projects / ovs.git / blame
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|---|---|---|
| 064af421 BP |
1 | Open vSwitch <http://openvswitch.org> |
| 2 | ||
| 3 | What is Open vSwitch? | |
| 4 | --------------------- | |
| 5 | ||
| 6 | Open vSwitch is an Ethernet switch for virtual servers with the | |
| 7 | following features: | |
| 8 | ||
| 9 | * NIC bonding with automatic fail-over and source MAC-based TX | |
| 10 | load balancing ("SLB"). | |
| 11 | ||
| 12 | * 802.1Q VLAN support. | |
| 13 | ||
| 14 | * Port mirroring, with optional VLAN tagging. | |
| 15 | ||
| 16 | * NetFlow v5 flow logging. | |
| 17 | ||
| 18 | * Connectivity to an external OpenFlow controller, such as | |
| 19 | NOX. | |
| 20 | ||
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21 | Open vSwitch supports Linux 2.6.15 and up, with testing focused on |
| 22 | 2.6.18 with Centos and Xen patches and version 2.6.26 from kernel.org. | |
| 23 | Open vSwitch also has special support for Citrix XenServer hosts. | |
| 24 | ||
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25 | What's here? |
| 26 | ------------ | |
| 27 | ||
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28 | The main components of this distribution are: |
| 29 | ||
| 30 | - ovs-vswitchd, a daemon that implements the virtual switch, | |
| 31 | along with a companion Linux kernel module for flow-based | |
| 32 | switching. | |
| 064af421 | 33 | |
| 4b11d5e8 BP |
34 | - ovs-brcompatd, a daemon that allows ovs-vswitchd to act as a |
| 35 | drop-in replacement for the Linux bridge in many | |
| 36 | environments, along with a companion Linux kernel module to | |
| 37 | intercept bridge ioctls. | |
| 064af421 | 38 | |
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39 | - ovs-dpctl, a tool for configuring the virtual switch kernel |
| 40 | module. | |
| 064af421 | 41 | |
| 4b11d5e8 BP |
42 | - Scripts and specs for building RPMs that allow Open vSwitch |
| 43 | to be installed on a Citrix XenServer host as a drop-in | |
| 44 | replacement for its virtual switch, with additional | |
| 45 | functionality. | |
| 46 | ||
| 47 | - vlog-appctl, a utility that can control Open vSwitch daemons, | |
| 48 | adjusting their logging levels among other uses. | |
| 064af421 | 49 | |
| 4b11d5e8 BP |
50 | Open vSwitch also provides an OpenFlow implementation and tools for |
| 51 | those interested in OpenFlow but not additional Open vSwitch features: | |
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52 | |
| 53 | - secchan, a program that implements a simple OpenFlow switch | |
| 54 | (without the special features provided by ovs-vswitchd) using | |
| 55 | the same kernel module as ovs-vswitchd. | |
| 56 | ||
| 4b11d5e8 | 57 | - ovs-controller, a simple OpenFlow controller. |
| 064af421 BP |
58 | |
| 59 | - ovs-ofctl, a utility for querying and controlling OpenFlow | |
| 60 | switches and controllers. | |
| 61 | ||
| 064af421 BP |
62 | - ovs-pki, a utility for creating and managing the public-key |
| 63 | infrastructure for OpenFlow switches. | |
| 64 | ||
| 65 | - A patch to tcpdump that enables it to parse OpenFlow | |
| 66 | messages. | |
| 67 | ||
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68 | What other documentation is available? |
| 69 | -------------------------------------- | |
| 064af421 | 70 | |
| 4b11d5e8 | 71 | To install Open vSwitch on a regular Linux machine, read INSTALL.Linux. |
| 064af421 | 72 | |
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73 | To build RPMs for installing Open vSwitch on a Citrix XenServer host |
| 74 | or resource pool, read INSTALL.XenServer. | |
| 064af421 | 75 | |
| 4b11d5e8 | 76 | To learn set up SSL support for Open vSwitch, read INSTALL.SSL. |
| 064af421 | 77 | |
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78 | Each Open vSwitch userspace program is accompanied by a manpage. Many |
| 79 | of the manpages are customized to your configuration as part of the | |
| 80 | build process, so we recommend building Open vSwitch before reading | |
| 81 | the manpages. | |
| 064af421 BP |
82 | |
| 83 | Contact | |
| 84 | ------- | |
| 85 | ||
| 86 | ovs-bugs@openvswitch.org | |
| 87 | http://openvswitch.org/ |