By default, broadcasting packages are restricted by the subnet it was sent on since they are sent with a special IP address. These broadcast packages sometimes are used for broadcasting on the network what kind of services particular machines can provide. For instance, a samba service for providing Network Storage.
By default, this broadcasted data is restricted to that subnet only. However, there are instances when a segregated network still wishes to have access to these broadcast packages. Of course, this goes against some security in exchange for conveniences.
The service that solves this problem is Avahi. a simple service that will forward the broadcasted packages to Pfsense adjacent subnets.
Setup Ahavi on Pfsense
![](https://www.codeintrinsic.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/naviate-package-manager.png)
Navigate System->Package-Manager to get to the page for both managing and installing new packages.
![](https://www.codeintrinsic.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/package-manager-search-avahi-package-1024x363.png)
Under the Available Package Tab, either write avahi in the search field or located it manually.
![](https://www.codeintrinsic.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/package-manager-install-avahi-1024x340.png)
![](https://www.codeintrinsic.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/navigate-service-avahi-1.png)
Navigate to Service->Avahi for configuring the service.
![](https://www.codeintrinsic.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/avahi-configure-interface-other-settings-1-1024x817.png)
When configuring Avahi, the most important is the following.
- Enable – Enables the services as a whole.
- Interface Action – Set if interfaces selected that should be either enable or disabled.
- Disable IPv4 – Uncheck it in order to allow IPv4 packages.
- Enable Reflection – Enables multicast DNS packages to pass through subnets.
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Free/Open software developer, Linux user, Graphic C/C++ software developer, network & hardware enthusiast.