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Open vSwitch (OVS) is a multilayer software switch. It is designed to enable massive network automation through programmatic extension, while still supporting standard management interfaces and protocols. Open vSwitch is well suited to function as a virtual switch in VM environments.

## Installation

Install the openvswitch package.

### Required services and setup

To use ovs-vswitchd, start/enable `ovs-vswitchd.service`.

`ovs-vswitchd.service` will also start the `ovsdb-server.service` which is used for saving the OVS configuration in a database for persistent settings across reboots.

### Create a Bridge

    $ ovs-vsctl add-br mybridge

Most commands can be reversed with replacing add with del, for example del-br.

Print the newly created bridge with one port with an interface named mybridge.

    $ ovs-vsctl show

    e4e95383-2d81-45bd-b411-d289b11405b2
        Bridge mybridge
            Port mybridge
                Interface mybridge
                    type: internal

### Add physical adapter to the bridge

Get the current active interface and configuration:

    $ ip addr

    2: eno1: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc fq_codel state UP group default qlen 1000
        link/ether 52:54:00:91:11:95 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
        inet 192.168.1.10/24 brd 192.168.1.255 scope global dynamic eno1
           valid_lft 82284sec preferred_lft 82284sec
        inet6 fe80::5054:ff:fe91:1195/64 scope link
           valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever

Disable any running automated config, Either

    $ dhcpcd -k eno1 # if dhcpcd is running
    $ systemctl stop systemd-networkd.service # for systemd-networkd
    $ ip addr del 192.168.1.10/24 dev eno1 #  also remove the current ip configuration

Add physical interface to mybridge:

    $ ovs-vsctl add-port mybridge eno1

Warning: This will loose connectivity on this adapter, ensure you have another way to reach your system.

Print the current setup:

    $ ovs-vsctl show

    e4e95383-2d81-45bd-b411-d289b11405b2
        Bridge mybridge
            Port mybridge
                Interface mybridge
                    type: internal
            Port eno1
                Interface eno1

Test the config:

    $ dhcpcd mybridge
    $ ip addr

    2: eno1: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc fq_codel master ovs-system state UP group default qlen 1000
        link/ether 52:54:00:91:11:95 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
        inet6 fe80::5054:ff:fe91:1195/64 scope link
           valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
    3: ovs-system: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST> mtu 1500 qdisc noop state DOWN group default qlen 1000
        link/ether 6e:a7:28:66:78:e2 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
    4: mybridge: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc noqueue state UNKNOWN group default qlen 1000
        link/ether ba:21:d0:cd:38:4f brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
        inet 192.168.1.11/24 brd 192.168.1.255 scope global dynamic noprefixroute mybridge
           valid_lft 86372sec preferred_lft 75572sec
        inet6 fe80::183e:d590:9014:eeb4/64 scope link
           valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever

### Make changes persistent over reboots

Open vSwitch will automatically apply any changes made with ovs-commands. But to get it working we need to change some things with systemd-networkd:

First, remove any old configuration for eno1 and bring the interface up during boot. We will also run DHCP on mybridge with the following config:

    /etc/systemd/network/eno1.network

    [Match]
    Name=eno1

    /etc/systemd/network/mybridge.network

    [Match]
    Name=mybridge

    [Network]
    DHCP=ipv4

## Vlans

Setup trunk with vlan 10 + 20 plus tag untagged traffic to vlan 1 through the physical port:

    $ ovs-vsctl set port eno1 vlan_mode=native-untagged
    $ ovs-vsctl set port eno1 tag=1 # tag untagged vlan 1
    $ ovs-vsctl set port eno1 trunks=10,20 # allow tagged vlans 10 and 20

Tip:

Do multiple actions in one command with -- as seperator, For example, the above is same as :
`$ ovs-vsctl set port eno1 vlan_mode=native-untagged -- set port eno1 tag=1 -- set port eno1 trunks=10,20`

Create a new vport1, type internal for use on the host system with vlan 10:

    $ ovs-vsctl add-port mybridge vport1 tag=10 -- set Interface vport1 type=internal
    $ dhcpcd vport1 # to test it out!

## Virtual ports

ip_forward is needed for virtual ports and support for vm's:

    $ echo 1 > /proc/sys/net/ipv4/ip_forward

Manually create a tuntap interface:

    $ ip tuntap add mode tap vport2

To make both the above changes persistent across reboots:

    /etc/sysctl.conf

    net.ipv4.ip_forward = 1

    /etc/systemd/network/90-vport2.netdev

    [NetDev]
    Name=vport2
    Kind=tap

Create a new port and tag it vlan 20:

    $ ovs-vsctl add-port mybridge vport2 -- set port vport2 tag=20

vport2 can now be used in libvirt.

## See also

- Official Open vSwitch web site
- Official documentation

Categories:

- Network managers
- Virtualization

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