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Edit the hosts file
Last Updated: July 07, 2026

If you want device names to be displayed in the SDM, you must enter the device IP addresses and names in the hosts file. These items can be added to the hosts file manually, as described here, or using the SDM user interface (see, Add New Devices). This must be done before you discover devices. If the names of the devices are not added to the hosts file, the devices are named by their IP addresses.

Any changes in the hosts file to devices that were already discovered or added by SDM require those devices to be deleted and rediscovered.

NOTE: Device names managed by the SDM must all be in lower case, begin with a character and be no more than 40 characters in length.

To edit the hosts file:

  1. Open the /etc/hosts file using EMACS or vi.
  2. Start a new line at the bottom of the text and type the <IP address> of the device you wish to add.
  3. Press tab and then type the <device name>. Repeat for additional devices.
  4. Save the file and close EMACS or vi once completed.
  5. Proceed to Discover Devices to add existing devices to the SDM.

    An example of a hosts file with device names added is displayed below:

    # This is a sample HOSTS file
# This file contains the mappings of IP addresses to host
# names.
# Each entry should be kept on an individual line. The IP address
# should be placed in the first column followed by the corresponding
# host name. The IP address and the host name should be separated
# by at least one space.
#
# Additionally, comments (such as these) may be inserted on
# individual lines or following the machine name denotes by a
# '#' symbol.
#
# For example:
#
# 102.54.94.97 rhino.acme.com # source server
#	38.25.63.10 x.acme.com # client host
127.0.0.1	localhost
193.1.17.5	sdm001
193.1.17.6	om001
193.1.17.09	radd001
193.1.17.8	irt407
193.1.17.15 irt401
193.1.17.16 irt405
193.1.17.17 irt403

    See also Adding New Devices.