Describe how to build and use Debian packages in INSTALL.

[sliver-openvswitch.git] / INSTALL

       Installation Instructions for OpenFlow Reference Release

This document describes how to build, install, and execute the
reference implementation of OpenFlow.  Please send any comments to:

                      <info@openflowswitch.org>

Build Methods
=============

There are two principal ways to build and install this distribution:

        - Using "configure" and "make" in the ordinary way.  See
          Building Conventionally below for detailed instructions.

        - As a set of Debian packages.  Refer to Building Debian
          Packages, below, for instructions.

Base Prerequisites
------------------

Regardless of how it is built, OpenFlow has a common set of
prerequisites.  To compile the userspace programs in the OpenFlow
reference distribution, you will need the following software:

    - A make program, e.g. GNU make
      (http://www.gnu.org/software/make/).  BSD make should also work.

    - The GNU C compiler (http://gcc.gnu.org/).  We generally test
      with version 4.1 or 4.2.

    - libssl, from OpenSSL (http://www.openssl.org/), is optional but
      recommended.  libssl is required to establish confidentiality
      and authenticity in the connections among OpenFlow switches and
      controllers.  To enable, configure with --enable-ssl=yes

If you are working from a Git tree or snapshot (instead of from a
distribution tarball), or if you modify the OpenFlow build system, you
will also need the following software:

    - Autoconf version 2.59 or later (http://www.gnu.org/software/autoconf).

    - Automake version 1.10 or later (http://www.gnu.org/software/automake).  

    - pkg-config (http://pkg-config.freedesktop.org/wiki/).  We test
      with version 0.22.

Debian Prerequisites
--------------------

To build Debian packages from the OpenFlow distribution, you will need
to install a number of Debian packages in addition to the base
prerequisites listed above.  These additional prerequisites may be
found listed as "Build-Depends" in debian/control in the source tree.
To check that they are installed, first install the dpkg-dev package,
then run dpkg-checkbuilddeps from the top level of the OpenFlow source
tree.

To build Debian packages without being root, also install the
"fakeroot" package.

Kernel-Based Switch Prerequisites
---------------------------------

The OpenFlow distribution also includes a Linux kernel module that can
be used to achieve higher switching performance.  To compile the
kernel module, you must install the following in addition to the
software listed in the "Base Prerequisites" section above:

    - A supported Linux kernel version.  Please refer to README for a
      list of supported versions.

      The OpenFlow datapath requires bridging support (CONFIG_BRIDGE)
      to be built as a kernel module.  (This is common in kernels
      provided by Linux distributions.)  The bridge module must not be
      loaded or in use.  If the bridge module is running (check with
      "lsmod | grep bridge"), you must remove it ("rmmod bridge")
      before starting the datapath.

    - The correct version of GCC for the kernel that you are building
      the module against:

        * To build a kernel module for a Linux 2.6 kernel, you need
          the same version of GCC that was used to build that kernel
          (usually version 4.0 or later).

        * To build a kernel module for a Linux 2.4 kernel, you need an
          earlier version of GCC, typically GCC 2.95, 3.3, or 3.4.

    - A kernel build directory corresponding to the Linux kernel image
      the module is to run on.  Under Debian and Ubuntu, for example,
      each linux-image package containing a kernel binary has a
      corresponding linux-headers package with the required build
      infrastructure.

Building Conventionally
=======================

This section explains how to build and install the OpenFlow
distribution in the ordinary way using "configure" and "make".

0. Check that you have installed all the prerequisites listed above in
   the Base Prerequisites section.  If you want to compile the Linux
   kernel module, also check that the prequisites listed under
   Kernel-Based Switch Prequisites are installed.

1. In the top source directory, configure the package by running the
   configure script.  You can usually invoke configure without any
   arguments:

      % ./configure

   To use a specific C compiler for compiling OpenFlow user programs,
   also specify it on the configure command line, like so:

      % ./configure CC=gcc-4.2

   To build the Linux kernel module, so that you can run the
   kernel-based switch, add --with-l26 or --with-l24 option, or both,
   to the configure script's command line.  Refer to Building the
   Linux Kernel-Based Switch, below, for more information.

