To verify that the modules have been loaded, run "/sbin/lsmod" and
check that openvswitch_mod is listed.
-Configuration
-=============
+7. Initialize the configuration database using ovsdb-tool, e.g.:
-Open vSwitch is configured primarily through a configuration file,
-whose name is specified on the ovs-vswitchd command line. Please
-refer to ovs-vswitchd(8) and ovs-vswitchd.conf(5) for information on
-how to start ovs-vswitchd and the syntax of its configuration file,
-respectively.
+ % ovsdb-tool create /etc/ovs-vswitchd.conf.db vswitchd/vswitch.ovsschema
-At runtime, you may make ovs-vswitchd reload its configuration file
-and update its configuration accordingly by sending it a SIGHUP
-signal. The ovs-appctl utility can also be used to do this:
+Startup
+=======
- % ovs-appctl vswitchd/reload
+Before starting ovs-vswitchd itself, you need to start its
+configuration database, ovsdb-server. Configure it to use the
+database you created during step 7 of installation, above, and to
+listen on a Unix domain socket, e.g.:
-In the latter case, ovs-appctl will wait for ovs-vswitchd to finish
-reloading before it exits.
+ % ovsdb-server /etc/ovs-vswitchd.conf.db --remote=punix:/var/run/ovsdb-server
+
+Then start the main Open vSwitch daemon, telling it to connect to the
+same Unix domain socket:
+
+ % ovs-vswitchd unix:/var/run/ovsdb-server
+
+Now you may use ovs-vsctl to set up bridges and other Open vSwitch
+features. For example, to create a bridge named br0 and add ports
+eth0 and vif1.0 to it:
+
+ % ovs-vsctl add-br br0
+ % ovs-vsctl add-port br0 eth0
+ % ovs-vsctl add-port br0 vif1.0
+
+Please refer to ovs-vsctl(8) for more details.
Bug Reporting
-------------
Using Open vSwitch as a Simple OpenFlow Switch
==============================================
-Open vSwitch uses OpenFlow as its preferred method of remote flow table
-configuration. This is the simplest method of using it with an OpenFlow
-controller. All that is required is to follow the instructions in
-INSTALL.Linux and add the bridge.<name>.controller set of parameters to the
-ovs-vswitchd(8) configuration file as described in ovs-vswitchd.conf(5).
-We recommend using OpenFlow in this manner. However, it is also possible to
-use Open vSwitch as a simple OpenFlow switch like that provided by the
-OpenFlow reference implementation [1]. The remainder of this file describes
-how to user it in that manner.
+Open vSwitch uses OpenFlow as its preferred method of remote flow
+table configuration. This is the simplest method of using it with an
+OpenFlow controller. The ovs-vsctl "set-controller" command will set
+the controller for one or more bridges. We recommend using OpenFlow
+in this manner.
+
+However, it is also possible to use Open vSwitch as a simple OpenFlow
+switch like that provided by the OpenFlow reference implementation
+[1]. The remainder of this file describes how to use it in that
+manner.
What is OpenFlow?
-----------------
OpenFlow controller by verifying a signature against this CA
certificate.
-Once you have these files, configure ovs-vswitchd to use them by
-adding the following keys to your ovs-vswitchd.conf file:
+Once you have these files, configure ovs-vswitchd to use them using
+the ovs-vsctl "set-ssl" command, e.g.:
- ssl.private-key=/etc/vswitch/sc-privkey.pem
- ssl.certificate=/etc/vswitch/sc-cert.pem
- ssl.ca-cert=/etc/vswitch/cacert.pem
+ ovs-vsctl set-ssl /etc/vswitch/sc-privkey.pem /etc/vswitch/sc-cert.pem /etc/vswitch/cacert.pem
Substitute the correct file names, of course, if they differ from the
-ones used above.
+ones used above. You should use absolute file names (ones that begin
+with "/"), because ovs-vswitchd's current directory is unrelated to
+the one from which you run ovs-vsctl.
If you are using self-signed certificates (see "SSL Concepts for
OpenFlow") and you did not copy controllerca/cacert.pem from the PKI
-machine to the Open vSwitch, then also add the following key:
+machine to the Open vSwitch, then add the --bootstrap option, e.g.:
- ssl.bootstrap-ca-cert=true
+ ovs-vsctl -- --bootstrap set-ssl /etc/vswitch/sc-privkey.pem /etc/vswitch/sc-cert.pem /etc/vswitch/cacert.pem
After you have added all of these configuration keys, you may specify
-"ssl:" connection methods elsewhere in ovs-vswitchd.conf, e.g.:
-
- mgmt.controller=ssl:192.168.0.1
-
+"ssl:" connection methods elsewhere in the configuration database.
