Sometimes when trying to upgrade your iDevice to the next version of iOS, you may encounter the iTunes error 3194.

To alleviate this problem, follow the steps below:

  1. Make sure you are using the latest version of iTunes. You can download the latest version here.
  2. If you are using the latest version, try uninstalling and reinstalling the latest version of iTunes.
  3. Make sure that your hosts file does not contain any entries pointing to servers other than gs.apple.com.
    On Windows, the hosts file can be found here: C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts.
    On OSX, the hosts file can be found here: /private/etc/hosts.
  4. The host file content varies by operating system.

For Windows XP, the standard hosts file should look something like:

# Copyright (c) 1993-1999 Microsoft Corp.
#
# This is a sample HOSTS file used by Microsoft TCP/IP for Windows.
#
# This file contains the mappings of IP addresses to host names. Each
# entry should be kept on an individual line. The IP address should
# be placed in the first column followed by the corresponding host name.
# The IP address and the host name should be separated by at least one
# space.
#
# Additionally, comments (such as these) may be inserted on individual
# lines or following the machine name denoted by a '#' symbol.
#
# For example:
#
# 102.54.94.97 rhino.acme.com # source server
# 38.25.63.10 x.acme.com # x client host

127.0.0.1 localhost

For Windows Vista, it should look like:

# Copyright (c) 1993-2006 Microsoft Corp.
#
# This is a sample HOSTS file used by Microsoft TCP/IP for Windows.
#
# This file contains the mappings of IP addresses to host names. Each
# entry should be kept on an individual line. The IP address should
# be placed in the first column followed by the corresponding host name.
# The IP address and the host name should be separated by at least one
# space.
#
# Additionally, comments (such as these) may be inserted on individual
# lines or following the machine name denoted by a '#' symbol.
#
# For example:
#
# 102.54.94.97 rhino.acme.com # source server
# 38.25.63.10 x.acme.com # x client host

127.0.0.1 localhost
::1 localhost

For Windows 7, it should look like:

# Copyright (c) 1993-2006 Microsoft Corp.
#
# This is a sample HOSTS file used by Microsoft TCP/IP for Windows.
#
# This file contains the mappings of IP addresses to host names. Each
# entry should be kept on an individual line. The IP address should
# be placed in the first column followed by the corresponding host name.
# The IP address and the host name should be separated by at least one
# space.
#
# Additionally, comments (such as these) may be inserted on individual
# lines or following the machine name denoted by a '#' symbol.
#
# For example:
#
# 102.54.94.97 rhino.acme.com # source server
# 38.25.63.10 x.acme.com # x client host

# localhost name resolution is handle within DNS itself.
# 127.0.0.1 localhost
# ::1 localhost

The “#” lines represent comments and have no effect. The localhost entries allow the computer to refer to itself. The 3194 problem can arise if there are entries that point to an update server other than gs.apple.com.

If your host files look similar but are not exactly the same, you should backup and delete/add the lines that are unnecessary. You can use Notepad or TextEdit but make sure that you do not save the file with a .txt extension. Reboot your computer and try to update iOS or whatever else caused the error to occur.

Let us know in the comments below if you have any questions!