Setting hostname using CLI

A common task for initial setup of your operating system is to change the hostname of a device. The default is a unique name composed from the built-in default name suffixed by the last three octets of the base MAC address.

admin@infix-c0-ff-ee-:/>

In this example the built-in name is infix and the last three octets resemble my favorite morning drink. The built-in name depends on the Infix build and can be tailored to your product.

The hostname can be changed from the system configuration context:

admin@infix-c0-ff-ee:/> configure
admin@infix-c0-ff-ee:/config/> edit system
admin@infix-c0-ff-ee:/config/system/> set hostname example
admin@infix-c0-ff-ee:/config/system/> leave
admin@example:/> 

Notice how the hostname in the prompt does not change until the change is committed by issuing the leave command.

There are a few format specifiers available:

• %h: built-in hostname, here infix
• %i: built-in identity, here infix (depends on branding)
• %m: last three octets of base MAC address (may be 00-00-00)
• %%: literal % character

One good reason to maintain a unique hostname, e.g., using %m, is that it is advertised over mDNS-SD in the .local domain. If another device already has claimed the example.local CNAME, mDNS will notice this and advertise a “uniqified” variant, usually suffixing with an index, e.g., example-1.local. Use an mDNS browser to scan for available devices on your LAN.

Critical services like syslog, mDNS, LLDP, and similar that advertise the hostname, are restarted when the hostname is changed.