How to edit the hosts file in Mac OS X – Snow Leopard
The hosts file is a text file that maps hostnames to IP addresses. Upon typing a url address in the browser, the system first checks if there is a relevant entry in the hosts file and if exists gets the corresponding IP address. If no entries exists it resolves the IP via the active connection’s DNS servers.
The hosts file can be edited to block certain hostsnames, like ad-serving/malicious hosts, or used for web development purposes, i.e. to redirect domains to local addresses.
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