---
name: "mdnsd.service"
section: "5"
platform: "linux"
package: "mdnsd"
version: "0.12-5"
release: "Debian 13 (Trixie)"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/mdnsd.service"
---

# mdnsd.service(5)

mdnsd service configuration file

## NAME

**mdnsd.service** – mdnsd service configuration file

## SYNOPSIS

**/etc/mdns.d/\*.service**

## DESCRIPTION

**mdnsd** needs at least one *.service* file to actively announce itself.  The systems that **mdnsd** targets usually have an SSH or HTTP/HTTPS service, which can be located by end-users with mDNS-SD.   E.g., **mdnsd** may be embedded in your printer, an access point, an industrial switch, or other headless network connected device.

Services are defined one per *.service* file and only two fields are mandatory:

- **type** *TYPE*

  The *TYPE* can be any service type from */etc/services*, prefixed with an underscore.  E.g., 'ipp' is port 631/tcp, which gives the type **\_ipp.\_tcp**

- **port** *PORT*

  The port is the UDP or TCP port to announce.  This can also be found in the file */etc/services*.

There are also a few optional fields supported, see below for examples:

- **name** *STRING*

  Free form string to describe service.  Usually what is presented to end users by discovery agents.

- **txt** *STRING*

  Text records are free-form strings that are included in service announcements.  Useful for announcing meta data about your service.

- **target** *URL*

  URL to announce as canonical for this service.

- **cname** *URL*

  A **cname** is an alias that can be announced for unique service reqords.  E.g., if only one HTTP service is available on the LAN it can be reached through the full name, or using the **cname** alias.

## EXAMPLES

This section has some examples of mDNS service definitions.

### SSH

```
# mDNS-SD advertisement of SSH service
type _ssh._tcp
port 22
```

### FTP

```
# mDNS-SD advertisement of FTP service
name Troglobit FTP Server
type _ftp._tcp
port 21
txt server=uftpd
txt version=2.6
target ftp.luthien.local
```

### HTTP

```
# mDNS-SD advertisement of HTTP service
type _http._tcp
port 80
txt server=merecat
txt version=2.31
cname home.local
```

### Printer

```
# mDNS-SD advertisement of foo._printer._tcp.local.
type _printer._tcp
port 515
```

### IPP

```
# mDNS-SD advertisement of foo._ipp._tcp.local.
type _ipp._tcp
port 631
```

## FILES

- */etc/services*

  List of standard service definitions in UNIX

## SEE ALSO

[mquery(1)](/mquery/1.md), [mdnsd(8)](/mdnsd/8.md)

## AUTHORS

This mDNS-SD implementation was initially developed by Jeremie Miller ⟨jer@jabber.org⟩ in 2003.  Much later Joachim Wiberg ⟨troglobit@gmail.com⟩ adopted it for further development and maintenance **mdnsd.service** at *GitHub:* **https://github.com/troglobit/mdnsd**