Bonjour technology and Parallels Virtual Appliances
- Parallels Technology Network
RESOLUTION
PVAs and Apple Bonjour
Imagine being able to start a virtual appliance and automatically open the administrator interface. No more configuring an appropriate network, determining the VA’s IP address, or entering the proper URL in the Internet browser before getting to use the appliance.
By using Apple’s Bonjour in conjunction with Parallels Virtual Appliances (PVAs), you can start using your virtual appliance more quickly than ever before. No more network configuration headaches or problems with DHCP or DNS services availability. You just start the virtual appliance and immediately open its administrator interface!
How It Works
First, configure the PVA’s network adapter. Use auto-configure (such as DHCP service) or, if this is not available, use link-local addressing (Zeroconf). With link-local addressing, the PVA randomly chooses an IP address from a predefined range of addresses 169.254.xxx.xxx.
Second, make the PVA’s services visible to all computers on the network. Use the special range of multicast IP addresses (224.0.0.251) for group delivery. This technology is called Multicast DNS – Service Discovery (mDNS-SD). The information about the PVA's services is automatically delivered to groups of computers and supplied to applications acting as clients for these services. For example, information about a PVA's web services is pasted into an Internet browser, such as Safari or Internet Explorer.
Safari Users - Select Show All Bookmarks from the Bookmarks menu, and click Bonjour.
Internet Explorer Users - Download and install a Bonjour for Windows add-on from Apple.com. After the installation, you can find the Bonjour button on your browser’s Internet Explorer toolbar. Just click it to get the list of services advertised by Bonjour on your network!
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