HowTo: broadcast Web UI presence on local network

[suddgummi]

Hello
I just thought that I could share this little configuration I've made to my Avahi configuration so that I can easily select my Linux boxes' Web UI in Apple Safari on my Mac.

This topic is Ubuntu centric but the only thing that should be different is the location of the service directory.

Macs use something called Bonjour to broadcast information about services available on the network (see http://developer.apple.com/networking/bonjour/faq.html).
On Linux, you have the option of using an application called Avahi to broadcast services available.

Although I could explain how to install and configure Avahi, I feel like a quick Google would get you up to date information on how to set up Avahi in your distribution.

What is important is the files residing in /etc/avahi/services
The services you'd like to be broadcast is put in XML-esque files looking something like this:

Code: Select all

<service-group>
  <name replace-wildcards="yes">SERVICE NAME</name>
  <service>
    <type>SERVICE TYPE</type>
    <port>SERVICE</port>
  </service>
</service-group>

These files are named something like SERVICENAME.service and put in the aforementioned directory.

What you'd have to do is to create a file in this directory and set permissions accordingly:

Code: Select all

sudo touch /etc/avahi/services/deluge-web.service
sudo chmod 644 /etc/avahi/services/deluge-web.service

Next, you'll have to edit the file with your favorite text editor (mine's Vim):

Code: Select all

sudo vim /etc/avahi/services/deluge-web.service

And put this in it (adjust port accordingly):

Code: Select all

<service-group>
  <name replace-wildcards="yes">Deluge Web UI on %h</name>
  <service>
    <type>_http._tcp</type>
    <port>8112</port>
  </service>
</service-group>

Avahi will replace %h with your hostname.

You should see something like this in your syslog:

Code: Select all

Dec 16 15:56:05 SERVER avahi-daemon[740]: Service group file /services/deluge-web.service changed, reloading.
Dec 16 15:56:05 SERVER avahi-daemon[740]: Files changed, reloading.
Dec 16 15:56:06 SERVER avahi-daemon[740]: last message repeated 3 times
Dec 16 15:56:06 SERVER avahi-daemon[740]: Service "Deluge Web UI on SERVER" (/services/deluge-web.service) successfully established.

Now you can access this Web UI via the Bonjour option in Safari Bookmarks.

/Suddgummi