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 should be built manually with "configure"
-and "make". Debian packaging for Open vSwitch is also included, but
-they have not been recently tested, and so Debian packages are not a
-recommended way to use this version of Open vSwitch.
+This version of Open vSwitch may be built manually with "configure"
+and "make", as described below. You may also build Debian packages by
+running "dpkg-buildpackage".
Build Requirements
------------------
- 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
- connections from an Open vSwitch to an OpenFlow controller. To
- enable, configure with --enable-ssl=yes.
+ connections from an Open vSwitch to an OpenFlow controller. If
+ libssl is installed, then Open vSwitch will automatically build
+ with support for it.
To compile the kernel module, you must also install the following. If
you cannot build or install the kernel module, you may use the
bridge") before starting the datapath.
For optional support of ingress policing, you must enable kernel
- configuration options NET_CLS_ACT, NET_CLS_U32, NET_SCH_INGRESS,
- and NET_ACT_POLICE, either built-in or as modules.
- (NET_CLS_POLICE is obsolete and not needed.)
+ configuration options NET_CLS_BASIC, NET_SCH_INGRESS, and
+ NET_ACT_POLICE, either built-in or as modules. (NET_CLS_POLICE is
+ obsolete and not needed.)
If GRE tunneling is being used it is recommended that the kernel
be compiled with IPv6 support (CONFIG_IPV6). This allows for
special handling (such as path MTU discovery) of IPv6 packets.
+ To configure HTB or HFSC quality of service with Open vSwitch,
+ you must enable the respective configuration options.
+
To use Open vSwitch support for TAP devices, you must enable
CONFIG_TUN.
infrastructure.
If you are working from a Git tree or snapshot (instead of from a
-distribution tarball), or if you modify the Open vSwitch build system,
-you will also need the following software:
+distribution tarball), or if you modify the Open vSwitch build system
+or the database schema, you will also need the following software:
- 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
- pyuic4 from PyQt4 (http://www.riverbankcomputing.co.uk).
+To run the unit tests, you also need:
+
+ - Perl. Version 5.10.1 is known to work. Earlier versions should
+ also work.
+
If you modify the vswitchd database schema, then the E-R diagram in
the ovs-vswitchd.conf.db(5) manpage will be updated properly only if
you have the following:
- "dot" from graphviz (http://www.graphviz.org/).
+ - Perl. Version 5.10.1 is known to work. Earlier versions should
+ also work.
+
+ - Python 2.x, for x >= 4.
+
Installation Requirements
-------------------------
iproute2 (part of all major distributions and available at
http://www.linux-foundation.org/en/Net:Iproute2).
- - For debugging purposes, Open vSwitch expects that "tcpdump" is
- installed as /usr/sbin/tcpdump. If tcpdump is not installed, or
- if it is installed in a different location, then some Open
- vSwitch log messages will not be as detailed.
-
You should ensure that /dev/urandom exists. To support TAP devices,
you must also ensure that /dev/net/tun exists.
-To run the ovsdmonitor tool, the machine must also have the following
+To run the ovsdbmonitor tool, the machine must also have the following
software:
- Python 2.x, for x >= 4.
To build the Linux kernel module, so that you can run the
kernel-based switch, pass the location of the kernel build
- directory on --with-l26. For example, to build for a running
- instance of Linux 2.6:
+ directory on --with-linux. For example, to build for a running
+ instance of Linux:
- % ./configure --with-l26=/lib/modules/`uname -r`/build
+ % ./configure --with-linux=/lib/modules/`uname -r`/build
If you wish to build the kernel module for an architecture other
than the architecture of the machine used for the build, you may
specify the kernel architecture string using the KARCH variable
when invoking the configure script. For example, to build for MIPS
- with Linux 2.6:
+ with Linux:
- % ./configure --with-l26=/path/to/linux-2.6 KARCH=mips
+ % ./configure --with-linux=/path/to/linux KARCH=mips
The configure script accepts a number of other options and honors
additional environment variables. For a full list, invoke
6. If you built kernel modules, you may load them with "insmod", e.g.:
- % insmod datapath/linux-2.6/openvswitch_mod.ko
+ % insmod datapath/linux/openvswitch_mod.ko
You may need to specify a full path to insmod, e.g. /sbin/insmod.
To verify that the modules have been loaded, run "/sbin/lsmod" and
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 \
- --remote=punix:/usr/local/var/run/openvswitch/db.sock \
- --remote=db:Open_vSwitch,managers \
- --private-key=db:SSL,private_key \
- --certificate=db:SSL,certificate \
- --bootstrap-ca-cert=db:SSL,ca_cert
+ % ovsdb-server --remote=punix:/usr/local/var/run/openvswitch/db.sock \
+ --remote=db:Open_vSwitch,manager_options \
+ --private-key=db:SSL,private_key \
+ --certificate=db:SSL,certificate \
+ --bootstrap-ca-cert=db:SSL,ca_cert \
+ --pidfile --detach
+
+(If you built Open vSwitch without SSL support, then omit
+--private-key, --certificate, and --bootstrap-ca-cert.)
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 --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