Mac OS X Panther in a Nutshell, 2nd Edition

Name

mDNS

Synopsis

mDNS [-E | -F | -A | -U | -N | -T | -M]
mDNS -B type domain
mDNS -L service_name _app_protocol._transport_protocol domain
mDNS -R service_name _app_protocol._transport_protocol domain port [string]...

A basic client for Rendezvous multicast DNS (mDNS), primarily used for testing local mDNS service. When invoked with no arguments, it prints a usage statement to standard error. In most instances, the command doesn’t return on its own, so you’ll need to use Ctrl-C to break out.

When registering or looking up a name like website._http._tcp.local., website is the service_name, http is the app_protocol, tcp is the transport_protocol, and local is the domain. For example, to register such a service:

% mDNS -R website _http._tcp local 80 "my web site"

Options

-A

Test mDNS by repeatedly adding, updating, and then deleting an HINFO resource record for Test._testupdate._tcp.local..

-B

Browse for services (although this doesn’t seem to work).

-E

Discover and list domains recommended for registration of services.

-F

Discover and list domains recommended for browsing of services.

-L

Look up a service, displaying its host address, port number, and TXT records if found.

-M

Test mDNS by registering a service (Test._testdualtxt._tcp.local.) with multiple TXT resource records.

-N

Test mDNS by registering a service (Test._testupdate._tcp.local.) with a large NULL resource record.

-R

Register a service.

-T

Test mDNS by registering a service (Test._testlargetxt._tcp.local.) with a large ...