- How to Install Open vSwitch on Linux and FreeBSD
- ================================================
+ How to Install Open vSwitch on Linux, FreeBSD and NetBSD
+ ========================================================
This document describes how to build and install Open vSwitch on a
-generic Linux or FreeBSD host. For specifics around installation on a
-specific platform, please see one of these files:
+generic Linux, FreeBSD, or NetBSD host. For specifics around installation
+on a specific platform, please see one of these files:
- INSTALL.Debian
- INSTALL.Fedora
To compile the userspace programs in the Open vSwitch distribution,
you will need the following software:
- - A make program, e.g. GNU make. BSD make should also work.
+ - GNU make.
- 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
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 (NET_CLS_POLICE is
obsolete and not needed.)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 use GRE tunneling on Linux 2.6.37 or newer, kernel support
+ for GRE must be compiled in or available as a module
+ (CONFIG_NET_IPGRE_DEMUX).
To configure HTB or HFSC quality of service with Open vSwitch,
you must enable the respective configuration options.
(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 or FreeBSD
-=========================================================
+Building and Installing Open vSwitch for Linux, FreeBSD or NetBSD
+=================================================================
Once you have installed all the prerequisites listed above in the Base
Prerequisites section, follow the procedure below to build.
additional environment variables. For a full list, invoke
configure with the --help option.
-3. Run make in the top source directory:
+3. Run GNU make in the top source directory, e.g.:
% make
- On FreeBSD you may need to use GNU make (gmake) or NetBSD make
- (bmake) instead of the native make.
+ or if GNU make is installed as "gmake":
+
+ % gmake
For improved warnings if you installed "sparse" (see
- "Prerequisites"), add C=1 to the "make" command line.
+ "Prerequisites"), add C=1 to the command line.
+
+4. Consider running the testsuite. Refer to "Running the Testsuite"
+ below, for instructions.
-4. Become root by running "su" or another program.
+5. Become root by running "su" or another program.
-5. Run "make install" to install the executables and manpages into the
+6. Run "make install" to install the executables and manpages into the
running system, by default under /usr/local.
-6. If you built kernel modules, you may load them with "insmod", e.g.:
+7. If you built kernel modules, you may install and load them, e.g.:
- % insmod datapath/linux/openvswitch.ko
+ % make modules_install
+ % /sbin/modprobe openvswitch
- 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
check that openvswitch is listed.
- If the "insmod" operation fails, look at the last few kernel log
+ If the "modprobe" operation fails, look at the last few kernel log
messages (e.g. with "dmesg | tail"):
- The message "openvswitch: exports duplicate symbol
you do not understand what this means or do not know if your driver
will work, do not set this.
- Once you verify that the kernel modules load properly, you should
- install them:
-
- % make modules_install
-
-7. Initialize the configuration database using ovsdb-tool, e.g.:
+8. Initialize the configuration database using ovsdb-tool, e.g.:
% mkdir -p /usr/local/etc/openvswitch
% ovsdb-tool create /usr/local/etc/openvswitch/conf.db vswitchd/vswitch.ovsschema
configuration in the database:
% 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 \
+ --remote=db:Open_vSwitch,Open_vSwitch,manager_options \
+ --private-key=db:Open_vSwitch,SSL,private_key \
+ --certificate=db:Open_vSwitch,SSL,certificate \
+ --bootstrap-ca-cert=db:Open_vSwitch,SSL,ca_cert \
--pidfile --detach
(If you built Open vSwitch without SSL support, then omit
- 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 or FreeBSD".
+ vSwitch for Linux, FreeBSD or NetBSD".
- 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 or FreeBSD" above.
+ Installing Open vSwitch for Linux, FreeBSD or NetBSD" above.
+
+Hot Upgrading
+=============
+Upgrading Open vSwitch from one version to the next version with minimum
+disruption of traffic going through the system that is using that Open vSwitch
+needs some considerations:
+
+1. If the upgrade only involves upgrading the userspace utilities and daemons
+of Open vSwitch, make sure that the new userspace version is compatible with
+the previously loaded kernel module.
+
+2. An upgrade of userspace daemons means that they have to be restarted.
