README.rst

   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'
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   4
   5 ============
   6 Open vSwitch
   7 ============
   8
   9 .. image:: https://travis-ci.org/openvswitch/ovs.png
  10     :target: https://travis-ci.org/openvswitch/ovs
  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
  13 .. image:: https://api.cirrus-ci.com/github/openvswitch/ovs.svg
  14     :target: https://cirrus-ci.com/github/openvswitch/ovs
  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
  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.
  49 Note Open vSwitch with userspace datapath and non DPDK devices is considered
  50 experimental and comes with a cost in performance.
  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
  83 .. TODO(stephenfin): Update with a link to the hosting site of the docs, once
  84    we know where that is
  85
  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>`__
  90
  91 For answers to common questions, refer to the `FAQ <Documentation/faq>`__.
  92
  93 To learn about some advanced features of the Open vSwitch software switch, read
  94 the `tutorial <Documentation/tutorials/ovs-advanced.rst>`__.
  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
 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
 133 Contact
 134 -------
 135
 136 bugs@openvswitch.org