Mac OS | Edit the hosts File

How to edit the macOS hosts file with administrator privileges and flush the DNS cache
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Overview

The hosts file maps host names to IP addresses before DNS is used. It is mainly edited during development or when you need to communicate with a host name for a specific reason.

Open an Editor from the Terminal

Editing the hosts file requires administrator privileges, so be sure to use the sudo command.

$ sudo vi /etc/hosts

Or:

$ sudo vi /private/etc/hosts

Edit the Contents

  1 ##
  2 # Host Database
  3 #
  4 # localhost is used to configure the loopback interface
  5 # when the system is booting.  Do not change this entry.
  6 ##
  7 127.0.0.1   localhost
  8 255.255.255.255 broadcasthost
  9 ::1             localhost
 10 fe80::1%lo0 localhost

Enter the IP address and separate it with a tab.

127.0.0.1    www.devkuma.com

Refresh the DNS Cache

After editing the hosts file, reboot or run dscacheutil -flushcache to apply the change immediately.

$ dscacheutil -flushcache