Thanks for the bug report. I believe that you should be able to simply add an entry above the one labeled 'cloud-init'
$ grep -v :: /etc/hosts 127.0.0.1 localhost 127.0.1.2 superman.brickies.net superman # The following lines are desirable for IPv6 capable hosts # Added by cloud-init 127.0.1.1 ip-10-212-231-182.ec2.internal ip-10-212-231-182 $ cat /etc/hostname superman $ hostname -f superman.brickies.net $ ping -c 1 superman.brickies.net -q PING superman.brickies.net (127.0.1.2) 56(84) bytes of data. --- superman.brickies.net ping statistics --- 1 packets transmitted, 1 received, 0% packet loss, time 0ms rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 0.028/0.028/0.028/0.000 ms -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Server Team, which is subscribed to cloud-init in Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/890501 Title: EC2 cloud-init overwrites 127.0.1.1 in /etc/hosts on every reboot To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/cloud-init/+bug/890501/+subscriptions -- Ubuntu-server-bugs mailing list Ubuntu-server-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-server-bugs