Finding ip address using python's socket module

Question

When I run the following command to get the host ip:

socket.gethostbyname(socket.gethostname())

I am getting the following error on MAC terminal:

socket.gaierror: [Errno 8] nodename nor servname provided, or not known

Any idea what the problem could be?

socket.gethostname() does return the correct hostname.

Answer 1

Try to open as root /etc/hosts file, and add a line like the following

# IP ADDR      HOSTNAME
192.168.1.1    your_desired_hostname

and the name should resolve.

Obviously substitute 192.168.1.1 with your ip address.