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| -rw-r--r-- | INSTALL.Linux | 4 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | INSTALL.bridge | 19 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | README | 37 |
3 files changed, 37 insertions, 23 deletions
diff --git a/INSTALL.Linux b/INSTALL.Linux index 817c9abec..9767f99bb 100644 --- a/INSTALL.Linux +++ b/INSTALL.Linux @@ -2,8 +2,8 @@ ==================================== This document describes how to build and install Open vSwitch on a -generic Linux host host. If you want to install Open vSwitch on a -Citrix XenServer 5.5.0, see INSTALL.XenServer instead. +generic Linux host. If you want to install Open vSwitch on a Citrix +XenServer version 5.5.0, see INSTALL.XenServer instead. This version of Open vSwitch should be built manually with "configure" and "make". Debian packaging for Open vSwitch is also included, but diff --git a/INSTALL.bridge b/INSTALL.bridge index 7738cd2ec..76d180fe4 100644 --- a/INSTALL.bridge +++ b/INSTALL.bridge @@ -4,10 +4,12 @@ This file documents how Open vSwitch may be used as a drop-in replacement for a Linux kernel bridge in an environment that includes elements that are tightly tied to the Linux bridge tools -(e.g. "brctl") and architecture. We do not recommend using the -approach described here outside such an environment, since the other -tools included with Open vSwitch are easier to use and more -general-purpose than the Linux bridging tools. +(e.g. "brctl") and architecture. We recommend directly using the +management tools provided with Open vSwitch rather than these +compatibility hooks for environments that are not tightly tied to the +Linux bridging tools; they are more efficient and better reflect the +actual operation and status. + Installation Procedure ---------------------- @@ -40,10 +42,11 @@ to update system scripts to follow these steps. bridge interfaces), to ensure that the Open vSwitch kernel modules are loaded before the Linux kernel bridge module. -3. Create an initial ovs-vswitchd.conf file. This file may be empty - when ovs-vswitchd, or you may add any valid configuration - directives to it (as described in ovs-vswitchd.conf(5)), but it - must exist. +3. Create an initial version of the configuration file, for example + /etc/ovs-vswitchd.conf. This file may be empty initially or may + contain add any valid configuration directives described in + ovs-vswitchd.conf(5). However, it must exist when you start + ovs-vswitchd. To create an empty configuration file: @@ -3,19 +3,30 @@ What is Open vSwitch? --------------------- -Open vSwitch is a versatile software-based Ethernet switch with the -following features: - - * NIC bonding with automatic fail-over and source MAC-based TX - load balancing ("SLB"). - - * 802.1Q VLAN support. - - * Port mirroring, with optional VLAN tagging. - - * NetFlow v5 flow logging. - - * Connectivity to an external OpenFlow controller, such as NOX. +Open vSwitch is a multilayer software switch licensed under the open +source Apache 2 license. Our goal is to implement a production +quality switch platform that supports standard management interfaces +(e.g. NetFlow, RSPAN, ERSPAN, IOS-like CLI), and opens the forwarding +functions to programmatic extension and control. + +Open vSwitch is well suited to function as a virtual switch in VM +environments. In addition to exposing standard control and visibility +interfaces to the virtual networking layer, it was designed to support +distribution across multiple physical servers. Open vSwitch supports +multiple Linux-based virtualization technologies including +Xen/XenServer, KVM, and VirtualBox. + +The bulk of the code is written in platform-independent C and is +easily ported to other environments. The current release of Open +vSwitch supports the following features: + + * Visibility into inter-VM communication via NetFlow, SPAN, and RSPAN + * Standard 802.1Q VLAN model with trunking + * Per VM policing + * NIC bonding with source-MAC load balancing + * Kernel-based forwarding + * Support for OpenFlow + * Compatibility layer for the Linux bridging code 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. |