Google is working on a new Chrome OS feature that will allow Chromebooks to request a custom hostname within a network.

Enable setting the device hostname

‘Issue 126802: Add UI for setting hostname that Chrome OS will request via DHCP‘ is a feature request bug submitted in 2011 December. As of today, 269 users have starred it.

Google has finally started work on this long-awaited Chrome OS feature.

A code change request that I spotted today adds a new experimental flag to Chrome OS. We should see this flag in the Canary channel of Chrome OS soon.

Note: Yesterday’s update brought in built-in screen recording to Chrome OS. See it in action here.

The new flag:

“Enable setting the device hostname: Enables the ability to set the Chrome OS hostname, the name of the device that is exposed to the local network”

If you use multiple Chromebooks at home or work, this will be a useful feature. If you are a network admin working with Chromebooks in an office or a school, this will be an exciting news for you.

Summary

The custom hostname flag will take a few days to land in the Canary channel. I will update this article with instructions and screenshots when it is ready.

As for the Stable channel, it might take a few more weeks or maybe months before Google adds this feature to the Stable channel of Chrome OS.

Were you among the 269 who starrted this bug? Let me know in the comments section below.

Source: Chromium Gerrit.