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Why would I want Avahi and how to switch it off?


pindakoe
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I have a small home network where my Linux box is used as primary workstation and Samba/CUPS server for 2-3 windows PCs. As I do not like to have more software than what I actually use I have over the years pruned my install to the bare minimum; one piece I am not using is Avahi (as far as I know -- it is started by default in run level 5, but I am not aware that I required it on the Linux box itself or from the Windows PCs (which see printer and shares perfectly with Samba & Cups alone).

 

Removing it is however not possible as it takes half of Gnome (by the looks of it) with it when I select it for removal in rpmdrake. I know everything can be removed by rpm -e --nodeps, but prior to doing so would like to get an idea what stops working.

 

Anybody out there who can tell me why I would need it? The description on the avahi website only re-enforces my idea that this is something I do not care for.

 

Thanks for yr expert advise.

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You don't need it, avahi replaced the mDNSResponder service in previous versions. As it's also a dependent package in many distros for some reason, you can't remove as you found at least without causing yourself problems later. Therefore, the easiest way to disable it is first check if you have any services enabled for avahi:

 

chkconfig --list | grep -i avahi | grep :on

 

then, if you see any listed from the results from the above command, make a note of the name, for example avahi-daemon, and then just do this to disable it:

 

service avahi-daemon stop
chkconfig avahi-daemon off

 

and that will sort you out. You will have to su to root privileges before you can do any of the above commands.

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Well... it depends on the nature of your LAN.

If it's a small LAN with static IP's, where there's no need to have access from various wifi devices, you can safely disable it, without uninstalling it. Just follow Ian's suggestions (or as an alternative open MCC/services and untick "start" and "start on boot" for the avahi service).

avahi is just a zeroconfig service for lan connections, which is very handy in some cases, and quite useless in some others.

I can't tell if you should disable it or not without some knowledge about the nature of your LAN.

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Thanks for the feedback. I should have phrased my question a bit more clearly as my question wasn't too much about the mechanics of switching off (I know my way around run levels), but more what would break (primarily on the PC running it). Ian's comment suggest not an awful lot, so I have also switched it off (permanently).

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