   The configure script accepts a number of other options and honors
   additional environment variables.  For a full list, invoke
   configure with the --help option.

2. Run make in the top source directory: 

      % make

   The following binaries will be built:

      - Switch executable: switch/switch.  This executable is built
        only if the configure script detects a supported interface to
        network devices.  Refer to README for a list of OSes whose
        network device interfaces are supported.

      - Secure channel executable: secchan/secchan.

      - Controller executable: controller/controller.

      - Datapath administration utility: utilities/dpctl.

      - Runtime logging configuration utility: utilities/vlogconf.

   If you passed --with-l26 to configure, "make" will also build the
   following kernel modules:

      - datapath/linux-2.6/openflow_mod.ko

      - datapath/linux-2.6/hwtable_<table>_mod.ko for each <table>
        specified on --enable-hw-tables (if any).

   If you passed --with-l24 to configure, "make" will also build the
   following kernel modules:

      - datapath/linux-2.4/openflow_mod.o      

      - datapath/linux-2.6/hwtable_<table>_mod.o for each <table>
        specified on --enable-hw-tables (if any).

3. Run "make install" to install the executables and manpages into the
   running system, by default under /usr/local.

4. If you built kernel modules, you may load them with "insmod", e.g.:

      (Linux 2.6)
      % insmod datapath/linux-2.6/openflow_mod.ko

      (Linux 2.4)
      % insmod datapath/linux-2.4/compat24_mod.o
      % insmod datapath/linux-2.4/openflow_mod.o

   After you load the openflow module, you may load one hardware switch
   table module (if any were built) to enable support for that hardware
   switching table.

   The insmod program must be run as root.  You may need to specify a
   full path to insmod, e.g. /sbin/insmod.  To verify that the modules
   have been loaded, run "/sbin/lsmod" and check that openflow_mod is
   listed.

4. Test the userspace programs, as described under Testing Userspace
   Programs below.

5. If you built the kernel module, test the kernel-based switch, as
   described under Testing the Kernel-Based Implementation below.

Building the Linux Kernel-Based Switch
--------------------------------------

To build the kernel module, follow the build process described above,
but pass the location of the kernel build directory as an additional
argument to the configure script, as described under step 1 in that
section.  Specify the location on --with-l26 for Linux 2.6, --with-l24
for Linux 2.4.  For example, to build for a running instance of Linux
2.6:

      % ./configure --with-l26=/lib/modules/`uname -r`/build

To build for a running instance of Linux 2.4:

      % ./configure --with-l24=/lib/modules/`uname -r`/build

If you wish to build OpenFlow for an architecture other than the
architecture used for compilation, you may specify the kernel
architecture string using the KARCH variable when invoking the
configure script. For example, to build OpenFlow for MIPS with Linux
2.4:

      % ./configure --with-l24=/path/to/linux-2.4 KARCH=mips

If you have hardware that supports accelerated OpenFlow switching, and
you have obtained a hardware table module for your hardware and
extracted it into the OpenFlow reference distribution source tree,
then you may also enable building support for the hardware switching
table with --enable-hw-tables.  For example, if your hardware
switching table is in a directory named datapath/hwtable-foomatic, you
could compile support for it with the running Linux 2.6 kernel like
so:

      % ./configure --with-l26=/lib/modules/`uname -r`/build \
                    --enable-hw-tables=foomatic

For more information about hardware table modules, please read
README.hwtables at the root of the OpenFlow distribution tree.

Building Debian Packages
========================

Follow these instructions to build Debian packages for OpenFlow.

0. Check that you have installed all the prerequisites listed above in
   the Base Prerequisites and Debian Prerequisites sections above.

1. In the top source directory, run the following command, as root:

      % dpkg-buildpackage

   Alternatively, if you installed the "fakeroot" package, you may run
   dpkg-buildpackage as an ordinary user with the following syntax:

      % dpkg-buildpackage -rfakeroot

   The following packages will be built in the directory above the
   source tree:

      - openflow-controller: The OpenFlow controller.  Depends on
        openflow-pki (see below).

