Feature #10818
open
UDP Broadcast Relay
0%
Description
Current packages like Avahi and PIMD can help users cast across VLANs, which is great for HOME/GUEST to IOT type scenarios, but it doesn't seem to address everything and IGMP proxies, snooping, etc. don't either. Google Home, for example, won't list speaker groups which involve the devices on the downstream VLAN. Apparently Chromecasts do some interesting things like changing source/destinations as Chromecast requires broadcasts to originate from an address on its subnet.
I found this package that runs a UDP relay daemon. [[https://github.com/marjohn56/udpbroadcastrelay]]
It's an updated version of a UDP relay from a few years back and it is working perfectly in identifying my Chromecast speaker groups on my IOT VLAN (while I remain on GUEST). It appears to be effective at all of these things:- mDNS / Multicast DNS (Chromecast Discovery + Bonjour + More)
- SSDP (Roku Discovery, DLNA Media, Sonos, UPnP + More)
- ifx Bulb Discovery
- Broadlink IR Emitter Discovery
- Warcraft 3 Server Discovery
- Windows Network Neighborhood Discovery
- Syncthing Discovery
- Raknet Discovery (Minecraft)
This would be a great addition as a package in pfSense. As it stands, it is a bit tricky to run as a daemon (it hangs other services if not handled properly) and it would be nice to have an indicator on the dashboard with the other services when it is started and stopped.
Files
| UDPBroadcastRelay.JPG (104 KB) UDPBroadcastRelay.JPG | |||
| clipboard-202212070759-fqczv.png (48.5 KB) clipboard-202212070759-fqczv.png | |||
| pfSense-pkg-udpbroadcastrelay-1.0.pkg (12.1 KB) pfSense-pkg-udpbroadcastrelay-1.0.pkg | 2.7/23.01 ONLY |
Updated by
Updated by Garth Kirkwood about 2 years ago
- File UDPBroadcastRelay.JPG UDPBroadcastRelay.JPG added
I have found this tool really handy for me so I want to help to make it happen, unfortunately I don't have the programming skills to do any of the behind the scenes nuts and bolts stuff, but what I can do is front-end stuff and help develop the logic so that a programmer can simply follow that.
To show my genuine interest I have made a package panel and am wondering if it is worth perusing any further, i.e. developing the underlying logic etc? Here is what it looks like:
Updated by Chetan Rao about 2 years ago
I just came here to say the same, and saw your post Garth. I'm a programmer by profession, but have never built any PfSense packages. However, I'm strongly motivated, since this tool solved a nagging problem that I've had.
In case you're unaware, there's a thread for this tool here: https://forum.netgate.com/topic/155698/how-can-i-get-this-udp-relay-package-for-casting-across-vlans
If you'd like, please post your screenshot there, and we can collaborate and see where it goes.
Thanks.
Updated by Kevin L about 2 years ago
Would absolutely love to see this becoming a pfSense package. Thank you Chetan and Garth for taking a shot at this.
Updated by Steve Wheeler about 2 years ago
This is now a FreeBSD port: https://www.freshports.org/net/udpbroadcastrelay/
Updated by Carl Schmitz over 1 year ago
Would also like to this this as pfSense package with GUI.
Updated by MILO MEDIN about 1 year ago
Is there any work going on to integrate this? I have a problem with chromecast audio groups that this would fix (that avahi doesn't).
Updated by Axel Taferner about 1 year ago
MILO MEDIN wrote in #note-7:
Is there any work going on to integrate this? I have a problem with chromecast audio groups that this would fix (that avahi doesn't).
I can't answer your question but you can already fix your problem by manually setting this up by following the instructions from the forums linked above in the reply from Chetan Rao.
Updated by Viktor Gurov about 1 year ago
Updated by James M about 1 year ago
Hello Viktor Gurov, is there any ETA for this package to be merged into pfSense? It seems the GitLab linked does not resolve (maybe an internal link?). Thanks and Cheers!
Updated by Øystein Gåsdal 10 months ago
Hi.
Any news on this?
Eagerly awaiting this one
Updated by Øystein Gåsdal 10 months ago
Thank you for the information.
Let's hope @Garth Kirkwood sees this then
Updated by Garth Kirkwood 10 months ago
Hey guys thanks for the shout out, but I have NO clue how to make this a package.
All I was able to do was build a webpage that could be used to manage it, and again there is no smarts behind this webpage, it is simply a webpage.
