Linux-geneve-tunnel Apr 2026

( Generic Network Virtualization Encapsulation ) is an extensible overlay tunneling protocol designed to unify earlier standards like VXLAN and NVGRE. It creates Layer 2 overlay networks over Layer 3 IP infrastructure by encapsulating Ethernet frames in UDP packets on port 6081 . Key Features

: Formally defined in RFC 8926 , it is the default tunnel protocol for modern cloud networking stacks like Open vSwitch (OVS) . Linux Implementation linux-geneve-tunnel

The Linux kernel provides native support for GENEVE through the ip link command suite. Setting up GENEVE tunnel in Linux with TC | by Chen Dar ( Generic Network Virtualization Encapsulation ) is an

: It utilizes a 24-bit Virtual Network Identifier (VNI) to isolate traffic, supporting up to 16 million unique virtual segments. This allows tunnel endpoints to exchange custom metadata,

: Unlike VXLAN's fixed header, GENEVE uses a variable-length options header with a Type-Length-Value (TLV) format. This allows tunnel endpoints to exchange custom metadata, which is critical for systems like Open Virtual Network (OVN) .