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1 How to Install Open vSwitch on Linux
2 ====================================
3
4This document describes how to build and install Open vSwitch on a
e5660bae 5generic Linux host. If you want to install Open vSwitch on a Citrix
404c1692 6XenServer, see INSTALL.XenServer instead.
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8This version of Open vSwitch may be built manually with "configure"
9and "make", as described below. You may also build Debian packages by
10running "dpkg-buildpackage".
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11
12Build Requirements
13------------------
14
15To compile the userspace programs in the Open vSwitch distribution,
16you will need the following software:
17
18 - A make program, e.g. GNU make. BSD make should also work.
19
20 - The GNU C compiler. We generally test with version 4.1, 4.2, or
21 4.3.
22
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23 - pkg-config. We test with version 0.22.
24
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25 - libssl, from OpenSSL, is optional but recommended if you plan to
26 connect the Open vSwitch to an OpenFlow controller. libssl is
27 required to establish confidentiality and authenticity in the
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28 connections from an Open vSwitch to an OpenFlow controller. If
29 libssl is installed, then Open vSwitch will automatically build
30 with support for it.
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32To compile the kernel module, you must also install the following. If
33you cannot build or install the kernel module, you may use the
34userspace-only implementation, at a cost in performance. The
35userspace implementation may also lack some features. Refer to
36INSTALL.userspace for more information.
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37
38 - A supported Linux kernel version. Please refer to README for a
39 list of supported versions.
40
41 The Open vSwitch datapath requires bridging support
42 (CONFIG_BRIDGE) to be built as a kernel module. (This is common
43 in kernels provided by Linux distributions.) The bridge module
44 must not be loaded or in use. If the bridge module is running
45 (check with "lsmod | grep bridge"), you must remove it ("rmmod
46 bridge") before starting the datapath.
47
48 For optional support of ingress policing, you must enable kernel
49 configuration options NET_CLS_ACT, NET_CLS_U32, NET_SCH_INGRESS,
50 and NET_ACT_POLICE, either built-in or as modules.
51 (NET_CLS_POLICE is obsolete and not needed.)
52
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53 If GRE tunneling is being used it is recommended that the kernel
54 be compiled with IPv6 support (CONFIG_IPV6). This allows for
55 special handling (such as path MTU discovery) of IPv6 packets.
56
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57 To use Open vSwitch support for TAP devices, you must enable
58 CONFIG_TUN.
59
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60 - To build a kernel module, you need the same version of GCC that
61 was used to build that kernel.
62
63 - A kernel build directory corresponding to the Linux kernel image
64 the module is to run on. Under Debian and Ubuntu, for example,
65 each linux-image package containing a kernel binary has a
66 corresponding linux-headers package with the required build
67 infrastructure.
68
69If you are working from a Git tree or snapshot (instead of from a
70distribution tarball), or if you modify the Open vSwitch build system,
71you will also need the following software:
72
55aa00e0 73 - Autoconf version 2.64 or later.
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74
75 - Automake version 1.10 or later.
76
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77 - Python 2.x, for x >= 4.
78
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79If you modify the ovsdbmonitor tool, then you will also need the
80following:
81
82 - pyuic4 from PyQt4 (http://www.riverbankcomputing.co.uk).
83
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84If you modify the vswitchd database schema, then the E-R diagram in
85the ovs-vswitchd.conf.db(5) manpage will be updated properly only if
86you have the following:
87
88 - "dot" from graphviz (http://www.graphviz.org/).
89
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90Installation Requirements
91-------------------------
92
93The machine on which Open vSwitch is to be installed must have the
94following software:
95
96 - libc compatible with the libc used for build.
97
98 - libssl compatible with the libssl used for build, if OpenSSL was
99 used for the build.
100
101 - The Linux kernel version configured as part of the build.
102
103 - For optional support of ingress policing, the "tc" program from
104 iproute2 (part of all major distributions and available at
105 http://www.linux-foundation.org/en/Net:Iproute2).
106
107 - For debugging purposes, Open vSwitch expects that "tcpdump" is
108 installed as /usr/sbin/tcpdump. If tcpdump is not installed, or
109 if it is installed in a different location, then some Open
110 vSwitch log messages will not be as detailed.
