Briefing
A hosts file is an Operating System specific file (typically in plain text) that maps IP Addresses with hostnames of a network.
What is the correct syntax for a hosts file?
Correct syntax is as follows in this same order:
IP_ADDRESS FQDN HOSTNAME with either a space or tab in between each variable, where:
IP_ADDRESS = IP Address of the server machine
FQDN = Fully Qualified Domain Name of the server machine
HOSTNAME = The domain short name assigned to a host computer server machine
Notes:
- After this change has been performed with an Operating System Administrator user, the machine might be required to be restarted for the Operating System to implement the change (please consult with the pertinent Operating System documentation).
- Make sure to comment out any irrelevant or unused lines in the hosts' file and to ensure that the above order is not changed as this may cause issues with the hosts' file configuration.
