User:Fenris02/Zero Configuration Networking / Avahi

Zero Configuration Networking / Avahi

This page shows how to setup avahi so that other computers can autodiscover services.

Applicable to Fedora Versions

   Fedora 10+

Requirements Explanation of requirements.

   Before you begin, please insure that you have current software: su -c "yum update"
   Requirement 2

Doing the Work

Basic description of what will be done and what is expected.

   All users: (x86_64 users need to have both the 32-bit and 64-bit nss-mdns packages installed):

   # yum install avahi avahi-autoipd avahi-compat-libdns_sd avahi-glib avahi-gobject avahi-tools nss-mdns nss-mdns.i?86

   KDE Users:

   # yum install kdelibs

   Verify your nsswitch.conf file is ready for Avahi:

   # grep '^hosts:' /etc/nsswitch.conf
   hosts:      files mdns4_minimal [NOTFOUND=return] dns mdns

   Verify you have Avahi running:

   # chkconfig --list avahi-daemon
   avahi-daemon    0:off   1:off   2:off   3:on    4:on    5:on    6:off

   # service avahi-daemon status
   Avahi daemon is running

   Enable "Multicast DNS (mDNS)  5353/udp" in your firewall configuration:

   $ system-config-firewall

Troubleshooting How to test Explanation troubleshooting basics and expectations.

   To view what is available on your network:

   $ avahi-browse -at

   To graphically view what is available on your network:

   $ avahi-discover

   Test to verify Avahi is working properly: (Use your own hostname instead of 'foo' below)

   $ getent hosts foo.local
   192.168.1.4    foo.local

Common problems and fixes

   Example: Enable HTTP service advertisement (for personal user sharing):

   # su -c "yum install gnome-user-share";
   # cat /etc/httpd/conf.d/mod_dnssd.conf 
   LoadModule dnssd_module modules/mod_dnssd.so

   DNSSDEnable on
   #DNSSDAutoRegisterVHosts on
   #DNSSDAutoRegisterUserDir on

   Example: Enable FTP service advertisement:

   # cat - > /etc/avahi/services/ftp.service <<EOF
   <?xml version="1.0" standalone='no'?>
   <!DOCTYPE service-group SYSTEM "avahi-service.dtd">
   <service-group>
       <name replace-wildcards="yes">FTP File Sharing on %h</name> ## Display Name
       <service>
           <type>_ftp._tcp</type>
           <port>21</port>
       </service>
   </service-group>
   EOF

   Example: Enable NFS service advertisement: (Advertise an existing NFS share)

   # cat - > /etc/avahi/services/nfs_home.service <<EOF
   <?xml version="1.0" standalone='no'?>
   <!DOCTYPE service-group SYSTEM "avahi-service.dtd">
   <service-group>
   <name replace-wildcards="yes">NFS Shares on %h: /home</name> ## Display Name
   <service>
          <type>_nfs._tcp</type>
          <port>2049</port>
          <txt-record>path=/home</txt-record> ## path to NFS mountpoint
   </service>
   </service-group>
   EOF

   Example: Enable SAMBA service advertisement:

   # cat - > /etc/avahi/services/samba.service <<EOF
   <?xml version="1.0" standalone='no'?>
   <!DOCTYPE service-group SYSTEM "avahi-service.dtd">
   <service-group>
      <name replace-wildcards="yes">Samba Shares on %h</name> ## Display Name
      <service>
          <type>_smb._tcp</type>
          <port>139</port>
      </service>
   </service-group>
   EOF

More Information

Applications that are ZeroConf aware can be found http://avahi.org/wiki/Avah4users Disclaimer

We test this stuff on our own machines, really we do. But you may run into problems, if you do, come to #fedora on irc.freenode.net Added Reading

   Ubuntu wiki page on Avahi configuration: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/HowToZeroconf

   Gentoo wiki page on Avahi configuration: http://en.gentoo-wiki.com/wiki/Avahi

   Arch wiki page on Avahi configuration: http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Avahi