Questions[windows](server)

The hosts file on Windows computers is used to bind certain name strings to specific IP addresses to override other name resolution methods.

Often, one decides to change the hosts file, and discovers that the changes refuse to take effect, or that even old entries of the hosts file are ignored thereafter. A number of "gotcha" mistakes can cause this, and it can be frustrating to figure out which one.

When faced with the problem of Windows ignoring a hosts file, what is a comprehensive troubleshoot protocol that may be followed?

This question has duplicates on SO, such as HOSTS file being ignored

However, these tend to deal with a specific case, and once whatever mistake the OP made is found out, the discussion is over. If you don't happen to have made the same error, such a discussion isn't very useful. So I thought it would be more helpful to have a general protocol for resolving all hosts-related issues that would cover all cases.

My Git setup runs fine on Linux, but when I try to set things up under Windows (using Git for Windows and TortoiseGit), I don't know where to put my private SSH key (or, better still, how to tell ssh where it's located). I'm using the standard ssh.exe option during installation of Git for Windows. The setup runs fine if I allow password authentication (in lieu of RSA) on the server.

Is there a built-in command line tool that will do reverse DNS look-ups in Windows? I.e., something like <toolname> w.x.y.z => mycomputername

I've tried:

• nslookup: seems to be forward look-up only.
• host: doesn't exist
• dig: also doesn't exist.

I found "What's the reverse DNS command line utility?" via a search, but this is specifically looking for a *nix utility, not a Windows one.

I would like to add an Environment variable to a Windows machine (desktop or server) and be able to use it without rebooting that machine.

Say you have a production server which hosts a variety of apps and a new app needs a particular Environment variable to run. You do not want to reboot it while users are connected to your other apps. What choices do you have? I don't like the wait-until-a-good-time-to-reboot option. There must be a better way. What am I missing?

One thing that annoys me no end about Windows is the old sharing violation error. Often you can't identify what's holding it open. Usually it's just an editor or explorer just pointing to a relevant directory but sometimes I've had to resort to rebooting my machine.

Any suggestions on how to find the culprit?