ovs\-ctl

Section: Open vSwitch Manual (8)
Updated: February 2018
Page Index

NAME

ovs-kmod-ctl - OVS startup helper script for loading kernel modules

SYNOPSIS

ovs-kmod-ctl insert
ovs-kmod-ctl remove
ovs-kmod-ctl help | -h | --help
ovs-kmod-ctl --version
ovs-kmod-ctl version

DESCRIPTION

The ovs-kmod-ctl program is responsible for inserting and removing Open vSwitch kernel modules. It is not meant to be invoked directly by system administrators but to be called internally by system startup scripts. The script is used as part of an SELinux transition domain.

Each of ovs-kmod-ctl's commands is described separately below.

The ``insert'' command

The insert command loads the Open vSwitch kernel modules, if needed. If this fails, and the Linux bridge module is loaded but no bridges exist, it tries to unload the bridge module and tries loading the Open vSwitch kernel module again.

The ``remove'' command

The remove command unloads the Open vSwitch kernel module (including the bridge compatibility module, if loaded) and any associated vport modules.

EXIT STATUS

ovs-kmod-ctl exits with status 0 on success and nonzero on failure. The insert command is considered to succeed if kernel modules are already loaded; the remove command is considered to succeed if none of the kernel modules are loaded.

ENVIRONMENT

The following environment variables affect ovs-kmod-ctl:

PATH: ovs-kmod-ctl does not hardcode the location of any of the programs that it runs. ovs-kmod-ctl will add the sbindir and bindir that were specified at configure time to PATH, if they are not already present.
OVS_LOGDIR
OVS_RUNDIR
OVS_DBDIR
OVS_SYSCONFDIR
OVS_PKGDATADIR
OVS_BINDIR
OVS_SBINDIR: Setting one of these variables in the environment overrides the respective configure option, both for ovs-kmod-ctl itself and for the other Open vSwitch programs that it runs.

FILES

ovs-kmod-ctl uses the following files:

ovs-lib: Shell function library used internally by ovs-kmod-ctl. It must be installed in the same directory as ovs-kmod-ctl.

EXAMPLE

ovs-kmod-ctl isn't intended to be manually executed. However, the following examples demonstrate loading the kernel modules.

ovs-kmod-ctl insert: Attempts to insert the Open vSwitch kernel modules.
ovs-kmod-ctl remove: Attempts to remove the Open vSwitch kernel modules.