"tcp:" connection methods are still allowed even after SSL has been
configured, so for security you should use only "ssl:" connections.
+Unlike most Open vSwitch settings, the SSL settings are read only
+once, at ovs-vswitchd startup time. For changes to take effect,
+ovs-vswitchd must be killed and restarted.
+
Reporting Bugs
--------------
bridge interfaces), to ensure that the Open vSwitch kernel modules
are loaded before the Linux kernel bridge module.
-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.
+3. Start ovsdb-server, ovs-vswitchd, and ovs-brcompatd, e.g.:
- To create an empty configuration file:
-
- % touch /etc/ovs-vswitchd.conf
-
-4. Start ovs-vswitchd and ovs-brcompatd, e.g.:
+ % ovsdb-server /etc/ovs-vswitchd.conf.db \
+ --remote=punix:/var/run/ovsdb-server
% ovs-vswitchd --pidfile --detach -vANY:console:EMER \
- /etc/ovs-vswitchd.conf
+ unix:/var/run/ovsdb-server
% ovs-brcompatd --pidfile --detach -vANY:console:EMER \
- /etc/ovs-vswitchd.conf
+ unix:/var/run/ovsdb-server
5. Now you should be able to manage the Open vSwitch using brctl and
related tools. For example, you can create an Open vSwitch bridge,
% brctl show
Each of these commands actually uses or modifies the Open vSwitch
- configuration file, then notifies the ovs-vswitchd daemon of the
- change. For example, after executing the commands above starting
- from an empty configuration file, "cat /etc/ovs-vswitchd.conf"
- should show that the configuration file now contains the following:
-
- bridge.br0.port=br0
- bridge.br0.port=eth0
- bridge.br0.port=eth1
+ configuration database, then notifies the ovs-vswitchd daemon of
+ the change. For example, after executing the commands above
+ starting from an empty configuration file, "ovs-vsctl list-ports
+ br0" should show that bridge br0 contains two ports, eth0 and eth1.
-# Copyright (C) 2007, 2008, 2009 Nicira Networks, Inc.
+# Copyright (C) 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 Nicira Networks, Inc.
#
# Copying and distribution of this file, with or without modification,
# are permitted in any medium without royalty provided the copyright
sbin_PROGRAMS =
bin_SCRIPTS =
dist_man_MANS =
+dist_pkgdata_DATA =
dist_pkgdata_SCRIPTS =
dist_sbin_SCRIPTS =
man_MANS =
* ovs-vswitchd, a daemon that implements the switch, along with
a companion Linux kernel module for flow-based switching.
+ * ovsdb-server, a lightweight database server that ovs-vswitchd
+ queries to obtain its configuration.
+
* 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
/proc/version) and the distribution and version number of
your OS (e.g. "Centos 5.0").
- * The contents of the vswitchd configuration file (usually
- /etc/ovs-vswitchd.conf).
+ * The contents of the vswitchd configuration database (usually
+ /etc/ovs-vswitchd.conf.db).
* The output of "ovs-dpctl show".
.BR ovs\-discover (8),
.BR ovs\-dpctl (8),
.BR ovs\-ofctl (8),
-.BR ovs\-pki (8),
-.BR ovs\-vswitchd.conf (5)
+.BR ovs\-pki (8)
/ovs-brcompatd.8
/ovs-vswitchd
/ovs-vswitchd.8
-/ovs-vswitchd.conf.5
/vswitch-idl.c
/vswitch-idl.h
/vswitch-idl.ovsidl
-# Copyright (C) 2009 Nicira Networks, Inc.
+# Copyright (C) 2009, 2010 Nicira Networks, Inc.
#
# Copying and distribution of this file, with or without modification,
# are permitted in any medium without royalty provided the copyright
alias vswitch='service vswitch'
-function watchconf {
- watch cat /etc/ovs-vswitchd.conf
-}
-
function watchdp {
watch ovs-dpctl show "$@"
}
projects / openvswitch / commitdiff