xref: /netbsd-src/external/apache2/mDNSResponder/dist/mDNSShared/mDNSResponder.8 (revision 09afef20633f5fe63d92dfe43ee3a9380dc06883)
1.\" -*- tab-width: 4 -*-
2.\"
3.\" Copyright (c) 2003-2004 Apple Computer, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
4.\"
5.\" Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
6.\" you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
7.\" You may obtain a copy of the License at
8.\"
9.\"     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
10.\"
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12.\" distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
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15.\" limitations under the License.
16.\"
17.\" Log: mDNSResponder.8,v $
18.\" Revision 1.10  2009/04/20 16:12:13  mcguire
19.\" <rdar://problem/6807798> manpage: roff errors
20.\"
21.\" Revision 1.9  2009/04/11 00:20:27  jessic2
22.\" <rdar://problem/4426780> Daemon: Should be able to turn on LogOperation dynamically
23.\"
24.\" Revision 1.8  2006/10/06 17:31:33  mkrochma
25.\" <rdar://problem/4769407> Typo in man page for mDNSResponder(8)
26.\"
27.\" Revision 1.7  2006/08/14 23:24:56  cheshire
28.\" Re-licensed mDNSResponder daemon source code under Apache License, Version 2.0
29.\"
30.\" Revision 1.6  2005/02/10 22:35:28  cheshire
31.\" <rdar://problem/3727944> Update name
32.\"
33.\" Revision 1.5  2004/06/29 02:41:38  cheshire
34.\" Add note that mDNSResponder is called mdnsd on some systems
35.\"
36.\" Revision 1.4  2004/05/18 18:14:36  cheshire
37.\" Minor wording update
38.\"
39.\" Revision 1.3  2004/04/22 02:56:08  cheshire
40.\" <rdar://problem/3619494>: mDNSResponder man page format error
41.\"
42.\" Revision 1.2  2004/04/12 18:03:24  ksekar
43.\" <rdar://problem/3619494>: mDNSResponder man page format error
44.\"
45.\" Revision 1.1  2003/11/13 03:21:38  cheshire
46.\" <rdar://problem/3086886>: No man page for mDNSResponder
47.\"
48.\"
49.\"
50.Dd April 2004              \" Date
51.Dt mDNSResponder 8         \" Document Title
52.Os Darwin                  \" Operating System
53.\"
54.Sh NAME
55.Nm mDNSResponder
56.Nd Multicast and Unicast DNS daemon    \" Name Description for whatis database
57.\"
58.Sh SYNOPSIS
59.Nm
60.\"
61.Sh DESCRIPTION
62.Nm
63(also known as
64.Nm mdnsd
65on some systems)
66is a daemon invoked at boot time to implement Multicast DNS and DNS Service Discovery. On
67Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard),
68.Nm
69is also the system-wide Unicast DNS Resolver.
70.Pp
71.Nm
72listens on UDP port 5353 for Multicast DNS Query packets.
73When it receives a query for which it knows an answer,
74.Nm
75issues the appropriate Multicast DNS Reply packet.
76.Pp
77.Nm
78also performs Unicast and Multicast DNS Queries on behalf of client processes, and
79maintains a cache of the replies.
80.Pp
81.Nm
82has no user-specifiable command-line argument, and users should not run
83.Nm
84manually.
85.Pp
86.Ss LOGGING
87There are several methods with which to examine
88.Nm Ns 's internal state for debugging and diagnostic purposes. The syslog(1)
89logging levels map as follows:
90.Pp
91.Dl Error - Error messages
92.Dl Warning - Client-initiated operations
93.Dl Notice - Sleep proxy operations
94.Dl Info - Informational messages
95.Pp
96By default, only log level Error is logged.
97.Pp
98A SIGUSR1 signal toggles additional logging, with Warning and Notice
99enabled by default:
100.Pp
101.Dl % sudo killall -USR1 mDNSResponder
102.Pp
103Once this logging is enabled, users can additionally use syslog(1)
104to change the log filter for the process. For example, to enable log levels Emergency - Debug:
105.Pp
106.Dl % sudo syslog -c mDNSResponder -d
107.Pp
108A SIGUSR2 signal toggles packet logging:
109.Pp
110.Dl % sudo killall -USR2 mDNSResponder
111.Pp
112A SIGINFO signal will dump a snapshot summary of the internal state to
113.Pa /var/log/system.log Ns :
114.Pp
115.Dl % sudo killall -INFO mDNSResponder
116.Sh FILES
117.Pa /usr/sbin/mDNSResponder \" Pathname
118.\"
119.Sh SEE ALSO
120.Xr mDNS 1
121.Pp
122For information on Multicast DNS, see
123.Pa http://www.multicastdns.org/
124.Pp
125For information on DNS Service Discovery, see
126.Pa http://www.dns-sd.org/
127.Pp
128For information on how to use the Multicast DNS and the
129DNS Service Discovery APIs on Mac OS X and other platforms, see
130.Pa http://developer.apple.com/bonjour/
131.Pp
132For the source code to
133.Nm , see
134.Pa http://developer.apple.com/darwin/projects/bonjour/
135.\"
136.Sh BUGS
137.Nm
138bugs are tracked in Apple Radar component "mDNSResponder".
139.\"
140.Sh HISTORY
141The
142.Nm
143daemon first appeared in Mac OS X 10.2 (Jaguar).
144.Pp
145Also available from the Darwin open source repository
146(though not officially supported by Apple) are
147.Nm
148daemons for other platforms, including Mac OS 9, Microsoft Windows,
149Linux, FreeBSD, NetBSD, Solaris, and other POSIX systems.
150