CNAME record/alias in windows hosts file?

Question

Is it possible to enter some sort of CNAME record or alias in the windows hosts file (C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts)?

Basically I want to forward all requests made to host A to host B, without having to hard code the IP address (which changes frequently).

score 56 · Accepted Answer · answered Mar 02 '10 at 13:51

The windows hosts file supports only ip->name mappings, it does not support any other standard DNS record types. See here:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb727005.aspx#EDAA

I would recommend running a simple dns server in order to do the redirect you are talking about. Try powerdns http://www.powerdns.com/

score 6 · Answer 2 · answered Feb 12 '19 at 18:44

6

PowerDNS is not supported on Windows. I would recommend a tool such as "SimpleDNS" (14 day Trial) or "Technitium DNS Server" (free) which can be used to create a simple local DNS server.

Once you setup the program, you can create a zone and record for the CNAME you're trying to test and point your DNS server settings to 127.0.0.1 only to test.

I was able to use this to test TrafficManager and this looks to be the easiest way to do it on a Windows computer.

answered Feb 12 '19 at 18:44

Brett Larson

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Anyone found an alternative for Mac? – eos Sep 07 '21 at 15:15
@eos I didn't try it out personally, but a googling gives me a number of alternatives. For example this one https://www.mamp.info/namo/en/ – MEMark Dec 03 '21 at 06:10
+1 for Technitium - very easy to set up – Martin McNulty Dec 14 '21 at 12:24

CNAME record/alias in windows hosts file?

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