VDE: Virtual Distributed Ethernet. Plug your VM directly to the cloud.
Vdeplug4 is a new perspective on virtual networking.
This software package includes a modular library (libvdeplug) and some utility tools (vde_plug and dpipe)
The new libvdeplug library is backwards compatible with the previous versions (so it is already supported by qemu, kvm, virtualbox, user-mode-linux, view-os, lwipv6, picotcp and all the other VM or virtual stacks supporting vde2).
The new library supports plug-ins so it is open to new developments in vrtual networking.
Several plug-ins are provided as standard extensions of the library (batteries included):
- vde: connect to legacy vde_switch (provided by vde2)
- ptp: peer to peer connection between two VM
- tap: connect a VM or a virtual network to a tap interface
- vxlan: connect vde switches or other vde networks to vxlan
- vxvde: this plug-in implements distributed virtual switches
- udp: udp tunnelling
The address of a virtual network is defined by a Virtual Network Locator (VNL), a string whose syntax is similar to web URLs.
examples:
vxvde://239.1.2.3/ttl=2
tap://mytap
vde:///tmp/myswitch
myplugin://my.syntax/myarg=myvalue
This latter example will work provided there is a dynamic library named libvdeplug_myplugin.so available and accepting the syntax of the parameters after '//'
Other modules can be added. Vdeplug4 includes the header file and a support library to implement further plugins.
The libexec library is required. If you don't already have it, you can install it from the source repository
On Debian and Ubuntu, the libexecs-dev package is available:
apt install libexecs-dev
Install vdeplug4:
$ mkdir build
$ cd build
$ cmake ..
$ make
$ sudo make install
vdeplug4 is also available in Debian and Ubuntu:
apt install vdeplug
Start several VM on different hosts on the same LAN (IP ttl must be 1). (VM virtual controllers must have different MAC addresses).
e.g. kvm:
kvm .... -net nic,macaddr=52:54:00:11:22:11 -net vde,sock=vxvde://
kvm .... -net nic,macaddr=52:54:00:11:22:22 -net vde,sock=vxvde://
kvm .... -net nic,macaddr=52:54:00:11:22:33 -net vde,sock=vxvde://
kvm .... -net nic,macaddr=52:54:00:11:22:44 -net vde,sock=vxvde://
kvm .... -net nic,macaddr=52:54:00:11:22:55 -net vde,sock=vxvde://
All the VM will be automagically on the same Virtual LAN. (similarly, it is possible to add virtualbox, qemu-system-* and user-mode-linux VMs).
It is possible to connect the virtual newtork to a tuntap interface and manage in this way the routing towards real networks (maybe the Internet). The command (to run on any host on the LAN) is:
$ sudo vde_plug vxvde:// tap://mytap
The tap can be defined on a remote host:
$ vde_plug vxvde:// = ssh fqdn.of.remote.host,org vde_plug tap://
Mattia Biondi largely contibuted to the conversion from autotools to cmake. (2019)