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I need to write a small script that allows me to switch between development environments by changing the /etc/hosts file.
I would like to use a symbolic link instead of replacing the whole /etc/hosts file, but when I do the /etc/hosts is ignored. Why?
thedp
Posted 2018-04-08T14:01:59.630
Reputation: 255
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Yes, a symbolic link does not work.
Use a hard link instead:
sudo ln -f {source} /etc/hosts
Leon Jiang
Posted 2018-04-08T14:01:59.630
Reputation: 66
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Hosts is a very basic system file and many OS functions depend on it. So they won't accept sym links on such files and expect them to be of type 'ordinary'.
Try overwriting it with your versions, keeping the originals. By the way, you may want to try running local DNS with different zones instead.
MTG
Posted 2018-04-08T14:01:59.630
Reputation: 184
You didn't answer the question. – thedp – 2018-04-08T14:12:50.060
updated to meet your request. – MTG – 2018-04-08T14:56:46.920
It seems to be the case, I guess I will just cp the different hosts files I have to /etc/hosts. Thank you. – thedp – 2018-04-08T21:31:22.057
1I'd say this is a good alternative to what OP is trying to achieve instead of the accepted answer. – shriek – 2019-02-07T19:09:52.283