1 Open vSwitch <http://openvswitch.org>
6 Open vSwitch is a multilayer software switch licensed under the open
7 source Apache 2 license. Our goal is to implement a production
8 quality switch platform that supports standard management interfaces
9 and opens the forwarding functions to programmatic extension and
12 Open vSwitch is well suited to function as a virtual switch in VM
13 environments. In addition to exposing standard control and visibility
14 interfaces to the virtual networking layer, it was designed to support
15 distribution across multiple physical servers. Open vSwitch supports
16 multiple Linux-based virtualization technologies including
17 Xen/XenServer, KVM, and VirtualBox.
19 The bulk of the code is written in platform-independent C and is
20 easily ported to other environments. The current release of Open
21 vSwitch supports the following features:
23 * Standard 802.1Q VLAN model with trunk and access ports
24 * NIC bonding with or without LACP on upstream switch
25 * NetFlow, sFlow(R), and mirroring for increased visibility
26 * QoS (Quality of Service) configuration, plus policing
27 * GRE, GRE over IPSEC, VXLAN, and LISP tunneling
28 * 802.1ag connectivity fault management
29 * OpenFlow 1.0 plus numerous extensions
30 * Transactional configuration database with C and Python bindings
31 * High-performance forwarding using a Linux kernel module
33 The included Linux kernel module supports Linux 2.6.32 and up, with
34 testing focused on 2.6.32 with Centos and Xen patches. Open vSwitch
35 also has special support for Citrix XenServer and Red Hat Enterprise
38 Open vSwitch can also operate, at a cost in performance, entirely in
39 userspace, without assistance from a kernel module. This userspace
40 implementation should be easier to port than the kernel-based switch.
41 It is considered experimental.
46 The main components of this distribution are:
48 * ovs-vswitchd, a daemon that implements the switch, along with
49 a companion Linux kernel module for flow-based switching.
51 * ovsdb-server, a lightweight database server that ovs-vswitchd
52 queries to obtain its configuration.
54 * ovs-dpctl, a tool for configuring the switch kernel module.
56 * Scripts and specs for building RPMs for Citrix XenServer and Red
57 Hat Enterprise Linux. The XenServer RPMs allow Open vSwitch to
58 be installed on a Citrix XenServer host as a drop-in replacement
59 for its switch, with additional functionality.
61 * ovs-vsctl, a utility for querying and updating the configuration
64 * ovs-appctl, a utility that sends commands to running Open
67 * ovsdbmonitor, a GUI tool for remotely viewing OVS databases and
70 Open vSwitch also provides some tools:
72 * ovs-controller, a simple OpenFlow controller.
74 * ovs-ofctl, a utility for querying and controlling OpenFlow
75 switches and controllers.
77 * ovs-pki, a utility for creating and managing the public-key
78 infrastructure for OpenFlow switches.
80 * A patch to tcpdump that enables it to parse OpenFlow messages.
82 What other documentation is available?
83 --------------------------------------
85 To install Open vSwitch on a regular Linux or FreeBSD host, please
86 read INSTALL. For specifics around installation on a specific
87 platform, please see one of these files:
94 To use Open vSwitch...
96 - ...with KVM on Linux, read INSTALL, read INSTALL.KVM.
98 - ...with Libvirt, read INSTALL.Libvirt.
100 - ...without using a kernel module, read INSTALL.userspace.
102 For answers to common questions, read FAQ.
104 To learn how to set up SSL support for Open vSwitch, read INSTALL.SSL.
106 To learn about some advanced features of the Open vSwitch software
107 switch, read the tutorial in tutorial/Tutorial.
109 Each Open vSwitch userspace program is accompanied by a manpage. Many
110 of the manpages are customized to your configuration as part of the
111 build process, so we recommend building Open vSwitch before reading
118 http://openvswitch.org/