mDNS Service¶
Overview¶
mDNS is a multicast UDP service that is used to provide local network service and host discovery.
mDNS is installed by default on most operating systems or is available as separate package. On Mac OS
it is installed by default and is called Bonjour
. Apple releases an installer for Windows
that can be found on Apple’s support page. On Linux
, mDNS is provided by avahi and is usually installed by default.
mDNS Properties¶
hostname
: the hostname that the device will respond to. If not set, thehostname
will be read from the interface. Example:my-esp32
will resolve tomy-esp32.local
default_instance
: friendly name for your device, likeJhon's ESP32 Thing
. If not set,hostname
will be used.
Example method to start mDNS for the STA interface and set hostname
and default_instance
:
void start_mdns_service()
{
//initialize mDNS service
esp_err_t err = mdns_init();
if (err) {
printf("MDNS Init failed: %d\n", err);
return;
}
//set hostname
mdns_hostname_set("my-esp32");
//set default instance
mdns_instance_name_set("Jhon's ESP32 Thing");
}
mDNS Services¶
mDNS can advertise information about network services that your device offers. Each service is defined by a few properties.
instance_name
: friendly name for your service, likeJhon's ESP32 Web Server
. If not defined,default_instance
will be used.
service_type
: (required) service type, prepended with underscore. Some common types can be found here.
proto
: (required) protocol that the service runs on, prepended with underscore. Example:_tcp
or_udp
port
: (required) network port that the service runs on
txt
:{var, val}
array of strings, used to define properties for your service
Example method to add a few services and different properties:
void add_mdns_services()
{
//add our services
mdns_service_add(NULL, "_http", "_tcp", 80, NULL, 0);
mdns_service_add(NULL, "_arduino", "_tcp", 3232, NULL, 0);
mdns_service_add(NULL, "_myservice", "_udp", 1234, NULL, 0);
//NOTE: services must be added before their properties can be set
//use custom instance for the web server
mdns_service_instance_name_set("_http", "_tcp", "Jhon's ESP32 Web Server");
mdns_txt_item_t serviceTxtData[3] = {
{"board","esp32"},
{"u","user"},
{"p","password"}
};
//set txt data for service (will free and replace current data)
mdns_service_txt_set("_http", "_tcp", serviceTxtData, 3);
//change service port
mdns_service_port_set("_myservice", "_udp", 4321);
}
mDNS Query¶
mDNS provides methods for browsing for services and resolving host’s IP/IPv6 addresses.
Results for services are returned as a linked list of mdns_result_t
objects.
Example method to resolve host IPs:
void resolve_mdns_host(const char * host_name)
{
printf("Query A: %s.local", host_name);
struct ip4_addr addr;
addr.addr = 0;
esp_err_t err = mdns_query_a(host_name, 2000, &addr);
if(err){
if(err == ESP_ERR_NOT_FOUND){
printf("Host was not found!");
return;
}
printf("Query Failed");
return;
}
printf(IPSTR, IP2STR(&addr));
}
Example method to resolve local services:
static const char * if_str[] = {"STA", "AP", "ETH", "MAX"};
static const char * ip_protocol_str[] = {"V4", "V6", "MAX"};
void mdns_print_results(mdns_result_t * results){
mdns_result_t * r = results;
mdns_ip_addr_t * a = NULL;
int i = 1, t;
while(r){
printf("%d: Interface: %s, Type: %s\n", i++, if_str[r->tcpip_if], ip_protocol_str[r->ip_protocol]);
if(r->instance_name){
printf(" PTR : %s\n", r->instance_name);
}
if(r->hostname){
printf(" SRV : %s.local:%u\n", r->hostname, r->port);
}
if(r->txt_count){
printf(" TXT : [%u] ", r->txt_count);
for(t=0; t<r->txt_count; t++){
