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Will I mess up the system if I sometimes change the computer name of my laptop under Ubuntu? Will there be a problem if I name it under some brand name? I imagine that if I access my laptop from another computer, I use IP address rather than the computer name. Am I correct?

Zanna
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lovedrinking
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  • Which version of Ubuntu? What networking interface are you using? Are there any additions to make, here?

    Until I see further info, "no problems expected" is my answer - which is too short to be an answer.

     – Omio Oct 27 '18 at 03:21
  • 18.10. How to check what network interface am I using? – lovedrinking Oct 27 '18 at 03:23
  • If you're using a wired connection to your router, for the device whose name you're changing, the router may flip out, especially if it's much older (read: 2004-era). If you're running wireless, and change the device's name, the device in question might connect as a new device, which would then change the IP address. – Omio Oct 27 '18 at 03:30
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    Possible duplicate of How do I change the hostname without a restart? – karel Oct 27 '18 at 03:57
  • This is pretty vague. Check out https://askubuntu.com/help/how-to-ask for tips on asking questions that get good answers. – Amanda Oct 28 '18 at 03:45

1 Answers1

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Will I mess up the system if I sometimes change the computer name of my laptop under Ubuntu?

No, it's not a problem and you can change the name as often as you like.

Will there be a problem if I name it under some brand name?

No, name it anything you like.

I imagine that if I access my laptop from another computer, I use IP address rather than the computer name. Am I correct?

Correct, if you access the computer from another on your LAN (presumably you mean via SSH?) it uses your computer's LAN IP address, the name is irrelevant.

Your router likely uses the MAC address of the computer's network card to identify it for DHCP, so changing the name won't break anything. If you want to make sure you can always connect, configure your router to always assign that specific computer the same LAN IP address.

Tom Brossman
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