hosts(5)                                                       hosts(5)

  hosts

  NAME

    hosts - host name data base

  DESCRIPTION

    The hosts(5) file contains information regarding the known hosts on the
    network. For each host, a single line should be present with the following
    information:

    official host name
    Internet address
    aliases

    Items are separated by any number of blanks, tab characters, or both. A
    pound sign (#) indicates the beginning of a comment; characters up to the
    end of the line are not interpreted by routines that search the file.

    When using the name server named(1), this file provides a backup when the
    name server is not running. For the name server, it is suggested that only
    a few addresses be included in this file.

    This file can be created from the official host data base maintained at
    the Network Information Center. Local changes can be required to bring it
    up to date regarding unofficial aliases and unknown hosts, however. As the
    database maintained at the Network Information Center is incomplete, it is
    recommended that you use a name server for sites on the Internet.

    Network addresses are specified in the conventional dot (.) notation using
    the inet_addr(3) routine from the Internet address manipulation library,
    inet(3). Host names can contain any printable character other than a field
    delimiter, newline, or comment character.

  FILES

    %SYSTEMROOT%/system32/drivers/etc/hosts
        The hosts file used by Windows is in the /system32/drivers/etc
        subdirectory of the Windows installation directory (%SYSTEMROOT%).

  SEE ALSO

    gethostbyname(2)