Open vSwitch <http://openvswitch.org>

What is Open vSwitch?
---------------------

Open vSwitch is an Ethernet switch for virtual servers 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 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 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.

        - 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-dpctl, a tool for configuring the virtual switch kernel
          module.

        - 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.

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 controller.

	- ovs-ofctl, a utility for querying and controlling OpenFlow
          switches and controllers.

	- 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.

What other documentation is available?
--------------------------------------

To install Open vSwitch on a regular Linux machine, read INSTALL.Linux.

To build RPMs for installing Open vSwitch on a Citrix XenServer host
or resource pool, read INSTALL.XenServer.

To learn set up SSL support for Open vSwitch, read INSTALL.SSL.

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 
-------

ovs-bugs@openvswitch.org
http://openvswitch.org/