What is bonjour anyway?

I didn't realize i had this on my comp and when i deleted it, iTunes asked me to download it. So what is this?

Computer systems use IP (Internet Protocol version 4 or 6) to communicate with each other. To make it easer for 'humans', a hierarchical system known as Domain Name Services (DNS) was invented. This is the system that you type www.apple.com where .com is the registration service, apple is the domain and www is a host name. In order to participate, you must select an extension (i.e. .com, .org, etc), register your domain name (i.e. stuff, apple, google) and maintain a list of hosts which are reachable in a server (inhouse or outsourced).
This is great if you want everyone to connect to you globally, but what do if you only want to find systems on your own network? This is where Bonjour (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonjour_(software) or ZeroConf (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeroconf) comes in. It allows each system to advertise it's existence and services it is willing to make available, on a network.
On my network, I have Bonjour enabled printers, TIVO, network addressable speakers, web server, file server, ssh, video server, audio server and other fun things. So in my case instead of me entering a host name/domain name/port or ip address and port, I just select from a menu bar in my application. This is great if you have visitors and they need to "use the printer", 'store a file' or listen to a video stream.
There are Dozens of applications (iTUnes, TIvo, Safari, Adobe Creative Suite, Skype, iChat, VLC, Airport, ssh server, http servers, Asterisk, etc) support Bonjour, on almost all platforms (Apple, Microsoft, Linux, BSD).
To discover the Bonjour enabled system on your network, I would suggest the following tools:
Apple : Bonjour Browser or iStumbler
Microsoft : Internet Explorer plugin from apple, mDNSResponder.exe (command line)
Linux : Avahi browser

Similar Messages

  • What is bonjour? Is it an app and where can I find it on my new iMac?? what are its uses?

    Someone told me that I might be able to chat among Mac computers and I thought it was with Bonjour...is this correct?
    Don't see it anywhere on my new iMac?
    Thanks!
    New to apple computers...any help is appreciated!

    Hey mmanno,
    Great question. The following resource provides the information you are seeking:
    OS X Mountain Lion: What is Bonjour?
    http://support.apple.com/kb/PH11449
    Bonjour is a networking technology developed by Apple Inc. that makes it easy to set up and use devices and services on a network. Because Bonjour-compatible devices and services advertise their availability, it’s easy for you (or an application or service) to find devices and services that you want to use. For example, if you turn on file sharing, other OS X users on your local network will see your computer when they browse.
    For information on using Bonjour to send messages to others on your local network, see this article:
    Messages (Mountain Lion): Send messages to people on your local network
    http://support.apple.com/kb/PH12013
    Thanks,
    Matt M.

  • What is Bonjour?

    Please help me to understand...

    TigerTiger123 wrote:
    What is Bonjour?
    Let me ...Well, see for yourself by clicking HERE.

  • What is bonjour service

    What is bonjour and do i need it

    None of that should have any relationship to the Bonjour service, which is related to iTunes Sharing (Bonjour is what your computer will use to automatically find and display other computers with iTunes Sharing turned on). Something else is almost certainly going on. Perhaps the information and suggestions in this Apple KnowledgeBase article will help:
    iTunes for Windows: Troubleshooting unexpected quits, freezes, or launch failures
    Hope it does.

  • TS3212 what is bonjour and why canit i downlowd the newest versions of itunes because of it

    what is bonjour and why canit i downlowd the newest versions of itunes because of it

    What is the error message you're getting about Bonjour? (Precise text, please.)

  • What has Bonjour left behind?

    Hi,
    I have been feeling the pain of this upgrade, having a BT Voyager 2100 router. For several days now I haven't been able to boot my desktop as it take down the whole of my wireless network and stops other members of my household working.
    I have installed the firmware upgrade from BT, but this did nothing for me.
    I have uninstalled iTunes 5 and the Bonjour service - there are no iTunes or Bonjour folders in Program Files and no iTunes/Bonjour-related services running. I have also removed iTunes and Bonjour from my Norton Firewall "Allowed Applications" list.
    But when I turn on the desktop and go to access the web, my Voyager 2100 immediately disconnects all wireless connections.
    What has Bonjour left behind on my desktop that could be causing this? How can I get rid of it?
    If I buy a new router (not BT or DLink), will this solve the problem? I would prefer this option to having to reinstall my desktop.
    Thanks,
    Chris.

