How to Change Hostname on Debian 13 (Trixie)

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The Hostname is the name your system uses to identify itself on the network. This guide shows how to change it temporarily or permanently.

Check Current Hostname

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hostnamectl

Output example:

root@server:~# hostnamectl
 Static hostname: server
       Icon name: computer-vm
         Chassis: vm 🖴
      Machine ID: 14d53f9ab433443fa523e13e53e556af
         Boot ID: 54f79afe97004032ad27297371c6f8cd
    Product UUID: 6bd1359e-9173-4ee4-8d2b-bbedd55d16f7
  Virtualization: kvm
Operating System: Debian GNU/Linux 13 (trixie)
          Kernel: Linux 6.12.35+deb13-amd64
    Architecture: x86-64
 Hardware Vendor: Red Hat
  Hardware Model: KVM
Firmware Version: 1.16.0-4.module_el8.9.0+3659+9c8643f3
   Firmware Date: Tue 2014-04-01
    Firmware Age: 11y 3month 3w 3d

Change Hostname (Temporarily and Permanently)

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To change the system hostname (e.g., to webserver1):

hostnamectl set-hostname webserver1

No reboot is required. You can verify:

hostnamectl

Update /etc/hosts File

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Edit the /etc/hosts file to map the hostname to 127.0.1.1:

nano /etc/hosts

Update the line like this:

127.0.1.1    webserver1

Save and exit.

Step 4: Apply Changes (If Needed)

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The changes apply immediately for most use cases. You can test:

hostname

And to fully refresh system references, you can reboot:

reboot

Conclusion

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Your system now uses the new hostname.
It will persist across reboots and will appear in terminal prompts, logs, and networking.