PicOS is the operating system running on FS switches, based on Open vSwitch (OVS) with additional proprietary enhancements. It provides a familiar CLI for network engineers while delivering open, programmable data plane capabilities.
| Feature | Support | Notes |
|---|
| VLANs (802.1Q) | Yes | Up to 4096 VLANs |
| VTP | No | Use manual VLAN config |
| STP/RSTP/MSTP | Yes | Default: MSTP |
| LACP (802.3ad) | Yes | Active/passive modes |
| LLDP/CDP | Yes | Topology discovery |
| ERPS (G.8032) | Yes | Ring protection |
| Q-in-Q | Yes | Service VLAN tagging |
| Feature | Support | Notes |
|---|
| IPv4 Routing | Yes | Static, OSPF, BGP, IS-IS |
| IPv6 Routing | Yes | Static, OSPFv3, BGP6 |
| VRF | Yes | Multiple routing instances |
| PIM-SM/SSM | Yes | Multicast routing |
| PIM BiDir | Yes | Bidirectional PIM |
| IGMP/MLD Snooping | Yes | L2 multicast |
| Feature | Support | Notes |
|---|
| VXLAN (static) | Yes | Hardware offload |
| VXLAN + EVPN | Yes | Control plane via BGP |
| Symmetric/Asymmetric IRB | Yes | Inter-VN routing |
| Multicast replication | Yes | Broadcast handling |
| NSH (Service Chaining) | Yes | SFC support |
| Feature | Support | Notes |
|---|
| PFC (Priority Flow Control) | Yes | Lossless Ethernet |
| ECN (Explicit Congestion Notification) | Yes | DCTCP support |
| DCBX | Yes | Data Center Bridging |
| RDMA over Converged Ethernet | Yes | RoCEv2 |
| NVGRE | No | Use VXLAN instead |
| Feature | PicOS | Cisco IOS | Arista EOS |
|---|
| Architecture | OVS-based | Modular | Single-process |
| CLI Style | Cisco-like | Cisco | eAPI (Python/REST) |
| Programmability | OVSDB, OpenFlow | YANG/NETCONF | eAPI, CloudVision |
| VXLAN | Yes | Yes (NX-OS) | Yes |
| EVPN | Yes | Yes (VXLAN) | Yes |
| Streaming Telemetry | Yes | Yes (MDT) | Yes (AVB) |
| Hardware Offload | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Container Support | Limited | Yes (Nexus) | Yes |
# Console
ssh admin@switch-ip
# Default credentials
Username: admin
Password: password
# Enter configuration mode
configure terminal
# Common commands
show running-config
show interfaces status
show vlan
show ip route
# Connect to OVSDB
ovs-vsctl show
# List bridges
ovs-vsctl list-br
# Add port
ovs-vsctl add-port br0 ge-1/1/1
# Set interface
ovs-ofctl show br0
switch> # User EXEC (read-only)
switch# # Privileged EXEC (enable mode)
switch(config)# # Global configuration
switch(config-if)# # Interface configuration
switch(config-router)# # Router configuration
# Enable QoS
qos enable
# Create traffic class
qos map traffic-class 0 to queue 0
qos map traffic-class 5 to queue 2
# Configure shaping
interface GigabitEthernet 0/1
shaping rate 1000000 # 1 Gbps
exit
| Feature | PicOS Support |
|---|
| ACLs (IPv4/IPv6) | Yes |
| Port Security | Yes |
| DHCP Snooping | Yes |
| Dynamic ARP Inspection | Yes |
| IP Source Guard | Yes |
| Storm Control | Yes |
| Dot1X (RADIUS) | Yes |
| ACL Logging | Yes |
# Check current version
show version
# Upgrade via USB
install software usb:/picos-v6.0.0.bin
# Recovery via BOOT menu
# Connect console, press any key during boot
# Select recovery mode
