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I cannot open my /etc/hosts file. I would very much like to, I have tried logging in as root and changing the ownership and changing the permissions, please help.

When I try to open the file I get:

-bash: /etc/hosts: permission denied
Eliah Kagan
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Seb
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    How are you trying to open it? Aren't you trying to *run* it? – choroba Jul 29 '13 at 21:56
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    I agree with choroba - it sounds like you are trying to run (execute) the file i.e. just typing the filename at the command prompt. You need to specify an editor program e.g. 'nano /etc/hosts' not just '/etc/hosts' – steeldriver Jul 29 '13 at 22:00
  • Are you trying to run it or edit it. – mojo706 Jul 29 '13 at 22:00
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    `/etc/hosts` cannot be executed. It is not a program or script. On Windows, you can *open* a file by issuing the filename by itself as a command. On Ubuntu (and other Unix-like systems), you cannot -- issuing a filename as a command attempts to run a command of that name. – Eliah Kagan Jul 29 '13 at 22:01

2 Answers2

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Open a terminal and run the following command...

gksudo gedit /etc/hosts

This will open the file in gedit with root privileges allowing you to make your changes.

Cheesemill
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  • (gksudo:4878): Gtk-WARNING **: cannot open display: That's what I got in return, with nothing after that colon :( – Seb Jul 29 '13 at 22:01
  • @Seb You can use `sudo nano -w /etc/hosts`. If you want to edit it with a graphical application, then we can troubleshoot the "cannot open display problem"; to do that, you should tell us how you are logged in? Are you logged in with a normal graphical session, or are you, for example, SSHing in remotely? – Eliah Kagan Jul 29 '13 at 22:02
  • @EliahKagan I don't really understand most of that, but the first command worked a little bit. I'm no pro at this at all, I was just hoping to type into the hosts file, but this has some weird graphical interface thing that I don't understand and it doesn't have a list of my hosts in it so I'm scared! – Seb Jul 29 '13 at 22:21
  • @Seb When you say "some weird graphical interface thing" are you referring to what happens when you run `nano`, or something else? Also, what do you mean when you say it doesn't have a list of your hosts? What are you expecting? The contents of a `hosts` file usually look [something like this](http://paste.ubuntu.com/5926933/). (By the way, if you just want to look at a file on the command line, you can use `cat filename`, in this case `cat /etc/hosts`.) You're typing commands into a terminal. How did you open that terminal? – Eliah Kagan Jul 29 '13 at 22:27
  • @EliahKagan Ok, thank you so much for your help so far, you're being very patient. I think I misunderstood what I should be doing. I was trying to fix an error in connecting to minecraft servers (I know, the shame) and there was a fix in windows that read: "open the "hosts" file using notepad read the paragraph to help you understand the file then enter this on one line by its self: "184.73.223.40 session.minecraft.net"" I'm really sorry to have wasted your help so far, you were really kind, thank you very much, but if you could help me fix this? – Seb Jul 31 '13 at 18:12
  • @Seb In Ubuntu you should be able to do the same thing (you just can't open the `hosts` file the same way). You might want to back up the file first with the command `sudo cp /etc/hosts /etc/hosts.old`. If you're not comfortable using a command-line text editor (`nano -w`), and `gksudo gedit /etc/hosts` does not work, then you can try `sudo -H gedit /etc/hosts`. If that fails you can try `sudo -i gedit /etc/hosts`. You should *avoid* running just `sudo gedit /etc/hosts`; it's not likely to work any better and [can cause problems](http://askubuntu.com/q/270006/22949). – Eliah Kagan Jul 31 '13 at 18:46
  • @Eliah Kagan `# 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` Is this what it's supposed to look like? When I did the gksudo one, the text editor came up with 2 tabs, one that looked like the stuff above, and another that never stopped loading. The sudo-H and sudo-i one just brought up 1 tab like the text above (which is hopefully in that grey box if I figured that out). I'm not sure if I type that line into the text above or the other tab that gksudo brought – Seb Jul 31 '13 at 19:18
  • @Seb It sounds like `gksudo`, `sudo -H gedit`, and `sudo -i gedit` are all working okay. When you use `gksudo gedit`, you may get an extra tab in Gedit that doesn't have any document open it. That's normal; it's [a known bug in Gedit](https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gedit/+bug/796076). You can just use the tab that has your `hosts` file in it, and ignore the empty one. It's normal for a `hosts` file in Ubuntu to say "The following lines are desirable..." followed by those 5 lines. You should *not* change or remove those lines, but you can add more. – Eliah Kagan Jul 31 '13 at 20:40
  • @Seb If you still need help, please **edit your question** with details of what you're trying to do and what you need help with (or create a new question if what you're asking is very different from your original question); going back-and-forth in comments like this rapidly becomes confusing once the conversation becomes long. Thanks. – Eliah Kagan Jul 31 '13 at 20:47
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In the terminal type:

$  sudo su

Type your password...

And you will get the root privileges. Then open the file via any text editor:

By GEdit

#  gedit /etc/hosts

By mousepad ( sudo apt-get install mousepad )

#  mousepad /etc/hosts
Abdelraouf Adjal
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