What is the purpose of /etc/hosts?

The /etc/hosts file in Linux is used for hostname resolution. It maps hostnames to IP addresses, allowing the system to resolve a hostname to its corresponding IP address without querying a DNS server. This file is particularly useful for local network configurations and for overriding DNS settings.

The typical format of the /etc/hosts file is:

IP_address    hostname    [aliases...]

For example:

127.0.0.1    localhost
192.168.1.10    myserver

In this example, localhost resolves to the loopback IP address 127.0.0.1, and myserver resolves to 192.168.1.10. The /etc/hosts file is often used for local testing, development, or when DNS is not available.