1 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
2 <database title="Open vSwitch Configuration Database">
4 A database with this schema holds the configuration for one Open
5 vSwitch daemon. The top-level configuration for the daemon is the
6 <ref table="Open_vSwitch"/> table, which must have exactly one
7 record. Records in other tables are significant only when they
8 can be reached directly or indirectly from the <ref
9 table="Open_vSwitch"/> table. Records that are not reachable from
10 the <ref table="Open_vSwitch"/> table are automatically deleted
11 from the database, except for records in a few distinguished
15 <h2>Common Columns</h2>
18 Most tables contain two special columns, named <code>other_config</code>
19 and <code>external_ids</code>. These columns have the same form and
20 purpose each place that they appear, so we describe them here to save space
25 <dt><code>other_config</code>: map of string-string pairs</dt>
28 Key-value pairs for configuring rarely used features. Supported keys,
29 along with the forms taken by their values, are documented individually
33 A few tables do not have <code>other_config</code> columns because no
34 key-value pairs have yet been defined for them.
38 <dt><code>external_ids</code>: map of string-string pairs</dt>
40 Key-value pairs for use by external frameworks that integrate with Open
41 vSwitch, rather than by Open vSwitch itself. System integrators should
42 either use the Open vSwitch development mailing list to coordinate on
43 common key-value definitions, or choose key names that are likely to be
44 unique. In some cases, where key-value pairs have been defined that are
45 likely to be widely useful, they are documented individually for each
50 <table name="Open_vSwitch" title="Open vSwitch configuration.">
51 Configuration for an Open vSwitch daemon. There must be exactly
52 one record in the <ref table="Open_vSwitch"/> table.
54 <group title="Configuration">
55 <column name="bridges">
56 Set of bridges managed by the daemon.
60 SSL used globally by the daemon.
63 <column name="external_ids" key="system-id">
64 A unique identifier for the Open vSwitch's physical host.
65 The form of the identifier depends on the type of the host.
66 On a Citrix XenServer, this will likely be the same as
67 <ref column="external_ids" key="xs-system-uuid"/>.
70 <column name="external_ids" key="xs-system-uuid">
71 The Citrix XenServer universally unique identifier for the physical
72 host as displayed by <code>xe host-list</code>.
75 <column name="other_config" key="flow-restore-wait"
76 type='{"type": "boolean"}'>
78 When <code>ovs-vswitchd</code> starts up, it has an empty flow table
79 and therefore it handles all arriving packets in its default fashion
80 according to its configuration, by dropping them or sending them to
81 an OpenFlow controller or switching them as a standalone switch.
82 This behavior is ordinarily desirable. However, if
83 <code>ovs-vswitchd</code> is restarting as part of a ``hot-upgrade,''
84 then this leads to a relatively long period during which packets are
88 This option allows for improvement. When <code>ovs-vswitchd</code>
89 starts with this value set as <code>true</code>, it will neither
90 flush or expire previously set datapath flows nor will it send and
91 receive any packets to or from the datapath. When this value is
92 later set to <code>false</code>, <code>ovs-vswitchd</code> will
93 start receiving packets from the datapath and re-setup the flows.
96 Thus, with this option, the procedure for a hot-upgrade of
97 <code>ovs-vswitchd</code> becomes roughly the following:
101 Stop <code>ovs-vswitchd</code>.
104 Set <ref column="other_config" key="flow-restore-wait"/>
105 to <code>true</code>.
108 Start <code>ovs-vswitchd</code>.
111 Use <code>ovs-ofctl</code> (or some other program, such as an
112 OpenFlow controller) to restore the OpenFlow flow table
113 to the desired state.
116 Set <ref column="other_config" key="flow-restore-wait"/>
117 to <code>false</code> (or remove it entirely from the database).
123 <group title="Status">
124 <column name="next_cfg">
125 Sequence number for client to increment. When a client modifies
126 any part of the database configuration and wishes to wait for
127 Open vSwitch to finish applying the changes, it may increment
128 this sequence number.
