Problem receiving UDP broadcast packets.

[Grant Edwards]

On 2011-04-20, Adam Tauno Williams <awilliam at whitemice.org> wrote:
> On Wed, 2011-04-20 at 06:07 -0400, Sherm Pendley wrote:
>> Grant Edwards <invalid at invalid.invalid> writes:
>> > I'm trying to implement a device discovery/configuration protocol that
>> > uses UDP broadcast packets to discover specific types of devices on
>> > the local Ethernet segment.  The management program broadcasts a
>> > discovery command to a particular UDP port.  All devices who get that
>> > packet are expected to answer regardless of thier current IP address.
>> Have you looked at the source for Apple's Bonjour?
>
> On LINUX this is called "avahi", which has Python bindings.  Avahi
> auto-configuration / discovery works very well.
>
><http://avahi.org/>
><http://freshmeat.net/projects/avahi>
><http://pypi.python.org/pypi/pybonjour/1.1.1>
><http://avahi.org/wiki/PythonBrowseExample>
>
> See also:
><http://pypi.python.org/pypi/pybonjour/1.1.1>
> at least you may be able to lift code from them (License is non-viral
> MIT)

I've looked at those protocols and they aren't particularly suited to
what we want to do.  One of our requirements is to be able to discover
a device with a static IP address (or no IP address?) that isn't on
the same subnet -- and I don't see how those protocols can do that. 

Since the management program already has to implement the UDP based
protocol I'm working on, it would be a big win if I didn't have to
make the management program add support for a second protocol.

-- 
Grant Edwards               grant.b.edwards        Yow! Are we THERE yet?
                                  at               My MIND is a SUBMARINE!!
                              gmail.com