bonjour-service

What is bonjour-service?

The bonjour-service npm package is a Node.js implementation of multicast DNS service discovery, a way of using standard DNS protocols to enable devices on the same local network to discover each other. It allows for the advertisement and discovery of services such as HTTP servers, printers, and other devices or services available on the local network without the need for manual configuration.

What are bonjour-service's main functionalities?

Advertise a service

This feature allows you to advertise a service on the local network. In this example, a web server is advertised using the HTTP protocol on port 3000.

const bonjour = require('bonjour-service')();

bonjour.publish({ name: 'My Web Server', type: 'http', port: 3000 });

Discover services

This feature enables the discovery of services advertised on the local network. The example code searches for services of the type 'http' and logs any that are found.

const bonjour = require('bonjour-service')();

bonjour.find({ type: 'http' }, function (service) {
  console.log('Found an HTTP server:', service);
});

Unpublish all services

This feature allows for the removal of all advertised services from the network. It's useful for cleanup, especially when shutting down an application that has advertised multiple services.

const bonjour = require('bonjour-service')();

// After services have been published
bonjour.unpublishAll(() => {
  console.log('All services have been unpublished.');
});

Other packages similar to bonjour-service

mdns

The mdns package is another Node.js based multicast DNS service discovery library. It provides similar functionalities for advertising and discovering services on the local network. Compared to bonjour-service, mdns might require more configuration and manual handling of network interfaces but offers more detailed control over the mDNS process.

node-ssdp

node-ssdp is a simple service discovery protocol implementation for Node.js. It differs from bonjour-service by focusing on SSDP (Simple Service Discovery Protocol) which is commonly used for UPnP (Universal Plug and Play) devices. While it serves a similar purpose in service discovery, its use case is more aligned with UPnP devices rather than the broader mDNS-based discovery that bonjour-service provides.

README

bonjour-service

A Bonjour/Zeroconf protocol implementation in TypeScript. Publish services on the local network or discover existing services using multicast DNS.

This is a rewrite of the project Bonjour (https://github.com/watson/bonjour) into modern TypeScript.

bonjour-service is supported by ON LX Limited. Check out our projects such as Ctrl Suite and Ctrl for iPad.

Installation

Add to your project dependencies using Yarn or NPM.

Install with Yarn

yarn add bonjour-service

Install with NPM

npm install bonjour-service

Usage

import { Bonjour } from 'bonjour-service'

const instance = new Bonjour()

// advertise an HTTP server on port 3000
instance.publish({ name: 'My Web Server', type: 'http', port: 3000 })

// browse for all http services
instance.find({ type: 'http' }, function (service) {
  console.log('Found an HTTP server:', service)
})

API

Initializing

var instance = new Bonjour({ options }, errorCallback)

The options are optional and will be used when initializing the underlying multicast-dns server. For details see the multicast-dns documentation.

errorCallback is an optional callback used to gracefully handle errors that would otherwise crash the process. While not being strictly required, providing this is highly recommended

Publishing

var service = bonjour.publish(options)

Publishes a new service.

Options are:

• name (string)
• host (string, optional) - defaults to local hostname
• port (number)
• type (string)
• subtypes (array of strings, optional)
• protocol (string, optional) - udp or tcp (default)
• txt (object, optional) - a key/value object to broadcast as the TXT record
• disableIPv6 (boolean, optional) disble IPv6 addresses

IANA maintains a list of official service types and port numbers.

bonjour.unpublishAll([callback])

Unpublish all services. The optional callback will be called when the services have been unpublished.

bonjour.destroy()

Destroy the mdns instance. Closes the udp socket.

Browser

var browser = bonjour.find(options[, onup])

Listen for services advertised on the network. An optional callback can be provided as the 2nd argument and will be added as an event listener for the up event.

Options (all optional):

• type (string)
• subtypes (array of strings)
• protocol (string) - defaults to tcp
• txt (object) - passed into dns-txt module contructor. Set to { binary: true } if you want to keep the TXT records in binary

var browser = bonjour.findOne(options[, callback])

Listen for and call the callback with the first instance of a service matching the options. If no callback is given, it's expected that you listen for the up event. The returned browser will automatically stop it self after the first matching service.

Options are the same as given in the browser.find function.

Event: up

Emitted every time a new service is found that matches the browser.

Event: down

Emitted every time an existing service emmits a goodbye message.

Event: txt-update

Emitted every time an existing service does a new announcement with an updated TXT record.

browser.services()

An array of services known by the browser to be online.

browser.start()

Start looking for matching services.

browser.stop()

Stop looking for matching services.

browser.update()

Broadcast the query again.

Service

Event: up

Emitted when the service is up.

Event: error

Emitted if an error occurrs while publishing the service.

service.stop([callback])

Unpublish the service. The optional callback will be called when the service have been unpublished.

service.start()

Publish the service.

service.name

The name of the service, e.g. Apple TV.

service.type

The type of the service, e.g. http.

service.subtypes

An array of subtypes. Note that this property might be null.

service.protocol

The protocol used by the service, e.g. tcp.

service.host

The hostname or ip address where the service resides.

service.port

The port on which the service listens, e.g. 5000.

service.fqdn

The fully qualified domain name of the service. E.g. if given the name Foo Bar, the type http and the protocol tcp, the service.fqdn property will be Foo Bar._http._tcp.local.

service.txt

The TXT record advertised by the service (a key/value object). Note that this property might be null.

service.published

A boolean indicating if the service is currently published.

License

MIT