feat: initial description of peer discovery with MDNS

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Richard Schneider
2018-07-23 15:01:55 +12:00
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# Multicast DNS
Author: Richard Schneider (makaretu@gmail.com)
## Overview
The goal is to allow peers to discover each other when on the same local network with zero configuration.
MDNS uses a multicast system of DNS records; this allows all peers on the local network to see all query responses.
Conceptually, it is very simple. When a peer starts (or detects a network change), it sends a query for all peers.
As responses come in, the peer adds the other peers information into is local database of peers.
## Definitions
`service-name` is the DNS-SD service name for all IPFS peers. It is defined as `_ipfs._udp.local`.
`host-name` is the name of the peer. It derived from the peer's ID and `ipfs.local`, for example
`Qmid.ipfs.local`.
`peer-id` is the ID of the peer. It normally is the base-58 enconding of the hash of the peer's public key.
`port` is the port that the peer listens on. Normally 4001.
## Peer Discovery
### Request
To find all peers, a DNS message is sent with the question `_ipfs._udp.local PTR`.
Peers will then start responding with their details.
Note that a peer must respond to it's own query. Thus allows other peers to passively discover it.
### Response
On receipt of a `find all peers` query, a peer sends a DNS response message (QR = 1) that contains
the **answer**
<serice-name> PTR <peer-id>.<service-name>
The **additional records** of the response contains the peer's discovery details
<peer-id>.<serice-name> SRV ... <port> <host-name>
<peer-id>.<serice-name> TXT ...
<host-name> A <ipv4 address>
<host-name> AAAA <ipv6 address>
Multiple A and AAAA records are expected. The `TXT` is not needed for IPFS peer discovery, but is required by DNS-SD.
#### Multiported Peers
If a peer is listening on multiple ports, it must respond with multiple `SRV` records for each
port is listening on. If the ports do not listen on the same IP addresses, then each 'SRV' record
must have a different `host-name`.
#### Multiaddress
**TODO** from DNS records
**TODO** to DNS records
## DNS Service Discovery
DNS-SD support is not needed for IPFS peers to discover each other. However, it is
extremely usefull for network admistrators to discover what is running on the
network.
### Meta Query
This allows discovery of all services. The question is `_services._dns-sd._udp.local PTR`.
A peer responds with the answer
_services._dns-sd._udp.local PTR <service-name>
### Gotchas
Many existing tools ignore the Additional Records and always send individual queries for the
peer's discovery details. To accomodate this, a peer should respond to the following queries:
- `<peer-id>.<serice-name> SRV`
- `<peer-id>.<serice-name> TXT`
- `<host-name> A`
- `<host-name> AAAA`
## References
- [RFC 1035 - Domain Names (DNS)](https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc1035)
- [RFC 6762 - Multicast DNS](https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc6762)
- [RFC 6763 - DNS-Based Service Discovery](https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc6763)
## Worked Example
**TODO**