[!IMPORTANT] Cloning this repository can take a long time! You probably just want to start with the latest version, not its whole history since 2018. Therefore you probably want to use git clone --depth 1 ... to save significant time.

[!NOTE] With the exception of issues and PRs regarding changes to hosts/data/StevenBlack/hosts, all other issues regarding the content of the produced hosts files should be made with the appropriate data source that contributed the content in question. The contact information for all of the data sources can be found in the hosts/data/ directory.

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@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.

Therefore this repository is a hosts file aggregator.

• Last updated: @GEN_DATE@.
• Here's the raw hosts file @EXTENSIONS_HEADER@ containing @NUM_ENTRIES@ entries.

@SIZEHISTORY@

List of all hosts file variants

This repository offers 31 different host file variants, in addition to the base variant, with and without the unified hosts included.

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	Home page	Raw hosts	License	Issues	Description
@SOURCEROWS@

Extensions

The unified hosts file is optionally extensible. Extensions are used to include domains by category. Currently, we offer the following categories: fakenews, social, gambling, and porn.

Extensions are optional, and can be combined in various ways with the base hosts file. The combined products are stored in the alternates folder.

Data for extensions are stored in the extensions folder. You manage extensions by curating this 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

You have three options to generate your own hosts file. You can use our container image, build your own image, or do it in your own environment. Option

1 is easiest if you have Linux with Docker installed.

Option 1: Use our container image (Linux only)

This will replace your /etc/hosts.

We assume you have Docker available on your host. Just run the following command. Set extensions to your preference.

docker run --pull always --rm -it -v /etc/hosts:/etc/hosts \
ghcr.io/stevenblack/hosts:latest updateHostsFile.py --auto \
--replace --extensions gambling porn

If you want to add custom hosts or a whitelist, create either or both files as per the instructions and add the following arguments before ghcr.io/stevenblack/hosts:latest depending on which you wish to use.

-v "path/to/myhosts:/hosts/myhosts" \
-v "path/to/whitelist:/hosts/whitelist" \

You can rerun this exact command later to update based on the latest available hosts (for example, add it to a weekly cron job).

Option 2: Generate your own container image

We provide the Dockerfile used by the previous step, which you can use to create a container image with everything you need. The container will contain Python 3 and all its dependency requirements, and a copy of the latest version of this repository.

Build the Docker container from the root of this repo like this:

docker build --no-cache . -t stevenblack-hosts

Or without cloning (directly from GitHub):

docker build --no-cache https://github.com/StevenBlack/hosts.git -t stevenblack-hosts

Then run your command as such:

docker run --rm -it stevenblack-hosts updateHostsFile.py

This will create the hosts file, and remove it with the container when done, so not very useful. You can use the example in option #1 to add volumes so files on your host are replaced.

Option 3: Generate it in your own environment

To generate your own amalgamated hosts files you will need Python 3.6 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.

Option 4: Generate it in Google Colab

Spin up a free remote Google Colab environment.

Common steps regardless of your development environment

To run unit tests, in the top-level directory, 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.

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.

--nogendata, or -g: false (default) or true, skip the generation of the readmeData.json file used for generating readme.md files. This is useful if you are generating host files with additional whitelists or blacklists and want to keep your local checkout of this repo unmodified.

--nounifiedhosts: false (default) or true, do not include the unified hosts file in the final hosts file. Usually used together with --extensions.

--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.

--blacklist <blacklistfile>, or -x <blacklistfile>: Append the given blacklist file in hosts format to the generated hosts file.

--whitelist <whitelistfile>, or -w <whitelistfile>: Use the given whitelist file to remove hosts from the generated hosts file.

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 need.

• 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: Fork this repository, add your domains to Steven Black's personal data file, and submit a pull request

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. So this creates 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:

```text

block doubleClick's servers

0.0.0.0 ad.ae.doubleclick.net 0.0