This document describes how to build and install Open vSwitch on a
generic Linux host. If you want to install Open vSwitch on a Citrix
-XenServer version 5.5.0, see INSTALL.XenServer instead.
+XenServer, see INSTALL.XenServer instead.
This version of Open vSwitch may be built manually with "configure"
and "make", as described below. You may also build Debian packages by
- The GNU C compiler. We generally test with version 4.1, 4.2, or
4.3.
+ - pkg-config. We test with version 0.22.
+
- libssl, from OpenSSL, is optional but recommended if you plan to
connect the Open vSwitch to an OpenFlow controller. libssl is
required to establish confidentiality and authenticity in the
- Automake version 1.10 or later.
- - pkg-config. We test with version 0.22.
-
- Python 2.x, for x >= 4.
If you modify the ovsdbmonitor tool, then you will also need the
module loading, please include the output from the "dmesg" and
"modinfo" commands mentioned above.
+ There is an optional module parameter to openvswitch_mod.ko called
+ vlan_tso that enables TCP segmentation offload over VLANs on NICs
+ that support it. Many drivers do not expose support for TSO on VLANs
+ in a way that Open vSwitch can use but there is no way to detect
+ whether this is the case. If you know that your particular driver can
+ handle it (for example by testing sending large TCP packets over VLANs)
+ then passing in a value of 1 may improve performance. Modules built for
+ Linux kernels 2.6.37 and later, as well as specially patched versions
+ of earlier kernels, do not need this and do not have this parameter. If
+ you do not understand what this means or do not know if your driver
+ will work, do not set this.
+
7. Initialize the configuration database using ovsdb-tool, e.g.:
- % ovsdb-tool create /usr/local/etc/ovs-vswitchd.conf.db vswitchd/vswitch.ovsschema
+ % mkdir -p /usr/local/etc/openvswitch
+ % ovsdb-tool create /usr/local/etc/openvswitch/conf.db vswitchd/vswitch.ovsschema
Startup
=======
any managers specified in the database itself, and to use the SSL
configuration in the database:
- % ovsdb-server /usr/local/etc/ovs-vswitchd.conf.db \
+ % ovsdb-server /usr/local/etc/openvswitch/conf.db \
--remote=punix:/usr/local/var/run/openvswitch/db.sock \
- --remote=db:Open_vSwitch,managers \
+ --remote=db:Open_vSwitch,manager_options \
--private-key=db:SSL,private_key \
--certificate=db:SSL,certificate \
- --bootstrap-ca-cert=db:SSL,ca_cert
+ --bootstrap-ca-cert=db:SSL,ca_cert \
+ --pidfile --detach
Then initialize the database using ovs-vsctl. This is only
necessary the first time after you create the database with
Then start the main Open vSwitch daemon, telling it to connect to the
same Unix domain socket:
- % ovs-vswitchd unix:/usr/local/var/run/openvswitch/db.sock
+ % ovs-vswitchd unix:/usr/local/var/run/openvswitch/db.sock \
+ --pidfile --detach
Now you may use ovs-vsctl to set up bridges and other Open vSwitch
features. For example, to create a bridge named br0 and add ports
Please refer to ovs-vsctl(8) for more details.
+Upgrading
+=========
+
+When you upgrade Open vSwitch from one version to another, you should
+also upgrade the database schema:
+
+1. Stop the Open vSwitch daemons, e.g.:
+
+ % kill `cd /usr/local/var/run && cat ovsdb-server.pid ovs-vswitchd.pid`
+
+2. Install the new Open vSwitch release.
+
+3. Upgrade the database, in one of the following two ways:
+
+ - If there is no important data in your database, then you may
+ delete the database file and recreate it with ovsdb-tool,
+ following the instructions under "Building and Installing Open
+ vSwitch for Linux".
+
+ - If you want to preserve the contents of your database, back it
+ up first, then use "ovsdb-tool convert" to upgrade it, e.g.:
+
+ % ovsdb-tool convert /usr/local/etc/openvswitch/conf.db vswitchd/vswitch.ovsschema
+
+4. Start the Open vSwitch daemons as described under "Building and
+ Installing Open vSwitch for Linux" above.
+
Bug Reporting
-------------
git://git.onelab.eu / sliver-openvswitch.git / blobdiff