Install vde with Homebrew, apt

Project links

• Homepage
• Upstream docs
• Package manager page

Commands and aliases

• dpipe
• unixcmd
• vde_autolink
• vde_over_ns
• vde_pcapplug
• vde_plug
• vde_plug2tap
• vde_router
• vde_switch
• vdecmd
• vdeterm
• wirefilter

Project history

The vde-2 README credits Renzo Davoli for VDEv2 work from 2003 through 2006 and notes that it was based long ago on uml-router work by Yon Uriarte and Jeff Dike from 2002. A 2005 TridentCom paper by Davoli describes VDE as an Ethernet-compliant, distributed, software virtual network intended to connect emulators, virtual machines, real operating systems, and other tools.

The historical hosting path also shows its age. SourceForge records VDE as a Virtual Distributed Ethernet project and states that the project moved to GitHub at virtualsquare/vde-2, with new issues and patches directed there. The current GitHub repository was created on 2016-02-22, preserving the vde-2 codebase under the VirtualSquare organization.

Adoption history

VDE's adoption was strongest in virtualization and network-emulation niches. The manpage documents end nodes including real Linux boxes through TUN/TAP, Bochs, QEMU, and MPS virtual machines; Oracle's VirtualBox manual describes VDE networking as an optional source-code feature and credits Renzo Davoli at the University of Bologna.

The 2005 paper framed VDE as a general virtual networking layer rather than a single-emulator feature. That distinction is the adoption hook: users could build virtual Ethernet topologies across different hosts and virtualization systems instead of accepting the networking model bundled with one emulator.

How it is used

A typical VDE setup runs vde_switch, connects local or remote endpoints with vde_plug/vde cables, and optionally attaches a host TAP interface. The vde_switch manpage describes management through console or a Unix-socket terminal, support for VLAN-like behavior, Fast Spanning Tree work, and daemon mode.

VDE is used for heterogeneous VM labs, tunnels, mobility experiments, and overlay networks where Ethernet frames should move through a user-controlled virtual topology. The README emphasizes that units connected to VDE see each other as if they were on a real Ethernet.

Why package nerds care

VDE is significant because it exposes virtual networking as composable Unix tools rather than a hidden hypervisor setting. For package users building labs, that means repeatable topologies made of processes and sockets: switches, plugs, TAPs, packet captures, and filters.

It is also a good example of research software that became distribution software. The same package can be read as a 2000s virtualization artifact, a QEMU-era networking tool, and a still-useful way to build small Layer 2 experiments without deploying a larger SDN stack.

Timeline

• 2002: The vde-2 README credits earlier uml-router work by Yon Uriarte and Jeff Dike.
• 2003-2006: The vde-2 README credits Renzo Davoli's VDEv2 work across these years.
• 2005: Davoli's Virtual Distributed Ethernet paper described VDE as Ethernet-compliant, distributed, and useful for virtual machines and real systems.
• 2016-02-22: The virtualsquare/vde-2 GitHub repository was created.
• 2022-05-02: GitHub release v2.3.3 was published.

Related projects

• VDE is related to QEMU, User Mode Linux, Bochs, MPS, VirtualBox VDE networking, TUN/TAP tooling, and later virtual-switch systems such as Open vSwitch. In the VirtualSquare family, vdeplug4 is a later related project that rethinks VDE plug connections.

Sources

• https://api.github.com/repos/virtualsquare/vde-2
• https://api.github.com/repos/virtualsquare/vde-2/releases
• https://docs.oracle.com/en/virtualization/virtualbox/6.0/user/network_vde.html
• https://eudl.eu/doi/10.1109/tridnt.2005.38
• https://github.com/rd235/vdeplug4
• https://github.com/virtualsquare/vde-2
• https://man.archlinux.org/man/vde_switch.1.en
• https://sourceforge.net/projects/vde/
• https://www.cs.unibo.it/~renzo/papers/2005.tridentcom.pdf