> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://kb.hosting.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Configuring Drush site aliases for Drupal

> With correctly configured Drush site aliases, you can use Drush commands on your local computer that run on remote Drupal sites. Learn how here!

This article describes how to configure Drush site aliases that work with Drupal sites hosted on hosting.com accounts.

## About Drush site aliases

Drush site aliases enable you to set up SSH-based connections from a local computer to a remote Drupal site. (You can also configure site aliases for use with local Drupal sites, but this article focuses on remote Drupal sites only.) With correctly configured Drush site aliases, you can invoke Drush commands on your local computer that run on remote Drupal sites.

The command-line environment used by Drush opens up many possibilities for Drupal site management. For example, you could use Drush site aliases in a Bash script to update multiple remote Drupal sites all at once.

## Configuring Drush site aliases

To define a Drush site alias, follow these steps:

1. On your local computer, go to your home directory:

   * On Linux, this is usually the */home/username* directory.

   * On Apple macOS, this is usually the */Users/username* directory.

   * On Microsoft Windows, this is usually the *\Users\username* directory.

2. Open the *.drush* subdirectory in your home directory.

3. In the *.drush* subdirectory, create a file named *sitename.aliases.drushrc.php*. Replace ***sitename*** with a descriptive name for your site. (Then if you define multiple site aliases, you will be able to remember which alias is associated with which site.)

4. Copy and paste the following sample configuration into the *sitename.aliases.drushrc.php* file. Replace ***sitename*** with the site name you used in the filename, replace ***username*** with your own hosting.com account username, and replace ***example.com*** with the domain name where the Drupal site is hosted. If you installed Drupal in a subdirectory beneath the *public\_html* directory, add it to the **root** path value as well:

   ```
   <?php
       $aliases['sitename'] = array(
           'root' => '/home/username/public_html',
           'remote-host' => 'example.com',
           'remote-user' => 'username',
           'ssh-options' => '-p 7822'
       );
   ?>
   ```

   This configuration shows only the essential settings for connecting to a remote Drupal site. There are many other options available for site alias configuration files.

   > 🚧 Important
   >
   > * If your hosting account does not use SSH port 7822, make sure you change the **ssh-options** setting.
   >
   > * One notable exception to available site alias options is SSH passwords. You **cannot** specify an SSH password in the alias configuration. Therefore, if you do not want to type the SSH password every time you use a remote site alias, you must set up SSH keys for your hosting.com account. For information about how to set up SSH keys, please see [this article](/docs/using-ssh-keys).

5. Save your changes to the *sitename.aliases.drushrc.php* file.

## Using Drush site aliases

After you configure a remote site alias, you can use it to manage Drupal sites on your hosting.com account. For example, to view the status of a remote Drupal site, type the following command. Replace ***sitename*** with the site name that you used to name the *sitename.aliases.drushrc.php* file:

```bash theme={null}
drush @sitename status
```

Similarly, to update the remote site, type the following command:

```bash theme={null}
drush @sitename up
```

You can run any drush command by prefixing it with**@** and the site alias name.

<Tip>
  To list the site alias files on your local computer, type the following command:

  ```bash theme={null}
  drush status
  ```

  The site aliases are listed under the **Drush alias files** heading.
</Tip>

## Related articles

* [Using Drush for Drupal](/docs/using-drush-for-drupal)