What is Open vSwitch?

Open vSwitch is a production quality, multilayer virtual switch licensed under the open source Apache 2.0 license. It is designed to enable massive network automation through programmatic extension, while still supporting standard management interfaces and protocols (e.g. NetFlow, sFlow, IPFIX, RSPAN, CLI, LACP, 802.1ag).

Debian 11/12 Example Hypervisor Setup

apt install openvswitch-switch
systemctl enable openvswitch-switch
systemctl start openvswitch-switch

ovs-vsctl add-br br0
ovs-vsctl add-port br0 HYPERVISOR_INTERFACE
ovs-vsctl set port HYPERVISOR_INTERFACE vlan_mode=native-untagged
ovs-vsctl set port HYPERVISOR_INTERFACE tag=1
ovs-vsctl add-port br0 mgmt -- set Interface mgmt type=internal
ovs-vsctl set port mgmt tag=1

/etc/network/interfaces

auto lo
iface lo inet loopback

post-up ip link set br0 up
post-up ip link set HYPERVISOR_INTERFACE up
post-up ip addr add HYPERVISOR_IP/HYPERVISOR_CIDR dev mgmt
post-up ip link set mgmt up
post-up ip route add HYPERVISOR_GATEWAY dev mgmt
post-up ip route add default via HYPERVISOR_GATEWAY dev mgmt