Using local hostname to ssh into VM

Hi All,

I've created a Debian VM and then using VNC I setup a user and enabled SSH. From my local machine I am able to ssh into it just fine, but only by using the VM's IP address. I have configured a custom.local hostname on it as I normally would, however this never works when attempting to connect or ping from my local machine. I am getting a "Unknown host" response whenever I try this.

I am curious, is this potentially due to how the VM handles its networking? Or is it likely that I have configured the hostname incorrectly?

Thanks