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Cory Parsnipson

Member

Registered: 2024-08-25

Posts: 20

Avahi-publish alias not visible to other computers on local network?

I configured avahi on a home server so I can refer to my computers by .local domain names. I can see the aforementioned with [server-hostname].local and my personal laptop with [laptop-hostname].local.

I added an alias on my server's avahi config using this command:

/usr/bin/avahi-publish -a -R [external-domain].com [server's ip]

This works when I try to resolve "[external-domain].com" on the server itself. However, I am unable to observe this alias when I'm using a different computer on the same network. 'avahi-resolve-host-name' will show the external dns name on those computers. The man page for avahi-publsh does not seem to mention anything exceptional about the alias' external visibility...

Does anyone know of a way where I can get this singular .com address to be resolved through the server's avahi daemon on all the computers on my local network?

Note, this external domain is .com, not in the local TLD, because I am trying to come up with a workaround for my router not supporting hairpin NAT... I figured this might be a relevant piece of information and also just pointing out that the alias is on a global TLD, so this is a weird use case.

Thanks!

-thc

Member

Registered: 2017-03-15

Posts: 1,066

Re: Avahi-publish alias not visible to other computers on local network?

While split-brain DNS is a reliable remedy for routers without hairpin NAT it's AFAIK not avahi's job to resolve non-".local" domain names.

If you set up a small "real" DNS server or proxy (e.g. dnsmasq, unbound) instead you can do both: resolve local names (not ".local") and resolve your external .com DNS name.

Cory Parsnipson

Member

Registered: 2024-08-25

Posts: 20

Re: Avahi-publish alias not visible to other computers on local network?

Ah okay, let me look into that then. Thanks!