      - openflow-switch: Install this package on a machine that acts
        as an OpenFlow userspace or kernel switch.

      - openflow-datapath-source: Source code for OpenFlow's Linux
        kernel module.

      - openflow-pki: Public-key infrastructure for OpenFlow.  Install
        this package on a machine that acts as an OpenFlow PKI server
        (see "Establishing a Public Key Infrastructure" below).

      - openflow-common: Files and utilities required by more than one
        of the above packages.

2. To set up an OpenFlow controller, install the openflow-controller
   package and its dependencies.  You may configure it by editing
   /etc/default/openflow-controller, e.g. to enable non-SSL
   connections, which are disabled by default.  If you change the
   default settings, you will need to restart the controller by
   running:

      % /etc/init.d/openflow-controller restart

3. To set up an OpenFlow switch, install the openflow-switch package
   and its dependencies.  If it is to be a kernel-based switch, also
   install openflow-datapath-source, then follow the instructions in
   /usr/share/doc/openflow-datapath-source/README.Debian to build and
   install the kernel module.

   You may configure the switch one of the following ways:

      - Completely by hand, as described under the Testing section
        below.

        For the userspace switch, this is the only supported form of
        configuration.

      - By editing /etc/default/openflow-switch.  You must at least
        configure some network devices, by uncommenting NETDEVS and
        adding the appropriate devices to the list, e.g. NETDEVS="eth0
        eth1".

        After you edit this file, you will need to start the switch by
        running:

           % /etc/init.d/openflow-switch restart

        This form of configuration is not supported for the userspace
        switch.

      - By running the ofp-switch-setup program.  This interactive
        program will walk you through all the steps of configuring an
        OpenFlow switch, including configuration of SSL certificates.
        Run it without arguments, as root:

           % ofp-switch-setup

        This form of configuration is not supported for the userspace
        switch.

Testing
=======

Testing Userspace Programs
--------------------------

0. The commands below must run as root, so log in as root, or use a
   program such as "su" to become root temporarily.

1. Start the OpenFlow controller running in the background, by running
   the "controller" program with a command like the following:

      # controller ptcp: &

   This command causes the controller to bind to port 975 (the
   default) awaiting connections from OpenFlow switches.  See
   controller(8) for details.
   
2. On the same machine, use the "switch" program to start an OpenFlow
   switch, specifying network devices to use as switch ports on the -i
   option as a comma-separated list, like so:

      # switch tcp:127.0.0.1 -i eth1,eth2
   
   The network devices that you specify should not have configured IP
   addresses.

3. The controller causes each switch that connects to it to act like a
   learning Ethernet switch.  Thus, devices plugged into the specified
   network ports should now be able to send packets to each other, as
   if they were plugged into ports on a conventional Ethernet switch.

Troubleshooting: if the commands above do not work, try using the -v
or --verbose option on the controller or switch commands, which will
cause a large amount of debug output from each program.

Remote switches: These instructions assume that the controller and the
switch are running on the same machine.  This is an easy configuration
for testing, but a more conventional setup would run a controller on
one machine and one or more switches on different machines.  To do so,
simply specify the IP address of the controller as the first argument
to the switch program (in place of 127.0.0.1). (Note: The userspace
switch must be connected to the controller over a "control network"
that is physically separate from the one that the switch and
controller are controlling.  The kernel-based switch does not have
this limitation.)

Testing the Kernel-Based Implementation
---------------------------------------

The OpenFlow kernel module must be loaded, as described in the
previous section, before it may be tested.

0. The commands below must run as root, so log in as root, or use a
   program such as "su" to become root temporarily.

1. Create a datapath instance.  The command below creates a datapath with
   ID 0 (see dpctl(8) for more detailed usage information).

      # dpctl adddp 0
   
   In principle, openflow_mod supports multiple datapaths within the
   same host, but this is rarely useful in practice.

   If you built a support module for hardware accelerated OpenFlow
   switching and you want to use it, you must load it before creating
   the datapath with "dpctl adddp".