131 <column name="cur_cfg">
132 Sequence number that Open vSwitch sets to the current value of
133 <ref column="next_cfg"/> after it finishes applying a set of
134 configuration changes.
137 <group title="Statistics">
139 The <code>statistics</code> column contains key-value pairs that
140 report statistics about a system running an Open vSwitch. These are
141 updated periodically (currently, every 5 seconds). Key-value pairs
142 that cannot be determined or that do not apply to a platform are
146 <column name="other_config" key="enable-statistics"
147 type='{"type": "boolean"}'>
148 Statistics are disabled by default to avoid overhead in the common
149 case when statistics gathering is not useful. Set this value to
150 <code>true</code> to enable populating the <ref column="statistics"/>
151 column or to <code>false</code> to explicitly disable it.
154 <column name="statistics" key="cpu"
155 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1}'>
157 Number of CPU processors, threads, or cores currently online and
158 available to the operating system on which Open vSwitch is running,
159 as an integer. This may be less than the number installed, if some
160 are not online or if they are not available to the operating
164 Open vSwitch userspace processes are not multithreaded, but the
165 Linux kernel-based datapath is.
169 <column name="statistics" key="load_average">
170 A comma-separated list of three floating-point numbers,
171 representing the system load average over the last 1, 5, and 15
172 minutes, respectively.
175 <column name="statistics" key="memory">
177 A comma-separated list of integers, each of which represents a
178 quantity of memory in kilobytes that describes the operating
179 system on which Open vSwitch is running. In respective order,
184 <li>Total amount of RAM allocated to the OS.</li>
185 <li>RAM allocated to the OS that is in use.</li>
186 <li>RAM that can be flushed out to disk or otherwise discarded
187 if that space is needed for another purpose. This number is
188 necessarily less than or equal to the previous value.</li>
189 <li>Total disk space allocated for swap.</li>
190 <li>Swap space currently in use.</li>
194 On Linux, all five values can be determined and are included. On
195 other operating systems, only the first two values can be
196 determined, so the list will only have two values.
200 <column name="statistics" key="process_NAME">
202 One such key-value pair, with <code>NAME</code> replaced by
203 a process name, will exist for each running Open vSwitch
204 daemon process, with <var>name</var> replaced by the
205 daemon's name (e.g. <code>process_ovs-vswitchd</code>). The
206 value is a comma-separated list of integers. The integers
207 represent the following, with memory measured in kilobytes
208 and durations in milliseconds:
212 <li>The process's virtual memory size.</li>
213 <li>The process's resident set size.</li>
214 <li>The amount of user and system CPU time consumed by the
216 <li>The number of times that the process has crashed and been
217 automatically restarted by the monitor.</li>
218 <li>The duration since the process was started.</li>
219 <li>The duration for which the process has been running.</li>
223 The interpretation of some of these values depends on whether the
224 process was started with the <option>--monitor</option>. If it
225 was not, then the crash count will always be 0 and the two
226 durations will always be the same. If <option>--monitor</option>
227 was given, then the crash count may be positive; if it is, the
228 latter duration is the amount of time since the most recent crash
233 There will be one key-value pair for each file in Open vSwitch's
234 ``run directory'' (usually <code>/var/run/openvswitch</code>)
235 whose name ends in <code>.pid</code>, whose contents are a
236 process ID, and which is locked by a running process. The
237 <var>name</var> is taken from the pidfile's name.
241 Currently Open vSwitch is only able to obtain all of the above
242 detail on Linux systems. On other systems, the same key-value
243 pairs will be present but the values will always be the empty
248 <column name="statistics" key="file_systems">
250 A space-separated list of information on local, writable file
251 systems. Each item in the list describes one file system and
252 consists in turn of a comma-separated list of the following:
256 <li>Mount point, e.g. <code>/</code> or <code>/var/log</code>.
