Ubuntu Stuff







Ubuntu 22.04 change hostname
5 December 2021 by Korbin Brown

The purpose of this tutorial is to show how to change the system hostname on
Ubuntu 22.04 Jammy Jellyfish Linux. This can be done via command line or
GUI, and will not require a reboot in order to take effect.

The hostname of a Linux system is important because it is used to identify
the device on a network. The hostname is also shown in other prominent
places, such as in the terminal prompt. This gives you a constant reminder
of which system you are working with.

Hostnames give us a way to know which device we are interacting with either
on the network or physically, without remembering a bunch of IP addresses
that are subject to change. You should pick a descriptive hostname like
“ubuntu-desktop” or “backup-server” rather than something ambiguous
like “server2.”

Read on to see how to change hostname on Ubuntu 22.04.




In this tutorial you will learn:

Software Requirements and Linux Command Line Conventions 




CategoryRequirements, Conventions or Software Version Used

System Ubuntu 22.04 Jammy Jellyfish

Software N/A

Other Privileged access to your Linux system as root or via the sudo
command.

Conventions
# – requires given linux commands to be executed with root
privileges either 
directly as a root user or by use of sudo command

$ – requires given linux commands to be executed as a regular non
-privileged user







Change Hostname Via Command Line
Changing the hostname on Ubuntu 22.04 is a rather simple process involving
just few steps.




Step 1
First, check your current hostname. To do so use either hostnamectl or
hostname command:
    $ hostname
ubuntu

Your output of the hostnamectl command may look similar to the one below:
    $ hostnamectl
 Static hostname: ubuntu
       Icon name: computer-vm
         Chassis: vm
      Machine ID: 4c1c3db5471746bd814d2bf4344b59eb
         Boot ID: c6606d2c45ea4caba20b0f154f68ee64
  Virtualization: oracle
Operating System: Ubuntu Jammy Jellyfish
          Kernel: Linux 5.13.0-19-generic
    Architecture: x86-64
 Hardware Vendor: innotek GmbH
  Hardware Model: VirtualBox

  In either case the current hostname of our system is ubuntu.



Step 2
Next, use the hostnamectl command to change the hostname of your Ubuntu
22.04 system. For an example, we will switch our hostname to linuxconfig.
    $ sudo hostnamectl set-hostname linuxconfig

The above command will change the hostname of our Ubuntu 22.04 system to
linuxconfig.
    NOTE
Upon changing your hostname using the hostnamectl command no system reboot
is required to apply the hostname change.




Step 3
Next, edit the /etc/hosts file to reflect the change by executing the
command sudoedit /etc/hosts. For example, change:
FROM:
    127.0.0.1 localhost
127.0.1.1 ubuntu

    TO:
    127.0.0.1 localhost
    127.0.1.1 linuxconfig




Step 4
Execute the hostnamectl command to confirm the hostname change:
    $ hostnamectl
 Static hostname: linuxconfig
       Icon name: computer-vm
         Chassis: vm
      Machine ID: 4c1c3db5471746bd814d2bf4344b59eb
         Boot ID: c6606d2c45ea4caba20b0f154f68ee64
  Virtualization: oracle
Operating System: Ubuntu Jammy Jellyfish
          Kernel: Linux 5.13.0-19-generic
    Architecture: x86-64
 Hardware Vendor: innotek GmbH
  Hardware Model: VirtualBox




Change Hostname Via GNOME GUI
The instructions for changing the hostname on Ubuntu 22.04 from a graphical
user environment are going to vary depending on the desktop environment you
are using. The default desktop environment for Ubuntu 22.04 is GNOME, so we
will be covering the instructions for that one below. If you have a
different desktop environment, you may need a slightly different set of
instructions.




Step 1
Start by clicking on the upper right area of your desktop, in order
to bring up the Settings option. Then, open up the Settings panel.
    
    Open Settings in GNOME on Ubuntu 22.04



Step 2
On the left side of the panel, scroll all the way down to the About tab. You
will see your device name listed on the right side of the Settings screen.
    
    Viewing hostname on Ubuntu 22.04 from GNOME settings panel




Step 3
Next, click on the hostname. A new window will pop up, where you
can type the desired hostname you would like to use. As an example, we are
changing the hostname to linuxconfig in the screenshot below.
    
    Changing the hostname on Ubuntu 22.04 via GNOME GUI




Step 4
When you are satisfied with the changes, click the green Rename
button to finalize it. When done, you can close the Settings menu
completely. If you would like to verify the change, you can open a terminal
and type the hostname command.
$ hostname
linuxconfig




Closing Thoughts

In this tutorial, we saw two methods for changing the hostname on Ubuntu
22.04 Jammy Jellyfish via command line and GUI. We also learned about the
importance of picking an applicable hostname to assist in the easy
identification of a system. Administrators can use these methods to ensure
that they have a network of appropriately named devices.



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