.\" Copyright (c) 2004 Renzo Davoli
.\"
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.TH VDE_SWITCH 1 "February 23, 2004" "Virtual Distributed Ethernet"
.SH NAME
vde_switch \- Virtual Distributed Ethernet switch
.SH SYNOPSIS
.B vde_switch 
[ 
.B \-hub  
] 
[ 
.BI \-sock 
.I socketpath  
]  
[ 
.BI \-tap 
.I interface  
] 
[
.BI \-daemon 
]
.br
.SH DESCRIPTION
A
\fBvde_switch\fP 
is a virtual switch for the vde architecture.
.br
A vde network can include several vde_switches running on different
(real) computers.
vde_switches can be connected by vde cables (see
\fBvde_plug (1)\fP
).
.br
Supported architecture for VDE end nodes include: 
real linux boxes (through the tuntap interface),
bochs, qemu and MPS virtual machines.
.br
VDE is useful to create networks of heterogeneous virtual machines as
well as as a general tunneling tool -- all the ethernet based protocols work
by this kind of tunnel -- and also as a tool for mobility.
In fact VDE creates an overlay network where users can keep their IP
addresses despite of the change of IP addresses on the interfaces.

vde_switch needs root privileges to open a tap interface, can be run by
users when no -tap option is specified.

.SH OPTIONS
.TP
.B \-hub, 
turn off the switch engine. It operates as a hub.
.TP
.B \-sock "\fIsocketpath\fP", 
specify the UNIX socket to be used by local programs for joining the VDE.
The default value is "/tmp/vde.ctl"
.TP
.B \-tap "\fIinterface\fP", 
connect the specified tuntap interface to this vde_switch (needs root privileges)
.TP
.B \-daemon, 
Run as a daemon. Use syslog for logging.
.SH SEE ALSO
.BR vde_plug (1),
.BR vdeq (1).
.BR dpipe (1).
.br
.SH AUTHOR
This code is based on uml_switch by Jeff Dike and others.
.br
VDE is a project by Renzo Davoli <renzo@cs.unibo.it>