getent:tldr:629e5

The command getent hosts ${host} is a Linux command that retrieves and displays information about a host from the database configured on the system.

Here is a breakdown of the command:

• getent: It is a command-line utility to query the Name Service Switch (NSS) databases on Unix-like systems which includes host, user, and group databases.
• hosts: The argument "hosts" specifies the database to retrieve information from. In this case, it refers to the host database.
• ${host}: It is a placeholder for a hostname or IP address value. You should replace ${host} with the actual hostname or IP address you want to get information for.

When you execute this command with a specific host or IP address, it will search the host database and try to find a match, then display the corresponding data present in that database entry. This information may include the hostname, primary IP address, and any other related data like aliases or additional IP addresses associated with that host.

For example, if you run getent hosts google.com, it will query the host database for information about the host "google.com" and display the retrieved details.