Open vSwitch Configuration Guide

Overview

Open vSwitch (OVS) is a production-quality virtual switch supporting VLAN, QoS, sFlow, and OpenFlow protocols. Provides advanced networking features beyond Linux bridge.

Install Open vSwitch

Installation

# Install OVS
apt update
apt install openvswitch-switch -y
 
# Verify installation
ovs-vsctl show

Start/Enable Service

# Start service
systemctl start openvswitch
 
# Enable on boot
systemctl enable openvswitch
 
# Check status
systemctl status openvswitch

Basic Bridge Configuration

Create Bridge

# Create bridge
ovs-vsctl add-br vmbr0
 
# Verify
ovs-vsctl list-br

Add Ports

# Add physical interface
ovs-vsctl add-port vmbr0 eth0
 
# Add internal port
ovs-vsctl add-port vmbr0 veth0 -- set Interface veth0 type=internal
 
# Verify
ovs-vsctl list-ports vmbr0

Configure IP

# Via Network Manager or:
auto vmbr0
iface vmbr0 inet static
    address 192.168.1.100
    netmask 255.255.255.0
    gateway 192.168.1.1
    ovs_type OVSBridge
    ovs_ports eth0

VLAN Configuration

Tagged VLANs

# Add VLAN port
ovs-vsctl add-port vmbr0 vlan100 tag=100 -- set Interface vlan100 type=inner
 
# Add trunk port
ovs-vsctl add-port vmbr0 trunk0 trunks=100,200,300 -- set Interface trunk0 type=trunk

VLAN Ranges

# Native VLAN
ovs-vsctl add-port vmbr0 eth0 vlan_mode=native-untagged
 
# Trunk with native
ovs-vsctl add-port vmbr0 trunk0 trunks=100,200,300 vlan_mode=native-untagged

VLAN Examples

VLAN	Use Case
100	Management
200	VM Network
300	Storage

QoS Configuration

Rate Limiting

# Add QoS
ovs-vsctl -- set Port eth0 qos=@newqos \
  -- --id=@newqos create QoS type=linux-htb other-config:max-rate=1000000000
 
# Set minimum bandwidth
ovs-vsctl set qos newqos queues:1=@q1 \
  -- --id=@q1 create Queue other-config:min-rate=100000000

Traffic Shaping

# Set priority
ovs-vsctl set Interface eth0 ingress_policing_rate=100000 \
  ingress_policing_burst=10000

Bond/LAG Configuration

LACP Bond

# Create bond
ovs-vsctl add-bond vmbr0 bond0 eth0 eth1 lacp=active
 
# Configure
ovs-vsctl set port bond0 bond_downdelay=0 bond_updelay=0

Active-Backup

# Create active-backup bond
ovs-vsctl add-bond vmbr0 bond0 eth0 eth1 bond_mode=active-backup

Balance-TLB

# Load balancing
ovs-vsctl add-bond vmbr0 bond0 eth0 eth1 bond_mode=balance-tlb lacp=passive

VXLAN Tunneling

Create VXLAN

# Create VXLAN
ovs-vsctl add-br vmbr0
ovs-vsctl add-port vmbr0 vxlan0 -- set interface vxlan0 type=vxlan \
  option:remote_ip=192.168.1.101 \
  option:key=1000 \
  option:dst_port=4789

Multi-Site VXLAN

# Site A
ovs-vsctl add-port vmbr0 vxlan-siteA -- set interface vxlan-siteA type=vxlan \
  option:remote_ip=192.168.1.101 \
  option:key=100
 
# Site B
ovs-vsctl add-port vmbr0 vxlan-siteB -- set interface vxlan-siteB type=vxlan \
  option:remote_ip=192.168.1.100 \
  option:key=100

Geneve Tunnel

Create Geneve

# Create Geneve tunnel
ovs-vsctl add-br vmbr0
ovs-vsctl add-port vmbr0 geneve0 -- set interface geneve0 type=geneve \
  option:key=flow \
  option:remote_ip=192.168.1.101

Geneve vs VXLAN

Feature	VXLAN	Geneve
Header	Fixed	Variable
Tunnel ID	24-bit	24-bit
Flexible	Limited	Full
Use Case	L2	Multi-cloud

Flow-Based Switching

OpenFlow Rules

# Add flow
ovs-ofctl add-flow vmbr0 "priority=100,ip,tcp,nw_dst=192.168.1.10,actions=output:1"
 
# View flows
ovs-ofctl dump-flows vmbr0

ACL-like Rules

# Block traffic
ovs-ofctl add-flow vmbr0 "priority=200,arp,actions=flood"
 
# Allow specific
ovs-ofctl add-flow vmbr0 "priority=150,in_port=1,ip,nw_src=10.0.0.0/24,actions=output:2"

SSL/OpenFlow

Configure SSL

# Generate certificates
ovs-pki init /var/lib/openvswitch/pki
 
# Create controller
ovs-pki req -u controller
ovs-pki sign controller
 
# Configure
ovs-vsctl set-controller vmbr0 ssl:192.168.1.200

Connect Controller

# Add controller
ovs-vsctl set-controller vmbr0 tcp:192.168.1.200:6653

Performance Tuning

DPDK

# Enable DPDK
apt install openvswitch-switch-dpdk
 
# Configure DPDK
ovs-vsctl --set Open_vSwitch . other_config:dpdk-init=true
 
# Restart
systemctl restart openvswitch-switch

NIC Offload

# Enable checksum offload
ovs-vsctl set Interface eth0 options:tx-check-sum-offload=true

Monitoring

Interface Stats

# Show interface stats
ovs-vsctl list interface eth0
 
# Port stats
ovs-ofctl dump-ports vmbr0
 
# Flow stats
ovs-ofctl dump-flows vmbr0

Logging

# Enable logging
ovs-vsctl set Bridge vmbr0 flood-allow=true
 
# View log
tail -f /var/log/openvswitch/ovs-vswitch.log

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

# Bridge not created
ovs-vsctl add-br vmbr0
 
# Port not working
ovs-vsctl list-ports vmbr0
 
# Flows not working
ovs-ofctl dump-flows vmbr0

Reset

# Delete all
ovs-vsctl del-br vmbr0
 
# Re-create
ovs-vsctl add-br vmbr0

Quick Reference

Common Commands

ovs-vsctl add-br <br>
ovs-vsctl add-port <br> <port>
ovs-vsctl del-port <br> <port>
ovs-vsctl list-br
ovs-vsctl show

Keywords

openvswitch ovs vxlan geneve network vlan qos sdn openflow bonding

Related Articles

• Advanced
• Networking
• Network-Config
• VLAN-Config

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