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Take Note! This version of the Hosts file generator, and tests, are for Python 3.5+ only.

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Unified hosts file @EXTENSIONS_HEADER@

This repository consolidates several reputable hosts files, and merges them into a unified hosts file with duplicates removed. A variety of tailored hosts files are provided.

List of all hosts file variants

The Non GitHub mirror is the link to use for some hosts file managers like Hostsman for Windows that don't work with Github download links.

Host file recipe Readme Raw hosts Unique domains Non Github mirror
@TOCROWS@

Expectation: These unified hosts files should serve all devices, regardless of OS.

Sources of hosts data unified in this variant

Updated hosts files from the following locations are always unified and included:

Host file source Description Home page Raw hosts Update frequency License Issues
@SOURCEROWS@

Extensions

The unified hosts file is extensible. Extensions are used to block domains by category.

Extensions are optional, and are added to the base hosts file. Extensions are combined in various ways wth the default hosts file, and the combined products are stored in the alternates folder.

For example, you may want to block porn domains in addition to the adware and malware we block by default. That hosts file is stored in the porn subfolder of the alternates folder.

Data for extensions is stored in the extensions folder. You manage extensions by curating the extensions folder tree where you will find the data for fakenews, social, gambling, and porn extension data that we maintain and provide for you.

Generate your own unified hosts file

To generate your own unified hosts file you will need Python 3.5 or later.

First install the dependencies with:

pip3 install --user -r requirements.txt

Note we recommend the --user flag which installs the required dependencies at the user level. More information about it can be found on pip documentation.

To run unit tests, in the top level directory, just run:

python3 testUpdateHostsFile.py

The updateHostsFile.py script will generate a unified hosts file based on the sources in the local data/ subfolder. The script will prompt you whether it should fetch updated versions (from locations defined by the update.json text file in each source's folder). Otherwise, it will use the hosts file that's already there.

Usage

Using Python 3:

python3 updateHostsFile.py [--auto] [--replace] [--ip nnn.nnn.nnn.nnn] [--extensions ext1 ext2 ext3]

Command line options:

--help, or -h: display help.

--auto, or -a: run the script without prompting. When --auto is invoked,

  • Hosts data sources, including extensions, are updated.
  • No extensions are included by default. Use the --extensions or -e flag to include any you want.
  • Your active hosts file is not replaced unless you include the --replace flag.

--backup, or -b: Make a backup of existing hosts file(s) as you generate over them.

--extensions <ext1> <ext2> <ext3>, or -e <ext1> <ext2> <ext3>: the names of subfolders below the extensions folder containing additional category-specific hosts files to include in the amalgamation. Example: --extensions porn or -e social porn.

--flush-dns-cache, or -f: skip the prompt for flushing the DNS cache.
Only active when --replace is also active.

--ip nnn.nnn.nnn.nnn, or -i nnn.nnn.nnn.nnn: the IP address to use as the target. Default is 0.0.0.0.

--keepdomaincomments, or -k: true (default) or false, keep the comments that appear on the same line as domains. The default is true.

--noupdate, or -n: skip fetching updates from hosts data sources.

--output <subfolder>, or -o <subfolder>: place the generated source file in a subfolder. If the subfolder does not exist, it will be created.

--replace, or -r: trigger replacing your active hosts

--skipstatichosts, or -s: false (default) or true, omit the standard section at the top, containing lines like 127.0.0.1 localhost. This is useful for configuring proximate DNS services on the local network.

--compress, or -c: false (default) or true, Compress the hosts file ignoring non-necessary lines (empty lines and comments) and putting multiple domains in each line. Reducing the number of lines of the hosts file improves the performances under Windows (with DNS Client service enabled).

--minimise, or -m: false (default) or true, like --compress, but puts each domain on a separate line. This is necessary because many implementations of URL blockers that rely on hosts files do not conform to the standard which allows multiple hosts on a single line.

How do I control which sources are unified?

Add one or more additional sources, each in a subfolder of the data/ folder, and specify the url key in its update.json file.

Add one or more optional extensions, which originate from subfolders of the extensions/ folder. Again the url in update.json controls where this extension finds its updates.

