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.

What's here?
------------

The most important components of this distribution are:

	- A Linux kernel module for flow-based switching, in the
          datapath directory.

        - ovs-vswitchd, a daemon that implements the virtual switch.

	- ovs-dpctl, a tool for configuring the kernel module and
          controlling OpenFlow switches.

This distribution includes some additional software as well:

	- 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-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.

Platform support
----------------

Our primary test environment is Debian GNU/Linux.  Ports to other
platforms are welcome.  Please contact us with portability-related bug
reports or patches.

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.

GCC is the expected compiler.

Contact 
-------

[email protected]
http://openvswitch.org/