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MDNSD(8)                    System Manager's Manual                   MDNSD(8)

NAME
     mdnsd - Multicast and Unicast DNS daemon

SYNOPSIS
     mdnsd

DESCRIPTION
     mdnsd (also known as mDNSResponder on some systems) is a daemon invoked
     at boot time to implement Multicast DNS and DNS Service Discovery.  On
     Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard), mdnsd is also the system-wide Unicast DNS
     Resolver.

     mdnsd listens on UDP port 5353 for Multicast DNS Query packets.  When it
     receives a query for which it knows an answer, mdnsd issues the
     appropriate Multicast DNS Reply packet.

     mdnsd also performs Unicast and Multicast DNS Queries on behalf of client
     processes, and maintains a cache of the replies.

     mdnsd has no user-specifiable command-line argument, and users should not
     run mdnsd manually.

   LOGGING
     There are several methods with which to examine mdnsd's internal state
     for debugging and diagnostic purposes.  The syslogd(8) logging levels map
     as follows:

           Error - Error messages
           Warning - Client-initiated operations
           Notice - Sleep proxy operations
           Info - Informational messages

     By default, only log level Error is logged.

     A SIGUSR1 signal toggles additional logging, with Warning and Notice
     enabled by default:

           # pkill -USR1 mdnsd

     A SIGUSR2 signal toggles packet logging:

           # pkill -USR2 mdnsd

     A SIGINFO signal will dump a snapshot summary of the internal state to
     /var/log/system.log:

           # pkill -INFO mdnsd

FILES
     /usr/sbin/mdnsd

SEE ALSO
     dns-sd(1), pkill(1), syslogd(8)

     For information on Multicast DNS, see http://www.multicastdns.org/

     For information on DNS Service Discovery, see http://www.dns-sd.org/

     For information on how to use the Multicast DNS and the DNS Service
     Discovery APIs on Mac OS X and other platforms, see
     http://developer.apple.com/bonjour/

     For the source code to mdnsd, see
     http://developer.apple.com/darwin/projects/bonjour/

HISTORY
     The mdnsd daemon first appeared in Mac OS X 10.2 (Jaguar).

     Also available from the Darwin open source repository (though not
     officially supported by Apple) are mdnsd daemons for other platforms,
     including Mac OS 9, Microsoft Windows, Linux, FreeBSD, NetBSD, Solaris,
     and other POSIX systems.

BUGS
     mdnsd bugs are tracked in Apple Radar component "mDNSResponder".

NetBSD 10.99                   February 27, 2011                  NetBSD 10.99