Open vSwitch What is Open vSwitch? --------------------- Open vSwitch is a multilayer software switch licensed under the open source Apache 2 license. Our goal is to implement a production quality switch platform that supports standard management interfaces and opens the forwarding functions to programmatic extension and control. Open vSwitch is well suited to function as a virtual switch in VM environments. In addition to exposing standard control and visibility interfaces to the virtual networking layer, it was designed to support distribution across multiple physical servers. Open vSwitch supports multiple Linux-based virtualization technologies including Xen/XenServer, KVM, and VirtualBox. The bulk of the code is written in platform-independent C and is easily ported to other environments. The current release of Open vSwitch supports the following features: * Standard 802.1Q VLAN model with trunk and access ports * NIC bonding with or without LACP on upstream switch * NetFlow, sFlow(R), and mirroring for increased visibility * QoS (Quality of Service) configuration, plus policing * GRE, GRE over IPSEC, and CAPWAP tunneling * 802.1ag connectivity fault management * OpenFlow 1.0 plus numerous extensions * Transactional configuration database with C and Python bindings * Compatibility layer for Linux bridging code * High-performance forwarding using a Linux kernel module The included Linux kernel module supports Linux 2.6.18 and up, with testing focused on 2.6.32 with Centos and Xen patches. Open vSwitch also has special support for Citrix XenServer and Red Hat Enterprise Linux hosts. Open vSwitch can also operate, at a cost in performance, entirely in userspace, without assistance from a kernel module. This userspace implementation should be easier to port than the kernel-based switch. It is considered experimental. What's here? ------------ The main components of this distribution are: * ovs-vswitchd, a daemon that implements the switch, along with a companion Linux kernel module for flow-based switching. * ovsdb-server, a lightweight database server that ovs-vswitchd queries to obtain its configuration. * ovs-brcompatd, a daemon that allows ovs-vswitchd to act as a drop-in replacement for the Linux bridge in many environments, along with a companion Linux kernel module to intercept bridge ioctls. * ovs-dpctl, a tool for configuring the switch kernel module. * Scripts and specs for building RPMs for Citrix XenServer and Red Hat Enterprise Linux. The XenServer RPMs allow Open vSwitch to be installed on a Citrix XenServer host as a drop-in replacement for its switch, with additional functionality. * ovs-vsctl, a utility for querying and updating the configuration of ovs-vswitchd. * ovs-appctl, a utility that sends commands to running Open vSwitch daemons. * ovsdbmonitor, a GUI tool for remotely viewing OVS databases and OpenFlow flow tables. Open vSwitch also provides some tools: * ovs-controller, a simple OpenFlow controller. * ovs-ofctl, a utility for querying and controlling OpenFlow switches and controllers. * ovs-pki, a utility for creating and managing the public-key infrastructure for OpenFlow switches. * A patch to tcpdump that enables it to parse OpenFlow messages. What other documentation is available? -------------------------------------- To install Open vSwitch on a regular Linux machine, read INSTALL.Linux. For answers to common questions, read FAQ. To use Open vSwitch as a drop-in replacement for the Linux bridge, read INSTALL.bridge. To build RPMs for installing Open vSwitch on a Citrix XenServer host or resource pool, read INSTALL.XenServer. To build RPMs for installing Open vSwitch on a Red Hat Enterprise Linux host, read INSTALL.RHEL. To use Open vSwitch with KVM on Linux, read INSTALL.Linux, then INSTALL.KVM. To use Open vSwitch with Libvirt, read INSTALL.Libvirt. To install Open vSwitch without using a kernel module, read INSTALL.userspace. To learn how to set up SSL support for Open vSwitch, read INSTALL.SSL. Each Open vSwitch userspace program is accompanied by a manpage. Many of the manpages are customized to your configuration as part of the build process, so we recommend building Open vSwitch before reading the manpages. Contact ------- bugs@openvswitch.org http://openvswitch.org/