How to Change Hostname on Ubuntu with Terminal

A hostname is a custom name created by the user. This name also differentiates a particular device from others within a local network. Below we have guided you step-wise on how to change hostname using the command line on Ubuntu

Displaying the Current Hostname

To do so use either hostnamectl or hostname command:

hostname

Output:

root@oymog-hostname:~# hostname
oymog-hostname
root@oymog-hostname:~#

hostnamectl

Output:

root@oymog-hostname:~# hostnamectl
 Static hostname: oymog-hostname
       Icon name: computer-container
         Chassis: container
      Machine ID: b041ed357e814794b0796f9f6b644865
         Boot ID: 0dbb61c0f887423480ccc30919695a09
  Virtualization: wsl
Operating System: Ubuntu 22.04.3 LTS
          Kernel: Linux 5.15.146.1-microsoft-standard-WSL2
    Architecture: x86-64
root@oymog-hostname:~#

Changing the System Hostname

Now that you know the current hostname, you can change the hostname by using the following command, and optionally you can also set the pretty hostname as follows.

hostnamectl set-hostname new-hostname

Upon changing your hostname using the hostnamectl command no system reboot is required to apply the hostname change.

sudo hostnamectl set-hostname oymog.com

sudo hostnamectl set-hostname oymog.com --static

sudo hostnamectl set-hostname oymog.com --transient

Using the above command we are setting our new hostname as “oymog.com”.

And next /etc/hosts file should be edited to successfully change the Ubuntu server name.

nano /etc/hosts

From:

127.0.0.1       localhost
127.0.1.1       oymog-hostname

To:

127.0.0.1       localhost
127.0.1.1       oymog.com

Then replace the old name with the new, then save the file, and exit.

Verify the Changes

To verify the hostname has been fully changed, enter the hostnamectl command:

hostnamectl

Output:

[email protected]:~# hostnamectl
 Static hostname: oymog.com
       Icon name: computer-container
         Chassis: container
      Machine ID: b041ed357e814794b0796f9f6b644865
         Boot ID: 0dbb61c0f887423480ccc30919695a09
  Virtualization: wsl
Operating System: Ubuntu 22.04.3 LTS
          Kernel: Linux 5.15.146.1-microsoft-standard-WSL2
    Architecture: x86-64
[email protected]:~#