====================================
This document describes how to build and install Open vSwitch on a
-generic Linux host host. If you want to install Open vSwitch on a
-Citrix XenServer 5.5.0, see INSTALL.XenServer instead.
+generic Linux host. If you want to install Open vSwitch on a Citrix
+XenServer version 5.5.0, see INSTALL.XenServer instead.
This version of Open vSwitch should be built manually with "configure"
and "make". Debian packaging for Open vSwitch is also included, but
connections from an Open vSwitch to an OpenFlow controller. To
enable, configure with --enable-ssl=yes.
-To compile the kernel module (which is required for operation), you
-must also install the following:
+To compile the kernel module, you must also install the following. If
+you cannot build or install the kernel module, you may use the
+userspace-only implementation, at a cost in performance. The
+userspace implementation may also lack some features. Refer to
+INSTALL.userspace for more information.
- A supported Linux kernel version. Please refer to README for a
list of supported versions.
distribution tarball), or if you modify the Open vSwitch build system,
you will also need the following software:
- - Autoconf version 2.60 or later.
+ - Autoconf version 2.64 or later.
- 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
+following:
+
+ - pyuic4 from PyQt4 (http://www.riverbankcomputing.co.uk).
+
Installation Requirements
-------------------------
if it is installed in a different location, then some Open
vSwitch log messages will not be as detailed.
+To run the ovsdmonitor tool, the machine must also have the following
+software:
+
+ - Python 2.x, for x >= 4.
+
+ - Python Twisted Conch.
+
+ - Python JSON.
+
+ - PySide or PyQt4.
+
+ - Python Zope interface module.
+
+(On Debian "lenny" the above can be installed with "apt-get install
+python-json python-qt4 python-zopeinterface python-twisted-conch".)
+
Building and Installing Open vSwitch for Linux
==============================================
Once you have installed all the prerequisites listed above in the Base
Prerequisites section, follow the procedure below to build.
-1. In the top source directory, configure the package by running the
+1. If you pulled the sources directly from an Open vSwitch Git tree,
+ run boot.sh in the top source directory:
+
+ % ./boot.sh
+
+2. In the top source directory, configure the package by running the
configure script. You can usually invoke configure without any
arguments:
additional environment variables. For a full list, invoke
configure with the --help option.
-2. Run make in the top source directory:
+3. Run make in the top source directory:
% make
-3. Become root by running "su" or another program.
+4. Become root by running "su" or another program.
-4. Run "make install" to install the executables and manpages into the
+5. Run "make install" to install the executables and manpages into the
running system, by default under /usr/local.
-5. If you built kernel modules, you may load them with "insmod", e.g.:
+6. If you built kernel modules, you may load them with "insmod", e.g.:
% insmod datapath/linux-2.6/openvswitch_mod.ko
To verify that the modules have been loaded, run "/sbin/lsmod" and
check that openvswitch_mod is listed.
-Configuration
-=============
+7. Initialize the configuration database using ovsdb-tool, e.g.:
+
+ % ovsdb-tool create /usr/local/etc/ovs-vswitchd.conf.db vswitchd/vswitch.ovsschema
+
+Startup
+=======
+
+Before starting ovs-vswitchd itself, you need to start its
+configuration database, ovsdb-server. Configure it to use the
+database you created during step 7 of installation, above, and to
+listen on a Unix domain socket, e.g.:
+
+ % ovsdb-server /usr/local/etc/ovs-vswitchd.conf.db --remote=punix:/usr/local/var/run/openvswitch/db.sock
+
+Then initialize the database with "ovs-vsctl init". This is only
+necessary the first time after you create the database with
+ovsdb-tool (but running it at any time is harmless):
+
+ % ovs-vsctl init
+
+Then start the main Open vSwitch daemon, telling it to connect to the
+same Unix domain socket:
-Open vSwitch is configured primarily through a configuration file,
-whose name is specified on the ovs-vswitchd command line. Please
-refer to ovs-vswitchd(8) and ovs-vswitchd.conf(5) for information on
-how to start ovs-vswitchd and the syntax of its configuration file,
-respectively.
+ % ovs-vswitchd unix:/usr/local/var/run/openvswitch/db.sock
-At runtime, you may make ovs-vswitchd reload its configuration file
-and update its configuration accordingly by sending it a SIGHUP
-signal. The ovs-appctl utility can also be used to do this with a
-command such as:
+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
+eth0 and vif1.0 to it:
- % ovs-appctl -t <pid> -e vswitchd/reload
+ % ovs-vsctl add-br br0
+ % ovs-vsctl add-port br0 eth0
+ % ovs-vsctl add-port br0 vif1.0
-where <pid> is ovs-vswitchd's process ID. In the latter case,
-ovs-appctl will not exit until the reload and reconfiguration is
-complete.
+Please refer to ovs-vsctl(8) for more details.
Bug Reporting
-------------