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authorBen Pfaff <blp@nicira.com>2009-06-09 13:09:08 -0700
committerBen Pfaff <blp@nicira.com>2009-06-09 13:09:08 -0700
commit4b11d5e8d34655977d716cbdba504528aa866997 (patch)
tree0921917072f5cf8ff38e51baae44b8daba070205 /README
parentc8ab9375860436182883b8686fedcca803409e07 (diff)
downloadopenvswitch-4b11d5e8d34655977d716cbdba504528aa866997.tar.gz
Update documentation.
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@@ -18,54 +18,67 @@ following features:
* Connectivity to an external OpenFlow controller, such as
NOX.
+Open vSwitch supports Linux 2.6.15 and up, with testing focused on
+2.6.18 with Centos and Xen patches and version 2.6.26 from kernel.org.
+Open vSwitch also has special support for Citrix XenServer hosts.
+
What's here?
------------
-The most important components of this distribution are:
+The main components of this distribution are:
+
+ - ovs-vswitchd, a daemon that implements the virtual switch,
+ along with a companion Linux kernel module for flow-based
+ switching.
- - A Linux kernel module for flow-based switching, in the
- datapath directory.
+ - ovs-brcompatd, a daemon that allows ovs-vswitchd to act as a
+ drop-in replacement for the Linux bridge in many
+ environments, along with a companion Linux kernel module to
+ intercept bridge ioctls.
- - ovs-vswitchd, a daemon that implements the virtual switch.
+ - ovs-dpctl, a tool for configuring the virtual switch kernel
+ module.
- - ovs-dpctl, a tool for configuring the kernel module and
- controlling OpenFlow switches.
+ - Scripts and specs for building RPMs that allow Open vSwitch
+ to be installed on a Citrix XenServer host as a drop-in
+ replacement for its virtual switch, with additional
+ functionality.
+
+ - vlog-appctl, a utility that can control Open vSwitch daemons,
+ adjusting their logging levels among other uses.
-This distribution includes some additional software as well:
+Open vSwitch also provides an OpenFlow implementation and tools for
+those interested in OpenFlow but not additional Open vSwitch features:
- secchan, a program that implements a simple OpenFlow switch
(without the special features provided by ovs-vswitchd) using
the same kernel module as ovs-vswitchd.
- - ovs-controller, a simple OpenFlow switch
+ - ovs-controller, a simple OpenFlow controller.
- ovs-ofctl, a utility for querying and controlling OpenFlow
switches and controllers.
- - vlog-appctl, a utility that can control Open vSwitch daemons,
- adjusting their logging levels among other uses.
-
- ovs-pki, a utility for creating and managing the public-key
infrastructure for OpenFlow switches.
- A patch to tcpdump that enables it to parse OpenFlow
messages.
-For installation instructions, read INSTALL. Each userspace program
-is also accompanied by a manpage.
+What other documentation is available?
+--------------------------------------
-Platform support
-----------------
+To install Open vSwitch on a regular Linux machine, read INSTALL.Linux.
-Our primary test environment is Debian GNU/Linux. Ports to other
-platforms are welcome. Please contact us with portability-related bug
-reports or patches.
+To build RPMs for installing Open vSwitch on a Citrix XenServer host
+or resource pool, read INSTALL.XenServer.
-The testing of the kernel module has focused on version 2.6.18 from
-Xen and version 2.6.26 from kernel.org. Linux 2.6 releases from
-2.6.15 onward should also work.
+To learn set up SSL support for Open vSwitch, read INSTALL.SSL.
-GCC is the expected compiler.
+Each Open vSwitch userspace program is accompanied by a manpage. Many
+of the manpages are customized to your configuration as part of the
+build process, so we recommend building Open vSwitch before reading
+the manpages.
Contact
-------