printf("%s=%s; ", r->txt[t].key, r->txt[t].value);
}
printf("\n");
}
a = r->addr;
while(a){
if(a->addr.type == IPADDR_TYPE_V6){
printf(" AAAA: " IPV6STR "\n", IPV62STR(a->addr.u_addr.ip6));
} else {
printf(" A : " IPSTR "\n", IP2STR(&(a->addr.u_addr.ip4)));
}
a = a->next;
}
r = r->next;
}
}
void find_mdns_service(const char * service_name, const char * proto)
{
ESP_LOGI(TAG, "Query PTR: %s.%s.local", service_name, proto);
mdns_result_t * results = NULL;
esp_err_t err = mdns_query_ptr(service_name, proto, 3000, 20, &results);
if(err){
ESP_LOGE(TAG, "Query Failed");
return;
}
if(!results){
ESP_LOGW(TAG, "No results found!");
return;
}
mdns_print_results(results);
mdns_query_results_free(results);
}
Example of using the methods above:
void my_app_some_method(){
//search for esp32-mdns.local
resolve_mdns_host("esp32-mdns");
//search for HTTP servers
find_mdns_service("_http", "_tcp");
//or file servers
find_mdns_service("_smb", "_tcp"); //windows sharing
find_mdns_service("_afpovertcp", "_tcp"); //apple sharing
find_mdns_service("_nfs", "_tcp"); //NFS server
find_mdns_service("_ftp", "_tcp"); //FTP server
//or networked printer
find_mdns_service("_printer", "_tcp");
find_mdns_service("_ipp", "_tcp");
}
Application Example¶
mDNS server/scanner example: protocols/mdns.
API Reference¶
Header File¶
Functions¶
-
esp_err_t
mdns_init
()¶ Initialize mDNS on given interface.
- Return
ESP_OK on success
ESP_ERR_INVALID_STATE when failed to register event handler
ESP_ERR_NO_MEM on memory error
ESP_FAIL when failed to start mdns task
-
void
mdns_free
()¶ Stop and free mDNS server.
-
esp_err_t
mdns_hostname_set
(const char *hostname)¶ Set the hostname for mDNS server required if you want to advertise services.
- Return
ESP_OK success
ESP_ERR_INVALID_ARG Parameter error
ESP_ERR_NO_MEM memory error
- Parameters
hostname
: Hostname to set
-
esp_err_t
mdns_instance_name_set
(const char *instance_name)¶ Set the default instance name for mDNS server.
- Return
ESP_OK success
ESP_ERR_INVALID_ARG Parameter error
ESP_ERR_NO_MEM memory error
- Parameters
instance_name
: Instance name to set
-
esp_err_t
mdns_service_add
(const char *instance_name, const char *service_type, const char *proto, uint16_t port, mdns_txt_item_t txt[], size_t num_items)¶ Add service to mDNS server.
- Return
ESP_OK success
ESP_ERR_INVALID_ARG Parameter error
ESP_ERR_NO_MEM memory error
ESP_FAIL failed to add serivce
- Parameters
instance_name
: instance name to set. If NULL, global instance name or hostname will be usedservice_type
: service type (_http, _ftp, etc)proto
: service protocol (_tcp, _udp)port
: service porttxt
: string array of TXT data (eg. {{“var”,”val”},{“other”,”2”}})num_items
: number of items in TXT data
-
esp_err_t
mdns_service_remove
(const char *service_type, const char *proto)¶ Remove service from mDNS server.
- Return
ESP_OK success
ESP_ERR_INVALID_ARG Parameter error
ESP_ERR_NOT_FOUND Service not found
ESP_ERR_NO_MEM memory error
- Parameters
service_type
: service type (_http, _ftp, etc)proto
: service protocol (_tcp, _udp)
-
esp_err_t
mdns_service_instance_name_set
(const char *service_type, const char *proto, const char *instance_name)¶ Set instance name for service.
- Return
ESP_OK success
ESP_ERR_INVALID_ARG Parameter error
ESP_ERR_NOT_FOUND Service not found
ESP_ERR_NO_MEM memory error
- Parameters
service_type
: service type (_http, _ftp, etc)proto
: service protocol (_tcp, _udp)instance_name
: instance name to set
-
esp_err_t
mdns_service_port_set
(const char *service_type, const char *proto, uint16_t port)¶ Set service port.
