How to change hostname on Debian 10 Linux

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Change hostname on Debian 10 Linux

Login to your server: ssh user@server-name Become a root user using either sudo -s or su - To set the hostname to server1, run: hostnamectl set-hostname server1 Edit the file /etc/hosts and update entries: vi /etc/hosts Verify it by running the hostnamectl command again.

How do I change the hostname of a Debian Linux 10 “Buster” operating system permanently using the command line tools?You can use the hostnamectl command or hostname command to display or set the Debian Linux system’s host name. In this tutorial, you will learn how to change your hostname on Debian Linux.

Let us see all commands in details.

Display the current hostname for Debian Linux

Simply run the following command:

hostnamectl

Change the hostname on Debian 10

Now you know how to view the current hostname. It is time to change it as per your needs. A hostname is nothing but a name that identifies your Debian box on a network. Typically for the server, you set it as FQDN (fully qualified domain name) such as server1.cyberciti.biz. The syntax is as follows:

hostnamectl set-hostname {name-here}

For example, to change the system hostname to deb10.cyberciti.biz in Debian 10, you can use the following command:

sudo hostnamectl set-hostname deb10.cyberciti.biz

Next, edit the /etc/hosts file, run:

vi /etc/hosts

Find all references to oldname and replace with newname except for the following entries:

127.0.0.1 localhost # The following lines are desirable for IPv6 capable hosts ::1 localhost ip6-localhost ip6-loopback ff02::1 ip6-allnodes ff02::2 ip6-allrouters

For example:

127.0.0.1 localhost 192.168.2.100 deb10.cyberciti.biz # The following lines are desirable for IPv6 capable hosts ::1 localhost ip6-localhost ip6-loopback ff02::1 ip6-allnodes ff02::2 ip6-allrouters

Save and close the file.

Verify the change

How do you know that hostname was successfully changed? You use the same command without any arguments. In other words, type the following command:

hostnamectl



Set a particular pretty host name

The syntax is:

hostnamectl set-hostname "Vivek's Thinkpad" --pretty

Changing Debian host names remotely using ssh

From your Linux desktop, run:

hostnamectl set-hostname -H [username]@hostname

hostnamectl set-hostname {new_name_here} -H root@192.168.2.10

hostnamectl set-hostname www42.nixcraft.com -H root@192.168.2.10

The hostnamectl tool will use SSH to connect to the remote system. One can see help page by typing:

hostnamectl --help

Sample help page:

hostnamectl [ OPTIONS... ] COMMAND ... Query or change system hostname. -h --help Show this help --version Show package version --no-ask-password Do not prompt for password -H --host = [ USER@ ] HOST Operate on remote host -M --machine = CONTAINER Operate on local container --transient Only set transient hostname --static Only set static hostname --pretty Only set pretty hostname Commands: status Show current hostname settings set-hostname NAME Set system hostname set-icon-name NAME Set icon name for host set-chassis NAME Set chassis type for host set-deployment NAME Set deployment environment for host set-location NAME Set location for host See the hostnamectl ( 1 ) man page for details. hostnamectl [OPTIONS...] COMMAND ... Query or change system hostname. -h --help Show this help --version Show package version --no-ask-password Do not prompt for password -H --host=[USER@]HOST Operate on remote host -M --machine=CONTAINER Operate on local container --transient Only set transient hostname --static Only set static hostname --pretty Only set pretty hostname Commands: status Show current hostname settings set-hostname NAME Set system hostname set-icon-name NAME Set icon name for host set-chassis NAME Set chassis type for host set-deployment NAME Set deployment environment for host set-location NAME Set location for host See the hostnamectl(1) man page for details.

Conclusion

On Debian Linux hostnamectl command used to query and change the system hostname and related settings. For more information see the man page here.