diff --git a/lib/vagrant-hostmanager/action/delete_local_entry.rb b/lib/vagrant-hostmanager/action/delete_local_entry.rb
deleted file mode 100644
index 7022b06..0000000
--- a/lib/vagrant-hostmanager/action/delete_local_entry.rb
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,30 +0,0 @@
-require 'vagrant-hostmanager/hosts_file'
-
-module VagrantPlugins
-  module HostManager
-    module Action
-      class DeleteLocalEntry
-        include HostsFile
-
-        def initialize(app, env)
-          @app = app
-          @machine = env[:machine]
-          @logger = Log4r::Logger.new('vagrant::hostmanager::delete_local_entry')
-        end
-
-        def call(env)
-
-          @logger.info 'delete called'
-          # check config to see if the hosts file should be updated automatically
-          return @app.call(env) unless @machine.config.hostmanager.enabled?
-          @logger.info 'Updating /etc/hosts file automatically'
-
-          # delete entry for id
-          delete_local(@machine)
-
-          @app.call(env)
-        end
-      end
-    end
-  end
-end
diff --git a/lib/vagrant-hostmanager/action/update_hosts_file.rb b/lib/vagrant-hostmanager/action/update_hosts_file.rb
index a281511..34266ba 100644
--- a/lib/vagrant-hostmanager/action/update_hosts_file.rb
+++ b/lib/vagrant-hostmanager/action/update_hosts_file.rb
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ module VagrantPlugins
         def call(env)
           # check if machine is already active
           return @app.call(env) if @machine.id
+          @logger.info 'Continuing update of hosts file for new machine'
 
           # check config to see if the hosts file should be update automatically
           return @app.call(env) unless @machine.config.hostmanager.enabled?
@@ -23,10 +24,12 @@ module VagrantPlugins
           @app.call(env)
 
           # update /etc/hosts file on active machines
+          env[:ui].info I18n.t('vagrant_hostmanager.action.update_guests')
           update_guests(@machine.env, @machine.provider_name)
 
           # update /etc/hosts files on host if enabled
           if @machine.config.hostmanager.manage_host?
+            env[:ui].info I18n.t('vagrant_hostmanager.action.update_host')
             update_host(@machine.env, @machine.provider_name)
           end
         end
diff --git a/lib/vagrant-hostmanager/action/update_local_entry.rb b/lib/vagrant-hostmanager/action/update_local_entry.rb
deleted file mode 100644
index abe2ed1..0000000
--- a/lib/vagrant-hostmanager/action/update_local_entry.rb
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,34 +0,0 @@
-require 'vagrant-hostmanager/hosts_file'
-
-module VagrantPlugins
-  module HostManager
-    module Action
-      class UpdateLocalEntry
-        include HostsFile
-
-        def initialize(app, env)
-          @app = app
-          @machine = env[:machine]
-          @logger = Log4r::Logger.new('vagrant::hostmanager::update_local_entry')
-        end
-
-        def call(env)
-          # check if machine is already active
-          @logger.info "Called update"
-          return @app.call(env) if @machine.id
-
-          # check config to see if the hosts file should be update automatically
-          return @app.call(env) unless @machine.config.hostmanager.enabled?
-          @logger.info 'Updating /etc/hosts file automatically'
-
-          # continue the action stack so the machine will be created
-          @app.call(env)
-
-          # delete entry for id
-          update_local(@machine)
-
-        end
-      end
-    end
-  end
-end
diff --git a/lib/vagrant-hostmanager/config.rb b/lib/vagrant-hostmanager/config.rb
index ec83717..8b4f148 100644
--- a/lib/vagrant-hostmanager/config.rb
+++ b/lib/vagrant-hostmanager/config.rb
@@ -12,39 +12,31 @@ module VagrantPlugins
       alias_method :manage_host?, :manage_host
 
       def initialize
-        @enabled = false
-        @manage_local = false
+        @enabled = UNSET_VALUE
+        @manage_host = UNSET_VALUE
         @ignore_private_ip = UNSET_VALUE
-        @aliases = Array.new
-        @include_offline = false
+        @include_offline = UNSET_VALUE
+        @aliases = []
       end
 
       def finalize!
+        @enabled = false if @enabled == UNSET_VALUE
+        @manage_host = false if @managed_host == UNSET_VALUE
         @ignore_private_ip = false if @ignore_private_ip == UNSET_VALUE
+        @include_offline = false if @include_offline == UNSET_VALUE
         @aliases = [ @aliases ].flatten
       end
 
       def validate(machine)
-        errors = Array.new
+        errors = []
 
-        # check if enabled option is either true or false
-        errors << validate_bool('hostmanager.enabled', enabled)
+        errors << validate_bool('hostmanager.enabled', @enabled)
+        errors << validate_bool('hostmanager.manage_host', @manage_host)
+        errors << validate_bool('hostmanager.ignore_private_ip', @ignore_private_ip)
+        errors << validate_bool('hostmanager.include_offline', @include_offline)
+        errors.compact!
 
