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Creating and Managing mDNS Profiles

 

mDNS Zero configuration IP networking enables users to find printers, network resources, or music sharing on a network. If you are running mDNS on your network, users can instantly find printers, or a friend’s network game or music device, and share those files with someone else. These mDNS services are available in Network Director—Apple TV, Internet printer, or Digital Auto Access Protocol (iTunes).

For more information, see Understanding Bonjour.

Managing mDNS Profiles

From the Manage mDNS Profile page, you can:

  • Create a new mDNS Profile by clicking Add. For directions, see Creating an mDNS Profile.

  • Modify an existing mDNS Profile by selecting it and clicking Edit.

  • Assign an existing mDNS Profile by selecting it and clicking Assign. For directions, see Assigning an mDNS Profile to Devices.

  • Edit an existing mDNS Profile assignment by selecting it and clicking Edit Assign.

  • View information about an mDNS Profile by either clicking the profile name or by selecting the profile and clicking Details.

  • Delete an mDNS Profile by selecting site name and clicking Delete.

    Tip

    You cannot delete a profile that is in use. To see the current state of a profile, select the site name and click Details.

  • Clone an existing mDNS Profile by selecting it and clicking Clone.

Table 1 describes the information provided about mDNS Profiles on the Manage mDNS Profiles page. This page lists all mDNS Profiles defined for your network, regardless of the scope you selected in the network view.

Table 1: mDNS Profile Information

Field

Description

Profile Name

Name assigned when the profile was created.

Description

Any description added during creation of the mDNS Profile.

Assignment State

Displays the assignment state of the profile. A profile can be:

  • Unassigned—When the profile is not assigned to any object.

  • Deployed—When the profile is assigned and is deployed from Deploy mode.

  • Pending Deployment—When the profile is assigned, but not yet deployed in the network.

Creation Time

Date and time when the profile was created.

Last Updated Time

Date and time when the profile was last modified.

User Name

The username of the person who created or modified the profile.

Tip

All columns might not be displayed. To show or hide fields listed in the table, click the down arrow on the field header, select Columns, and select or clear the check box adjacent to the field that you want to show or hide.

Creating an mDNS Profile

To create an mDNS Profile to provide Apple TV, Internet printing, and/or iTunes support, follow these steps:

  1. Under Views, select one of these options: Logical View, Location View, Device View or Custom Group View.Tip

    Do not select Dashboard View, Datacenter View, or Topology View.

  2. Click in the Network Director banner.
  3. In the Tasks pane, expand Wireless, expand Profiles, and then click mDNS Profile.

    The Manage mDNS Profile page appears, displaying a list of currently configured mDNS Profiles and their attributes.

  4. Click Add.

    The Create mDNS Profile page appears.

  5. Provide the configuration indicated in Specifying Settings for an mDNS Profile.
  6. Click Done.
  7. Limit the resources consumed by various mDNS services by Creating and Managing an mDNS VLAN List.
  8. Assign the mDNS Profile following the directions in Assigning an mDNS Profile to Devices.

Specifying Settings for an mDNS Profile

mDNS provides a method for Apple devices to discover services on a local area network. In Network Director, Apple TV, Internet printing, and/or iTunes support can be added. You should limit use of mDNS to specific VLANs to prevent interference with the rest of the network—for directions to do this, see Creating and Managing an mDNS VLAN List.

Provide the settings described in Table 2 to create an mDNS Profile. For more information about mDNS, see Understanding Bonjour.

Table 2: Specifying Settings for an mDNS Profile

Field

Description

Profile Name

Type a unique name that identifies the profile.

Use up to 32 characters for the name. Profile names must not contain special characters or spaces. Note that profiles automatically created by Network Director as part of device discovery or out-of-band changes might contain the underscore (_) character.

Description

Type up to 256 characters.

Task: Add a rule to the mDNS Profile

To add a rule to this mDNS Profile:

Tip: You can add multiple rules.

  1. Click Add under mDNS Profile Rules.

    The Create mDNS Profile Rule window opens.

  2. Provide the following settings for the mDNS rule:

    • Host Name Glob—Indicate a host for the mDNS Profile. An asterisk like this * (the default) is a wildcard meaning all hosts.

    • Service Name—Select one or more services for mDNS, either Apple TV, Internet printer, or Digital Auto Access Protocol (iTunes):

      • _airplay._tcp—Apple TV

      • _ipp._tcp—Internet printer

      • _daap._tcp—Digital Auto Access Protocol (iTunes)

    • Service Type—Select either Discover (default) or Advertise.

    • VLAN Scope—Select either Global or Local.

      • Local—Service information is only relevant on the local VLAN.

      • Global—Service information is relevant beyond the local VLAN.

    You can also type a service name with the following pattern _<service>._<protocol>

  3. Click OK.

    The mDNS rule is added to the list of mDNS Profile Rules on the Create mDNS Profile page.

Task: Edit a rule in the mDNS Profile

Select a rule from the mDNS Profile Rules list, and then click Edit. Make changes, and then click OK.

Task: Remove a rule from the mDNS Profile

Select a rule from the mDNS Profile Rules list, and then click Delete. Click OK.

What to Do Next

An mDNS Profile must be assigned to specific devices— see Assigning an mDNS Profile to Devices.

Related Documentation