Unable to Edit "/etc/hosts" in the Okta Access Gateway Management Console
May 15, 2026
Access Gateway
Overview
The Okta Access Gateway (OAG) management console may fail to load the Edit /etc/hosts screen or allow adding additional entries.
To reproduce the issue
- SSH to OAG node.
- Select 1 - Network.
- Select 3 - Edit /etc/hosts.
- Instead of the Edit /etc/hosts screen loading, the Access Gateway Network Setup screen remains displayed with the character "3" now across the top row.
- The Edit /etc/hosts screen may load, but attempting to add another entry results in returning to the Access Gateway Network Setup screen.
Applies To
- Okta Access Gateway (OAG)
- Management Console
Cause
This occurs when the number of entries in the "/etc/hosts" file exceeds the number that can be displayed in the console window.
Solution
To solve this issue, please consider:
- Resizing the terminal or PuTTY window to increase the number of rows and/or decrease the terminal font size.
- Configuring DNS to reduce the number of required entries in /etc/hosts.
- Modifying /etc/hosts by connecting to the appliance shell and then running the command below to modify the file:
sudo vi /etc/hosts
