Linux Pocket Guide

Name

hostname [options] [name] — net-tools

Synopsis

/bin stdin stdout - file -- opt --help --version

The hostname command prints the name of your computer. Depending how you have things set up, this might be the fully-qualified hostname:

$ hostname
myhost.example.com

or your short hostname:

$ hostname
myhost

You can also set your hostname, as root:

# hostname orange

However, hostnames and nameservers are complicated topics well beyond the scope of this book. Don’t just blindly start setting hostnames!

Useful options
-i	Print your host’s IP address.
-a	Print your host’s alias name.
-s	Print your host’s short name.
-f	Print your host’s fully-qualified name.
-d	Print your host’s DNS domain name.
-y	Print your host’s NIS or YP domain name.
-F hostfile	Set your hostname by reading the name from file hostfile.