian OS 6.1–9.0 C:\system\data\hosts
Symbian OS 9.1+ C:\private\10000882\hosts
MorphOS NetStack ENVARC:sys/net/hosts
AmigaOS 4 DEVS:Internet/hosts
Android /etc/hosts (a symbolic link to /system/etc/hosts)
iOS iOS 2.0 and newer /etc/hosts (a symbolic link to /private/etc/hosts)
TOPS-20
Plan 9 /lib/ndb/hosts
BeOS /boot/beos/etc/hosts[7]
Haiku /boot/common/settings/network/hosts[7]
OpenVMS UCX UCX$HOST
TCPware TCPIP$HOST

History

The ARPANET, the predecessor of the Internet, had no distributed host name database. Each network node maintained its own map of the network nodes as needed and assigned them names that were memorable to the users of the system. There was no method for ensuring that all references to a given node in a network were using the same name, nor was there a way to read the hosts file of another computer to automatically obtain a copy.

The small size of the ARPANET kept the administrative overhead small to maintain an accurate hosts file. Network nodes typically had one address and could have many names. As local area TCP/IP computer networks gained popularity, however, the maintenance of hosts files became a larger burden on system administrators as networks and network nodes were being added to the system with increasing frequency.

Standardization efforts, such as the format specification of the file HOSTS.TXT in RFC 952, and distribution protocols, e.g., the hostname server described in RFC 953, helped with these problems, but the centralized and monolithic nature of hosts files eventually necessitated the creation of the distributed Domain Name System (DNS).

Extended applications

In its function of resolving host names, the hosts file may be used to define any hostname or domain name for use in the local system. This may be used either beneficially or maliciously for various effects.

Redirecting local domains
Some web service and intranet developers and administrators define locally defined domains in a LAN for various purposes, such as accessing the company's internal resources or to test local websites in development.
Internet resource blocking
Specially crafted entries in the hosts file may be used to block online advertising, or the domains of known malicious resources and servers that contain spyware, adware, and other malware. This may be achieved by adding entries for those sites to redirect requests to another address that does not exist or to a harmless destination (e.g. localhost).

Various software applications exist that populate the hosts file with entries of undesirable Internet resources automatically.

Security issues

The hosts file represents an attack vector for malicious software. The file may be modified, for example, by adware, computer viruses, or trojan horse software to redirect traffic from the intended destination to sites hosting malicious or unwanted content.[8] The widespread computer worm Mydoom.B blocked users from visiting sites about computer security and antivirus software and also affected access from the compromised computer to the Microsoft Windows Update website.

References

  1. ^ "Cisco Networking Academy Program: First-Year Companion Guide", Cisco Systems, Inc., 2002 (2nd Edition), page 676, ISBN 1-58713-025-4
  2. ^ "Linux Network Administrators Guide – Writing hosts and networks files". Retrieved May 16, 2010.
  3. ^ "Hosts File". Retrieved August 10, 2011.
  4. ^ "Microsoft KB Q314053: TCP/IP and NBT configuration parameters for Windows XP". Retrieved August 28, 2010.
  5. ^ "Microsoft KB 972034 Revision 2.0: default hosts files". Retrieved August 28, 2010.
  6. ^ a b "Mac OS X: How to Add Hosts to Local Hosts File". Retrieved August 28, 2010.
  7. ^ a b "The Haiku/BeOS Tip Server". Retrieved November 30, 2012.
  8. ^ "Remove Trojan.Qhosts – Symantec". Retrieved May 16, 2010.
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