Use SSH hostname aliases in browser

Question

I set up hostname aliases in .ssh/config, which works great:

Host my-web
  HostName 515.346.96.21

So I can do this:

ssh my-web

But in a browser, I still need to type in "http://515.346.96.21". It would be great to be able to do "http://my-web".

Short of using a Dynamic DNS, or writing a script to synchronise changes with /etc/hosts, is there a way to use the aliases in SSH more widely? I create and destroy VMs with different IPs pretty often, so am constantly updating ~/.ssh/config.

it's easy. put http:// before my-web , chrome doesn't understand protocol type and refer your string to search engine. — PersianGulf, Feb 13 '13 at 14:29

score 5 · Answer 1 · answered Feb 13 '13 at 07:44

5

You can't re-use the HostName alias from ~/.ssh/config elsewhere. What you could do is update your /etc/hosts file with entries for your hosts e.g.

515.346.96.21 myweb

answered Feb 13 '13 at 07:44

user9517

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Well yes - an option I referred to and dismissed, as it doubles the time spent. – Steve Bennett Feb 13 '13 at 08:07
@SteveBennett: Sometimes it's necessary to (re)state the obvious in the face of unreasonable expectations. – user9517 Feb 13 '13 at 08:17
Heh. When my question says "...short of [updating] /etc/hosts", I don't think "you could...update your /etc/hosts file" is useful. But anyway. Sorry to be a jerk. – Steve Bennett Feb 13 '13 at 08:21
1

@SteveBennett: Apology accepted. – user9517 Feb 13 '13 at 09:01

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Apr 17 '13 at 02:19

On further reflection, this seems like the way to go:

In /etc/hosts:

192.168.0.27    my-server

In ~/.ssh/config:

Host my-server
IdentityFile ~/foo.pem
User ubuntu

You still have to edit two files, but at least you're not duplicating any information. If the IP changes, you update /etc/hosts. If key or user change, your update .ssh/config. Plus, host name wildcards still work:

/etc/hosts:

company-server1: 192.168.0.44
company-server2: 192.168.0.45
company-server3: 192.168.0.46

~/.ssh/config:

Host company-*
IdentityFile ~/foo.pem
User ubuntu

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Feb 13 '13 at 07:42

0

You can just forget about setting aliases anywhere, if you use something like Avahi. This lets your workstation and servers (even virtual ones, if you bridged the virtual network) find each other and address each other by name.

answered Feb 13 '13 at 07:42

Michael Hampton

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Interesting to know about, but wouldn't really work. The hosts aren't on my local network, and installing something on each one would be more work than updating /etc/hosts. – Steve Bennett Feb 13 '13 at 08:08
2

In that case you're left with updating `/etc/hosts`. – Michael Hampton Feb 13 '13 at 08:09

Use SSH hostname aliases in browser

3 Answers3