Create an optional blacklist file. The contents of this file (containing a listing of additional domains in hosts file format) are appended to the unified hosts file during the update process. A sample blacklist is included, and may be modified as you desire.

  • NOTE: The blacklist is not tracked by git, so any changes you make won't be overridden when you git pull this repo from origin in the future.

How do I include my own custom domain mappings?

If you have custom hosts records, place them in file myhosts. The contents of this file are prepended to the unified hosts file during the update process.

The myhosts file is not tracked by git, so any changes you make won't be overridden when you git pull this repo from origin in the future.

How do I prevent domains from being included?

The domains you list in the whitelist file are excluded from the final hosts file.

The whitelist uses partial matching. Therefore if you whitelist google-analytics.com, that domain and all its subdomains won't be merged into the final hosts file.

The whitelist is not tracked by git, so any changes you make won't be overridden when you git pull this repo from origin in the future.

How can I contribute hosts records?

If you discover sketchy domains you feel should be included here, here are some ways to contribute them.

Option 1: contact one of our hosts sources

The best way to get new domains included is to submit an issue to any of the data providers whose home pages are listed here. This is best because once you submit new domains, they will be curated and updated by the dedicated folks who maintain these sources.

Option 2: add your domains to Steven Black's personal data file

Fork this hosts this repo and add your links to https://github.com/StevenBlack/hosts/blob/master/data/StevenBlack/hosts.

Then, submit a pull request.

WARNING: this is less desirable than Option 1 because the ongoing curation falls on us and what you've just done is created more work for us.

Option 3: create your own hosts list as a repo on Github

If you're able to curate your own collection of sketchy domains, then curate your own hosts list. Then signal the existence of your repo as a new issue and we may include your new repo into the collection of sources we pull whenever we create new versions.

What is a hosts file?

A hosts file, named hosts (with no file extension), is a plain-text file used by all operating systems to map hostnames to IP addresses.

In most operating systems, the hosts file is preferential to DNS. Therefore if a domain name is resolved by the hosts file, the request never leaves your computer.

Having a smart hosts file goes a long way towards blocking malware, adware, and other irritants.

For example, to nullify requests to some doubleclick.net servers, adding these lines to your hosts file will do it:

# block doubleClick's servers
0.0.0.0 ad.ae.doubleclick.net
0.0.0.0 ad.ar.doubleclick.net
0.0.0.0 ad.at.doubleclick.net
0.0.0.0 ad.au.doubleclick.net
0.0.0.0 ad.be.doubleclick.net
# etc...

We recommend using 0.0.0.0 instead of 127.0.0.1

Traditionally most host files use 127.0.0.1, the loopback address, to establish an IP connection to the local machine.

We prefer to use 0.0.0.0, which is defined as a non-routable meta-address used to designate an invalid, unknown, or non applicable target.

Using 0.0.0.0 is empirically faster, possibly because there's no wait for a timeout resolution. It also does not interfere with a web server that may be running on the local PC.

Why not use just 0 instead of 0.0.0.0?

We tried that. Using 0 doesn't work universally.

Location of your hosts file

To modify your current hosts file, look for it in the following places and modify it with a text editor.

Mac OS X, iOS, Android, Linux: /etc/hosts file.

Windows: %SystemRoot%\system32\drivers\etc\hosts file.

Updating hosts file on Windows

On Linux and Mac OS X, you can simply run the Python script, but on Windows, more work is required due to compatibility issues in implementing some of the functionality for Windows. It is preferable to run the batch file as follows:

updateHostsWindows.bat

This file MUST be run in command prompt with administrator privileges in the repository directory. In addition to updating the hosts file, it can also replace the existing hosts file, and reload the DNS cache. It goes without saying that in order for this to work, you must be connected to the internet.

To open a command prompt as administrator in the repository's directory, do the following:

Windows XP: Start -> Run -> cmd

Windows Vista, 7: Start Button -> type cmd -> right-click Command Prompt -> "Run as Administrator"

Windows 8: Start -> Swipe Up -> All Apps -> Windows System -> right-click Command Prompt -> "Run as Administrator"

Windows 10: Start Button -> type cmd -> right-click Command Prompt -> "Run as Administrator"

You can also refer to the "Third-Party Hosts Managers" section for further recommended solutions from third parties.

