INSTALL

   1            How to Install Open vSwitch on Linux and FreeBSD
   2            ================================================
   3
   4 This document describes how to build and install Open vSwitch on a
   5 generic Linux or FreeBSD host.  If you want to install Open vSwitch on
   6 a Citrix XenServer, see INSTALL.XenServer instead.
   7
   8 This version of Open vSwitch may be built manually with "configure"
   9 and "make", as described below.  You may also build Debian packages by
  10 running "dpkg-buildpackage".
  11
  12 Build Requirements
  13 ------------------
  14
  15 To compile the userspace programs in the Open vSwitch distribution,
  16 you 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
  23     - pkg-config.  We test with version 0.22.
  24
  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
  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.
  31
  32 To compile the kernel module on Linux, you must also install the
  33 following.  If you cannot build or install the kernel module, you may
  34 use the userspace-only implementation, at a cost in performance.  The
  35 userspace implementation may also lack some features.  Refer to
  36 INSTALL.userspace for more information.
  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_BASIC, NET_SCH_INGRESS, and
  50       NET_ACT_POLICE, either built-in or as modules.  (NET_CLS_POLICE is
  51       obsolete and not needed.)
  52
  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
  57       To configure HTB or HFSC quality of service with Open vSwitch,
  58       you must enable the respective configuration options.
  59
  60       To use Open vSwitch support for TAP devices, you must enable
  61       CONFIG_TUN.
  62
  63     - To build a kernel module, you need the same version of GCC that
  64       was used to build that kernel.
  65
  66     - A kernel build directory corresponding to the Linux kernel image
  67       the module is to run on.  Under Debian and Ubuntu, for example,
  68       each linux-image package containing a kernel binary has a
  69       corresponding linux-headers package with the required build
  70       infrastructure.
  71
  72 If you are working from a Git tree or snapshot (instead of from a
  73 distribution tarball), or if you modify the Open vSwitch build system
  74 or the database schema, you will also need the following software:
  75
  76     - Autoconf version 2.64 or later.
  77
  78     - Automake version 1.10 or later.
  79
  80     - Python 2.x, for x >= 4.
  81
  82 If you modify the ovsdbmonitor tool, then you will also need the
  83 following:
  84
  85     - pyuic4 from PyQt4 (http://www.riverbankcomputing.co.uk).
  86
  87 To run the unit tests, you also need:
  88
  89     - Perl.  Version 5.10.1 is known to work.  Earlier versions should
  90       also work.
  91
  92 If you modify the vswitchd database schema, then the E-R diagram in
  93 the ovs-vswitchd.conf.db(5) manpage will be updated properly only if
  94 you have the following:
  95
  96     - "dot" from graphviz (http://www.graphviz.org/).
  97
  98     - Perl.  Version 5.10.1 is known to work.  Earlier versions should
  99       also work.
 100
 101     - Python 2.x, for x >= 4.
 102
 103 If you are going to extensively modify Open vSwitch, please consider
 104 installing the following to obtain better warnings:
 105
 106     - "sparse" version 0.4.4 or later
 107       (http://www.kernel.org/pub/software/devel/sparse/dist/).
 108
 109     - GNU make.
 110
 111 Installation Requirements
 112 -------------------------
 113
 114 The machine on which Open vSwitch is to be installed must have the
 115 following software:
 116
 117     - libc compatible with the libc used for build.
 118
 119     - libssl compatible with the libssl used for build, if OpenSSL was
 120       used for the build.
 121
 122     - On Linux, the same kernel version configured as part of the build.
 123
 124     - For optional support of ingress policing on Linux, the "tc" program
 125       from iproute2 (part of all major distributions and available at
 126       http://www.linux-foundation.org/en/Net:Iproute2).
 127
 128 On Linux you should ensure that /dev/urandom exists.  To support TAP
 129 devices, you must also ensure that /dev/net/tun exists.
 130
 131 To run the ovsdbmonitor tool, the machine must also have the following
 132 software:
 133
 134     - Python 2.x, for x >= 4.
 135
 136     - Python Twisted Conch.
 137
 138     - Python JSON.
 139
 140     - PySide or PyQt4.
 141
 142     - Python Zope interface module.
