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How to Install Open vSwitch on Linux
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====================================
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This document describes how to build and install Open vSwitch on a
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generic Linux host. If you want to install Open vSwitch on a Citrix
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XenServer, see INSTALL.XenServer instead.
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This version of Open vSwitch may be built manually with "configure"
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and "make", as described below. You may also build Debian packages by
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running "dpkg-buildpackage".
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To compile the userspace programs in the Open vSwitch distribution,
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you will need the following software:
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- A make program, e.g. GNU make. BSD make should also work.
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- The GNU C compiler. We generally test with version 4.1, 4.2, or
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- pkg-config. We test with version 0.22.
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- libssl, from OpenSSL, is optional but recommended if you plan to
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connect the Open vSwitch to an OpenFlow controller. libssl is
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required to establish confidentiality and authenticity in the
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connections from an Open vSwitch to an OpenFlow controller. If
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libssl is installed, then Open vSwitch will automatically build
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To compile the kernel module, you must also install the following. If
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you cannot build or install the kernel module, you may use the
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userspace-only implementation, at a cost in performance. The
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userspace implementation may also lack some features. Refer to
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INSTALL.userspace for more information.
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- A supported Linux kernel version. Please refer to README for a
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list of supported versions.
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The Open vSwitch datapath requires bridging support
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(CONFIG_BRIDGE) to be built as a kernel module. (This is common
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in kernels provided by Linux distributions.) The bridge module
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must not be loaded or in use. If the bridge module is running
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(check with "lsmod | grep bridge"), you must remove it ("rmmod
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bridge") before starting the datapath.
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For optional support of ingress policing, you must enable kernel
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configuration options NET_CLS_ACT, NET_CLS_U32, NET_SCH_INGRESS,
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and NET_ACT_POLICE, either built-in or as modules.
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(NET_CLS_POLICE is obsolete and not needed.)
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If GRE tunneling is being used it is recommended that the kernel
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be compiled with IPv6 support (CONFIG_IPV6). This allows for
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special handling (such as path MTU discovery) of IPv6 packets.
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To configure HTB or HFSC quality of service with Open vSwitch,
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you must enable the respective configuration options.
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To use Open vSwitch support for TAP devices, you must enable
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- To build a kernel module, you need the same version of GCC that
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was used to build that kernel.
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- A kernel build directory corresponding to the Linux kernel image
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the module is to run on. Under Debian and Ubuntu, for example,
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each linux-image package containing a kernel binary has a
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corresponding linux-headers package with the required build
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If you are working from a Git tree or snapshot (instead of from a
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distribution tarball), or if you modify the Open vSwitch build system
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or the database schema, you will also need the following software:
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- Autoconf version 2.64 or later.
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- Automake version 1.10 or later.
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- Python 2.x, for x >= 4.
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If you modify the ovsdbmonitor tool, then you will also need the
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- pyuic4 from PyQt4 (http://www.riverbankcomputing.co.uk).
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To run the unit tests, you also need:
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- Perl. Version 5.10.1 is known to work. Earlier versions should
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If you modify the vswitchd database schema, then the E-R diagram in
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the ovs-vswitchd.conf.db(5) manpage will be updated properly only if
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you have the following:
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- "dot" from graphviz (http://www.graphviz.org/).
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- Perl. Version 5.10.1 is known to work. Earlier versions should
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- Python 2.x, for x >= 4.
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Installation Requirements
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-------------------------
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The machine on which Open vSwitch is to be installed must have the
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- libc compatible with the libc used for build.
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- libssl compatible with the libssl used for build, if OpenSSL was
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- The Linux kernel version configured as part of the build.
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- For optional support of ingress policing, the "tc" program from
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iproute2 (part of all major distributions and available at
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http://www.linux-foundation.org/en/Net:Iproute2).
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- For debugging purposes, Open vSwitch expects that "tcpdump" is
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installed as /usr/sbin/tcpdump. If tcpdump is not installed, or
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if it is installed in a different location, then some Open
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vSwitch log messages will not be as detailed.
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You should ensure that /dev/urandom exists. To support TAP devices,
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you must also ensure that /dev/net/tun exists.
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To run the ovsdbmonitor tool, the machine must also have the following
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- Python 2.x, for x >= 4.
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- Python Twisted Conch.
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- Python Zope interface module.
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(On Debian "lenny" the above can be installed with "apt-get install
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python-json python-qt4 python-zopeinterface python-twisted-conch".)
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Building and Installing Open vSwitch for Linux
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==============================================
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Once you have installed all the prerequisites listed above in the Base
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Prerequisites section, follow the procedure below to build.
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1. If you pulled the sources directly from an Open vSwitch Git tree,
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run boot.sh in the top source directory:
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2. In the top source directory, configure the package by running the
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configure script. You can usually invoke configure without any
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By default all files are installed under /usr/local. If you want
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to install into, e.g., /usr and /var instead of /usr/local and
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/usr/local/var, add options as shown here:
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% ./configure --prefix=/usr --localstatedir=/var
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To use a specific C compiler for compiling Open vSwitch user
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programs, also specify it on the configure command line, like so:
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% ./configure CC=gcc-4.2
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To build the Linux kernel module, so that you can run the
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kernel-based switch, pass the location of the kernel build
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directory on --with-linux. For example, to build for a running
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% ./configure --with-linux=/lib/modules/`uname -r`/build
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If you wish to build the kernel module for an architecture other
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than the architecture of the machine used for the build, you may
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specify the kernel architecture string using the KARCH variable
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when invoking the configure script. For example, to build for MIPS
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% ./configure --with-linux=/path/to/linux KARCH=mips
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The configure script accepts a number of other options and honors
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additional environment variables. For a full list, invoke
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configure with the --help option.
