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# How to Change Hostname in Debian
- URL: https://linuxhandbook.com/debian-change-hostname/
- Published: 2019-08-19T12:01:23.000Z
- Updated: 2024-03-13T14:15:34.000Z
- Description: This quick tip teaches you various ways to change hostname in Debian Linux distributions.
- Author: Abhishek Prakash
- Tags: Tips

A hostname is basically your computer’s name by which it is recognized on the network. The hostname should be unique to avoid conflicts.

When you install [Debian](https://www.debian.org/?ref=linuxhandbook.com), you are asked to create a user name and a computer name. That is the hostname of your system,

The easiest way to know the hostname of your system is to open a terminal on the system or log in via SSH on the remote Linux system.

In terminal, you’ll notice that the prompt is usually in the fashion of user\_name@hostname.

If it doesn’t show you that, you can always use the hostname command:

```
hostname
```

Now that you know your computer’s name and don’t like it, you can change it easily. In this tutorial, I’ll show you several ways of changing hostname of a Debian system.

## Change hostname in Debian

I am going to show you two command line ways of changing the hostname in Debian Linux. The method should work on both Debian 9 and Debian 10.

### Method 1: Use systemd for changing hostname in Debian

The first and preferred method for changing the hostname in Debian is to use the systemd command hostnamectl.

It’s a simple, single command and you don’t even need to restart your system for the changes to be taken in affect.

```
hostnamectl set-hostname new_hostname
```

Once you have done this, verify that the hostname change has been successful with the hostname or hostnamectl command:

```
hostnamectl
   Static hostname: raspberrypi
         Icon name: computer
        Machine ID: 0035faf761f945b8923fc7d54632a941
           Boot ID: c487a76d67a34fd28a5f608aff19281c
  Operating System: Raspbian GNU/Linux 10 (buster)
            Kernel: Linux 4.19.29-v7l+
      Architecture: arm
```

Exit the shell to see that yourname@hostname displays the new hostame.

### Method 2: Change hostname in Debian using /etc/hosts

The etc directory in Linux contains the various configuration files. A couple of them relate to hostname. You can modify these files to change the hostname of your system.

First, use a [command line text editor like Emacs](https://linuxhandbook.com/basic-emacs-guide/) or Vim to edit this file:

```
vim /etc/hostname
```

You’ll find just the old hostname here. Delete it and replace it with the new hostname.

It’s not done yet. You have to modify one more file. Go to [/etc/hosts file](https://linuxhandbook.com/etc-hosts-file/) and edit it. Here, replace your old hostname with the new one.

```
127.0.0.1       localhost
127.0.0.1       new_hostname

# The following lines are desirable for IPv6 capable hosts
::1     ip6-localhost ip6-loopback
fe00::0 ip6-localnet
ff00::0 ip6-mcastprefix
ff02::1 ip6-allnodes
ff02::2 ip6-allrouters
ff02::3 ip6-allhosts
```

Save and close the file and then verify it using the hostname or hostnamectl command. That’s it. If you won’t do this step, you’ll encounter “[sudo: unable to resolve host](https://linuxhandbook.com/sudo-unable-resolve-host/)” warning message every time you run sudo.

So, you just learn to change the hostname of your Debian server. Personally, I prefer the first method because it’s less of a hassle. How about you? Which method of changing hostname would you prefer?