Zeroconf Networking in Linux using Avahi
The following procedure enables Linux machines to talk to each other using host names through zero-configuration (zeroconf) networking, made possible by the Multicast DNS (mDNS) protocol on link-local address IPv4 224.0.0.251 (or IPv6 ff02::fb) port 5353/UDP. This allows the ".local" top-level domain to be appended to the host name at run-time, turning it into a fully-qualified domain name (FQDN) accessible in the local area network (LAN). ========== 1. Update the package list and upgrade the existing packages. user@host: $ sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get dist-upgrade -y 2. Install Avahi. user@host: $ sudo apt-get install avahi-daemon avahi-utils 3. Test the ".local" domain. user@host: $ ping hostname.local ========== This is particularly useful in a LAN environment where Linux servers and devices operate as an integrated computing cluster. Units can then be added or removed as needed and still communicate continuously since no manual IP...