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 (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 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: * 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 * Kernel-based forwarding * Support for OpenFlow * Compatibility layer for the Linux bridging code The included Linux kernel module supports Linux 2.6.15 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. 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 that 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. 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-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. 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 install Open vSwitch without using a kernel module, read INSTALL.userspace. To learn 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/