Reloading hosts file

Your operating system will cache DNS lookups. You can either reboot or run the following commands to manually flush your DNS cache once the new hosts file is in place.

The Google Chrome browser may require manually cleaning up its DNS Cache on chrome://net-internals/#dns page to thereafter see the changes in your hosts file. See: https://superuser.com/questions/723703

Windows

Open a command prompt with administrator privileges and run this command:

ipconfig /flushdns
If you want to use a huge hosts file by merging hphosts (NOT INCLUDED HERE) you need to DISABLE and STOP Dnscache service before you replace hosts file in Windows Systems. You have been warned.

Before flushing the DNS cache, open a command prompt with administrator privileges and run this command:

sc config "Dnscache" start= disabled
sc stop "Dnscache"

Linux

Open a Terminal and run with root privileges:

Debian/Ubuntu sudo service network-manager restart

Linux Mint sudo /etc/init.d/dns-clean start

Linux with systemd: sudo systemctl restart network.service

Fedora Linux: sudo systemctl restart NetworkManager.service

Arch Linux/Manjaro with Network Manager: sudo systemctl restart NetworkManager.service

Arch Linux/Manjaro with Wicd: sudo systemctl restart wicd.service

RHEL/Centos: sudo /etc/init.d/network restart

FreeBSD: sudo service nscd restart

To enable the nscd daemon initially, it is recommended that you run the following commands:

sudo sysrc nscd_enable="YES"
sudo service nscd start

Then modify the hosts line in your /etc/nsswitch.conf file to the following:

hosts: cache files dns

Others: Consult this wikipedia article.

Mac OS X

Open a Terminal and run:

sudo dscacheutil -flushcache;sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder

Release management

This repository uses Release-It!, an excellent CLI release tool for Github repos and npm packages, to automate creating releases. This is why the package.json and .release-it.json files are bundled.

Goals of this unified hosts file

The goals of this repo are to:

  1. automatically combine high-quality lists of hosts,

  2. provide easy extensions,

  3. de-dupe the resultant combined list,

  4. and keep the resultant file reasonably sized.

A high-quality source is defined here as one that is actively curated. A hosts source should be frequently updated by its maintainers with both additions and removals. The larger the hosts file, the higher the level of curation is expected.

For example, the (huge) hosts file from hosts-file.net is not included here because it is very large (780,000+ entries) and doesn't currently display a corresponding high level of curation activity.

It is expected that this unified hosts file will serve both desktop and mobile devices under a variety of operating systems.

Third-Party Hosts Managers

  • Unified Hosts AutoUpdate (for Windows): The Unified Hosts AutUpdate package is purpose-built for this unified hosts project as well as in active development by community members. It's sophisticated enough to allow any novice the ability to install and uninstall the blacklist of their choosing to their local hosts file and keep it automatically up to date, while also being minimal enough to be able to be easily placed in a shared network location and deployed across an organization via group policies. And since it is in active development by community members, your bug reports, feature requests, and other feedback are most welcome.

Interesting Applications

  • Pi-hole is a network-wide DHCP server and ad blocker that runs on Raspberry Pi. Pi-hole uses this repository as one of its sources. This is a very interesting project to setup yourself, or you can buy one pre-loaded.

  • Block ads and malware via local BIND9 DNS server (for Debian, Raspbian & Ubuntu): Set up a local DNS server with a /etc/bind/named.conf.blocked file, sourced from here.

  • Block ads, malware, and deploy parental controls via local DualServer DNS/DHCP server (for BSD, Windows & Linux): Set up a blacklist for everyone on your network using the power of the unified hosts reformatted for DualServer. And if you're on Windows, this project also maintains an update script to make updating DualServer's blacklist even easier.

  • Blocking ads and malwares with unbound – Unbound is a validating, recursive, and caching DNS resolver.

  • DNSMasq conversion script This github gist has a short shell script (bash, will work on any 'nix) and uses 'wget' & 'awk' present in most distros, to fetch a specified hosts file and convert it the format required by dnsmasq. Supports ipv4 and ipv6. Designed to be used as either a shell script, or can be dropped into /etc/cron.weekly (or wherever suits). Script is short and easily edited, also has a short document attached with notes on dnsmasq setup.