    Hi,
    As an update, I purchased a Netgear ADSL router today and installed it thinking everything would magically work. To a certain extent, it did - at least I can boot my desktop without bringing down the whole wireless network.
    I ran Norton One-Button Cleanup which removed a lot of useless iTunes and QT registry entries, links, etc (I had previously uninstalled these programs).
    I rebooted, and magically, the desktop could connect to the web.
    I then went through several iterations of installing/uninstalling various iTunes versions so I could at least play my purchased music, but no previous versions would start - the process would sit there, but no UI, and I couldn't kill the process in TaskManager - choosing to reboot the PC hung, so I guess Windows itself couldn't kill the process either.
    I am having the same problem with QT7 and, remarkably, QT6. The only software on my PC that is now broken is Apple software. If I didn't have money invested in it (how else am I going to play my purchased music - I don't have an iPod) then I would just move along.
    Chris.

  • What is Bonjour and where did it go??

    Help please - Hope this makes sense to someone - Finally decided to upgrade ITunes (kept seeing that reminder pop-up!), and after a major hic-cup with sound devices that have now sorted, tried to play music that I've purchased from ITunes using Windows > My Music (as have transferred some from ITunes IMedia folder to Windows My Music) - and it will now only open and play on ITunes. When I first did upgrade I had an error message appear that said something like ... ' .. can't be played .. Bonjour can't be found..' - whatever that may be, but obviously something to do with ITunes software.  Any thoughts, ideas or help for this helpless female would be greatly appreciated!!

    Thanks so much - and now I know what Bonjour is (apart from a French greeting!).  BUT, have had a quick look round and - unless I'm just too tired - I can't find the location from which I can download (as I have checked my prog files etc., and I definitely don't have it (and assume I did at one point!).  I don't need an upgrade, I need to whole package??? Can you direct me to right location - pretty please? kiss kiss and all that!

  • What is Bonjour, should I use it???

    Have had Mac for some time, just trying to learn the capacity of the box. Will Bonjour help me accomplish more in my day? Will it be worth my time to learn? Thanks Brett

    It doesn't sound like you have a good idea of what Bonjour is.
    Since you have a Mac, you already have Bonjour, and may already be using it without knowing it!
    The iTunes program uses Bonjour to find other iTunes programs running on the same computer or local network, allowing folks to share their libraries of media.
    The iChat program also has a Bonjour window that finds other iChat users in the local network, and lists them, so you can readily chat with them, without having to first edit a buddy list.
    The Safari program uses Bonjour to search for local web-page services from computers or lesser devices such as printers.
    The Finder program uses Bonjour to hunt for local file systems that are shared to the network by other computers or lesser devices such as disk servers, TimeCapsule, etc.
    In all of these mentioned cases, there is really nothing for you to "learn about Bonjour". It is just there, doing its job of making things easier to use.

  • What is Bonjour,Download it from Where???

    all i have is this icon that says
    About Bonjour
    it explains a little,but where is the download link and have any of you used it?
    what does it do and how does it work?

    it is automatically on your mac mini...you don't need to download anything, unless an update comes, but your Software Update will remind you about it...also, what it is is software that allows you to listen, view, and watch music, photos, and videos off of other computers on your wireless network
     Mac Mini Intel Core Solo- 1 GB RAM- Superdrive- Production week 18   Mac OS X (10.4.7)  

  • What is bonjour service and how do I turn it back on?

    I somehow turned it off. and now I cant do anything in itunes. plus it wont recognize any of my devices. everytime I go into itunes store it says error
    -3212. I uninstalled itunes last night and downloaded it again this morning (I hadnt updated since last year so it was basically new version this time) but its still the same as if I hadnt done anything at all.
    I have windows vista.
    McAfee program.

    None of that should have any relationship to the Bonjour service, which is related to iTunes Sharing (Bonjour is what your computer will use to automatically find and display other computers with iTunes Sharing turned on). Something else is almost certainly going on. Perhaps the information and suggestions in this Apple KnowledgeBase article will help:
    iTunes for Windows: Troubleshooting unexpected quits, freezes, or launch failures
    Hope it does.

  • What is J2EE anyway?

