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I have a network of elementary Loki (Ubuntu 16.04) computers at home which work great and can be accessed over mDNS/Avahi. ping juggernaut.local works as expected, and I can reach hosts both ways over mDNS.

I am the proud holder of three work laptops, one elementary Loki, the other two macOS. I'm using Synergy with TLS between them so I can control them all with one logical keyboard and mouse.

mDNS/Avahi don't appear to be working within the network I'm currently in, as I can't reach *.local between the laptops, which are named sardaukar and arrakis. I can reach the DNS names locally with ping $(hostname).local.

Is there a guide or some series of steps I can follow to diagnose why mDNS/Avahi isn't working? Are there firewall rules I need to allow? On my home network with Linux machines, it works without issues. I'd like to get it working here so that with Synergy, I can avoid specifying IP addresses directly and rather use the mDNS host names.

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  • Can you please clarify: the juggernaut.local works in your home LAN, but the sardaukar.local and arrakis.local are hosts in your workplace LAN, where these names do not work for network connectivity? Commented Dec 24, 2018 at 23:48
  • They are always on the same network when I use them, things work on the home network and don't on the work network. Commented Dec 25, 2018 at 4:12

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For .local domains to work, the mDNS protocol ('multicast DNS') is applied. This protocol is specified in RFC6762. It serves to resolve hostnames without a central DNS server, and it works through port 5353 (as compared to port 53 for DNS with a central name server).

It could be that the admins of your workplace network did setup in a way (maybe through virtual LANs, routers and firewall settings) which blocks mDNS traffic and doesn't allow to reach port 5353.

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