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1 | .. NOTE(stephenfin): If making changes to this file, ensure that the |
2 | start-after/end-before lines found in 'Documentation/intro/what-is-ovs' | |
3 | are kept up-to-date. | |
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5 | ============ |
6 | Open vSwitch | |
7 | ============ | |
8 | ||
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9 | .. image:: https://travis-ci.org/openvswitch/ovs.png |
10 | :target: https://travis-ci.org/openvswitch/ovs | |
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11 | .. image:: https://ci.appveyor.com/api/projects/status/github/openvswitch/ovs?branch=master&svg=true&retina=true |
12 | :target: https://ci.appveyor.com/project/blp/ovs/history | |
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13 | .. image:: https://api.cirrus-ci.com/github/openvswitch/ovs.svg |
14 | :target: https://cirrus-ci.com/github/openvswitch/ovs | |
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15 | |
16 | What is Open vSwitch? | |
17 | --------------------- | |
18 | ||
19 | Open vSwitch is a multilayer software switch licensed under the open source | |
20 | Apache 2 license. Our goal is to implement a production quality switch | |
21 | platform that supports standard management interfaces and opens the forwarding | |
22 | functions to programmatic extension and control. | |
23 | ||
24 | Open vSwitch is well suited to function as a virtual switch in VM environments. | |
25 | In addition to exposing standard control and visibility interfaces to the | |
26 | virtual networking layer, it was designed to support distribution across | |
27 | multiple physical servers. Open vSwitch supports multiple Linux-based | |
28 | virtualization technologies including Xen/XenServer, KVM, and VirtualBox. | |
29 | ||
30 | The bulk of the code is written in platform-independent C and is easily ported | |
31 | to other environments. The current release of Open vSwitch supports the | |
32 | following features: | |
33 | ||
34 | - Standard 802.1Q VLAN model with trunk and access ports | |
35 | - NIC bonding with or without LACP on upstream switch | |
36 | - NetFlow, sFlow(R), and mirroring for increased visibility | |
37 | - QoS (Quality of Service) configuration, plus policing | |
38 | - Geneve, GRE, VXLAN, STT, and LISP tunneling | |
39 | - 802.1ag connectivity fault management | |
40 | - OpenFlow 1.0 plus numerous extensions | |
41 | - Transactional configuration database with C and Python bindings | |
42 | - High-performance forwarding using a Linux kernel module | |
43 | ||
44 | The included Linux kernel module supports Linux 3.10 and up. | |
45 | ||
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46 | Open vSwitch can also operate entirely in userspace without assistance from |
47 | a kernel module. This userspace implementation should be easier to port than | |
48 | the kernel-based switch. OVS in userspace can access Linux or DPDK devices. | |
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49 | Note Open vSwitch with userspace datapath and non DPDK devices is considered |
50 | experimental and comes with a cost in performance. | |
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51 | |
52 | What's here? | |
53 | ------------ | |
54 | ||
55 | The main components of this distribution are: | |
56 | ||
57 | - ovs-vswitchd, a daemon that implements the switch, along with a companion | |
58 | Linux kernel module for flow-based switching. | |
59 | - ovsdb-server, a lightweight database server that ovs-vswitchd queries to | |
60 | obtain its configuration. | |
61 | - ovs-dpctl, a tool for configuring the switch kernel module. | |
62 | - Scripts and specs for building RPMs for Citrix XenServer and Red Hat | |
63 | Enterprise Linux. The XenServer RPMs allow Open vSwitch to be installed on a | |
64 | Citrix XenServer host as a drop-in replacement for its switch, with | |
65 | additional functionality. | |
66 | - ovs-vsctl, a utility for querying and updating the configuration of | |
67 | ovs-vswitchd. | |
68 | - ovs-appctl, a utility that sends commands to running Open vSwitch daemons. | |
69 | ||
70 | Open vSwitch also provides some tools: | |
71 | ||
72 | - ovs-ofctl, a utility for querying and controlling OpenFlow switches and | |
73 | controllers. | |
74 | - ovs-pki, a utility for creating and managing the public-key infrastructure | |
75 | for OpenFlow switches. | |
76 | - ovs-testcontroller, a simple OpenFlow controller that may be useful for | |
77 | testing (though not for production). | |
78 | - A patch to tcpdump that enables it to parse OpenFlow messages. | |
79 | ||
80 | What other documentation is available? | |
81 | -------------------------------------- | |
82 | ||
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83 | .. TODO(stephenfin): Update with a link to the hosting site of the docs, once |
84 | we know where that is | |
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86 | To install Open vSwitch on a regular Linux or FreeBSD host, please read the |
87 | `installation guide <Documentation/intro/install/general.rst>`__. For specifics | |
88 | around installation on a specific platform, refer to one of the `other | |
89 | installation guides <Documentation/intro/install/index.rst>`__ | |
b1fe1c94 | 90 | |
11e02906 | 91 | For answers to common questions, refer to the `FAQ <Documentation/faq>`__. |
b1fe1c94 | 92 | |
b1fe1c94 | 93 | To learn about some advanced features of the Open vSwitch software switch, read |
e12569bb | 94 | the `tutorial <Documentation/tutorials/ovs-advanced.rst>`__. |
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95 | |
96 | Each Open vSwitch userspace program is accompanied by a manpage. Many of the | |
97 | manpages are customized to your configuration as part of the build process, so | |
98 | we recommend building Open vSwitch before reading the manpages. | |
99 | ||
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100 | License |
101 | ------- | |
102 | ||
103 | The following is a summary of the licensing of files in this distribution. | |
104 | As mentioned, Open vSwitch is licensed under the open source Apache 2 license. | |
105 | Some files may be marked specifically with a different license, in which case | |
106 | that license applies to the file in question. | |
107 | ||
108 | ||
109 | Files under the datapath directory are licensed under the GNU General Public | |
110 | License, version 2. | |
111 | ||
112 | File build-aux/cccl is licensed under the GNU General Public License, version 2. | |
113 | ||
114 | The following files are licensed under the 2-clause BSD license. | |
115 | include/windows/getopt.h | |
116 | lib/getopt_long.c | |
117 | lib/conntrack-tcp.c | |
118 | ||
119 | The following files are licensed under the 3-clause BSD-license | |
120 | include/windows/netinet/icmp6.h | |
121 | include/windows/netinet/ip6.h | |
122 | lib/strsep.c | |
123 | ||
124 | Files under the xenserver directory are licensed on a file-by-file basis. | |
125 | Refer to each file for details. | |
126 | ||
127 | Files lib/sflow*.[ch] are licensed under the terms of either the | |
128 | Sun Industry Standards Source License 1.1, that is available at: | |
129 | http://host-sflow.sourceforge.net/sissl.html | |
130 | or the InMon sFlow License, that is available at: | |
131 | http://www.inmon.com/technology/sflowlicense.txt | |
132 | ||
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133 | Contact |
134 | ------- | |
135 | ||
136 | bugs@openvswitch.org |