Configuring Neutron to use the Open vSwitch mechanism driver

The ML2 plugin can support many mechanisms to provide the core functionality. We will see how Open vSwitch can act as a mechanism driver for the ML2 plugin.

Getting ready

Using OVS as the mechanism driver requires changes to the ML2 plugin configuration file. We also have to configure OVS with a tenant network type and physical network alias.

How to do it…

The following steps will show you how to configure Open vSwitch as the mechanism driver for the ML2 plugin:

1. With the appropriate credentials, SSH into the node where the Neutron server is running. In our setup, it will be the Controller and Network node.
2. Open the Neutron ML2 plugin configuration file using your desired editor. For example, the command for vi editor will be as follows:

   openstack@controller:~$ sudo vi /etc/neutron/plugins/ml2/ml2_conf.ini
   

3. In the [ml2] section of the file, configure ML2 to use OVS as the mechanism driver:

   [ml2]
   ...
   mechanism_drivers = openvswitch...