2. Use dpctl to attach the datapath to physical interfaces on the
   machine.  Say, for example, you want to create a trivial 2-port
   switch using interfaces eth1 and eth2, you would issue the following
   commands:

      # dpctl addif 0 eth1
      # dpctl addif 0 eth2

   You can verify that the interfaces were successfully added by asking
   dpctl to print the current status of datapath 0:

      # dpctl show 0

3. (Optional) You can manually add flows to the datapath to test using
   dpctl add-flows and view them using dpctl dump-flows.  See dpctl(8)
   for more details.

4. The simplest way to test the datapath is to run the provided sample
   controller on the host machine to manage the datapath directly using
   netlink:

      # controller -v nl:0

   Once the controller is running, the datapath should operate like a
   learning Ethernet switch.  You may monitor the flows in the datapath
   flow table using "dpctl dump-flows" command.

The preceding instructions assume that the controller and the switch
are running on the same machine.  This is an easy configuration for
testing, but a more conventional setup would run a controller on one
machine and one or more switches on different machines.  Use the
following instructions to set up remote switches:

1. Start the datapath and attach it to two or more physical ports as
   described in the previous section.

2. Run the controller in passive TCP mode on the host which will act as
   the controller. In the example below, the controller will bind to
   port 975 (the default) awaiting connections from secure channels. 

      # controller -v ptcp:

   (See controller(8) for more details)
   
   Make sure the machine hosting the controller is reachable by the switch.  

3. Arrange so that the switch can reach the controller over the
   network.  There are two ways to do this:

      - Use a "control network" that is completely separate from the
        "data network" to be controlled ("out-of-band control").  To
        do so, configure a network device (one that has not been added
        to the datapath with "dpctl addif") to access the control
        network in the usual way.

      - Use the same network for control and for data ("in-band
        control").  For this purpose, each datapath nl:K has a
        corresponding virtual network device named ofK.

        When in-band control is used, the location of the controller
        may be configured manually or discovered automatically:

            * Manual configuration: Start by bringing up of0 before
              you start the secure channel:

                 # ifconfig of0 up

              Before the secure channel starts up, the of0 device
              cannot send or receive any packets, so the next step
              depends on whether connectivity is required to configure
              the device's IP address:

                 . If the switch has a static IP address, you may
                   configure its IP address now, e.g.:

                      # ifconfig of0 192.168.1.1

                 . If the switch does not have a static IP address,
                   e.g. its IP address is obtained dynamically via
                   DHCP, then proceed to step 4.  The DHCP client will
                   not be able to contact the DHCP server until the
                   secure channel has started up.

            * Controller discovery: No special setup is required at
              the switch, but you must specially configure a DHCP
              server to give out the switch's IP address and to tell
              it the location of the controller.  See secchan(8) for
              details.

4. Run secchan on the datapath host to start the secure channel
   connecting the datapath to a remote controller.  (See secchan(8)
   for usage details).  The details depend on how you configured the
   network in step 3:

      - If you are using in-band control and controller discovery,
        invoke secchan something like this:

           # secchan -v nl:0

        The secure channel should connect to the controller after it
        obtains its own IP address and the controller's location via
        DHCP.  This can take a few seconds.  Switch setup is now
        complete.

      - Otherwise, the secure channel should be configured to connect
        to the controller's IP address on the port configured in step
        2.  If the controller is running on host 192.168.1.2 port 975
        (the default port) and the datapath ID is 0, the secchan
        invocation would look like:

           # secchan -v nl:0 tcp:192.168.1.2

        If you are using out-of-band control, or if you are using
        in-band control and the switch has a static IP address, the
        secure channel should quickly connect to the controller.
        Setup is now complete.  Otherwise, proceed to step 5.

5. If you are using the same network for control and data, and the
   switch obtains its IP address dynamically, then you may now obtain
   the switch's IP address, e.g. by invoking a DHCP client.  The
   secure channel will only be able to connect to the controller after
   an IP address has been obtained.

Configuration
=============

Secure operation over SSL
-------------------------

The instructions above set up OpenFlow for operation over a plaintext
TCP connection.  Production use of OpenFlow should use SSL[*] to
ensure confidentiality and authenticity of traffic among switches and
controllers.  The source must be configured with --enable-ssl=yes to
build with SSL support.

