Install gupnp-tools with Homebrew, apt, dnf, MacPorts, Nix, pacman, zypper

Project links

• Homepage
• Repository
• Upstream docs
• Package manager page

Commands and aliases

• gssdp-discover
• gupnp-av-cp
• gupnp-event-dumper
• gupnp-network-light
• gupnp-universal-cp
• gupnp-upload

Project history

The project sits on top of GUPnP, GNOME's GObject/libsoup implementation of UPnP devices and control points. Its README describes the tools as free replacements for Intel's UPnP tools and lists Universal Control Point, Network Light, AV Control Point, Upload, and related utilities for testing and debugging devices.

GNOME release archives contain 0.1-series tarballs for GUPnP Tools and later 0.12-series tarballs. Git tags in the GNOME GitLab repository include gupnp-tools-0.3 from April 2008, tying the tool suite to the early public life of GUPnP itself.

The 0.12.0 NEWS entry records the port to GUPnP 1.6 and libsoup3, a higher GLib requirement, and addition of an Event Dumper command-line tool. Later 0.12-series entries focus on crash fixes, parser fixes, translation updates, and maintenance work.

Adoption history

GUPnP Tools appears in Homebrew, Debian, Fedora, MacPorts, Nix, Arch, Ubuntu, and openSUSE package sets because it is the practical way to test and debug UPnP behavior without writing a GUPnP application first.

The package is especially useful for distributors of GUPnP-related libraries: it provides interactive and command-line smoke tests for discovery, eventing, MediaServer uploads, and MediaRenderer control.

How it is used

Universal Control Point discovers UPnP devices and services, retrieves metadata, subscribes to events, and invokes actions. Network Light exposes a controllable sample device. AV Control Point discovers media and drives external UPnP MediaRenderer devices. Upload sends files to known MediaServers.

Package users commonly install the suite when debugging consumer-network devices, validating a GUPnP build, examining SSDP discovery behavior, or reproducing UPnP problems without writing custom client code.

Why package nerds care

GUPnP Tools is the part of the GUPnP stack that makes the library visible to package users. Libraries can be hard to validate from a package manager alone; this package gives maintainers executable probes and sample control points.

It also preserves an important GNOME packaging pattern: split the reusable libraries (`gssdp`, `gupnp`, `gupnp-av`) from debug and demo applications, so systems can install runtime libraries without the full testing toolbox.

Timeline

• 2008: Git tag gupnp-tools-0.3 appears in the GNOME repository.
• 2011: GNOME release archive hosts 0.1-series GUPnP Tools tarballs.
• 2022: 0.12.0 NEWS records the port to GUPnP 1.6 and libsoup3 and adds the Event Dumper tool.
• 2025: 0.12.2 NEWS records parser fixes, debug-output cleanup, and deprecated libxml cleanup.
• 2026: 0.12.3 NEWS records translation updates.

Related projects

• GUPnP is the core UPnP framework used by the tools.
• GSSDP provides SSDP discovery and announcement support beneath GUPnP.
• GUPnP AV supplies UPnP A/V helper functionality used by media-oriented tools.
• libsoup and GLib provide HTTP and main-loop/platform foundations.

Sources

• https://download.gnome.org/sources/gupnp-tools/
• https://download.gnome.org/sources/gupnp-tools/0.1/
• https://download.gnome.org/sources/gupnp-tools/0.12/
• https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gupnp-tools
• https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gupnp-tools/-/raw/master/NEWS
• https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gupnp-tools/-/raw/master/README.md