* Standard 802.1Q VLAN model with trunk and access ports
* NIC bonding with or without LACP on upstream switch
- * NetFlow, sFlow(R), SPAN, RSPAN, and ERSPAN for increased visibility
+ * NetFlow, sFlow(R), and mirroring for increased visibility
* QoS (Quality of Service) configuration, plus policing
- * GRE, GRE over IPSEC, and CAPWAP tunneling
+ * GRE, GRE over IPSEC, VXLAN, and LISP 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 hosts.
+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
* 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 that allow Open vSwitch
- to be installed on a Citrix XenServer host as a drop-in
- replacement for its switch, with additional functionality.
+ * 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.
* 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, an alternative to ovs-vswitchd that implements a
- simple OpenFlow switch, without the special features provided by
- ovs-vswitchd.
+Open vSwitch also provides some tools:
* ovs-controller, a simple OpenFlow controller.
What other documentation is available?
--------------------------------------
-To install Open vSwitch on a regular Linux machine, read INSTALL.Linux.
+To install Open vSwitch on a regular Linux or FreeBSD host, please
+read INSTALL. For specifics around installation on a specific
+platform, please see one of these files:
+
+ - INSTALL.Debian
+ - INSTALL.Fedora
+ - INSTALL.RHEL
+ - INSTALL.XenServer
-To use Open vSwitch as a drop-in replacement for the Linux bridge,
-read INSTALL.bridge.
+To use Open vSwitch...
-To build RPMs for installing Open vSwitch on a Citrix XenServer host
-or resource pool, read INSTALL.XenServer.
+ - ...with KVM on Linux, read INSTALL, read INSTALL.KVM.
-To use Open vSwitch with KVM on Linux, read INSTALL.Linux, then
-INSTALL.KVM.
+ - ...with Libvirt, read INSTALL.Libvirt.
-To install Open vSwitch without using a kernel module, read
-INSTALL.userspace.
+ - ...without using a kernel module, read INSTALL.userspace.
+
+For answers to common questions, read FAQ.
To learn how to set up SSL support for Open vSwitch, read INSTALL.SSL.
+To learn about some advanced features of the Open vSwitch software
+switch, read the tutorial in tutorial/Tutorial.
+
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