IBM Support

AIX: How to create a host alias file

How To


Summary

The HOSTALIASES environment variable can be used to specify a per-user host alias file.

Steps

If certain users need to be able to set up host name aliases, the HOSTALIASES environment variable can be used to acheive this.

First, create a file to hold the aliases. For this example, this file will be called ~/.hosts, so that it is located in the current user's home directory.

Populate this file with the alias and associated IP address:
 
mysystem 10.11.12.13

The hostname goes first, and must be a short host name. Fully qualified domain names are not allowed in this file.

Next, set the HOSTALIASES environment variable to point to the host alias file:

export HOSTALIASES=~/.hosts

After this is done, test by running:

ping mysystem

It will use the IP address that is set in the host alias file, and this will override any entry that exists in /etc/hosts.

Document Location

Worldwide


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Document Information

More support for:
AIX

Component:
AIX General Support

Software version:
All Versions

Document number:
6462975

Modified date:
14 June 2021

UID

ibm16462975

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