| Bonjour | |
|---|---|
 | |
Screenshot  | |
| Other names |
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| Developer | Apple Inc. |
| Initial release | August 2002; 23 years ago (2002-08) |
| Stable release | 1790.40.31 / November 1, 2022; 3 years ago (2022-11-01) |
| Repository | |
| Operating system | macOS,Windows,Linux,*BSD,iOS |
| Type | Zero-configuration networking |
| License | Apple Inc. –Proprietary Freeware; portions under theApache license |
| Website | developer |
Bonjour isApple's implementation ofzero-configuration networking (zeroconf), a group of technologies that includesservice discovery,address assignment, andhostname resolution. Bonjour locates devices such as printers, other computers, and the services that those devices offer on alocal network usingmulticast Domain Name System (mDNS) service records.
The software comes built-in with Apple'smacOS andiOS operating systems. Bonjour can also be installed onto computers runningMicrosoft Windows. Bonjour components may also be included within other software such asiTunes andSafari.
It was originally introduced in 2002 withMac OS X 10.2 with the nameRendezvous. It was renamed in 2005 to Bonjour following an out-of-court trademark dispute settlement.[1][2]
Bonjour provides a general method to discover services on alocal area network. The software is widely used throughout macOS and allows users to set up a network without any configuration. As of 2010[update] it is used to find printers and file-sharing servers.
Notable applications using Bonjour include:
Software such asBonjour Browser oriStumbler, both for macOS, can be used to view all services declared by these applications. Apple's "Remote" application for iPhone and iPod Touch also uses Bonjour to establish a connection to iTunes libraries via Wi-Fi.[3]
Bonjour only works within a singlebroadcast domain, which is usually a small area, without special DNSconfiguration. macOS, Bonjour for Windows andAirPort Base Stations may be configured to use Wide Area Bonjour which allows for wide area service discovery via an appropriately configured DNS server.
Applications generally implement Bonjour services using standardTCP/IP calls, rather than in the operating system. Although macOS provides various Bonjour services, Bonjour also works on other operating systems. Apple has made the source code of the Bonjourmulticast DNS responder, the core component of service discovery, available as aDarwinopen source project. The project provides source code to build the responder daemon for a wide range of platforms, includingMac OS 9,macOS,Linux,*BSD,Solaris,VxWorks, andWindows. Apple also provides a user-installable set of services called Bonjour for Windows and Java libraries.
Bonjour is released under a terms-of-limited-use license by Apple. It isfreeware for clients, though developers and software companies who wish to redistribute it as part of a software package or use the Bonjour logo may need alicensing agreement. The source code for mDNSResponder is available under theApache License.[4]
Apple originally introduced the Bonjour software in August 2002 as part ofMac OS X 10.2 under the name "Rendezvous". On August 27, 2003TIBCO Software announced that it had filed a lawsuit for trademark infringement.[5]TIBCO had anenterprise application integration product calledTIBCO Rendezvous on the market since 1994 and stated that it had tried to come to an agreement with Apple Computer. In July 2004, Apple and TIBCO reached an out-of-court settlement;[6] specifics of the settlement were not released to the public. On April 12, 2005, Apple announced the renaming of Rendezvous to "Bonjour".[1]
The current nameBonjour isFrench for the morning or afternoon greeting, "good day".
The previous nameRendezvous is French for "meeting", "appointment" or "date".[7]
Bonjour version 2.0, released on February 24, 2010, works with Microsoft Windows 2000, 2003, XP, Vista, 7, 8, 8.1, 10, and 11.[8] Systems use it primarily to facilitate the installation, configuration, and use of network printers, and thus it runs from startup. When Bonjour is fully implemented on Windows, some features—such as iChat—allow for communication between Windows and Mac OS. Bonjour for Windows also addszeroconf capabilities toInternet Explorer, and provides a zeroconf implementation toJava VMs.[8][9]
Some third-party applications, such asAdobe'sPhotoshop CS3 suite,[10]also come bundled with Bonjour to take advantage of zeroconf technology.
Installers on Windows systems normally place Bonjour files in a folder called "Bonjour" within the "Program Files" folder. It modifiesWindows system-registry entries related to internal network configuration and operation. Bonjour runs as mDNSResponder.exe. Communications across the network take place over UDP port 5353, which may require reconfiguring some personal or corporate firewalls that block Bonjour packets. A full installation of Bonjour for Windows will include a plug-in for Internet Explorer, a printer wizard, and the network communication services. Not all components are included when installed as part of a third-party application or as a component of other Apple software, such as iTunes.
SomeVPN clients are configured so that local network services are unavailable to a computer when VPN software is active and connected.[8] In such a case no local zeroconf services are available to Bonjour or any other zeroconf implementation.
In September 2008, two security vulnerabilities were found in Bonjour for Windows.[11]Certain installations of Bonjour for Windows lack anuninstaller and do not display a human-readable entry in theWindows services listing.[12]
In 32- and 64-bit releases of Windows 7, some older but still available versions of Bonjour services can disable all network connectivity by adding an entry of 0.0.0.0 as thedefault gateway. This was a bug reported in 2013.[13]
The open-sourceIM clientsPidgin,Kopete andAdium support the Bonjour IM protocol, as does the closed-sourceTrillian client.
A number of browsers allow an end-user to graphically explore the devices found using Bonjour.
Discovery is aCreative Commons-licensedmacOS application that displays all services declared using Bonjour. The program was originally called Rendezvous Browser, but changed its name in version 1.5.4 afterApple changed the protocol's name to Bonjour; since version 2.0, it has been renamed again, to Discovery. For certain protocols, double-clicking a list item will launch the associated helper. Version 1.5.6 was the firstuniversal binary release.
Future versions will allow users to completely define a service, instead of relying on the author to do so.
Bonjour Browser was recommended forservice discovery inMacAddict #123.
Discovery is available on the Apple App Store.[14]
A student research project atColumbia University produced a Java-based system to match the functionality of Bonjour Browser, called JBonjourBrowser. JBonjourBrowser is open-source and available under theGPL.
JBonjourBrowser was built to emulate the functionality of Bonjour Browser, and at the same time work on multiple platforms. It requires Apple's Bonjour Java library to run.
A native Windows application offers similar functions to Bonjour Browser for Mac OS. Bonjour Browser for Windows is offered for free by Hobbyist Software and HandyDev Software.
A commercial implementation called mDNSBrowser is offered by Netputing Systems Inc.
Setting up Wake on Demand", "Setting up a Bonjour Sleep Proxy
– Developer resources from Apple
