Command: hostname

Get or set the system's various hostnames.

Usage

Usage: m hostname [OPTION] [newhostname]

Description: Manage the hostname of the system. This includes ComputerName, HostName, LocalHostName, and NetBIOSName.

Options:
  --help       Show this help message and exit

Description

On macOS, there are several different names for the computer used in different contexts:

  • ComputerName: The user-friendly name shown in Finder.
  • HostName: The name used by command-line tools and for network identification.
  • LocalHostName: The name used for Bonjour/mDNS services (e.g., My-Mac.local).
  • NetBIOSName: The name used for Windows file sharing (SMB).

This command gets or sets all of them simultaneously.

Examples

Get Current Hostnames

Run the command without any arguments to display the current names.

m hostname

# Sample Output:
# ComputerName:  My-Mac
# HostName:  My-Mac
# LocalHostName:  My-Mac
# NetBIOSName:  MY-MAC

Set New Hostname

Provide a new name as an argument to update all hostname values. This requires sudo privileges.

sudo m hostname New-Mac-Pro

# Output:
# Hostname changed to: New-Mac-Pro