Hoster

A lightweight Go utility that automatically manages /etc/hosts entries for Docker containers. It monitors Docker events and dynamically updates the hosts file with container network information, making it easy to access containers by hostname.

Features

• 🔄 Automatic Updates: Monitors Docker container start/stop events in real-time
• 🌐 Network Awareness: Supports multiple Docker networks and aliases
• 🧹 Clean Shutdown: Removes all entries on graceful exit
• ⚡ Atomic Operations: Uses atomic file writes to prevent corruption
• 🐳 Bridge & Custom Networks: Handles both default bridge and user-defined networks

How It Works

Docker Hoster watches for container lifecycle events and automatically:

1. Extracts container IP addresses from all connected networks
2. Collects container names, hostnames, and network aliases
3. Updates /etc/hosts with mappings in a dedicated section
4. Cleans up entries when containers stop or the service exits

Installation

Prerequisites

• Docker running on the system
• Root/sudo access (required to modify /etc/hosts)

Option 1: Download Pre-built Binary (Recommended)

Pre-built binaries are available for Linux, macOS, and Windows on the releases page.

For Linux/macOS:

# Download the appropriate binary for your platform
# For Linux x86_64:
wget https://github.com/zignd/hoster/releases/download/vX.Y.Z/hoster_linux_amd64.tar.gz
tar -xzf hoster_linux_amd64.tar.gz

# For Linux ARM64:
wget https://github.com/zignd/hoster/releases/download/vX.Y.Z/hoster_linux_arm64.tar.gz
tar -xzf hoster_linux_arm64.tar.gz

# For macOS Intel (x86_64):
wget https://github.com/zignd/hoster/releases/download/vX.Y.Z/hoster_darwin_amd64.tar.gz
tar -xzf hoster_darwin_amd64.tar.gz

# For macOS Apple Silicon (ARM64):
wget https://github.com/zignd/hoster/releases/download/vX.Y.Z/hoster_darwin_arm64.tar.gz
tar -xzf hoster_darwin_arm64.tar.gz

# Make it executable
chmod +x hoster

# Optionally, move to a location in your PATH
sudo mv hoster /usr/local/bin/

For Windows:

Download the .zip file for your architecture from the releases page, extract it, and place the executable in your preferred location or add it to your PATH.

Check the installed version:

hoster --version

Option 2: Build from Source

Requires Go 1.16 or higher.

git clone <repository-url>
cd hoster
go mod download
go build -o hoster main.go

Usage

Basic Usage

Run with default settings (requires root):

sudo hoster

Note: If you haven't moved the binary to a directory in your PATH, use ./hoster instead when running from the current directory.

Command Line Options

View all available options:

hoster --help

Check the version:

hoster --version

Available flags:

• --help - Show help message with usage examples and exit
• --version - Display version information and exit
• --hosts <path> - Path to the hosts file (default: /etc/hosts)
• --socket <path> - Path to the Docker socket (default: /var/run/docker.sock)

Example with custom paths:

sudo hoster --hosts /custom/hosts --socket /var/run/docker.sock

Running as a Service

The utility runs continuously, monitoring Docker events. It's designed to run as a background service or daemon.

Stopping

Press Ctrl+C or send SIGTERM to gracefully shut down. The service will automatically clean up all hosts file entries before exiting.

Configuration

The utility uses the following defaults:

• Hosts File: /etc/hosts
• Docker Socket: /var/run/docker.sock

You can override these defaults using command line flags:

sudo ./hoster --hosts /custom/hosts --socket /custom/docker.sock

Alternatively, modify the constants in main.go to change the defaults:

const (
    defaultHostsPath = "/etc/hosts"
    defaultSocket    = "/var/run/docker.sock"
)

Hosts File Format

Docker Hoster manages entries in a dedicated section:

# Your existing hosts entries
127.0.0.1    localhost

#-----------Docker-Hoster-Domains----------
172.17.0.2    mycontainer   webapp   abc123
172.18.0.3    database   db   postgres
#-----Do-not-add-hosts-after-this-line-----

⚠️ Warning: Do not manually add entries after the Docker Hoster section marker, as they will be removed.

Example

Start a container with network aliases:

docker network create mynetwork
docker run -d --name webapp --network mynetwork --network-alias api nginx

Docker Hoster will automatically add entries like:

172.18.0.2    webapp   api   abc123def456

You can now access the container:

curl http://webapp
curl http://api

Container Information Collected

For each running container, Docker Hoster extracts:

• Container name (without leading /)
• Container hostname
• Network-specific IP addresses
• Network aliases from all connected networks

Permissions

This utility requires:

• Read/Write access to /etc/hosts
• Read access to Docker socket (/var/run/docker.sock)

Run with sudo or as root to ensure proper permissions.

Signal Handling

• SIGINT (Ctrl+C): Graceful shutdown with cleanup
• SIGTERM: Graceful shutdown with cleanup

On shutdown, all Docker Hoster entries are removed from /etc/hosts.

Architecture

• Docker Client: Uses official Docker Go SDK
• Event Monitoring: Subscribes to Docker events API
• Atomic Writes: Uses auxiliary file + rename for safe updates
• Context Management: Proper cancellation and cleanup

Troubleshooting

Permission Denied

Error: failed to read hosts file: permission denied

Solution: Run with sudo or as root user.

Cannot Connect to Docker

Error: failed to create docker client

Solution: Ensure Docker is running and the socket path is correct.

Entries Not Appearing

Check that:

1. Containers are actually running (docker ps)
2. Containers have network aliases or are on custom networks
3. The utility is running with proper permissions

Development

Project Structure

.
├── main.go       # Main application code
├── go.mod        # Go module dependencies
└── README.md     # This file

Dependencies

• github.com/docker/docker - Docker Engine API client

Building

go build -o hoster main.go

Testing

Test with a simple container:

# Terminal 1: Run hoster
sudo ./hoster

# Terminal 2: Start a container
docker run -d --name test nginx

# Check /etc/hosts
grep test /etc/hosts

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit issues or pull requests.