mythTV backends do not perform DNS lookups

[wm161@…]

My network has DHCP and dynamic DNS for all my computers, except for my main fileserver. If I enter in 'saturn' into mythtv-config as the backend host, all my other backends fail to connect and the master starts up as a slave, because it says they cannot connect to the host. nmap says that the host is up and the ports are open.

[Isaac Richards]

Help text for those settings says IP address only.

[wm161@…]

uh huh, so whats wrong with adding a DNS lookup?

[anonymous]

Trac is not for feature requests, which you would know if you read the "Guide for submitting MythTV Feature Requests, Bugs and Patches" - TicketHowTo

[hugh@…]

I consider this a bug. Why?

• mythtvsetup accepts a domain name without complaint

• mythfrontend accepts a domain name without complaint

• a domain name does not work. The diagnostic is highly misleading. Here is an example from a mythfrontend log:

2006-11-10 00:05:44.178 Connecting to backend server: redburn.mimosa.com:6543 (try 1 of 5)
2006-11-10 00:05:44.181 Connection timed out.
                        You probably should modify the Master Server
                        settings in the setup program and set the
                        proper IP address.

What it is actually trying is 0.0.0.0:6543 and yet it reports redburn.mimosa.com. Do we really expect users to use tcpdump to find their errors?

Recommendations:

1. wherever an IP address is expected, accept a domain name.

2. mythtv-setup should validate each IP address input. If it is badly formed, report right away, when it is easiest for the user to fix it.

3. (not as important, but for consistency)
   • Wherever a port is expected, accept a service name (see the man page services(5)).
   • Port number syntax should be checked on input.
   • It might be useful if the mythtv-setup form specified whether these ports are TCP or UDP.

4. the mythfrontend log entry should not just show what the user entered as an IP address but also what it was interpreted as.

For example, in my case, it could have said: Connecting to backend server: redburn.mimosa.com:6543 (0.0.0.0:6543) (try 1 of 5)

PS: if there is now a Feature Wishlist wiki entry for this, please place a pointer in this trac entry.