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
-(e.g. NetFlow, RSPAN, ERSPAN, IOS-like CLI), and opens the forwarding
-functions to programmatic extension and control.
+(e.g. NetFlow, sFlow(R), RSPAN, ERSPAN, IOS-like CLI), 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
easily ported to other environments. The current release of Open
vSwitch supports the following features:
- * Visibility into inter-VM communication via NetFlow, SPAN, and RSPAN
+ * Visibility into inter-VM communication via NetFlow, sFlow, SPAN,
+ and RSPAN
* Standard 802.1Q VLAN model with trunking
* Per VM policing
* NIC bonding with source-MAC load balancing
* Support for OpenFlow
* Compatibility layer for the Linux bridging code
-The included Linux kernel module supports Linux 2.6.15 and up, with
+The included Linux kernel module supports Linux 2.6.18 and up, with
testing focused on 2.6.18 with Centos and Xen patches and version
2.6.26 from kernel.org. Open vSwitch also has special support for
Citrix XenServer hosts.
* 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
* 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 an OpenFlow implementation and tools for
those interested in OpenFlow but not additional Open vSwitch features:
- * ovs-openflowd, a program that implements a simple OpenFlow
- switch (without the special features provided by ovs-vswitchd)
- using the same kernel module as ovs-vswitchd.
+ * ovs-openflowd, an alternative to ovs-vswitchd that implements a
+ simple OpenFlow switch, without the special features provided by
+ ovs-vswitchd.
* ovs-controller, a simple OpenFlow controller.
To build RPMs for installing Open vSwitch on a Citrix XenServer host
or resource pool, read INSTALL.XenServer.
+To use Open vSwitch with KVM on Linux, read INSTALL.Linux, then
+INSTALL.KVM.
+
To install Open vSwitch without using a kernel module, read
INSTALL.userspace.
-To learn set up SSL support for Open vSwitch, read INSTALL.SSL.
+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