Support mDNS for name and service resolution

[kevinanderson1]

Tailscale makes it super easy to build and maintain a mesh network with Wireguard. It would be nice if multicast DNS support could be added to make DNS name and service discovery easier for connected peers.

Magic DNS doesn't necessarily fill this gap in my use case as mdns also provides service discovery for things like airprint.

I've been able to get multicast dns working with "native" wireguard by manually enabling multicast on the interface and setting the allowed IP's to 0.0.0.0/0.

Describe the solution you'd like

Support multicast traffic across tailscale specifically for multicast dns.

Describe alternatives you've considered

I have setup native wireguard, enabled multicast on the interfaces, and set the allowed IP's to 0.0.0.0/0 but tailscale makes the management easier for situations where certain endpoints are behind dynamic IP's.

[normanr]

Should this work with advertised routes too? i.e. also proxy the multicast traffic from devices on advertised routes to devices that have accepted those routes?

[kevinanderson1]

My initial thought is that would be ideal. My use case is multiple nodes connecting to my home router. Within my LAN I am advertising multiple services through mDNS that I would like to access from clients.

[normanr]

I noticed that avahi-daemon has a reflector section. I haven't tried it, but I assume it won't work on its own because tailscaled won't route the mDNS traffic.

[kevinanderson1]

Yes that is what I did on a native wireguard connection which was to enable reflection on that interface so it would take mDNS packets from the LAN side and inject them to the wireguard interface but as you stated that won't work since tailscale does not seem to be passing the mDNS traffic.

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On Mon, Mar 8, 2021 at 2:04 PM Norman Rasmussen ***@***.***> wrote: I noticed that avahi-daemon has a reflector section. I haven't tried it, but I assume it won't work on its own because tailscaled won't route the mDNS traffic. — You are receiving this because you authored the thread. Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#1013 (comment)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AAGE37UUWQCEPSVMY4KNXTLTCUNSBANCNFSM4UY54GZA> .

[davygravy]

Yes, both avahi/bonjour & UPnP-Media advertisement and traffic would be extremely useful.

[normanr]

I assume setting up a GRE tunnel (using the tailscale IP addresses), and routing multicast traffic over it (with something like smcroute) would also work. That would allow you to use Tailscale to manage the network, and get the multicast packets through the Tailscale network.

[PranavPeshwe]

Hello! Any news/development on the mDNS front?
Tailscale is (obviously!) very useful. Making mDNS work on it seamlessly has the potential to make Tailscale indispensable.

Thanks and regards.

[DentonGentry]

We're tracking this issue in the engineering backlog and will post updates as progress is made.

[bentumbler]

+1 for mDNS and bonjour.
My use case is to capture debug logs from Apple devices as I roam between Wi-Fi and Cell

[alie2n]

+1 for mDNS and bonjour
My use case is more mundane. I just want to be able to print on the go. :)