111
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112You should ensure that /dev/urandom exists. To support TAP devices,
113you must also ensure that /dev/net/tun exists.
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115To run the ovsdmonitor tool, the machine must also have the following
116software:
117
118 - Python 2.x, for x >= 4.
119
120 - Python Twisted Conch.
121
122 - Python JSON.
123
124 - PySide or PyQt4.
125
126 - Python Zope interface module.
127
128(On Debian "lenny" the above can be installed with "apt-get install
129python-json python-qt4 python-zopeinterface python-twisted-conch".)
130
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131Building and Installing Open vSwitch for Linux
132==============================================
133
134Once you have installed all the prerequisites listed above in the Base
135Prerequisites section, follow the procedure below to build.
136
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1371. If you pulled the sources directly from an Open vSwitch Git tree,
138 run boot.sh in the top source directory:
139
140 % ./boot.sh
141
1422. In the top source directory, configure the package by running the
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143 configure script. You can usually invoke configure without any
144 arguments:
145
146 % ./configure
147
148 By default all files are installed under /usr/local. If you want
149 to install into, e.g., /usr and /var instead of /usr/local and
150 /usr/local/var, add options as shown here:
151
152 % ./configure --prefix=/usr --localstatedir=/var
153
154 To use a specific C compiler for compiling Open vSwitch user
155 programs, also specify it on the configure command line, like so:
156
157 % ./configure CC=gcc-4.2
158
159 To build the Linux kernel module, so that you can run the
160 kernel-based switch, pass the location of the kernel build
161 directory on --with-l26. For example, to build for a running
162 instance of Linux 2.6:
163
164 % ./configure --with-l26=/lib/modules/`uname -r`/build
165
166 If you wish to build the kernel module for an architecture other
167 than the architecture of the machine used for the build, you may
168 specify the kernel architecture string using the KARCH variable
169 when invoking the configure script. For example, to build for MIPS
170 with Linux 2.6:
171
172 % ./configure --with-l26=/path/to/linux-2.6 KARCH=mips
173
174 The configure script accepts a number of other options and honors
175 additional environment variables. For a full list, invoke
176 configure with the --help option.
177
30746a1b 1783. Run make in the top source directory:
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179
180 % make
181
30746a1b 1824. Become root by running "su" or another program.
4b11d5e8 183
30746a1b 1845. Run "make install" to install the executables and manpages into the
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185 running system, by default under /usr/local.
186
30746a1b 1876. If you built kernel modules, you may load them with "insmod", e.g.:
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188
189 % insmod datapath/linux-2.6/openvswitch_mod.ko
190
191 You may need to specify a full path to insmod, e.g. /sbin/insmod.
192 To verify that the modules have been loaded, run "/sbin/lsmod" and
193 check that openvswitch_mod is listed.
194
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195 If the "insmod" operation fails, look at the last few kernel log
196 messages (e.g. with "dmesg | tail"):
197
198 - The message "openvswitch_mod: exports duplicate symbol
199 br_should_route_hook (owned by bridge)" means that the bridge
200 module is loaded. Run "/sbin/rmmod bridge" to remove it.
201
202 If "/sbin/rmmod bridge" fails with "ERROR: Module bridge does
203 not exist in /proc/modules", then the bridge is compiled into
204 the kernel, rather than as a module. Open vSwitch does not
205 support this configuration (see "Build Requirements", above).
206
207 - The message "openvswitch_mod: exports duplicate symbol
208 dp_ioctl_hook (owned by ofdatapath)" means that the ofdatapath
209 module from the OpenFlow reference implementation is loaded.
210 Run "/sbin/rmmod ofdatapath" to remove it. (You might have to
211 delete any existing datapaths beforehand, using the "dpctl"
212 program included with the OpenFlow reference implementation.
213 "ovs-dpctl" will not work.)
214
215 - Otherwise, the most likely problem is that Open vSwitch was
216 built for a kernel different from the one into which you are
217 trying to load it. Run "modinfo" on openvswitch_mod.ko and on
218 a module built for the running kernel, e.g.:
219
220 % /sbin/modinfo openvswitch_mod.ko
221 % /sbin/modinfo /lib/modules/`uname -r`/kernel/net/bridge/bridge.ko
222
223 Compare the "vermagic" lines output by the two commands. If
224 they differ, then Open vSwitch was built for the wrong kernel.
