This command can get or set the hostname or the NIS domain name. You can also get the DNS domain or the FQDN (fully qualified domain name). Unless you are using bind or NIS for host lookups you can change the FQDN (Fully Qualified Domain Name) and the DNS domain name (which is part of the FQDN) in the /etc/hosts file.
Usage:
hostname [-b] {hostname|-F file} set host name (from file)
hostname [-a|-A|-d|-f|-i|-I|-s|-y] display formatted name
hostname display host name
{yp,nis,}domainname {nisdomain|-F file} set NIS domain name (from file)
{yp,nis,}domainname display NIS domain name
dnsdomainname display dns domain name
hostname -V|--version|-h|--help print info and exit
Example:
# hostname abc-redhat-host
Set the desired hostname of the system using hostname command.
# hostname xyz.example.com
To keep the hostname persistent across reboots, edit the file /etc/hostname.
# vi /etc/hostname xyz.example.com
The hostname can be viewed in the /etc/hostname file as well.
# cat /etc/hostname
hostname Command Examples
1. To print the hostname of the system:
# hostname
2. To display the alias host name of the system:
# hostname -a # hostname --alias
3. To display the name of DNS domain:
# hostname -d # hostname --domain
4. To read the hostname from the file:
# hostname -F hostfile.txt # hostname --file hostfile.txt
5. To display the FQDN (Fully Qualified Domain Name):
# hostname -f # hostname --fqdn # hostname --long
6. To display the IP address of the host:
# hostname -i # hostname --ip-address
7. To display the short hostname:
# hostname -s # hostname --short
8. To get the version of the hostname command:
# hostname -V # hostname --version
9. To have the verbose output:
# hostname --verbose
10. To display the NIS domain name:
# hostname -y # hostname --yp # hostname --nis
11. To get the help for hostname command:
# hostname --help