- Return
ESP_OK success
ESP_ERR_INVALID_ARG Parameter error
ESP_ERR_NOT_FOUND Service not found
ESP_ERR_NO_MEM memory error
- Parameters
service_type
: service type (_http, _ftp, etc)proto
: service protocol (_tcp, _udp)port
: service port
-
esp_err_t
mdns_service_txt_set
(const char *service_type, const char *proto, mdns_txt_item_t txt[], uint8_t num_items)¶ Replace all TXT items for service.
- Return
ESP_OK success
ESP_ERR_INVALID_ARG Parameter error
ESP_ERR_NOT_FOUND Service not found
ESP_ERR_NO_MEM memory error
- Parameters
service_type
: service type (_http, _ftp, etc)proto
: service protocol (_tcp, _udp)txt
: array of TXT data (eg. {{“var”,”val”},{“other”,”2”}})num_items
: number of items in TXT data
-
esp_err_t
mdns_service_txt_item_set
(const char *service_type, const char *proto, const char *key, const char *value)¶ Set/Add TXT item for service TXT record.
- Return
ESP_OK success
ESP_ERR_INVALID_ARG Parameter error
ESP_ERR_NOT_FOUND Service not found
ESP_ERR_NO_MEM memory error
- Parameters
service_type
: service type (_http, _ftp, etc)proto
: service protocol (_tcp, _udp)key
: the key that you want to add/updatevalue
: the new value of the key
-
esp_err_t
mdns_service_txt_item_remove
(const char *service_type, const char *proto, const char *key)¶ Remove TXT item for service TXT record.
- Return
ESP_OK success
ESP_ERR_INVALID_ARG Parameter error
ESP_ERR_NOT_FOUND Service not found
ESP_ERR_NO_MEM memory error
- Parameters
service_type
: service type (_http, _ftp, etc)proto
: service protocol (_tcp, _udp)key
: the key that you want to remove
-
esp_err_t
mdns_service_remove_all
()¶ Remove and free all services from mDNS server.
- Return
ESP_OK success
ESP_ERR_INVALID_ARG Parameter error
-
esp_err_t
mdns_query
(const char *name, const char *service_type, const char *proto, uint16_t type, uint32_t timeout, size_t max_results, mdns_result_t **results)¶ Query mDNS for host or service All following query methods are derived from this one.
- Return
ESP_OK success
ESP_ERR_INVALID_STATE mDNS is not running
ESP_ERR_NO_MEM memory error
ESP_ERR_INVALID_ARG timeout was not given
- Parameters
name
: service instance or host name (NULL for PTR queries)service_type
: service type (_http, _arduino, _ftp etc.) (NULL for host queries)proto
: service protocol (_tcp, _udp, etc.) (NULL for host queries)type
: type of query (MDNS_TYPE_*)timeout
: time in milliseconds to wait for answers.max_results
: maximum results to be collectedresults
: pointer to the results of the query results must be freed using mdns_query_results_free below
-
void
mdns_query_results_free
(mdns_result_t *results)¶ Free query results.
- Parameters
results
: linked list of results to be freed
-
esp_err_t
mdns_query_ptr
(const char *service_type, const char *proto, uint32_t timeout, size_t max_results, mdns_result_t **results)¶ Query mDNS for service.
- Return
ESP_OK success
ESP_ERR_INVALID_STATE mDNS is not running
ESP_ERR_NO_MEM memory error
ESP_ERR_INVALID_ARG parameter error
- Parameters
service_type
: service type (_http, _arduino, _ftp etc.)proto
: service protocol (_tcp, _udp, etc.)timeout
: time in milliseconds to wait for answer.max_results
: maximum results to be collectedresults
: pointer to the results of the query
-
esp_err_t
mdns_query_srv
(const char *instance_name, const char *service_type, const char *proto, uint32_t timeout, mdns_result_t **result)¶ Query mDNS for SRV record.