 143
 144 (On Debian "lenny" the above can be installed with "apt-get install
 145 python-json python-qt4 python-zopeinterface python-twisted-conch".)
 146
 147 Building and Installing Open vSwitch for Linux or FreeBSD
 148 =========================================================
 149
 150 Once you have installed all the prerequisites listed above in the Base
 151 Prerequisites section, follow the procedure below to build.
 152
 153 1. If you pulled the sources directly from an Open vSwitch Git tree,
 154    run boot.sh in the top source directory:
 155
 156       % ./boot.sh
 157
 158 2. In the top source directory, configure the package by running the
 159    configure script.  You can usually invoke configure without any
 160    arguments:
 161
 162       % ./configure
 163
 164    By default all files are installed under /usr/local.  If you want
 165    to install into, e.g., /usr and /var instead of /usr/local and
 166    /usr/local/var, add options as shown here:
 167
 168       % ./configure --prefix=/usr --localstatedir=/var
 169
 170    To use a specific C compiler for compiling Open vSwitch user
 171    programs, also specify it on the configure command line, like so:
 172
 173       % ./configure CC=gcc-4.2
 174
 175    To build the Linux kernel module, so that you can run the
 176    kernel-based switch, pass the location of the kernel build
 177    directory on --with-linux.  For example, to build for a running
 178    instance of Linux:
 179
 180       % ./configure --with-linux=/lib/modules/`uname -r`/build
 181
 182    If you wish to build the kernel module for an architecture other
 183    than the architecture of the machine used for the build, you may
 184    specify the kernel architecture string using the KARCH variable
 185    when invoking the configure script.  For example, to build for MIPS
 186    with Linux:
 187
 188       % ./configure --with-linux=/path/to/linux KARCH=mips
 189
 190    The configure script accepts a number of other options and honors
 191    additional environment variables.  For a full list, invoke
 192    configure with the --help option.
 193
 194 3. Run make in the top source directory:
 195
 196       % make
 197
 198    On FreeBSD you may need to use GNU make (gmake) or NetBSD make
 199    (bmake) instead of the native make.
 200
 201    For improved warnings if you installed "sparse" (see
 202    "Prerequisites"), add C=1 to the "make" command line.
 203
 204 4. Become root by running "su" or another program.
 205
 206 5. Run "make install" to install the executables and manpages into the
 207    running system, by default under /usr/local.
 208
 209 6. If you built kernel modules, you may load them with "insmod", e.g.:
 210
 211       % insmod datapath/linux/openvswitch.ko
 212
 213    You may need to specify a full path to insmod, e.g. /sbin/insmod.
 214    To verify that the modules have been loaded, run "/sbin/lsmod" and
 215    check that openvswitch is listed.
 216
 217    If the "insmod" operation fails, look at the last few kernel log
 218    messages (e.g. with "dmesg | tail"):
 219
 220       - The message "openvswitch: exports duplicate symbol
 221         br_should_route_hook (owned by bridge)" means that the bridge
 222         module is loaded.  Run "/sbin/rmmod bridge" to remove it.
 223
 224         If "/sbin/rmmod bridge" fails with "ERROR: Module bridge does
 225         not exist in /proc/modules", then the bridge is compiled into
 226         the kernel, rather than as a module.  Open vSwitch does not
 227         support this configuration (see "Build Requirements", above).
 228
 229       - The message "openvswitch: exports duplicate symbol
 230         dp_ioctl_hook (owned by ofdatapath)" means that the ofdatapath
 231         module from the OpenFlow reference implementation is loaded.
 232         Run "/sbin/rmmod ofdatapath" to remove it.  (You might have to
 233         delete any existing datapaths beforehand, using the "dpctl"
 234         program included with the OpenFlow reference implementation.
 235         "ovs-dpctl" will not work.)
 236
 237       - Otherwise, the most likely problem is that Open vSwitch was
 238         built for a kernel different from the one into which you are
 239         trying to load it.  Run "modinfo" on openvswitch.ko and on
 240         a module built for the running kernel, e.g.:
 241
 242            % /sbin/modinfo openvswitch.ko
 243            % /sbin/modinfo /lib/modules/`uname -r`/kernel/net/bridge/bridge.ko
 244
 245         Compare the "vermagic" lines output by the two commands.  If
 246         they differ, then Open vSwitch was built for the wrong kernel.
