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Edit your hosts file on a Mac to spoof DNS changes

Sometimes I need to spoof DNS changes before they go live, like when double-checking the behavior of a site in a production environment before the site launches.

You can do this by editing your Hosts file. By editing your Hosts file, you’re basically telling your computer, “Hey, ignore what all of the DNS caches are telling you about where to find this site. This is where you should actually look for it.”

All great and useful, but I forget how to do this every time. For future reference:

Open up Terminal (the command line) and run

sudo nano /etc/hosts

You’ll likely be prompted to enter the password for the user you have set up on your computer since sudo tells the computer to execute a command as a superuser, and it needs to make sure you’re authorized to do that. Once the command runs, the file you specified (/etc/hosts) will be opened up in the GNU nano command line text editor. Nano can be a little confusing if it’s super new to you, refer to the docs or search around, guides abound online.

There will probably be a bit of content in this file already. Some of it might be comments, text preceded by a # symbol. Don’t change the existing contents unless you know what the effect will be and you’re really sure about it!

Instead, on a new line at the base, just add a new line with the IP address you want to point to followed by the URL without the protocol (so piperhaywood.com, not https://piperhaywood.com).

Once you’ve changed it, save the file and exit nano. When you load up the URL in a browser, you should be seeing whatever resources are available at the IP address you’ve specified. If you’re still seeing the “old” site, try loading it in a private browsing window.

Don’t forget to change it back when you’re done.

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Moving your email from one host to another

I recently helped an artist friend move an email address associated with her domain name from one host to another. These are the steps we took.

TL;DR — Moving email from one host to another is a pain. If you have to take it on yourself, take each step carefully and when in doubt, get in touch with your email hosting provider for advice.

⚠️ I wrote up these instructions as a self-help guide for my friend and decided to publish them here since I figured a lot of people might be in a similar boat. Turns out I was right, I get a lot of emails about moving email! However, if you want someone to manage an email move for you or provide one-on-one support for email, unfortunately I don’t offer this as a service. I’m not the right fit, my specialty is building websites, not managing email. If you don’t want to take it on yourself (which is fair!), you must get in touch with an IT person or systems administrator, not a web developer. If you’re not sure where to find one, ask around for recommendations or have a quick search online for local IT outfits that might fit the bill.

Read full instructions