Open Filamama by name

On the home network, Filamama answers to a name of its own:

https://filamama.local:5400

No router setting and no DNS server are involved. The server answers for the name itself over mDNS, the way a printer or a Mac answers for its .local name. Bookmark it once; it keeps working when the router gives the machine another address.

Which devices find it

Filamama Backup for Android doesn't need the name: it finds the server on the network by its backup service. The address always works as a fallback; Settings › Devices › Pair a phone lists the server's addresses under the QR code.

When another machine has the name

At every start the server first asks the network whether another machine already answers for filamama.local. If one does, such as a second Filamama, it takes filamama-2.local, then -3, and keeps that name from then on. The name it holds is shown:

• in the installer's last lines;
• in the server's log at start: [dms] On the home network: https://filamama-2.local:5400;
• in the file local-name in the data folder.

The certificate warning again

The server's certificate names filamama.local too, but it's still the server's own certificate. A browser accepts a certificate for each name separately, so having accepted it at the address doesn't cover the name. See The certificate warning.

Paired phones aren't affected: they trust the server by its key, which doesn't change.

Changing the name, or turning it off

The name is a setting in ~/.config/diune-media-server/env:

DMS_LOCAL_NAME="photos"   # answers at photos.local
DMS_LOCAL_NAME="off"      # answers to no name of its own

Letters, digits and hyphens, at most 60 characters. Any other value stops the server at start, with the reason in its log. Restart the service after changing it, or run the installer again, which keeps the file's settings. DMS_DISCOVERY=off keeps the server silent on the network altogether: no name, and phones can't find it on their own.

When the name doesn't resolve

Check from a computer on the same network:

# macOS
dscacheutil -q host -a name filamama.local
# Linux
getent hosts filamama.local

If nothing comes back:

• Is the server up? Its log says On the home network: at start, with the name it holds.
• Same network? mDNS stays on the network it's asked on. A guest Wi-Fi, client isolation, or a separate VLAN doesn't see the name, and a VPN doesn't carry it. See Remote access.
• A firewall on the server must let mDNS in: UDP port 5353. With ufw: sudo ufw allow 5353/udp.
• Another name? The server may hold filamama-2.local; see above.

Names under .home, .lan or .home.arpa come from the router's DNS, not from Filamama. Use filamama.local, or the address.