- Return
ESP_OK success
ESP_ERR_INVALID_STATE mDNS is not running
ESP_ERR_NO_MEM memory error
ESP_ERR_INVALID_ARG parameter error
- Parameters
instance_name
: service instance nameservice_type
: service type (_http, _arduino, _ftp etc.)proto
: service protocol (_tcp, _udp, etc.)timeout
: time in milliseconds to wait for answer.result
: pointer to the result of the query
-
esp_err_t
mdns_query_txt
(const char *instance_name, const char *service_type, const char *proto, uint32_t timeout, mdns_result_t **result)¶ Query mDNS for TXT record.
- Return
ESP_OK success
ESP_ERR_INVALID_STATE mDNS is not running
ESP_ERR_NO_MEM memory error
ESP_ERR_INVALID_ARG parameter error
- Parameters
instance_name
: service instance nameservice_type
: service type (_http, _arduino, _ftp etc.)proto
: service protocol (_tcp, _udp, etc.)timeout
: time in milliseconds to wait for answer.result
: pointer to the result of the query
-
esp_err_t
mdns_query_a
(const char *host_name, uint32_t timeout, ip4_addr_t *addr)¶ Query mDNS for A record.
- Return
ESP_OK success
ESP_ERR_INVALID_STATE mDNS is not running
ESP_ERR_NO_MEM memory error
ESP_ERR_INVALID_ARG parameter error
- Parameters
host_name
: host name to look fortimeout
: time in milliseconds to wait for answer.addr
: pointer to the resulting IP4 address
-
esp_err_t
mdns_query_aaaa
(const char *host_name, uint32_t timeout, ip6_addr_t *addr)¶ Query mDNS for A record.
- Return
ESP_OK success
ESP_ERR_INVALID_STATE mDNS is not running
ESP_ERR_NO_MEM memory error
ESP_ERR_INVALID_ARG parameter error
- Parameters
host_name
: host name to look fortimeout
: time in milliseconds to wait for answer. If 0, max_results needs to be definedaddr
: pointer to the resulting IP6 address
-
esp_err_t
mdns_handle_system_event
(void *ctx, system_event_t *event)¶ System event handler This method controls the service state on all active interfaces and applications are required to call it from the system event handler for normal operation of mDNS service.
- Parameters
ctx
: The system event contextevent
: The system event
Structures¶
-
struct
mdns_txt_item_t
¶ mDNS basic text item structure Used in mdns_service_add()
-
struct
mdns_ip_addr_s
¶ mDNS query linked list IP item
Public Members
-
ip_addr_t
addr
¶ IP address
-
struct mdns_ip_addr_s *
next
¶ next IP, or NULL for the last IP in the list
-
ip_addr_t
-
struct
mdns_result_s
¶ mDNS query result structure
Public Members
-
struct mdns_result_s *
next
¶ next result, or NULL for the last result in the list
-
tcpip_adapter_if_t
tcpip_if
¶ interface on which the result came (AP/STA/ETH)
-
mdns_ip_protocol_t
ip_protocol
¶ ip_protocol type of the interface (v4/v6)
-
char *
instance_name
¶ instance name
-
char *
hostname
¶ hostname
-
uint16_t
port
¶ service port
-
mdns_txt_item_t *
txt
¶ txt record
-
size_t
txt_count
¶ number of txt items
-
mdns_ip_addr_t *
addr
¶ linked list of IP addreses found
-
struct mdns_result_s *
Macros¶
-
MDNS_TYPE_A
¶
-
MDNS_TYPE_PTR
¶
-
MDNS_TYPE_TXT
¶
-
MDNS_TYPE_AAAA
¶
-
MDNS_TYPE_SRV
¶
-
MDNS_TYPE_OPT
¶
-
MDNS_TYPE_NSEC
¶
-
MDNS_TYPE_ANY
¶
Type Definitions¶
-
typedef struct mdns_ip_addr_s
mdns_ip_addr_t
¶ mDNS query linked list IP item
-
typedef struct mdns_result_s
mdns_result_t
¶ mDNS query result structure