-        # check if include_offline is either true or false
-        errors << validate_bool('hostmanager.include_offline', include_offline)
-
-        # check if manage_local option is either true or false
-        # if ![TrueClass, FalseClass].include?(manage_local.class)
-        #   errors << "A value for hostmanager.manage_local can be true or false."
-        # end
-
-        # check if ignore_private_ip option is either true or false (or UNSET_VALUE)
-        if @ignore_private_ip != UNSET_VALUE
-          errors << validate_bool('hostmanager.ignore_private_ip', ignore_private_ip)
-        end
-
-        # check if aliases option is an Array
-        if  !machine.config.hostmanager.aliases.kind_of?(Array) and
+        if !machine.config.hostmanager.aliases.kind_of?(Array) and
             !machine.config.hostmanager.aliases.kind_of?(String)
           errors << I18n.t('vagrant_hostmanager.config.not_an_array_or_string', {
             :config_key => 'hostmanager.aliases',
@@ -52,22 +44,21 @@ module VagrantPlugins
           })
         end
 
-        errors.compact!
-        { "HostManager configuration" => errors }
+        { 'HostManager configuration' => errors }
       end
 
       private
+
       def validate_bool(key, value)
         if ![TrueClass, FalseClass].include?(value.class)
           I18n.t('vagrant_hostmanager.config.not_a_bool', {
             :config_key => key,
-            :value      => value.class.to_s,
+            :value      => value.class.to_s
           })
         else
           nil
         end
       end
-
     end
   end
 end
diff --git a/lib/vagrant-hostmanager/hosts_file.rb b/lib/vagrant-hostmanager/hosts_file.rb
index d35ae72..8699fff 100644
--- a/lib/vagrant-hostmanager/hosts_file.rb
+++ b/lib/vagrant-hostmanager/hosts_file.rb
@@ -5,14 +5,19 @@ module VagrantPlugins
     module HostsFile
       def update_guests(env, provider)
         entries = get_entries(env, provider)
+
+        # update hosts file on each active machine with matching provider
         env.active_machines.each do |name, p|
           if provider == p
             target = env.machine(name, p)
             next unless target.communicate.ready?
 
+            # download and modify file with Vagrant-managed entries
             file = env.tmp_path.join("hosts.#{name}")
             target.communicate.download('/etc/hosts', file)
             update_file(file, entries, env.tmp_path)
+
+            # upload modified file and remove temporary file
             target.communicate.upload(file, '/tmp/hosts')
             target.communicate.sudo('mv /tmp/hosts /etc/hosts')
             FileUtils.rm(file)
@@ -22,9 +27,13 @@ module VagrantPlugins
 
       def update_host(env, provider)
         entries = get_entries(env, provider)
+
+        # copy and modify hosts file on host with Vagrant-managed entries
         file = env.tmp_path.join('hosts.local')
         FileUtils.cp('/etc/hosts', file)
         update_file(file, entries, env.tmp_path)
+
+        # copy modified file using sudo for permission
         `sudo cp #{file} /etc/hosts`
       end
 
@@ -33,9 +42,12 @@ module VagrantPlugins
       def update_file(file, entries, tmp_path)
         tmp_file = Tempfile.open('hostmanager', tmp_path, 'a')
         begin
+          # copy each line not managed by Vagrant
           File.open(file).each_line do |line|
             tmp_file << line unless line =~ /# VAGRANT ID:/
           end
+
+          # write a line for each Vagrant-managed entry
           entries.each { |entry| tmp_file << entry }
         ensure
           tmp_file.close
@@ -73,6 +85,7 @@ module VagrantPlugins
       end
 
       def get_machines(env, provider)
+        # check if offline machines should be included in host entries
         if env.config_global.hostmanager.include_offline?
           machines = []
           env.machine_names.each do |name|
diff --git a/lib/vagrant-hostmanager/plugin.rb b/lib/vagrant-hostmanager/plugin.rb
index f73ce6e..820b3b7 100644
--- a/lib/vagrant-hostmanager/plugin.rb
+++ b/lib/vagrant-hostmanager/plugin.rb
@@ -5,8 +5,8 @@ module VagrantPlugins
     class Plugin < Vagrant.plugin('2')
       name 'HostManager'
       description <<-DESC
-        This plugin manages the /etc/hosts file for guest machines. An entry is
-        created for each active machine using the hostname attribute.
+        This plugin manages the /etc/hosts file for the host and guest machines.
+        An entry is created for each active machine using the hostname attribute.
 
         You can also use the hostmanager provisioner to update the hosts file.
       DESC
diff --git a/locales/en.yml b/locales/en.yml
index e27083b..17d2858 100644
--- a/locales/en.yml
+++ b/locales/en.yml
@@ -1,12 +1,8 @@
 en:
   vagrant_hostmanager:
     action:
-      update_guest: "[%{name}] Updating /etc/hosts file"
-      update_host: "Updating local /etc/hosts file"
-      run_sudo: "Running sudo to modify host machine's /etc/hosts file"
-      add_host: "Adding /etc/hosts entry: %{ip} %{host} %{aliases}"
-      host_no_ip: "Could not determine ip for machine '%{name}': no private ip configured or machine not up."
-      update: "[%{name}] Updating /etc/hosts file"
+      update_guests: "Updating /etc/hosts file on active guest machines..."
+      update_host: "Updating /etc/hosts file on host machine (password may be required)..."
     config:
       not_a_bool: "A value for %{config_key} can only be true or false, not type '%{value}'"
       not_an_array_or_string: "A value for %{config_key} must be an Array or String, not type '%{is_class}'"
diff --git a/test/Vagrantfile b/test/Vagrantfile
index 011c54e..b3a4f31 100644
--- a/test/Vagrantfile
+++ b/test/Vagrantfile
@@ -9,7 +9,6 @@ Vagrant.configure('2') do |config|
 
   config.hostmanager.enabled = true
   config.hostmanager.manage_host = true
-  config.hostmanager.include_offline = true
 
   config.vm.define :server1 do |server|
     server.vm.hostname = 'fry'