# Unable to set the hostname in RockyLinux? **URL:** \ **Category:** Rocky Linux Help & Support\ **Created:** [November 12, 2021, 6:29pm UTC](https://forums.rockylinux.org/t/unable-to-set-the-hostname-in-rockylinux/4541 "2021-11-12T18:29:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SomervilleTom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8797f3/32.png) [@SomervilleTom](https://forums.rockylinux.org/u/SomervilleTom)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2021, 6:29pm UTC](https://forums.rockylinux.org/t/unable-to-set-the-hostname-in-rockylinux/4541/1 "2021-11-12T18:29:44Z")
Please forgive this possibly newbie question. This is perhaps trivial, but I’d like to fix it. I have an AWS EC2 instance built from the standard RockyLinux vmi. When I connect to the system with an SSH client, the command line prompt looks like this (private IP address changed for privacy): ```auto [tms@ip-111-22-33-44 ~]$ ``` I want it to look like it does on my CentOS 7 instances: ```auto [tms@subdomain ~]$ ``` I have a valid domain name (`subdomain.domain.com`) The contents of `/etc/sysconfig/network` and `/etc/hosts` are the same as in my CentOS 7 systems. `/etc/sysconfig/network` contains just this: ```auto # Automatically generated by the vm import process NETWORKING=yes ``` `/etc/hosts` contains this: ```auto 127.0.0.1 localhost localhost.localdomain localhost4 localhost4.localdomain4 ::1 localhost localhost.localdomain localhost6 localhost6.localdomain6 # Use the private, rather than public, IP address locally 111.22.33.44 subdomain.domain.com ``` This is the same (adjusting for domain name and IP address) as on my CentOS 7 instances. I tried adding the following line to `/etc/sysconfig/network` following guidance from RedHat: ```auto HOSTNAME=subdomain.domain.com ``` I’ve rebooted the system. I get the same unwanted shell prompt. Here’s what I get from `hostname` (running as root) on the two systems: On RockyLinux instance: ```auto # hostname ip-111-22-33-44.ec2.internal ``` On a CentOS 7 instance: ```auto # hostname subdomain.domain.com ``` I have not attempted to explicitly set the hostname using the `hostname` command – I didn’t do that on my CentOS 7 instances, and Redhat says that this will be reverted at each reboot. What do I do in order to make the hostname (and therefore shell prompt) of my RockyLinux EC2 instance be `subdomain.domain.com` rather than `ip-111-22-33-44.ec2.internal`? ---
**Author:** ![tjdoyle](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/forums.rockylinux.org/tjdoyle/32/500_2.png) [@tjdoyle](https://forums.rockylinux.org/u/tjdoyle)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2021, 6:49pm UTC](https://forums.rockylinux.org/t/unable-to-set-the-hostname-in-rockylinux/4541/2 "2021-11-12T18:49:13Z")
Hi, Have you tried hostnamectl: `hostnamectl set-hostname **your-new-hostname** ` Thanks Tom. ---
**Author:** ![SomervilleTom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8797f3/32.png) [@SomervilleTom](https://forums.rockylinux.org/u/SomervilleTom)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2021, 7:20pm UTC](https://forums.rockylinux.org/t/unable-to-set-the-hostname-in-rockylinux/4541/3 "2021-11-12T19:20:36Z")
That worked. I have never heard of the `hostnamectl` command before now. I greatly appreciate this immediate and successful suggestion. ---
**Author:** ![iwalker](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/forums.rockylinux.org/iwalker/32/2599_2.png) [@iwalker](https://forums.rockylinux.org/u/iwalker)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2021, 7:40pm UTC](https://forums.rockylinux.org/t/unable-to-set-the-hostname-in-rockylinux/4541/4 "2021-11-12T19:40:35Z")
Sometimes what you might also have to do, is edit `/etc/cloud/cloud.cfg` and make sure this value is set: ```auto preserve_hostname: true ``` as on reboot cloud-init can run and reset your hostname again - the config file will probably already have an entry so you can search for it and edit the existing value and change from false to true. A lot of VPS/instance providers are using cloud-init. By setting that value, it stops cloud-init from resetting the hostname, meaning what you set before with hostnamectl, etc will not get overwritten/reset. ---
**Author:** ![SomervilleTom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8797f3/32.png) [@SomervilleTom](https://forums.rockylinux.org/u/SomervilleTom)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2021, 7:59pm UTC](https://forums.rockylinux.org/t/unable-to-set-the-hostname-in-rockylinux/4541/5 "2021-11-12T19:59:36Z")
I see no existing entry for `preserve_hostname`. This looks like a `yaml` file with some structure. Should this be at the top level of the file? Here are the current contents of that file on my system: ```auto users: - default disable_root: 1 ssh_pwauth: 0 mount_default_fields: [~, ~, 'auto', 'defaults,nofail,x-systemd.requires=cloud-init.service', '0', '2'] resize_rootfs_tmp: /dev ssh_deletekeys: 1 ssh_genkeytypes: ~ syslog_fix_perms: ~ disable_vmware_customization: false cloud_init_modules: - disk_setup - migrator - bootcmd - write-files - growpart - resizefs - set_hostname - update_hostname - update_etc_hosts - rsyslog - users-groups - ssh cloud_config_modules: - mounts - locale - set-passwords - rh_subscription - yum-add-repo - package-update-upgrade-install - timezone - puppet - chef - salt-minion - mcollective - disable-ec2-metadata - runcmd cloud_final_modules: - rightscale_userdata - scripts-per-once - scripts-per-boot - scripts-per-instance - scripts-user - ssh-authkey-fingerprints - keys-to-console - phone-home - final-message - power-state-change system_info: default_user: name: rocky lock_passwd: true gecos: Cloud User groups: [adm, systemd-journal] sudo: ["ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD:ALL"] shell: /bin/bash distro: rhel paths: cloud_dir: /var/lib/cloud templates_dir: /etc/cloud/templates ssh_svcname: sshd # vim:syntax=yaml ``` I also grepped the several files in `/etc/cloud/cloud.cfg.d` and find no entries for `preserve_hostname`. ---
**Author:** ![iwalker](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/forums.rockylinux.org/iwalker/32/2599_2.png) [@iwalker](https://forums.rockylinux.org/u/iwalker)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2021, 9:26pm UTC](https://forums.rockylinux.org/t/unable-to-set-the-hostname-in-rockylinux/4541/6 "2021-11-12T21:26:52Z")
Easiest way is reboot and see if the hostname resets or not. If not then no need to edit it. ---
**Author:** ![SomervilleTom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8797f3/32.png) [@SomervilleTom](https://forums.rockylinux.org/u/SomervilleTom)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2021, 9:40pm UTC](https://forums.rockylinux.org/t/unable-to-set-the-hostname-in-rockylinux/4541/7 "2021-11-12T21:40:21Z")
Ah, thanks. I rebooted before posting my “success” reply. I think I’m all set then. ---
**Author:** ![brian](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/forums.rockylinux.org/brian/32/5777_2.png) [@brian](https://forums.rockylinux.org/u/brian)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2023, 4:01am UTC](https://forums.rockylinux.org/t/unable-to-set-the-hostname-in-rockylinux/4541/8 "2023-08-25T04:01:45Z")