wildcard in hosts file

Question

It\'s not possible to use a wildcard in the hosts file on windows or linux. Is there a way to do it with a browser plugin or something else?

I have a dev server on a vbo

Answer 1

Instead of editing hosts file (which does not work for your requirement), setup a DNS server and setup Wildcard DNS A record -- like

*.example.dev IN  A  1.2.3.4

You mentioned subdomains, but I am assuming you actually want host entries (A address entries) under example.dev. Now abcd.example.dev indicates "abcd" is a host entry, and not a subdomain. Only if you say xyz.abcd.example.dev, then "abcd" becomes a subdomain. The key point is to say - since you want only abcd.example.dev - then you need only DNS A records and it is suggested as above.