 247
 248       - If you decide to report a bug or ask a question related to
 249         module loading, please include the output from the "dmesg" and
 250         "modinfo" commands mentioned above.
 251
 252    There is an optional module parameter to openvswitch.ko called
 253    vlan_tso that enables TCP segmentation offload over VLANs on NICs
 254    that support it. Many drivers do not expose support for TSO on VLANs
 255    in a way that Open vSwitch can use but there is no way to detect
 256    whether this is the case. If you know that your particular driver can
 257    handle it (for example by testing sending large TCP packets over VLANs)
 258    then passing in a value of 1 may improve performance. Modules built for
 259    Linux kernels 2.6.37 and later, as well as specially patched versions
 260    of earlier kernels, do not need this and do not have this parameter. If
 261    you do not understand what this means or do not know if your driver
 262    will work, do not set this.
 263
 264    Once you verify that the kernel modules load properly, you should
 265    install them:
 266
 267       % make modules_install
 268
 269 7. Initialize the configuration database using ovsdb-tool, e.g.:
 270
 271       % mkdir -p /usr/local/etc/openvswitch
 272       % ovsdb-tool create /usr/local/etc/openvswitch/conf.db vswitchd/vswitch.ovsschema
 273
 274 Startup
 275 =======
 276
 277 Before starting ovs-vswitchd itself, you need to start its
 278 configuration database, ovsdb-server.  Each machine on which Open
 279 vSwitch is installed should run its own copy of ovsdb-server.
 280 Configure it to use the database you created during step 7 of
 281 installation, above, to listen on a Unix domain socket, to connect to
 282 any managers specified in the database itself, and to use the SSL
 283 configuration in the database:
 284
 285       % ovsdb-server --remote=punix:/usr/local/var/run/openvswitch/db.sock \
 286                      --remote=db:Open_vSwitch,manager_options \
 287                      --private-key=db:SSL,private_key \
 288                      --certificate=db:SSL,certificate \
 289                      --bootstrap-ca-cert=db:SSL,ca_cert \
 290                      --pidfile --detach
 291
 292 (If you built Open vSwitch without SSL support, then omit
 293 --private-key, --certificate, and --bootstrap-ca-cert.)
 294
 295 Then initialize the database using ovs-vsctl.  This is only
 296 necessary the first time after you create the database with
 297 ovsdb-tool (but running it at any time is harmless):
 298
 299       % ovs-vsctl --no-wait init
 300
 301 Then start the main Open vSwitch daemon, telling it to connect to the
 302 same Unix domain socket:
 303
 304       % ovs-vswitchd --pidfile --detach
 305
 306 Now you may use ovs-vsctl to set up bridges and other Open vSwitch
 307 features.  For example, to create a bridge named br0 and add ports
 308 eth0 and vif1.0 to it:
 309
 310       % ovs-vsctl add-br br0
 311       % ovs-vsctl add-port br0 eth0
 312       % ovs-vsctl add-port br0 vif1.0
 313
 314 Please refer to ovs-vsctl(8) for more details.
 315
 316 Upgrading
 317 =========
 318
 319 When you upgrade Open vSwitch from one version to another, you should
 320 also upgrade the database schema:
 321
 322 1. Stop the Open vSwitch daemons, e.g.:
 323
 324       % kill `cd /usr/local/var/run/openvswitch && cat ovsdb-server.pid ovs-vswitchd.pid`
 325
 326 2. Install the new Open vSwitch release.
 327
 328 3. Upgrade the database, in one of the following two ways:
 329
 330       - If there is no important data in your database, then you may
 331         delete the database file and recreate it with ovsdb-tool,
 332         following the instructions under "Building and Installing Open
 333         vSwitch for Linux or FreeBSD".
 334
 335       - If you want to preserve the contents of your database, back it
 336         up first, then use "ovsdb-tool convert" to upgrade it, e.g.:
 337
 338         % ovsdb-tool convert /usr/local/etc/openvswitch/conf.db vswitchd/vswitch.ovsschema
 339
 340 4. Start the Open vSwitch daemons as described under "Building and
 341    Installing Open vSwitch for Linux or FreeBSD" above.
 342
 343 Bug Reporting
 344 -------------
 345
 346 Please report problems to bugs@openvswitch.org.