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'
   3    are kept up-to-date.
   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
  14 What is Open vSwitch?
  15 ---------------------
  16
  17 Open vSwitch is a multilayer software switch licensed under the open source
  18 Apache 2 license.  Our goal is to implement a production quality switch
  19 platform that supports standard management interfaces and opens the forwarding
  20 functions to programmatic extension and control.
  21
  22 Open vSwitch is well suited to function as a virtual switch in VM environments.
  23 In addition to exposing standard control and visibility interfaces to the
  24 virtual networking layer, it was designed to support distribution across
  25 multiple physical servers.  Open vSwitch supports multiple Linux-based
  26 virtualization technologies including Xen/XenServer, KVM, and VirtualBox.
  27
  28 The bulk of the code is written in platform-independent C and is easily ported
  29 to other environments.  The current release of Open vSwitch supports the
  30 following features:
  31
  32 - Standard 802.1Q VLAN model with trunk and access ports
  33 - NIC bonding with or without LACP on upstream switch
  34 - NetFlow, sFlow(R), and mirroring for increased visibility
  35 - QoS (Quality of Service) configuration, plus policing
  36 - Geneve, GRE, VXLAN, STT, and LISP tunneling
  37 - 802.1ag connectivity fault management
  38 - OpenFlow 1.0 plus numerous extensions
  39 - Transactional configuration database with C and Python bindings
  40 - High-performance forwarding using a Linux kernel module
  41
  42 The included Linux kernel module supports Linux 3.10 and up.
  43
  44 Open vSwitch can also operate entirely in userspace without assistance from
  45 a kernel module.  This userspace implementation should be easier to port than
  46 the kernel-based switch. OVS in userspace can access Linux or DPDK devices.
  47 Note Open vSwitch with userspace datapath and non DPDK devices is considered
  48 experimental and comes with a cost in performance.
  49
  50 What's here?
  51 ------------
  52
  53 The main components of this distribution are:
  54
  55 - ovs-vswitchd, a daemon that implements the switch, along with a companion
  56   Linux kernel module for flow-based switching.
  57 - ovsdb-server, a lightweight database server that ovs-vswitchd queries to
  58   obtain its configuration.
  59 - ovs-dpctl, a tool for configuring the switch kernel module.
  60 - Scripts and specs for building RPMs for Citrix XenServer and Red Hat
  61   Enterprise Linux.  The XenServer RPMs allow Open vSwitch to be installed on a
  62   Citrix XenServer host as a drop-in replacement for its switch, with
  63   additional functionality.
  64 - ovs-vsctl, a utility for querying and updating the configuration of
  65   ovs-vswitchd.
  66 - ovs-appctl, a utility that sends commands to running Open vSwitch daemons.
  67
  68 Open vSwitch also provides some tools:
  69
  70 - ovs-ofctl, a utility for querying and controlling OpenFlow switches and
  71   controllers.
  72 - ovs-pki, a utility for creating and managing the public-key infrastructure
  73   for OpenFlow switches.
  74 - ovs-testcontroller, a simple OpenFlow controller that may be useful for
  75   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 .. TODO(stephenfin): Update with a link to the hosting site of the docs, once
  82    we know where that is
  83
  84 To install Open vSwitch on a regular Linux or FreeBSD host, please read the
  85 `installation guide <Documentation/intro/install/general.rst>`__. For specifics
  86 around installation on a specific platform, refer to one of the `other
  87 installation guides <Documentation/intro/install/index.rst>`__
  88
  89 For answers to common questions, refer to the `FAQ <Documentation/faq>`__.
  90
  91 To learn about some advanced features of the Open vSwitch software switch, read
  92 the `tutorial <Documentation/tutorials/ovs-advanced.rst>`__.
  93
  94 Each Open vSwitch userspace program is accompanied by a manpage.  Many of the
  95 manpages are customized to your configuration as part of the build process, so
  96 we recommend building Open vSwitch before reading the manpages.
  97
  98 License
  99 -------
 100
 101 The following is a summary of the licensing of files in this distribution.
 102 As mentioned, Open vSwitch is licensed under the open source Apache 2 license.
 103 Some files may be marked specifically with a different license, in which case
 104 that license applies to the file in question.
 105
 106
 107 Files under the datapath directory are licensed under the GNU General Public
 108 License, version 2.
 109
 110 File build-aux/cccl is licensed under the GNU General Public License, version 2.
 111
 112 The following files are licensed under the 2-clause BSD license.
 113     include/windows/getopt.h
 114     lib/getopt_long.c
 115     lib/conntrack-tcp.c
 116
 117 The following files are licensed under the 3-clause BSD-license
 118     include/windows/netinet/icmp6.h
 119     include/windows/netinet/ip6.h
 120     lib/strsep.c
 121
 122 Files under the xenserver directory are licensed on a file-by-file basis.
 123 Refer to each file for details.
 124
 125 Files lib/sflow*.[ch] are licensed under the terms of either the
 126 Sun Industry Standards Source License 1.1, that is available at:
 127         http://host-sflow.sourceforge.net/sissl.html
 128 or the InMon sFlow License, that is available at:
 129         http://www.inmon.com/technology/sflowlicense.txt
 130
 131 Contact
 132 -------
 133
 134 bugs@openvswitch.org