Fixing "ssh_init: host does not exist" — Flush DNS Cache

1. Flush DNS Cache on Windows

Now Windows should retrieve fresh DNS records for your SSH connection.

For closely related ssh_init / FileZilla topics, see Use IP Instead of Hostname, systemd-resolved Linux, and ssh_init Host Does Not Exist (general).

2. Flush DNS Cache on macOS

macOS will now use updated DNS records for hostname resolution.

Linux VDS

High performance for your projects

• Root access and flexible setup
• Control panel
• NVMe disks
• DDR5

View pricing

3. Flush DNS Cache on Linux

The command varies depending on your Linux distribution and the DNS resolver it uses.

sudo systemd-resolve --flush-caches

sudo systemctl restart nscd

# Using systemd-resolved (most common)
sudo systemctl restart systemd-resolved

# Using resolvectl (alternative)
sudo resolvectl flush-caches

After running the appropriate command for your distribution, Linux should resolve SSH hostnames correctly with fresh DNS data.

4. Restart Your Network Connection

After flushing DNS, restarting your network interface can help apply all changes completely.

Restart Network in Windows

In Command Prompt (Admin):

ipconfig /release
ipconfig /renew

Restart Network in Linux/macOS

# For systems with systemd networking
sudo systemctl restart networking

# For systems using NetworkManager (common on desktops)
nmcli networking off && nmcli networking on

5. Verify DNS Resolution

After flushing the DNS cache, test if your system can now resolve the SSH hostname correctly.

Windows: Test with nslookup

nslookup yourserver.com

Linux/macOS: Test with dig or host

dig yourserver.com

or

host yourserver.com

What to Look For:

• Success: If the result shows an IP address (e.g., 192.168.1.10), DNS is working properly.
• Failure: If it says "NXDOMAIN", "No answer", or "Host not found", DNS is still failing and you may need additional fixes.

6. Add the SSH Host to Hosts File (Manual Fix)

If DNS resolution still fails after flushing the cache, you can manually map the hostname to its IP address. This bypasses DNS entirely.

Linux/macOS

1. Edit the hosts file:

   sudo nano /etc/hosts

2. Add this line at the end (use your actual IP and hostname):

   192.168.1.10 yourserver.com

3. Save (Ctrl+O) and exit (Ctrl+X).
4. Retry SSH:

   ssh user@yourserver.com

Windows

1. Open Notepad as Administrator.
2. Click File > Open and navigate to:

   C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts

3. Add this line at the end of the file:

   192.168.1.10 yourserver.com

4. Save the file and restart your SSH client.

7. Summary of Fixes

By following these steps, SSH should work without the "ssh_init: host does not exist" error!