+Restarting the daemons means that the Openflow flows in the ovs-vswitchd daemon
+will be lost. One way to restore the flows is to let the controller
+re-populate it. Another way is to save the previous flows using a utility
+like ovs-ofctl and then re-add them after the restart. Restoring the old flows
+is accurate only if the new Open vSwitch interfaces retain the old 'ofport'
+values.
+
+3. When the new userspace daemons get restarted, they automatically flush
+the old flows setup in the kernel. This can be expensive if there are hundreds
+of new flows that are entering the kernel but userspace daemons are busy
+setting up new userspace flows from either the controller or an utility like
+ovs-ofctl. Open vSwitch database provides an option to solve this problem
+through the other_config:flow-restore-wait column of the Open_vSwitch table.
+Refer to the ovs-vswitchd.conf.db(5) manpage for details.
+
+4. If the upgrade also involves upgrading the kernel module, the old kernel
+module needs to be unloaded and the new kernel module should be loaded. This
+means that the kernel network devices belonging to Open vSwitch is recreated
+and the kernel flows are lost. The downtime of the traffic can be reduced
+if the userspace daemons are restarted immediately and the userspace flows
+are restored as soon as possible.
+
+The ovs-ctl utility's "restart" function only restarts the userspace daemons,
+makes sure that the 'ofport' values remain consistent across restarts, restores
+userspace flows using the ovs-ofctl utility and also uses the
+other_config:flow-restore-wait column to keep the traffic downtime to the
+minimum. The ovs-ctl utility's "force-reload-kmod" function does all of the
+above, but also replaces the old kernel module with the new one. Open vSwitch
+startup scripts for Debian, XenServer and RHEL use ovs-ctl's functions and it
+is recommended that these functions be used for other software platforms too.
+
+Running the Testsuite
+=====================
+
+Open vSwitch includes a testsuite. Before you submit patches
+upstream, we advise that you run the tests and ensure that they pass.
+If you add new features to Open vSwitch, then adding tests for those
+features will ensure your features don't break as developers modify
+other areas of Open vSwitch.
+
+You must configure and build Open vSwitch (steps 1 through 3 in
+"Building and Installing Open vSwitch for Linux, FreeBSD or NetBSD" above)
+before you run the testsuite. You do not need to install Open vSwitch
+or to build or load the kernel module to run the testsuite. You do
+not need supervisor privilege to run the testsuite.
+
+To run all the unit tests in Open vSwitch, one at a time:
+ make check
+This takes under 5 minutes on a modern desktop system.
+
+To run all the unit tests in Open vSwitch, up to 8 in parallel:
+ make check TESTSUITEFLAGS=-j8
+This takes under a minute on a modern 4-core desktop system.
+
+To see a list of all the available tests, run:
+ make check TESTSUITEFLAGS=--list
+
+To run only a subset of tests, e.g. test 123 and tests 477 through 484:
+ make check TESTSUITEFLAGS='123 477-484'
+(Tests do not have inter-dependencies, so you may run any subset.)
+
+To run tests matching a keyword, e.g. "ovsdb":
+ make check TESTSUITEFLAGS='-k ovsdb'
+
+To see a complete list of test options:
+ make check TESTSUITEFLAGS=--help
+
+The results of a testing run are reported in tests/testsuite.log.
+Please report test failures as bugs and include the testsuite.log in
+your report.
+
+If you have "valgrind" installed, then you can also run the testsuite
+under valgrind by using "make check-valgrind" in place of "make
+check". All the same options are available via TESTSUITEFLAGS. When
+you do this, the "valgrind" results for test <N> are reported in files
+named tests/testsuite.dir/<N>/valgrind.*. You may find that the
+valgrind results are easier to interpret if you put "-q" in
+~/.valgrindrc, since that reduces the amount of output.
+
+Sometimes a few tests may fail on some runs but not others. This is
+usually a bug in the testsuite, not a bug in Open vSwitch itself. If
+you find that a test fails intermittently, please report it, since the
+developers may not have noticed.
Bug Reporting
-------------
git://git.onelab.eu / sliver-openvswitch.git / blobdiff