| | 1 | Open vSwitch |
| | 2 | ============ |
| | 3 | |
| | 4 | Build Status: |
| | 5 | ------------- |
| | 6 | |
| | 7 | [](https://travis-ci.org/openvswitch/ovs) |
| | 8 | |
| | 9 | What is Open vSwitch? |
| | 10 | --------------------- |
| | 11 | |
| | 12 | Open vSwitch is a multilayer software switch licensed under the open |
| | 13 | source Apache 2 license. Our goal is to implement a production |
| | 14 | quality switch platform that supports standard management interfaces |
| | 15 | and opens the forwarding functions to programmatic extension and |
| | 16 | control. |
| | 17 | |
| | 18 | Open vSwitch is well suited to function as a virtual switch in VM |
| | 19 | environments. In addition to exposing standard control and visibility |
| | 20 | interfaces to the virtual networking layer, it was designed to support |
| | 21 | distribution across multiple physical servers. Open vSwitch supports |
| | 22 | multiple Linux-based virtualization technologies including |
| | 23 | Xen/XenServer, KVM, and VirtualBox. |
| | 24 | |
| | 25 | The bulk of the code is written in platform-independent C and is |
| | 26 | easily ported to other environments. The current release of Open |
| | 27 | vSwitch supports the following features: |
| | 28 | |
| | 29 | * Standard 802.1Q VLAN model with trunk and access ports |
| | 30 | * NIC bonding with or without LACP on upstream switch |
| | 31 | * NetFlow, sFlow(R), and mirroring for increased visibility |
| | 32 | * QoS (Quality of Service) configuration, plus policing |
| | 33 | * Geneve, GRE, GRE over IPSEC, VXLAN, and LISP tunneling |
| | 34 | * 802.1ag connectivity fault management |
| | 35 | * OpenFlow 1.0 plus numerous extensions |
| | 36 | * Transactional configuration database with C and Python bindings |
| | 37 | * High-performance forwarding using a Linux kernel module |
| | 38 | |
| | 39 | The included Linux kernel module supports Linux 2.6.32 and up, with |
| | 40 | testing focused on 2.6.32 with Centos and Xen patches. Open vSwitch |
| | 41 | also has special support for Citrix XenServer and Red Hat Enterprise |
| | 42 | Linux hosts. |
| | 43 | |
| | 44 | Open vSwitch can also operate, at a cost in performance, entirely in |
| | 45 | userspace, without assistance from a kernel module. This userspace |
| | 46 | implementation should be easier to port than the kernel-based switch. |
| | 47 | It is considered experimental. |
| | 48 | |
| | 49 | What's here? |
| | 50 | ------------ |
| | 51 | |
| | 52 | The main components of this distribution are: |
| | 53 | |
| | 54 | * ovs-vswitchd, a daemon that implements the switch, along with |
| | 55 | a companion Linux kernel module for flow-based switching. |
| | 56 | * ovsdb-server, a lightweight database server that ovs-vswitchd |
| | 57 | queries to obtain its configuration. |
| | 58 | * ovs-dpctl, a tool for configuring the switch kernel module. |
| | 59 | * Scripts and specs for building RPMs for Citrix XenServer and Red |
| | 60 | Hat Enterprise Linux. The XenServer RPMs allow Open vSwitch to |
| | 61 | be installed on a Citrix XenServer host as a drop-in replacement |
| | 62 | for its switch, with additional functionality. |
| | 63 | * ovs-vsctl, a utility for querying and updating the configuration |
| | 64 | of ovs-vswitchd. |
| | 65 | * ovs-appctl, a utility that sends commands to running Open |
| | 66 | vSwitch daemons. |
| | 67 | |
| | 68 | Open vSwitch also provides some tools: |
| | 69 | |
| | 70 | * ovs-ofctl, a utility for querying and controlling OpenFlow |
| | 71 | switches and controllers. |
| | 72 | * ovs-pki, a utility for creating and managing the public-key |
| | 73 | infrastructure for OpenFlow switches. |
| | 74 | * ovs-testcontroller, a simple OpenFlow controller that may be useful |
| | 75 | for testing (though not for production). |
| | 76 | * A patch to tcpdump that enables it to parse OpenFlow messages. |
| | 77 | |
| | 78 | What other documentation is available? |
| | 79 | -------------------------------------- |
| | 80 | |
| | 81 | To install Open vSwitch on a regular Linux or FreeBSD host, please |
| | 82 | read [INSTALL.md]. For specifics around installation on a specific |
| | 83 | platform, please see one of these files: |
| | 84 | |
| | 85 | - [INSTALL.Debian.md] |
| | 86 | - [INSTALL.Fedora.md] |
| | 87 | - [INSTALL.RHEL.md] |
| | 88 | - [INSTALL.XenServer.md] |
| | 89 | |
| | 90 | To use Open vSwitch... |
| | 91 | |
| | 92 | - ...with Docker on Linux, read [INSTALL.Docker.md] |
| | 93 | |
| | 94 | - ...with KVM on Linux, read [INSTALL.md], read [INSTALL.KVM.md] |
| | 95 | |
| | 96 | - ...with Libvirt, read [INSTALL.Libvirt.md]. |
| | 97 | |
| | 98 | - ...without using a kernel module, read [INSTALL.userspace.md]. |
| | 99 | |
| | 100 | For answers to common questions, read [FAQ.md]. |
| | 101 | |
| | 102 | To learn how to set up SSL support for Open vSwitch, read [INSTALL.SSL.md]. |
| | 103 | |
| | 104 | To learn about some advanced features of the Open vSwitch software |
| | 105 | switch, read the [tutorial/Tutorial.md]. |
| | 106 | |
| | 107 | Each Open vSwitch userspace program is accompanied by a manpage. Many |
| | 108 | of the manpages are customized to your configuration as part of the |
| | 109 | build process, so we recommend building Open vSwitch before reading |
| | 110 | the manpages. |
| | 111 | |
| | 112 | Contact |
| | 113 | ------- |
| | 114 | |
| | 115 | bugs@openvswitch.org |
| | 116 | |
| | 117 | [INSTALL.md]:INSTALL.md |
| | 118 | [INSTALL.Debian.md]:INSTALL.Debian.md |
| | 119 | [INSTALL.Docker.md]:INSTALL.Docker.md |
| | 120 | [INSTALL.Fedora.md]:INSTALL.Fedora.md |
| | 121 | [INSTALL.KVM.md]:INSTALL.KVM.md |
| | 122 | [INSTALL.Libvirt.md]:INSTALL.Libvirt.md |
| | 123 | [INSTALL.RHEL.md]:INSTALL.RHEL.md |
| | 124 | [INSTALL.SSL.md]:INSTALL.SSL.md |
| | 125 | [INSTALL.userspace.md]:INSTALL.userspace.md |
| | 126 | [INSTALL.XenServer.md]:INSTALL.XenServer.md |
| | 127 | [FAQ.md]:FAQ.md |
| | 128 | [tutorial/Tutorial.md]:tutorial/Tutorial.md |
projects / mirror_ovs.git / blame_incremental