257 Any spaces or commas in the mount point are replaced by
259 <li>Total size, in kilobytes, as an integer.</li>
260 <li>Amount of storage in use, in kilobytes, as an integer.</li>
264 This key-value pair is omitted if there are no local, writable
265 file systems or if Open vSwitch cannot obtain the needed
272 <group title="Version Reporting">
274 These columns report the types and versions of the hardware and
275 software running Open vSwitch. We recommend in general that software
276 should test whether specific features are supported instead of relying
277 on version number checks. These values are primarily intended for
278 reporting to human administrators.
281 <column name="ovs_version">
282 The Open vSwitch version number, e.g. <code>1.1.0</code>.
285 <column name="db_version">
287 The database schema version number in the form
288 <code><var>major</var>.<var>minor</var>.<var>tweak</var></code>,
289 e.g. <code>1.2.3</code>. Whenever the database schema is changed in
290 a non-backward compatible way (e.g. deleting a column or a table),
291 <var>major</var> is incremented. When the database schema is changed
292 in a backward compatible way (e.g. adding a new column),
293 <var>minor</var> is incremented. When the database schema is changed
294 cosmetically (e.g. reindenting its syntax), <var>tweak</var> is
299 The schema version is part of the database schema, so it can also be
300 retrieved by fetching the schema using the Open vSwitch database
305 <column name="system_type">
307 An identifier for the type of system on top of which Open vSwitch
308 runs, e.g. <code>XenServer</code> or <code>KVM</code>.
311 System integrators are responsible for choosing and setting an
312 appropriate value for this column.
316 <column name="system_version">
318 The version of the system identified by <ref column="system_type"/>,
319 e.g. <code>5.6.100-39265p</code> on XenServer 5.6.100 build 39265.
322 System integrators are responsible for choosing and setting an
323 appropriate value for this column.
329 <group title="Database Configuration">
331 These columns primarily configure the Open vSwitch database
332 (<code>ovsdb-server</code>), not the Open vSwitch switch
333 (<code>ovs-vswitchd</code>). The OVSDB database also uses the <ref
334 column="ssl"/> settings.
338 The Open vSwitch switch does read the database configuration to
339 determine remote IP addresses to which in-band control should apply.
342 <column name="manager_options">
343 Database clients to which the Open vSwitch database server should
344 connect or to which it should listen, along with options for how these
345 connection should be configured. See the <ref table="Manager"/> table
346 for more information.
350 <group title="Common Columns">
351 The overall purpose of these columns is described under <code>Common
352 Columns</code> at the beginning of this document.
354 <column name="other_config"/>
355 <column name="external_ids"/>
359 <table name="Bridge">
361 Configuration for a bridge within an
362 <ref table="Open_vSwitch"/>.
365 A <ref table="Bridge"/> record represents an Ethernet switch with one or
366 more ``ports,'' which are the <ref table="Port"/> records pointed to by
367 the <ref table="Bridge"/>'s <ref column="ports"/> column.
370 <group title="Core Features">
372 Bridge identifier. Should be alphanumeric and no more than about 8
373 bytes long. Must be unique among the names of ports, interfaces, and
377 <column name="ports">
378 Ports included in the bridge.
381 <column name="mirrors">
382 Port mirroring configuration.
385 <column name="netflow">
386 NetFlow configuration.
389 <column name="sflow">
390 sFlow(R) configuration.
393 <column name="ipfix">
397 <column name="flood_vlans">
399 VLAN IDs of VLANs on which MAC address learning should be disabled,
400 so that packets are flooded instead of being sent to specific ports
401 that are believed to contain packets' destination MACs. This should
402 ordinarily be used to disable MAC learning on VLANs used for
403 mirroring (RSPAN VLANs). It may also be useful for debugging.
406 SLB bonding (see the <ref table="Port" column="bond_mode"/> column in
407 the <ref table="Port"/> table) is incompatible with
408 <code>flood_vlans</code>. Consider using another bonding mode or
409 a different type of mirror instead.
