Wednesday, May 22, 2019

Zeroconf networking and Avahi - how to?

I am currently exploring zero configuration networking with a set of devices on a network. I've spent a few days doing all research possible regarding zeroconf, and while I found loads of threads about how to fix problems, I didn't exactly find an article or anything that explained how to use something like Avahi. I have scoured the web and found that Bonjour and Avahi are two major implementations, and the purpose of zeroconf is that it minimizes the burden of going through each device on a network and setting up network services. I felt this subreddit was my best bet at getting some information on the subject. Since Avahi comes with Linux, I'm looking for help with learning how to use this rather than Bonjour right now. I guess at the moment, I have two main questions regarding zeroconf and Avahi (daemon):

  1. I thought a device would have to have an IP address in the first place to be able to be on the network. How does zeroconf set up network services for a device that has just been added to the network? As in, how can the device be discovered and set up if it doesn't even have an IP address?
  2. How does one go about using Avahi (specifically, daemon)? I have checked so many sites and I keep finding people who have had issues with it, but I really am just looking for a how to use it, regarding commands and such. I may just not be searching with the right keyterms (just been searching "mDNS", "zeroconf", "how to use Avahi"), so if anyone could point me in the right direction, that would be awesome.

Any and all help with understanding this is much appreciated!!

*EDIT: spacing



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