Local Addresses enable .local on linux

What is .local?

Windows and mac machines support .local addressing by default as part of the ZeroConf/Bonjour protocol.

It allows you to address devices on your local LAN via hostname.local.

The hosts advertise their IP to the network and can pick up and cache similar advertisements from other devices.

Enabling .local on Linux

To enable .local addressing on Linux, you need to install the avahi-daemon package, which implements the ZeroConf/Bonjour protocol.

Debian

On Debian and Ubuntu, it just works:

    sudo apt install avahi-daemon

Done.

Arch

Install and enable Avahi:

    sudo pacman -S avahi nss-mdns
    sudo systemctl enable avahi-daemon.service
    sudo systemctl start avahi-daemon.service

This will advertise your host to the network. To resolve .local addresses you need one extra step.

Edit /etc/nsswitch.conf and add modify hosts line:

     hosts: mymachines mdns4_minimal[NOTFOUND=return] resolve [!UNAVAIL=return] files myhostname dns mdns4