LIBVDEPLUG_VXLAN(1)

📦 version 4.0.1, in debian bookworm, debian trixie, ubuntu jammy, ubuntu noble, ubuntu questing, ubuntu resolute, ubuntu stonking

💖 LIBVDEPLUG_VXLAN — the vxlan vdeplug module 💖

okay bestie, gather round, because this is the little .so that lets your virtual machines hop onto a vxlan network together. it's a module, it's a mood, it's networking. let's go 🦋

✨ NAME ✨

libvdeplug_vxlan — the vxlan vdeplug module. that's it, that's the name, and it's iconic.

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

libvdeplug_vxlan.so

yes, that's the whole synopsis. she's a shared object, not a command, so there's nothing to type at a shell. you don't run her, you link her. iykyk 💅

🎀 DESCRIPTION 🎀

so this is the libvdeplug module you use to join vxlan networks. and here's the thing you need to know before anything else:

Only one process per host can join each vxlan network. like, one. per host. per network. no doubling up, no sharing, no cap. 😭

this module lives inside libvdeplug4, which means literally any program that supports vde can use it — think vde_plug, kvm, qemu, user-mode-linux and virtualbox. all of them. slay.

the vde_plug_url syntax of this module goes like this:

vxlan://[multicast_addr][/OPTION][/OPTION]

and if you leave out multicast_addr? no worries, she's got defaults ready for you 💖

  • IPv4 default: 239.0.0.1
  • IPv6 default: ff05:56de::1

💅 OPTIONS 💅

every single one, bestie, we're not skipping a single flag. this is the full menu 🍓

  • v4 — use IPv4, queen of the classics.
  • v6 — use IPv6, the futuristic one.
  • port=PORT — define the multicast port. the default value is 4789.
  • vni=VNI — define the virtual network identifier. the default value is 1.
  • ttl=TTL — define the time-to-live. the default value is 1. and then, glued onto this exact same entry in the original page, we have: hashsize=HASHSIZE set the size of the hash table for packet switching.
  • hashsize=HASHSIZE — set the size of the hash table for packet switching. (fr fr, in the original page this one is tacked onto the end of the ttl entry, no shade, i'm just telling you where she lives.)
  • expiretime=EXPIRETIME — set the maximum age in seconds of valid packet switching entries. so like, how long a switching entry gets to stay valid before it's ✨ expired ✨.
  • if=INTERFACE — set the (real) network interface to use. the actual one, not a vibe. 🌈

🔥 EXAMPLES 🔥

okay let's see her in the wild:

vxlan://239.0.0.1

this vde_plug_url refers to the vxlan network defined on the multicast address 239.0.0.1, with vni=1. simple, clean, main character energy 👑

and now the group project version — programs using:

vxlan://ff15::3/port=12345/vni=42

join the same vxlan network defined by the multicast address ff15::1, port 12345, and vni is 42. (yes, ff15::3 in the URL, ff15::1 in the network description — that's literally what the original says, don't @ me 🙈)

🫶 NOTICE 🫶

just so nobody gets confused at the family reunion:

Virtual Distributed Ethernet is not related in any way with www.vde.com ("Verband der Elektrotechnik, Elektronik und Informationstechnik" i.e. the German "Association for Electrical, Electronic & Information Technologies").

different vde. completely different vde. no relation. none. 💀

⭐ SEE ALSO ⭐

and that's the whole page, bestie — you're officially a vxlan girlie now 🧚

this little masterpiece comes to you from Virtual Distributed Ethernet, dated August 23, 2016. go forth and multicast responsibly 💜✨

📦 where this page comes from