source: trunk/packages/xen-3.1/xen-3.1/tools/vnet/doc/man/vn.pod.1 @ 34

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1=head1 NAME
2
3vn - Vnet (virtual networking) management utility.
4
5=head1 SYNOPSIS
6
7vn <command> [args]
8
9=head1 DESCRIPTION
10
11The B<vn> utility manages vnets, virtual networks for virtual machines.
12Before using vnets, the vnet kernel module must be installed or
13the user-space daemon vnetd must be running. Using the kernel module is recommended,
14see the B<insmod> command below.
15
16A vnet is a virtual network that behaves like a private LAN, transporting
17Ethernet frames. Each vnet is identified by a 128-bit vnet id and
18has a network device that interfaces to it. Ethernet packets written
19to the device are encapsulated and sent to the network.
20Received vnet packets are decapsulated and delivered from the device
21corresponding to their vnet id. The default encapsulation uses UDP on port 1798.
22
23Usually each vnet device is enslaved to a corresponding bridge, and virtual
24machine interfaces are attached to vnets by enslaving them to the bridge.
25Each vnet behaves like a private LAN: traffic on one vnet is not visible
26on other vnets, and interfaces on a vnet cannot see traffic on the
27physical network.
28
29Vnets can be connected together into larger networks
30by direct bridging or packet forwarding, or by using multihomed vms
31with interfaces on several vnets, or vnets and the physical network.
32As vnet interfaces are discovered dynamically, vnet connectivity is maintained
33if a vm using a vnet is migrated from one physical machine to another.
34
35In the commands vnet ids can be given in two forms. Long form, as 8 4-digit hex fields
36separated by colons, for example 0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0004, and
37short form as a hex field, for example 0004 or 4. The short form is the same as the
38long form with the first 7 fields zero. Vnet id 0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0001
39is reserved for the physical network and has no vnet device.
40
41Vnets use multicast to discover the location of virtual interfaces, by default
42using multicast group 224.10.0.1. If all the machines hosting vnets are on
43the same subnet, or reachable by multicast, vnets will span all the machines
44automatically. If some machines are not reachable by multicast you can configure
45vnets to perform multicast forwarding using UDP.
46
47The vnet devices are fully-functional network devices, so you can add IP addresses
48to them and test connectivity without any vms running.
49For example, using vnif0004 on machines A and B:
50
51        A> ifconfig vnif0004 10.0.0.11
52        B> ifconfig vnif0004 10.0.0.12
53        B> ping 10.0.0.11
54
55If the vnet device is enslaved to a bridge you will have to add the IP address
56to the bridge instead. Use C<brctl show> or C<vn vnets> to see if a vnet
57device is on a bridge.
58
59=over 4
60
61=item B<insmod> I<[varp_mcaddr=ADDR]>
62
63Insert the vnet kernel module, optionally supplying the multicast
64address to use, default 224.10.0.1.
65
66=item B<varp>
67
68Print varp infrormation and varp cache.
69
70=item B<vnets> [options]
71
72Print the list of vnets (virtual networks). If a vnet device is on a bridge,
73also shows the bridge and its bridged interfaces.
74
75=over 4
76
77=item B<-a | --all>
78
79Also print the vifs on each vnet and varp information.
80
81=item B<-l | --long>
82
83Also print the ifconfig for the vnet devices.
84
85=back
86
87=item B<vnet-create> I<[options]> I<vnetid>
88
89Create a vnet with the given id. The options are:
90
91=over 4
92
93=item B<-s | --security> I<level>
94
95Security level, which can be one of I<none> for no security,
96I<auth> for message authentication, and I<conf> for message
97authentication and confidentiality. The default is no security.
98Security is provided using IPSEC, but uses hard-wired keys.
99
100=item B<-b | --bridge> I<bridgename>
101
102Create a bridge for the vnet called I<bridgename> and enslave
103the vnet device to it.
104
105=item B<-v | --vnetif> I<vnetifname>
106
107Use I<vnetifname> as the name for the vnet device. If this option
108is not specified the default is to name the device vnifN where N
109is the last field of the vnet id as 4 hex characters.
110For example vnif0004. Network device names can be at
111most 14 characters.
112
113=back
114
115=item B<vnet-delete> I<[options]> I<vnetid>
116
117Delete the vnet with the given id. The vnet device goes away too.
118
119=over 4
120
121=item B<-b | --bridge>
122
123If this option is specified, delete the bridge associated with the vnet.
124
125=back
126
127=item B<vifs>
128
129Print the list of vifs (virtual interfaces).
130
131=item B<vif-add> I<[-i|-interface]> I<vnet> I<vmac>
132
133Add a vif to a vnet. Here I<vnet> is the vnet id and I<vmac>
134is the vif's MAC address. Alternatively, I<vmac> can be the name of
135a network device if the I<-i> or -I<--interface> flag is given.
136
137It is not usually necessary to use B<vif-add> as vnets automatically
138add vifs for the MAC addresses they see.
139
140=item B<vif-delete> I<[-i|-interface]> I<vnet> I<vmac>
141
142Delete a vif from a vnet. Here I<vnet> is the vnet id and I<vmac>
143is the vif's MAC address. Alternatively, I<vmac> can be the name of
144a network device if the I<-i> of -I<--interface> flag is given.
145
146It is not usually necessary to use B<vif-delete> as vnets periodically
147delete unused vifs.
148
149=item B<peers>
150
151Print the list of peer vnet machines to forward multicasts to, and accept
152forwarded multicasts from.
153
154=item B<peer-add> I<addr>
155
156Add the peer with the given IP address or hostname.
157
158=item B<peer-delete> I<addr>
159
160Delete the peer with the given IP address or hostname.
161
162=back
163
164=head1 AUTHOR
165
166The author of vn and vnets is Mike Wray of HP Labs. Please send problems, bugs,
167enhancements requests etc. to mike.wray@hp.com.
168
169=head1 COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE
170
171Copyright (C) 2006 Mike Wray <mike.wray@hp.com>.
172
173This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
174it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by
175the Free Software Foundation; either version 2.1 of the License, or
176(at your option) any later version.
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