update Windows 'hosts' file w/ AppStack?

[cjabates]

I've got one group of users that need to have additional entries in the hosts file on their View workstations to support the applications installed.

I made the changes to the hosts file when I created the AppStack, but when it attaches, the VDI doesn't refer to the 'new' hosts file.  Instead, it uses the original file, now named 'hosts.bak'.  I figured that out by adding a couple of the entries into the hosts.bak file and testing.

The users won't have that option (they aren't admins), so does anyone have a suggestion on getting the 'new' hosts file to be read by the system after the AppStack attaches?

AppVolumes 2.10

UEM 9.1

Win10 x64 build 1511

[fdrietatns · Accepted solution]

So your appstack has 'hosts' and 'hosts.bak'? Is there a need to have the hosts.bak? The original hosts file is all commented out anyway.

I just made an appstack that makes the hosts file r/w for everyone and it works fine.

Did you issue a ipconfig /flushdns on those machines? Any change to a host file for an address that has already been visited won't take effect until the DNS cache is cleared.

# I changed google.com to go to 127.0.0.1 in my host appstack

Pinging google.com [127.0.0.1] with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 127.0.0.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128

Reply from 127.0.0.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128

Reply from 127.0.0.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128

[cjabates]

Apparently, the  hosts.bak file is rebuilt by Windows, as I had removed it during a test, and after a reboot of the provisioning box it returned.

@fdrietatns-

Your suggestion to do 'ipconfig /flushdns' did the trick, though.  Once I did that, the entries in the hosts file started being read.

Thanks.

[fdrietatns]

Great!

In case you're not aware,

You can have the AppStack run the ipconfig command when it attaches by adding it to one of the volume's batch files.

I'd recommend shellstart.bat.