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3. Run make in the top source directory:
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4. Become root by running "su" or another program.
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5. Run "make install" to install the executables and manpages into the
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running system, by default under /usr/local.
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6. If you built kernel modules, you may load them with "insmod", e.g.:
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% insmod datapath/linux/openvswitch_mod.ko
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You may need to specify a full path to insmod, e.g. /sbin/insmod.
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To verify that the modules have been loaded, run "/sbin/lsmod" and
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check that openvswitch_mod is listed.
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If the "insmod" operation fails, look at the last few kernel log
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messages (e.g. with "dmesg | tail"):
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- The message "openvswitch_mod: exports duplicate symbol
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br_should_route_hook (owned by bridge)" means that the bridge
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module is loaded. Run "/sbin/rmmod bridge" to remove it.
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If "/sbin/rmmod bridge" fails with "ERROR: Module bridge does
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not exist in /proc/modules", then the bridge is compiled into
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the kernel, rather than as a module. Open vSwitch does not
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support this configuration (see "Build Requirements", above).
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- The message "openvswitch_mod: exports duplicate symbol
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dp_ioctl_hook (owned by ofdatapath)" means that the ofdatapath
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module from the OpenFlow reference implementation is loaded.
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Run "/sbin/rmmod ofdatapath" to remove it. (You might have to
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delete any existing datapaths beforehand, using the "dpctl"
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program included with the OpenFlow reference implementation.
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"ovs-dpctl" will not work.)
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- Otherwise, the most likely problem is that Open vSwitch was
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built for a kernel different from the one into which you are
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trying to load it. Run "modinfo" on openvswitch_mod.ko and on
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a module built for the running kernel, e.g.:
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% /sbin/modinfo openvswitch_mod.ko
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% /sbin/modinfo /lib/modules/`uname -r`/kernel/net/bridge/bridge.ko
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Compare the "vermagic" lines output by the two commands. If
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they differ, then Open vSwitch was built for the wrong kernel.
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- If you decide to report a bug or ask a question related to
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module loading, please include the output from the "dmesg" and
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"modinfo" commands mentioned above.
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There is an optional module parameter to openvswitch_mod.ko called
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vlan_tso that enables TCP segmentation offload over VLANs on NICs
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that support it. Many drivers do not expose support for TSO on VLANs
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in a way that Open vSwitch can use but there is no way to detect
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whether this is the case. If you know that your particular driver can
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handle it (for example by testing sending large TCP packets over VLANs)
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then passing in a value of 1 may improve performance. Modules built for
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Linux kernels 2.6.37 and later, as well as specially patched versions
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of earlier kernels, do not need this and do not have this parameter. If
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you do not understand what this means or do not know if your driver
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will work, do not set this.
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7. Initialize the configuration database using ovsdb-tool, e.g.:
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% mkdir -p /usr/local/etc/openvswitch
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% ovsdb-tool create /usr/local/etc/openvswitch/conf.db vswitchd/vswitch.ovsschema
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Before starting ovs-vswitchd itself, you need to start its
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configuration database, ovsdb-server. Each machine on which Open
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vSwitch is installed should run its own copy of ovsdb-server.
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Configure it to use the database you created during step 7 of
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installation, above, to listen on a Unix domain socket, to connect to
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any managers specified in the database itself, and to use the SSL
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configuration in the database:
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% ovsdb-server --remote=punix:/usr/local/var/run/openvswitch/db.sock \
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--remote=db:Open_vSwitch,manager_options \
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--private-key=db:SSL,private_key \
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--certificate=db:SSL,certificate \
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--bootstrap-ca-cert=db:SSL,ca_cert \
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(If you built Open vSwitch without SSL support, then omit
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--private-key, --certificate, and --bootstrap-ca-cert.)
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Then initialize the database using ovs-vsctl. This is only
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necessary the first time after you create the database with
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ovsdb-tool (but running it at any time is harmless):
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% ovs-vsctl --no-wait init
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Then start the main Open vSwitch daemon, telling it to connect to the
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same Unix domain socket:
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% ovs-vswitchd --pidfile --detach
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Now you may use ovs-vsctl to set up bridges and other Open vSwitch
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features. For example, to create a bridge named br0 and add ports
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eth0 and vif1.0 to it:
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% ovs-vsctl add-br br0
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% ovs-vsctl add-port br0 eth0
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% ovs-vsctl add-port br0 vif1.0
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Please refer to ovs-vsctl(8) for more details.
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When you upgrade Open vSwitch from one version to another, you should
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also upgrade the database schema:
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1. Stop the Open vSwitch daemons, e.g.:
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% kill `cd /usr/local/var/run && cat ovsdb-server.pid ovs-vswitchd.pid`
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2. Install the new Open vSwitch release.
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3. Upgrade the database, in one of the following two ways:
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- If there is no important data in your database, then you may
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delete the database file and recreate it with ovsdb-tool,
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following the instructions under "Building and Installing Open
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- If you want to preserve the contents of your database, back it
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up first, then use "ovsdb-tool convert" to upgrade it, e.g.:
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% ovsdb-tool convert /usr/local/etc/openvswitch/conf.db vswitchd/vswitch.ovsschema
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4. Start the Open vSwitch daemons as described under "Building and
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Installing Open vSwitch for Linux" above.
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Please report problems to bugs@openvswitch.org.
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