is Avahi package obsolete?

Gertjan

apparently there is no found solution to make this run in 2024.

Not in '2024' ? What is your source ? Didn't know there was an issue running it. No issues know on this forum afaik (but never take for granted what you read, check for yourself ^^).
Runs fine for me

If Avahi can't do (anymore) what is should be doing, it wouldn't be available in the pfSense Package 'store'. Right ?

So, what is really the issue ?

johnpoz

@smokers not a fan of breaking the L2 barrier.. But I have gone over quite a few times how to troubleshoot this..

Here is one..
https://forum.netgate.com/post/1004656

I just fired it up again.. And checked with my phone from different vlan, no anything discovered.. There is nothing on that vlan other than my phone currently.. Then enabled avahi and it clearly finds my brother printer on another vlan..

I am with @Gertjan here if it wasn't working - the forums would be lit up with people saying hey this doesn't work..

Gertjan

@johnpoz said in is Avahi package obsolete?:

the L2 barrier.

Why L2 barrier ? smoker thinks (?) something changed this year. Not that he is using multiple LANs.

johnpoz

@Gertjan well if he is not using multiple vlans then avahi is pointless ;)

Gertjan

@johnpoz said in is Avahi package obsolete?:

And checked with my phone from different vlan, no anything discovered.. There is nothing on that vlan other than my phone currently.. Then enabled avahi and it clearly finds my brother printer on another vlan..

Me too

My Avahi settings :

My printers and other stuff I want to share all live on my LAN (192.168.1.0/24).

When I connect my iPhone to the PORTAL (another network, a captive portal) and I do a 'discovery' I see this :

and that explains why people can actually print on a printer that isn't on their own network.
I've added firewall rules on my PORTAL network so devices from PORTAL can actually contact the printer(s), and print.
Works flawless with Apple devices.
The others : all depends on the 'quality' of the OS used

That's why I tend to say : Avahi works.

@johnpoz said in is Avahi package obsolete?:

well if he is not using multiple vlans then avahi is pointless ;)

You have a point.

dennypage

@smokers said in is Avahi package obsolete?:

apparently there is no found solution to make this run in 2024. Why is this still in packages since it fails to function?

To the best of my knowledge, Avahi is working correctly as designed. It is rather intrinsic to my network.

I don't see any prior mention of Avahi in your prior posts, so I don't understand what issue you are referring to.

dennypage

@johnpoz said in is Avahi package obsolete?:

not a fan of breaking the L2 barrier.

Avahi operates at L3. While I used the term "repeat" in the UI to describe reflection, Avahi does not actually repeat/forward advertisement packets. Avahi creates new a new advertisement for transmission in the other networks, which is required to implement service filtering.

FWIW, I used the term "repeat" because that was the term used in the prior version of the package and I was trying to make folk comfortable with the "radical" new version. In retrospect, I recognize that it was a mistake to carry that name forward as it is obviously misleading.

smokers

@johnpoz yes plan is to use multiple vlans ...

The reason i have asked if the Avahi package is obsolete is because:

once installed it, my expectation was at least to work, but kept failing to start.
looked on the forum, added the firewal rule, still didn't worked.
documentation does not seem to be quite clear.

My initial setup is the following:

LAN: home devices network (2 grouped homepod minis, few nas, laptops, mobile phones, cameras and a few homekit devices, some via homebridge and some independent "smart devices".
WFH vlan: WFH devices
wireless connectivity is via unify APs and some switches. One smart home hub is connected via eth port, which is tagged for IoT vlan, and the other devices are linked wirelessly with the right IoT vlan.

Goal: move all smart home related devices to an additional IoT Vlan.

After seeing the small detail that the firewall mdns rule has to be a floating one, avahi started to work, at least in the system log. Via ssh the command avahi-browse --all still returns Failed to create client object: Daemon not running anyway, so honestly not sure what to believe.

Further more, after setting for test the HUB eth port to go via iot vlan, all respective devices dissapeared from homekit and gone they were, although based on avahi functionality, they should appear online. Maybe I am doing something wrong, but stil not sure if avahi works or not.

johnpoz

@smokers said in is Avahi package obsolete?:

stil not sure if avahi works or not.

it works just fine.. As I just showed you with 20 seconds to setup..

if the service isn't running then no its not going to work.. Not sure where you got the idea you could run that command, that doesn't work here, and avahi is working just fine..

Here the wife is not sleeping, so I can kick off a print.

You have to allow in your rules the ability to actually print to your printer on whatever ports that might be.. As you can see this rule I put into all allow that shows traffic on it..

Pretty sure I went over in that thread I linked how to verify avahi is sending on the traffic for mdns.. Showing sniffs on both interfaces, etc..

dennypage

@smokers

Browsing on the pfSense host is not supported by the package. The package is designed for managing mDNS advertisements only.

Configure Avahi like this:

Check the box that says "Enable the Avahi daemon"
Select "Allow Interfaces" as the "Interface Action"
Select your LAN and IOT networks in "Interfaces"
Do not check the box that says "Disable IPv4"
Check the box that says "Enable reflection"
Do not check the box that says "Enable publishing"
Do not put anything in "Advanced settings"

You are done. If you want to know if the service is running, look at Status / Services.

Avahi will allow you to discover mDNS services across the LAN and IOT segments. You will need nDNS publishers and mDNS subscribers in these networks to confirm operation.

If you are a iPhone or Mac user, Discovery.app is a good tool to see what is being advertised. I can't speak to Windows or Android.