Host Files

From Ben's Writing

Sometimes, when you are stuck with no DNS, you are waiting for the DNS records to update, or you just don't have the ability to change DNS settings, but you need an address to resolve to an IP, you can use the Windows equivalent of a hosts file:

• Host name — C:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts

# Copyright (c) 1993-2006 Microsoft Corp.
#
# This is a sample HOSTS file used by Microsoft TCP/IP for Windows.
#
# This file contains the mappings of IP addresses to host names. Each
# entry should be kept on an individual line. The IP address should
# be placed in the first column followed by the corresponding host name.
# The IP address and the host name should be separated by at least one
# space.
#
# Additionally, comments (such as these) may be inserted on individual
# lines or following the machine name denoted by a '#' symbol.
#
# For example:
#
#      102.54.94.97     rhino.acme.com          # source server
#       38.25.63.10     x.acme.com              # x client host

127.0.0.1       localhost
::1             localhost 

192.168.1.10	leovinus	leovinus.cs.wisc.edu

Note how closely it mimics the form of the *nix /etc/hosts file.

• NetBIOS name — C:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\lmhosts.sam

Note: Changes to these files will take effect immediately; in other words: you can change them and go about your business with right away.