why cannot I edit my `hosts` file?

I'm trying to edit my hosts file, because doing ssh <some host in hosts> fails to translate to ip.

according to the Finder UI it is found under:

however when trying to run cat hosts from the terminal I get an error:

➜  /etc  cat hosts
cat: hosts: No such file or directory

I tried to create a new hosts file but then I see another one is created next to the first one

but when I try to edit the second hosts I need to duplicate to anther destination. I copy it to /etc and again the first problem occurs.

I have tried to change the permissions to everyone can read and write. But yet it didn't help.

Solution 1:

There shouldn't be a way to have two identically named files in the /etc folder. Can you do a Get Info on the original and verify the Name & Extension (and that the extension is not hidden, and that there are no spaces at the end of the name)?

Solution 2:

Usually only the root user is allowed to modify the file hosts.

To do that and fix your hosts file or your /etc folder (depending where you applied your read/write permissions) follow these steps:

1. Throw away your newly created hosts file (but not the old one!)
2. Repair your permissions with Disk Utility.
3. Open Terminal and enter sudo nano /etc/hosts and hit ↵
4. Enter your password (it will not be shown!) and hit ↵
   The standard hosts file in Yosemite looks like this:
5. Edit your hosts file.
   The format for each line is IP-address, then a tab or a single space and the hostname(s). Terminate the file with an empty trailing line.
6. write the changes to disk with ctrlO followed by ↵ and exit nano with ctrlx
7. Enter exit, hit ↵ and quit Terminal.app

As an alternative for the steps 3-7 you may download and install hosts.prefpane and enter your additional hosts there.