Zero Configuration Networking
169.254.0.0 Automatic Private IP Addressing (www.zeroconf.org)
Automatic local network configuration and discovery
The 169.254.0.0 is the windows Automatic Private IP Addressing(APIPA). If your computer cannot detect dhcp, you may want to try to disable this service in windows. You will get served the 169.254.~.~ address if dhcp is unsuccessful.
Description
Zero Configuration Networking: 169.254.0.0 is a pseudo private class b that windows boxen default to if they can't find a dhcp server to use, it's all part of microsofts plan to get people that have know idea what they are doing to network their pc's.
"It's for people too stupid to network their PC's manually. Most notably, gamers take advantage of this type of plug and play networking."
Zero Configuration Networking takes care of the IP Address, NetBIOS Name, and Service Discovery.
- 1. IP Address - Uses the 169.254.* (link-local) set of addresses.
- 2. NetBIOS Name - More correctly, it uses a method of finding out the hostname of each computer automatically, which doesn't necessarily have to do with NetBIOS. mDNS or LLMNR may be used depending on the OS.
- 3. Service discovery - It must also go out and hunt down what is shared. How this is done varies from one OS to the next. SSDP is probably the most widely supported, but is a proprietary Microsoft protocol.
Zeroconf
Zeroconf is the suite of zero configuration IP protocols. Zeroconf is a link-local technology using addresses and names that are meaningful only in a particular network. It is supposed to be useful for networks when there is no possibility to set up a working IP network using the traditional technologies such as DNS and DHCP.
Zeroconf in Redhat
Redhat Linux added this 'feature' in version 9. Look in the script file /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifup for ip route replace 169.254.0.0/16 and a reference in /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/network-functions-ipv6
Adding NOZEROCONF=yes to all ifcfg interfaces including ifcfg-lo will eliminate the unnecessary route.
To immediately remove the route type:
route del -net 169.254.0.0 netmask 255.255.0.0 gw 0.0.0.0 dev eth0
