<s>
The	O
domain	O
name	O
.local	B-Protocol
is	O
a	O
special-use	O
domain	O
name	O
reserved	O
by	O
the	O
Internet	O
Engineering	O
Task	O
Force	O
(	O
IETF	O
)	O
so	O
that	O
it	O
may	O
not	O
be	O
installed	O
as	O
a	O
top-level	O
domain	O
in	O
the	O
Domain	B-Protocol
Name	I-Protocol
System	I-Protocol
(	O
DNS	B-Protocol
)	O
of	O
the	O
Internet	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
.local	B-Protocol
has	O
since	O
been	O
designated	O
for	O
use	O
in	O
link-local	B-Protocol
networking	I-Protocol
,	O
in	O
applications	O
of	O
multicast	B-Protocol
DNS	I-Protocol
(	O
mDNS	B-Protocol
)	O
and	O
zero-configuration	B-Application
networking	I-Application
(	O
zeroconf	B-Application
)	O
so	O
that	O
DNS	B-Protocol
service	O
may	O
be	O
established	O
without	O
local	O
installations	O
of	O
conventional	O
DNS	B-Protocol
infrastructure	O
on	O
local	B-General_Concept
area	I-General_Concept
networks	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Internet	O
Engineering	O
Task	O
Force	O
(	O
IETF	O
)	O
reserves	O
the	O
use	O
of	O
the	O
domain	O
name	O
label	O
.local	B-Protocol
as	O
a	O
special-use	O
domain	O
name	O
for	O
hostnames	O
in	O
local	B-General_Concept
area	I-General_Concept
networks	I-General_Concept
that	O
can	O
be	O
resolved	O
via	O
the	O
Multicast	B-Protocol
DNS	I-Protocol
name	O
resolution	O
protocol	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Any	O
DNS	B-Protocol
query	I-Protocol
for	O
a	O
name	O
ending	O
with	O
the	O
label	O
local	O
must	O
be	O
sent	O
to	O
the	O
mDNS	B-Protocol
IPv4	O
link-local	O
multicast	O
address	O
,	O
or	O
its	O
IPv6	O
equivalent	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
domain	O
name	O
ending	O
in	O
.local	B-Protocol
may	O
be	O
resolved	O
concurrently	O
via	O
other	O
mechanisms	O
,	O
for	O
example	O
,	O
unicast	O
DNS	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
RFC	O
6762	O
was	O
authored	O
by	O
Apple	O
Inc	O
.	O
employees	O
Stuart	O
Cheshire	O
and	O
Marc	O
Krochmal	O
,	O
and	O
Apple	O
's	O
Bonjour	B-Application
zeroconf	B-Application
networking	O
software	O
implements	O
mDNS	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
That	O
service	O
will	O
automatically	O
resolve	O
the	O
private	O
IP	O
addresses	O
of	O
link-local	O
Macintosh	O
computers	O
running	O
MacOS	B-Application
and	O
mobile	O
devices	O
running	O
iOS	B-Application
if	O
.local	B-Protocol
is	O
appended	O
to	O
their	O
hostnames	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
addition	O
,	O
Bonjour	B-Application
devices	O
will	O
use	O
those	O
.local	B-Protocol
hostnames	O
when	O
advertising	O
services	O
to	O
DNS	B-Protocol
Service	O
Discovery	O
clients	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Most	O
Linux	O
distributions	O
also	O
incorporate	O
and	O
are	O
configured	O
to	O
use	O
zeroconf	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
By	O
default	O
,	O
each	O
computer	O
's	O
Avahi	B-Language
daemon	I-Language
will	O
respond	O
to	O
mDNS	B-Protocol
hostname.local	O
queries	O
,	O
and	O
most	O
shell	O
commands	O
and	O
application	O
program	O
calls	O
that	O
attempt	O
to	O
resolve	O
such	O
names	O
are	O
routed	O
to	O
that	O
daemon	O
by	O
the	O
default	O
hosts	O
:	O
line	O
in	O
the	O
Name	B-Protocol
Service	I-Protocol
Switch	I-Protocol
configuration	O
file	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
also	O
possible	O
to	O
configure	O
the	O
nss-mdns	O
modules	O
and	O
