ovs-ctl(8)                    Open vSwitch Manual                   ovs-ctl(8)

NAME
       ovs-kmod-ctl - OVS startup helper script for loading kernel modules

SYNOPSIS
       ovs-kmod-ctl insert
       ovs-kmod-ctl remove
       ovs-kmod-ctl help | -h | --help
       ovs-kmod-ctl --version
       ovs-kmod-ctl version

DESCRIPTION
       The ovs-kmod-ctl program is responsible for inserting and removing Open
       vSwitch kernel modules.  It is not meant to be invoked directly by sys‐
       tem  administrators  but  to  be  called  internally  by system startup
       scripts.  The script is used as part of an SELinux transition domain.

       Each of ovs-kmod-ctl's commands is described separately below.

The ``insert'' command
       The insert command loads the Open vSwitch kernel  modules,  if  needed.
       If this fails, and the Linux bridge module is loaded but no bridges ex‐
       ist,  it  tries  to unload the bridge module and tries loading the Open
       vSwitch kernel module again.

The ``remove'' command
       The remove command unloads the Open vSwitch  kernel  module  (including
       the  bridge  compatibility  module, if loaded) and any associated vport
       modules.

EXIT STATUS
       ovs-kmod-ctl exits with status 0 on success  and  nonzero  on  failure.
       The  insert  command is considered to succeed if kernel modules are al‐
       ready loaded; the remove command is considered to succeed  if  none  of
       the kernel modules are loaded.

ENVIRONMENT
       The following environment variables affect ovs-kmod-ctl:

       PATH   ovs-kmod-ctl  does  not hardcode the location of any of the pro‐
              grams that it runs.   ovs-kmod-ctl  will  add  the  sbindir  and
              bindir  that  were  specified at configure time to PATH, if they
              are not already present.

       OVS_LOGDIR
       OVS_RUNDIR
       OVS_DBDIR
       OVS_SYSCONFDIR
       OVS_PKGDATADIR
       OVS_BINDIR
       OVS_SBINDIR
              Setting one of these variables in the environment overrides  the
              respective  configure  option,  both for ovs-kmod-ctl itself and
              for the other Open vSwitch programs that it runs.

FILES
       ovs-kmod-ctl uses the following files:

       ovs-lib
              Shell function library used internally by ovs-kmod-ctl.  It must
              be installed in the same directory as ovs-kmod-ctl.

EXAMPLE
       ovs-kmod-ctl isn't intended to be manually executed.  However, the fol‐
       lowing examples demonstrate loading the kernel modules.

       ovs-kmod-ctl insert
              Attempts to insert the Open vSwitch kernel modules.

       ovs-kmod-ctl remove
              Attempts to remove the Open vSwitch kernel modules.

SEE ALSO
       README.rst, ovs-ctl(8)

Open vSwitch                     February 2018                      ovs-ctl(8)