    I've been using Java since '96, wrote http servers and then an early servlet container, moved to Tomcat shortly after 3 came out, cocoon since 1999, and my own XSLT+SOAP RESTful MVC framework.
    But, after a quick look at EJB 1, I was put off by all the extra work you have to do for apparently zero gain.
    I've never had a reason to go to a J2EE container, and always though I'd been using J2SE + Tomcat + XSLT.
    Does it count (in CV sense) as J2EE if you have never used EJB?
    Pete

    Computer systems use IP (Internet Protocol version 4 or 6) to communicate with each other. To make it easer for 'humans', a hierarchical system known as Domain Name Services (DNS) was invented. This is the system that you type www.apple.com where .com is the registration service, apple is the domain and www is a host name. In order to participate, you must select an extension (i.e. .com, .org, etc), register your domain name (i.e. stuff, apple, google) and maintain a list of hosts which are reachable in a server (inhouse or outsourced).
    This is great if you want everyone to connect to you globally, but what do if you only want to find systems on your own network? This is where Bonjour (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonjour_(software) or ZeroConf (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeroconf) comes in. It allows each system to advertise it's existence and services it is willing to make available, on a network.
    On my network, I have Bonjour enabled printers, TIVO, network addressable speakers, web server, file server, ssh, video server, audio server and other fun things. So in my case instead of me entering a host name/domain name/port or ip address and port, I just select from a menu bar in my application. This is great if you have visitors and they need to "use the printer", 'store a file' or listen to a video stream.
    There are Dozens of applications (iTUnes, TIvo, Safari, Adobe Creative Suite, Skype, iChat, VLC, Airport, ssh server, http servers, Asterisk, etc) support Bonjour, on almost all platforms (Apple, Microsoft, Linux, BSD).
    To discover the Bonjour enabled system on your network, I would suggest the following tools:
    Apple : Bonjour Browser or iStumbler
    Microsoft : Internet Explorer plugin from apple, mDNSResponder.exe (command line)
    Linux : Avahi browser

  • What is Bonjour, how did I get it and why do I need it?

    I am going through my computer and uninstalling programs that I haven't used in a long time.  I found a program called Bonjour.  I use I-tunes, so it may have been installed with that.  Do I really need it and will uninstalling it screw up my I-tunes?
    Thanks for any advice.
    Cheers!
    Paul

    Check this link.
    http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonjour_(software)
    Do you share your iTunes library on one computer with another computer connected to the same wireless network or do you have any plans to do so?

  • What does Bonjour do?

    Simple enough (but stupid) question. I understand it has a role in sharing music on itunes and stuff with printing, but Apple doesn't really say much

    Hello,
    Basically, it is Apple's method of "auto discovering" devices and other equipment that you can talk to (computers, printers, etc.).
    Here's a article discussing it:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonjour
    Hope this helps.

  • What is Bonjour? What is Jabber?

    And how do I use them? Do I need to register for a special account somewhere?

    Hi Slurpie:
    Bonjour is a local IM client that let you connect to other computers on your local network. I.E. At work or your home network only-Whatever network you may be logged into, and there are other Bonjour chat clients running. (So if you were at home, had 2 mac, you would be able to do local chatting rather than having to use an external server)
    Jabber is an external client, somewhat like AIM that allows you to IM with people from around the world. This may help: http://www.jabber.org/about/overview.shtml
    and
    http://www.jabber.org.au/ichat

  • I am not understanding this Bonjour photo sharing thing with front row.

    I just finished seting up my media center with a 37 inch Olevia. WOW
    Anyways, what I am not understanding is I have iphoto set up on the other two compuers as sharing photos and the MINI is set to see them. Do I have to have iPhoto RUNNING on the other two computers so that I can RETRIEVE the photos on the mini? That seems so wrong. Can I just access the other computers photos and view them on my wireless network to the mini? I thought this is what this bonjour is all about...or do I have to copy the photos to the mini for viewing?
    Thanks

    You are most welcome.
    I understand the frustration - but when you step back and think about reliability, it makes sense to have one application to do one thing. If front row had to handle the slide show - it would be bulky and whenever a new feature was developed (or bug fixed) - the code would have to be added and tested in both iPhoto and Front Row. By keeping front row thin, simple and intuitive - it gets to market cheaper and more reliably. Isn't that really why we use Mac?
    iPhoto's job is to organize pictures. A lot of sophisticated things happen to add value when you take those "pictures in a flat folder" and import them - color correction, cropping, rotation, grouping into an album, ordering of the photos, settings for the slide show - music, fade effect, ken burns/zoom, etc...
    I have those applications set to launch automagically when I log in and hide themselves so I never see them until needed. They sit there idle once they load until front row tickles them in the correct manner to feed data over the network to front row...
    If you really need some photos to stand alone, you can always export a slide show as a quick time movie. Front Row will play movies remotely with no application running on the other end.

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