ovs-sim(1) — Linux manual page
OVS-SIM(1) Open vSwitch OVS-SIM(1)
NAME
ovs-sim - Open vSwitch simulator environment
SYNOPSIS
ovs-sim [option]… [script]…
DESCRIPTION
ovs-sim provides a convenient environment for running one or more
Open vSwitch instances and related software in a sandboxed
simulation environment.
To use ovs-sim, first build Open vSwitch, then invoke it directly
from the build directory, e.g.:
git clone https://github.com/openvswitch/ovs.git
cd ovs
./configure
make
utilities/ovs-sim
When invoked in the most ordinary way as shown above, ovs-sim
does the following:
1. Creates a directory sandbox as a subdirectory of the current
directory (first destroying such a directory if it already
exists) and makes it the current directory.
2. Installs all of the Open vSwitch manpages into a man
subdirectory of sandbox and adjusts the MANPATH environment
variable so that man and other manpage viewers can find them.
3. Creates a simulated Open vSwitch named main and sets it up as
the default target for OVS commands, as if the following
ovs-sim commands had been run:
sim_add main
as main
See Commands, below, for an explanation.
4. Runs any scripts specified on the command line (see
Options, below). The scripts can use arbitrary Bash syntax,
plus the additional commands described under Commands, below.
5. If no scripts were specified, or if -i or --interactive was
specified, invokes an interactive Bash subshell. The user can
use arbitrary Bash commands, plus the additional commands
described under Commands, below.
ovs-sim and the sandbox environment that it creates does not
require superuser or other special privileges. Generally, it
should not be run with such privileges.
OPTIONS
script Runs script, which should be a Bash script, within a
subshell after initializing. If multiple script arguments
are given, then they are run in the order given. If any
script exits with a nonzero exit code, then ovs-sim exits
immediately with the same exit code.
-i or --interactive
By default, if any script is specified, ovs-sim exits as
soon as the scripts finish executing. With this option, or
if no scripts are specified, ovs-sim instead starts an
interactive Bash session.
COMMANDS
Scripts and interactive usage may use the following commands
implemented by ovs-sim. They are implemented as Bash shell
functions exported to subshells.
Basic Commands
These are the basic commands for working with sandboxed Open
vSwitch instances.
sim_add sandbox
Starts a new simulated Open vSwitch instance named
sandbox. Files related to the instance, such as logs,
databases, sockets, and pidfiles, are created in a
subdirectory also named sandbox. Afterward, the as command
(see below) can be used to run Open vSwitch utilities in
the context of the new sandbox.
The new sandbox starts out without any bridges. Use
ovs-vsctl in the context of the new sandbox to create a
bridge, e.g.:
sim_add hv0 # Create sandbox hv0.
as hv0 # Set hv0 as default sandbox.
ovs-vsctl add-br br0 # Add bridge br0 inside hv0.
The Open vSwitch instances that sim_add creates enable
dummy devices. This means that bridges and interfaces can
be created with type dummy to indicate that they should be
totally simulated, without any reference to system
entities. In fact, ovs-sim also configures Open vSwitch
so that the default system type of bridges and interfaces
are replaced by dummy devices. Other types of devices,
however, retain their usual functions, which means that,
e.g., vxlan tunnels still act as tunnels (refer to the
documentation).
as sandbox
Sets sandbox as the default simulation target for Open
vSwitch commands (e.g. ovs-vsctl, ovs-ofctl, ovs-appctl).
This command updates the beginning of the shell prompt to
indicate the new default target.
as sandbox command arg…
Runs the given command with sandbox as the simulation
target, e.g. as hv0 ovs-vsctl add-br br0 runs ovs-vsctl
add-br br0 within sandbox hv0. The default target is
unchanged.
Interconnection Network Commands
When multiple sandboxed Open vSwitch instances exist, one will
inevitably want to connect them together. These commands allow
for that. Conceptually, an interconnection network is a switch
that ovs-sim makes it easy to plug into other switches in other
sandboxed Open vSwitch instances. Interconnection networks are
implemented as bridges in the main switch that ovs-sim creates by
default, so to use interconnection networks please avoid working
with main directly.
net_add network
Creates a new interconnection network named network.
net_attach network bridge
Adds a new port to bridge in the default sandbox (as set
with as) and plugs it into interconnection network
network, which must already have been created by a
previous invocation of net_add. The default sandbox must
not be main.
AUTHOR
The Open vSwitch Development Community
COPYRIGHT
2016-2024, The Open vSwitch Development Community
COLOPHON
This page is part of the Open vSwitch (a distributed virtual
multilayer switch) project. Information about the project can be
found at ⟨http://openvswitch.org/⟩. If you have a bug report for
this manual page, send it to bugs@openvswitch.org. This page was
obtained from the project's upstream Git repository
⟨https://github.com/openvswitch/ovs.git⟩ on 2024-06-14. (At that
time, the date of the most recent commit that was found in the
repository was 2024-06-07.) If you discover any rendering
problems in this HTML version of the page, or you believe there
is a better or more up-to-date source for the page, or you have
corrections or improvements to the information in this COLOPHON
(which is not part of the original manual page), send a mail to
man-pages@man7.org