David Ghedini
Wednesday Mar 02, 2011
This post will cover how to set the server hostname on CentOS.
Well, I could have sworn when I ordered this VPS that I entered the hostname I wanted in the order form. I guess I must have been hallucinating....
Begin by checking the existing hostname using the hostname command.
login as: root root@vps12's password: Last login: Mon Jun 28 16:21:53 2010 [root@vps12 ~]# hostname vps12
We can also check via sysctl kernel.hostname
[root@vps12 ~]# sysctl kernel.hostname kernel.hostname = vps12
The actual hostname I need to set for this server is blanche.mydomain.net
I can set the hostname initially using the hostname command followed by the desired hostname.
[root@vps12 ~]# hostname blanche.mydomain.net
This will set the hostname:
[root@vps12 ~]# hostname blanche.mydomain.net
However, once the server is rebooted, the hostname will revert to it's previous setting (vps12).
To permanently change the hostname, I need to edit the network file at /etc/sysconfig/network.
So,
[root@vps12 ~]# cd /etc/sysconfig [root@vps12 sysconfig]# vi network
The Network file will look as so.
NETWORKING=yes HOSTNAME=vps12 GATEWAYDEV=eth0 GATEWAY=192.168.0.1
Hit 'i' to insert and change the HOSTNAME value to your FQDN, in my case, blanche.mydomain.net
Hit Escape, then :wq to save and exit.
Check that the hostname is properly set:
[root@vps12 sysconfig]# hostname blanche.mydomain.net [root@vps12 sysconfig]# sysctl kernel.hostname kernel.hostname = blanche.mydomain.net
Finally, if we log out, and log back in using a new session, we see I am now root@blanche:
login as: root root@blanche's password: Last login: Mon Jun 28 16:21:53 2010 [root@blanche ~]#
To properly check, you may wish to reboot the server.
Posted at 04:15AM Mar 02, 2011 by David in Linux | Comments[3] | Tags: centos linux | Export to: |

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