To use SSL with OpenFlow, you must set up a public-key infrastructure
(PKI) including a pair of certificate authorities (CAs), one for
controllers and one for switches.  If you have an established PKI,
OpenFlow can use it directly.  Otherwise, refer to "Establishing a
Public Key Infrastructure" below.

To configure the controller to listen for SSL connections on port 976
(the default), invoke it as follows:

      # controller -v pssl: --private-key=PRIVKEY --certificate=CERT \
            --ca-cert=CACERT

where PRIVKEY is a file containing the controller's private key, CERT
is a file containing the controller CA's certificate for the
controller's public key, and CACERT is a file containing the root
certificate for the switch CA.  If, for example, your PKI was created
with the instructions below, then the invocation would look like:

      # controller -v pssl: --private-key=ctl-privkey.pem \
            --certificate=ctl-cert.pem --ca-cert=pki/switchca/cacert.pem

To configure a switch to connect to a controller running on port 976
(the default) on host 192.168.1.2 over SSL, invoke it as follows:

      # switch -v ssl:192.168.1.2 -i INTERFACES --private-key=PRIVKEY \
            --certificate=CERT --ca-cert=CACERT

where INTERFACES is the command-separated list of network device
interfaces, PRIVKEY is a file containing the switch's private key,
CERT is a file containing the switch CA's certificate for the switch's
public key, and CACERT is a file containing the root certificate for
the controller CA.  If, for example, your PKI was created with the
instructions below, then the invocation would look like:

      # secchan -v -i INTERFACES ssl:192.168.1.2 --private-key=sc-privkey.pem \
            --certificate=sc-cert.pem --ca-cert=pki/controllerca/cacert.pem

[*] To be specific, OpenFlow uses TLS version 1.0 or later (TLSv1), as
    specified by RFC 2246, which is very similar to SSL version 3.0.
    TLSv1 was released in January 1999, so all current software and
    hardware should implement it.

Establishing a Public Key Infrastructure
----------------------------------------

If you do not have a PKI, the ofp-pki script included with OpenFlow
can help.  To create an initial PKI structure, invoke it as:
      % ofp-pki new-pki
which will create and populate a new directory named "pki" under the
current directory.

The pki directory contains two important subdirectories.  The
controllerca subdirectory contains controller certificate authority
related files, including the following:

    - cacert.pem: Root certificate for the controller certificate
      authority.  This file must be provided to the switch or secchan
      program with the --ca-cert option to enable it to authenticate
      valid controllers.

    - private/cakey.pem: Private signing key for the controller
      certificate authority.  This file must be kept secret.  There is
      no need for switches or controllers to have a copy of it.

The switchca subdirectory contains switch certificate authority
related files, analogous to those in the controllerca subdirectory:

    - cacert.pem: Root certificate for the switch certificate
      authority.  This file must be provided to the controller program
      with the --ca-cert option to enable it to authenticate valid
      switches.

    - private/cakey.pem: Private signing key for the switch
      certificate authority.  This file must be kept secret.  There is
      no need for switches or controllers to have a copy of it.

After you create the initial structure, you can create keys and
certificates for switches and controllers with ofp-pki.  To create a
controller private key and certificate in files named ctl-privkey.pem
and ctl-cert.pem, for example, you could run:
      % ofp-pki req+sign ctl controller
ctl-privkey.pem and ctl-cert.pem would need to be copied to the
controller for its use at runtime (they could then be deleted from
their original locations).  The --private-key and --certificate
options of controller, respectively, would point to these files.

Analogously, to create a switch private key and certificate in files
named sc-privkey.pem and sc-cert.pem, for example, you could run: 
      % ofp-pki req+sign sc switch
sc-privkey.pem and sc-cert.pem would need to be copied to the switch
for its use at runtime (they could then be deleted from their original
locations).  The --private-key and --certificate options,
respectively, of switch and secchan would point to these files.

Bug Reporting
-------------

Please report problems to: 
info@openflowswitch.org