Add/Remove hostnames from the /etc/hosts file

Introduction

This script was created for simplifying the addition/removal of hostnames to the /etc/hosts file. It's particularly useful if you're developing a site locally and want that site to have a "handle" that is related to the project name.

For example if I'm developing a site that is for a widget maker that will use the domain mywidgetmaker.com I'll do:

add-etc-hosts mywidgetmaker.com.local

Now I can enter http://mywidgetmaker.com.local on the address bar of the browser and it will show me the site that I'm developing.

It's particularly useful for working with Nginx, you just add the server_name directive to your vhost configuration (server context), like this:

server_name mywidgetmaker.local;  

If I want to add an IPv6 hostname I specify the optional argument -6:

add-etc-hosts -6 mywidgetmaker.local

Now there's an IPv6 loopback hostname. You can access your new IPv6 host.

Installation

1. Clone the git repo or download it.

2. Put the scripts in a directory included in your PATH or define aliases like this:

   alias add-etc-hosts='/path/to/add-etc-hosts'
   alias rm-etc-hosts='/path/to/rm-etc-hosts'
   

   Source the new aliases, if you have them in a ~/.bash_aliases file:

   . ~/.bash_aliases
   

   or something similar, depending on the name and location of the file where the aliases are defined.

3. Install the manual pages man/add-etc-hosts.8 and man/rm-etc-hosts under the man/man8 section of your local documentation directory.

4. Done.

Documentation

Full documentation is on the manpage add-etc-hosts(8).