Avahi	B-Language
to	O
resolve	O
hostnames	O
with	O
other	O
pseudo-TLDs	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Windows	O
has	O
some	O
support	O
for	O
mDNS	B-Protocol
,	O
which	O
can	O
be	O
improved	O
by	O
installing	O
zeroconf	B-Application
software	O
available	O
from	O
Apple	O
and	O
other	O
third	O
parties	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Finally	O
,	O
many	O
printers	O
and	O
other	O
peripheral	O
devices	O
also	O
implement	O
the	O
mDNS	B-Protocol
protocol	O
in	O
order	O
to	O
provide	O
simplified	O
connections	O
to	O
them	O
from	O
computers	O
that	O
implement	O
zeroconf	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
connection	O
of	O
Macintosh	O
and	O
Linux	O
computers	O
or	O
zeroconf	B-Application
peripherals	O
to	O
Windows	O
networks	O
can	O
be	O
problematic	O
if	O
those	O
networks	O
include	O
name	O
servers	O
that	O
use	O
.local	B-Protocol
as	O
a	O
search	O
domain	O
for	O
internal	O
devices	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
one	O
time	O
,	O
Microsoft	O
at	O
least	O
suggested	O
the	O
use	O
of	O
.local	B-Protocol
as	O
a	O
pseudo-TLD	O
for	O
small	O
private	O
networks	O
with	O
internal	O
DNS	B-Protocol
servers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
more	O
recent	O
articles	O
have	O
cautioned	O
or	O
advised	O
against	O
such	O
use	O
of	O
the	O
.local	B-Protocol
TLD	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
which	O
would	O
of	O
course	O
preclude	O
using	O
that	O
or	O
any	O
other	O
domain	O
ending	O
with	O
.local	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
Microsoft	O
TechNet	O
article	O
708159	O
suggested	O
.local	B-Protocol
for	O
the	O
exact	O
opposite	O
reason	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Microsoft	O
Learn	O
article	O
"	O
Selecting	O
the	O
Forest	O
Root	O
Domain	O
"	O
cautioned	O
against	O
using	O
.local	B-Protocol
:	O
</s>
<s>
By	O
default	O
,	O
a	O
freshly	O
installed	O
Windows	O
Server	O
2016	O
Essentials	O
also	O
adds	O
.local	B-Protocol
as	O
the	O
default	O
dns-prefix	O
when	O
a	O
user	O
does	O
n't	O
select	O
the	O
advanced	O
option	O
,	O
resulting	O
in	O
a	O
domain	O
with	O
.local	B-Protocol
extension	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Linux	O
distributions	O
use	O
the	O
Name	B-Protocol
Service	I-Protocol
Switch	I-Protocol
configuration	O
file	O
/etc/nsswitch.conf	O
in	O
which	O
mDNS	B-Protocol
name	O
resolution	O
was	O
added	O
via	O
the	O
mdns4_minimal	O
plugin	O
to	O
nsswitch	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
this	O
configuration	O
,	O
where	O
mdns4_minimal	O
precedes	O
the	O
standard	O
dns	B-Protocol
option	O
,	O
which	O
uses	O
/etc/resolv.conf	O
,	O
the	O
mDNS	B-Protocol
resolution	O
will	O
block	O
subsequent	O
DNS	B-Protocol
resolution	O
on	O
the	O
local	B-General_Concept
network	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
this	O
way	O
.local	B-Protocol
requests	O
are	O
being	O
prevented	O
from	O
leaking	O
to	O
the	O
internet	O
,	O
but	O
also	O
block	O
legitimate	O
.local	B-Protocol
requests	O
for	O
configured	O
DNS	B-Protocol
servers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
local	O
is	O
an	O
officially	O
reserved	O
special-use	O
domain	O
name	O
host	O
names	O
with	O
this	O
top	O
level	O
label	O
are	O
not	O
resolvable	O
in	O
the	O
global	O
Domain	B-Protocol
Name	I-Protocol
System	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
