hosts

Command-line editor for the system hosts file

TLDR

List all hosts entries

$ hosts

Search entries matching a string or regex

$ hosts [localhost]

Add an entry

$ hosts add [127.0.0.1] [example.com]

Remove an entry

$ hosts remove [example.com]

Block a domain (IPv4 and IPv6)

$ hosts block [example.com]

Unblock a domain

$ hosts unblock [example.com]

Disable (comment out) an entry

$ hosts disable [example.com]

Enable a disabled entry

$ hosts enable [example.com]

Create a backup

$ hosts backups create

hosts is a portable shell script for managing /etc/hosts (or the system hosts file): list and search entries, add/remove mappings, block/unblock domains, enable/disable lines by commenting, and maintain backups. It works with existing hosts files rather than replacing them.Install via Homebrew (xwmx/taps), npm (hosts.sh), bpkg, make install, AUR, or by placing the script on PATH. Many operations need root privileges to write the system hosts file.

PARAMETERS

*(no args)* / list

List hosts file entries.

*pattern*

Search entries matching a string or regular expression.

add *ip* *hostname*...

Add a mapping.

remove *ip|host|regex*

Remove matching entries (prompts for confirmation).

block / unblock *domain*

Add or remove blocking entries for a domain.

disable / enable *entry*

Comment or uncomment entries.

backups create|show|compare|...

Backup management for the hosts file.

completions install

Install shell completions (often needs sudo).

INSTALL

yay -S hosts

CAVEATS

Editing the system hosts file usually requires sudo. Bad entries can break name resolution; keep backups. On some systems the hosts path differs; the script targets the platform default. Completions are optional when installing the script alone.

RESOURCES

Source code