I am happy to help someone who can do the backend stuff.
Updated by Djon K 6 months ago
Thanks for the interest in this package. I took some time this weekend to create an initial version of a pfSense package around the udpbroadcastrelay solution. It is indeed based on the already existing port in the latest development branch.
If you are still interested in the package, it would be great to get some support in further developing and testing. Please find more info and the link to the repo (added a ready to go .pkg file as well) here: [[https://forum.netgate.com/topic/174725/udp-broadcast-relay]]
Updated by Marcos M 6 months ago
- File pfSense-pkg-udpbroadcastrelay-0.1_4.pkg added
- Assignee set to Marcos M
There's currently pull requests open to add the package on both 2.6 and 2.7 (PHP8). These include added functionality that I'm not seeing in yours. I'll move the PHP8 MR to the public github repo since it should be ready to use from the testing I've done so far. Here's a pkg that can be added (in 2.6) for anyone that wants to test.
Add attached package with pkg install -fy /path_to_file - for 2.7/23.01 only.
https://gitlab.netgate.com/pfSense/FreeBSD-ports/-/merge_requests/280
Updated by
Updated by James M 5 months ago
Hello Marcos M, many thanks for your great work. This package will definitely be interesting for a lot of people! Since udpbroadcastrelay will be available on 22.05/2.7, do you think it would be feasible to add it to the roadmap for the 2.7 release (https://redmine.pfsense.org/versions/70)?
Many thanks!
Updated by Dean Arnold 4 months ago
I've successfully installed the 1.0 package on the 2.7.0 snapshots and was able to configure mDNS (5353/224.0.0.251) and SSDP (1900/239.255.255.250) for Sonos & AppleTV/Airplay, this is something I was not able to achieve with Avahi/PIMD/IGMP-Proxy.
Thank you for developing this package. I hope to see it offered in the official packages soon.
Updated by John Stafford 4 months ago
I installed pfSense-pkg-udpbroadcastrelay-0.1_6.pkg on my 2.6 install, but am unable to start the service...
Suggestions?
Updated by Øystein Gåsdal 4 months ago
Sadly it doesn't seem to IPv6.
I have set up mDNS (5353/224.0.0.251) and SSDP (1900/239.255.255.250), only with IPv6 equivalents, but it doesn't seem to work
Updated by Djon K 3 months ago
The underlying package (https://github.com/marjohn56/udpbroadcastrelay) does not support IPv6 (https://github.com/marjohn56/udpbroadcastrelay/issues/5). I'm sure it will be added over time and the pfSense package can follow.
I've been running the package successfully for months. Think we got the interface to a stable point that is very usable for a wide group of folks. Would love to see it integrated into the main package repository and was hoping for 2.7.0.
What is the path forward?
Updated by Joe Lippa 3 months ago
Very nice job @Marcos M, thank you to you and everyone else that has contributed to the creation of this package.
I'm currently using pfSense-pkg-udpbroadcastrelay-0.1_6.pkg with psSense 2.6 and it's working perfectly for my use-case but I agree with @John Stafford and the issue that he identified above, a UI bug of sorts exists.
In my experience the underlying udpbroadcastrelay process/service is running and working fine but /status_services.php reports that the service is stopped as shown in the screenshot above.
It's not a showstopper but is probably something that wants to be ironed out before this package gets picked up for merge into 2.7
Updated by Marcos M 3 months ago
Check Diagnostics / System Activity and make sure that the process is actually running. There are some errors which are not captured in logs which would prevent the process from starting (and hence show stopped in services).
Edit: Additional logging has been added (under System Logs) which includes startup errors. I'm only providing a pre-built package for 2.7/23.01.
Updated by
Updated by James R 2 months ago
D. I. wrote in #note-48:
I'm seeing a lot of talk about a package for pfSense 2.6. However, the package seems to be removed from this page (and the Netgate GitLab is unreachable). Is this just me?
23.01 had reached RC so a release is imminent. Author removed 0.1_6 as they likely do not want to support different versions of the package.
Updated by D. I. 2 months ago
James R wrote in #note-49:
D. I. wrote in #note-48:
I'm seeing a lot of talk about a package for pfSense 2.6. However, the package seems to be removed from this page (and the Netgate GitLab is unreachable). Is this just me?
23.01 had reached RC so a release is imminent. Author removed 0.1_6 as they likely do not want to support different versions of the package.
Got it, thanks! Hopefully 23.01 releases soon, I can't wait to use this package!