# win_hosts – Manages hosts file entries on Windows

New in version 2.8.

- Synopsis
- Parameters
- Notes
- See Also
- Examples
- Status

## Synopsis

- Manages hosts file entries on Windows.
- Maps IPv4 or IPv6 addresses to canonical names.
- Adds, removes, or sets cname records for ip and hostname pairs.
- Modifies %windir%\system32\drivers\etc\hosts.

## Parameters

Parameter | Choices/Defaults | Comments
--- | --- | ---

action
string

Choices:
- add
- remove
- set ←

Controls the behavior of aliases.
Only applicable when `state=present`.
If `add`, each alias in aliases will be added to the host entry.
If `set`, each alias in aliases will be added to the host entry, and other aliases will be removed from the entry.

aliases list |  | A list of additional names (cname records) for the host entry. Only applicable when `state=present`.
canonical_name string |  | A canonical name for the host entry. required for `state=present`.
ip_address string |  | The ip address for the host entry. Can be either IPv4 (A record) or IPv6 (AAAA record). Required for `state=present`.

state
string

Choices:
- absent
- present ←

Whether the entry should be present or absent.
If only canonical_name is provided when `state=absent`, then all hosts entries with the canonical name of canonical_name will be removed.
If only ip_address is provided when `state=absent`, then all hosts entries with the ip address of ip_address will be removed.
If ip_address and canonical_name are both omitted when `state=absent`, then all hosts entries will be removed.

## Notes

Note

- Each canonical name can only be mapped to one IPv4 and one IPv6 address. If canonical_name is provided with `state=present` and is found to be mapped to another IP address that is the same type as, but unique from ip_address, then canonical_name and all aliases will be removed from the entry and added to an entry with the provided IP address.
- Each alias can only be mapped to one canonical name. If aliases is provided with `state=present` and an alias is found to be mapped to another canonical name, then the alias will be removed from the entry and either added to or removed from (depending on action) an entry with the provided canonical name.

## See Also

See also

win_template – Template a file out to a remote server
  The official documentation on the win_template module.
win_file – Creates, touches or removes files or directories
  The official documentation on the win_file module.
win_copy – Copies files to remote locations on windows hosts
  The official documentation on the win_copy module.

## Examples

    - name: Add 127.0.0.1 as an A record for localhost
      win_hosts:
        state: present
        canonical_name: localhost
        ip_address: 127.0.0.1

    - name: Add ::1 as an AAAA record for localhost
      win_hosts:
        state: present
        canonical_name: localhost
        ip_address: '::1'

    - name: Remove 'bar' and 'zed' from the list of aliases for foo (192.168.1.100)
      win_hosts:
        state: present
        canoncial_name: foo
        ip_address: 192.168.1.100
        action: remove
        aliases:
          - bar
          - zed

    - name: Remove hosts entries with canonical name 'bar'
      win_hosts:
        state: absent
        canonical_name: bar

    - name: Remove 10.2.0.1 from the list of hosts
      win_hosts:
        state: absent
        ip_address: 10.2.0.1

    - name: Ensure all name resolution is handled by DNS
      win_hosts:
        state: absent

## Status

- This module is not guaranteed to have a backwards compatible interface. [preview]
- This module is maintained by the Ansible Community. [community]

### Authors

- Micah Hunsberger (@mhunsber)

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