Bootstrapping Dante Devices and Controllers

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Bootstrapping Dante Devices and Controllers

Multiple Subnets

If your network spans multiple IP subnets, you can use a DNS server to resolve the DDM server address for your Dante devices and controllers, and a DHCP server to automatically configure your Dante devices.

Setting up DHCP

A DHCP server provides IP addresses and other bootstrap information for devices in a network. Many routers and switches come with DHCP functionality built in. Refer to the manual for your router, switch or DHCP server for configuration details.

Specify the DNS domain name for the DDM as the first entry in the domain-search option. This is because Dante devices will only use the first entry in this list for locating not fully qualified domain names. The DHCP option for domain-search is as follows:

* option domain-search

"domain.name",

"other.domain.name.1",

"other.domain.name2";

Here is an example domain-search for a DDM in the engineering department:

* option domain-search

"eng.example.com",

"sales.example.com",

"hr.example.com";

Setting up DNS

Devices and controllers use DNS-SD (DNS service discovery) to find the DDM. Each DNS-SD entry consists of an SRV record describing how to connect to the DDM and a TXT record with additional information (empty in this case).

Note that DNS domain names and Dante domain names are different, and need not be related. Names of Dante domains are not added to the DNS.

Customizable Fields

The following fields are customizable to your environment.

Domain: Replace the string my.domain.example.com with your local domain
DDM: Replace the string my_ddm.my.domain.example.com with the name of the device hosting your DDM
TTL: The system default TTL is usually satisfactory

Required Fields

All other fields must be as specified below,

Controller Record

Record Name

Instance	Service	Domain
default.	_dante-ddm-c._tcp	my.domain.example.com

default._dante-ddm-c._tcp.my.domain.example.com

SRV Record

Weight, priority: 0
Port: NNNN
Target: my_ddm.my.domain.example.com

TXT Record

Empty

Device Record

Record Name

Instance	Service	Domain
default.	_dante-ddm-d._udp	my.domain.example.com

default._dante-ddm-d._udp.my.domain.example.com

SRV Record

Weight, priority: 0
Port: NNNN
Target: my_ddm.my.domain.example.com

TXT Record

Empty

DNS SRV Record Examples

The following example is for Dante controllers, using the domain name eng.example.com:

default._dante-ddm-c._tcp.eng.example.com. 3600 IN SRV 0 0 8443 ddm.eng.example.com
default._dante-ddm-c._tcp.eng.example.com. 3600 IN TXT ""

The following example is for Dante devices, using the domain name eng.example.com:

default._dante-ddm-d._udp.eng.example.com. 3600 IN SRV 0 0 8000 ddm.eng.example.com
default._dante-ddm-d._udp.eng.example.com. 3600 IN TXT ""

The domain name in the SRV and TXT headers must match the search domain provided to clients by DHCP. Clients are not required to be in the same DNS domain as the DDM, but each DNS domain provided to clients must have DNS-SD records that point to the DDM.

In addition to adding the DDM domain name to DNS, you should obtain a domain validation certificate for the hostname of your DDM. This certificate verifies the identity of your DDM to a web browser accessing the DDM administrative interface as well as Dante controllers connecting to the DDM.

Adding SRV Records in Windows Server

Single Subnet with mDNS

For networks that reside on a single subnet, mDNS-based discovery can be used to bootstrap devices and controllers. The mDNS discovery feature (Dante Discovery Service) is on by default, and does not need to be activated or configured. All discovered devices will be displayed in the ‘Unmanaged Devices’ domain in the Devices page.

For networks that include multiple DDM instances on the same IP subnet, you can disable the Dante Discovery Service in the Network & Security Settings.

Using Static IP Addresses

Networks that span multiple subnets but do not include a DHCP or DNS server can use static IP addresses. The Linux host running the DDM can be directly configured with a static IP address. Dante devices can be configured with static IP addresses using a Dante Controller on the same subnet as the device.

Routers will also need to be configured with appropriate IP addresses on each subnet.

To enroll devices, enter a list of IP addresses for the Dante devices you wish to enroll into the DDM manual configuration screen. The DDM will push static enrollment and discovery information to each device.

You can either enter individual IP addresses manually, or upload a CSV file containing a list of IP addresses and target domains.