225
226 - If you decide to report a bug or ask a question related to
227 module loading, please include the output from the "dmesg" and
228 "modinfo" commands mentioned above.
229
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230 There is an optional module parameter to openvswitch_mod.ko called
231 vlan_tso that enables TCP segmentation offload over VLANs on NICs
232 that support it. Many drivers do not expose support for TSO on VLANs
233 in a way that Open vSwitch can use but there is no way to detect
234 whether this is the case. If you know that your particular driver can
235 handle it (for example by testing sending large TCP packets over VLANs)
236 then passing in a value of 1 may improve performance. Modules built for
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237 Linux kernels 2.6.37 and later, as well as specially patched versions
238 of earlier kernels, do not need this and do not have this parameter. If
239 you do not understand what this means or do not know if your driver
240 will work, do not set this.
3f6256af 241
3b12adda 2427. Initialize the configuration database using ovsdb-tool, e.g.:
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244 % mkdir -p /usr/local/etc/openvswitch
245 % ovsdb-tool create /usr/local/etc/openvswitch/conf.db vswitchd/vswitch.ovsschema
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247Startup
248=======
4b11d5e8 249
3b12adda 250Before starting ovs-vswitchd itself, you need to start its
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251configuration database, ovsdb-server. Each machine on which Open
252vSwitch is installed should run its own copy of ovsdb-server.
253Configure it to use the database you created during step 7 of
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254installation, above, to listen on a Unix domain socket, to connect to
255any managers specified in the database itself, and to use the SSL
256configuration in the database:
257
028415b6 258 % ovsdb-server /usr/local/etc/openvswitch/conf.db \
8084a280 259 --remote=punix:/usr/local/var/run/openvswitch/db.sock \
289df16d 260 --remote=db:Open_vSwitch,manager_options \
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261 --private-key=db:SSL,private_key \
262 --certificate=db:SSL,certificate \
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263 --bootstrap-ca-cert=db:SSL,ca_cert \
264 --pidfile --detach
3b12adda 265
de4f3c10 266Then initialize the database using ovs-vsctl. This is only
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267necessary the first time after you create the database with
268ovsdb-tool (but running it at any time is harmless):
269
de4f3c10 270 % ovs-vsctl --no-wait init
332b4e09 271
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272Then start the main Open vSwitch daemon, telling it to connect to the
273same Unix domain socket:
274
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275 % ovs-vswitchd unix:/usr/local/var/run/openvswitch/db.sock \
276 --pidfile --detach
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277
278Now you may use ovs-vsctl to set up bridges and other Open vSwitch
279features. For example, to create a bridge named br0 and add ports
280eth0 and vif1.0 to it:
281
282 % ovs-vsctl add-br br0
283 % ovs-vsctl add-port br0 eth0
284 % ovs-vsctl add-port br0 vif1.0
285
286Please refer to ovs-vsctl(8) for more details.
4b11d5e8 287
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288Upgrading
289=========
290
291When you upgrade Open vSwitch from one version to another, you should
292also upgrade the database schema:
293
2941. Stop the Open vSwitch daemons, e.g.:
295
fbca1e20 296 % kill `cd /usr/local/var/run && cat ovsdb-server.pid ovs-vswitchd.pid`
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297
2982. Install the new Open vSwitch release.
299
3003. Upgrade the database, in one of the following two ways:
301
302 - If there is no important data in your database, then you may
303 delete the database file and recreate it with ovsdb-tool,
304 following the instructions under "Building and Installing Open
305 vSwitch for Linux".
306
307 - If you want to preserve the contents of your database, back it
308 up first, then use "ovsdb-tool convert" to upgrade it, e.g.:
309
028415b6 310 % ovsdb-tool convert /usr/local/etc/openvswitch/conf.db vswitchd/vswitch.ovsschema
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311
3124. Start the Open vSwitch daemons as described under "Building and
313 Installing Open vSwitch for Linux" above.
314
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315Bug Reporting
316-------------
317
37ea6436 318Please report problems to bugs@openvswitch.org.