414 <group title="OpenFlow Configuration">
415 <column name="controller">
417 OpenFlow controller set. If unset, then no OpenFlow controllers
422 If there are primary controllers, removing all of them clears the
423 flow table. If there are no primary controllers, adding one also
424 clears the flow table. Other changes to the set of controllers, such
425 as adding or removing a service controller, adding another primary
426 controller to supplement an existing primary controller, or removing
427 only one of two primary controllers, have no effect on the flow
432 <column name="flow_tables">
433 Configuration for OpenFlow tables. Each pair maps from an OpenFlow
434 table ID to configuration for that table.
437 <column name="fail_mode">
438 <p>When a controller is configured, it is, ordinarily, responsible
439 for setting up all flows on the switch. Thus, if the connection to
440 the controller fails, no new network connections can be set up.
441 If the connection to the controller stays down long enough,
442 no packets can pass through the switch at all. This setting
443 determines the switch's response to such a situation. It may be set
444 to one of the following:
446 <dt><code>standalone</code></dt>
447 <dd>If no message is received from the controller for three
448 times the inactivity probe interval
449 (see <ref column="inactivity_probe"/>), then Open vSwitch
450 will take over responsibility for setting up flows. In
451 this mode, Open vSwitch causes the bridge to act like an
452 ordinary MAC-learning switch. Open vSwitch will continue
453 to retry connecting to the controller in the background
454 and, when the connection succeeds, it will discontinue its
455 standalone behavior.</dd>
456 <dt><code>secure</code></dt>
457 <dd>Open vSwitch will not set up flows on its own when the
458 controller connection fails or when no controllers are
459 defined. The bridge will continue to retry connecting to
460 any defined controllers forever.</dd>
464 The default is <code>standalone</code> if the value is unset, but
465 future versions of Open vSwitch may change the default.
468 The <code>standalone</code> mode can create forwarding loops on a
469 bridge that has more than one uplink port unless STP is enabled. To
470 avoid loops on such a bridge, configure <code>secure</code> mode or
471 enable STP (see <ref column="stp_enable"/>).
473 <p>When more than one controller is configured,
474 <ref column="fail_mode"/> is considered only when none of the
475 configured controllers can be contacted.</p>
477 Changing <ref column="fail_mode"/> when no primary controllers are
478 configured clears the flow table.
482 <column name="datapath_id">
483 Reports the OpenFlow datapath ID in use. Exactly 16 hex digits.
484 (Setting this column has no useful effect. Set <ref
485 column="other-config" key="datapath-id"/> instead.)
488 <column name="other_config" key="datapath-id">
489 Exactly 16 hex digits to set the OpenFlow datapath ID to a specific
490 value. May not be all-zero.
493 <column name="other_config" key="dp-desc">
494 Human readable description of datapath. It it a maximum 256
495 byte-long free-form string to describe the datapath for
496 debugging purposes, e.g. <code>switch3 in room 3120</code>.
499 <column name="other_config" key="disable-in-band"
500 type='{"type": "boolean"}'>
501 If set to <code>true</code>, disable in-band control on the bridge
502 regardless of controller and manager settings.
505 <column name="other_config" key="in-band-queue"
506 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 0, "maxInteger": 4294967295}'>
507 A queue ID as a nonnegative integer. This sets the OpenFlow queue ID
508 that will be used by flows set up by in-band control on this bridge.
509 If unset, or if the port used by an in-band control flow does not have
510 QoS configured, or if the port does not have a queue with the specified
511 ID, the default queue is used instead.
514 <column name="protocols">
515 List of OpenFlow protocols that may be used when negotiating a
516 connection with a controller. A default value of
517 <code>OpenFlow10</code> will be used if this column is empty.
521 <group title="Spanning Tree Configuration">
522 The IEEE 802.1D Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) is a network protocol
523 that ensures loop-free topologies. It allows redundant links to
524 be included in the network to provide automatic backup paths if
525 the active links fails.
527 <column name="stp_enable">
528 Enable spanning tree on the bridge. By default, STP is disabled
529 on bridges. Bond, internal, and mirror ports are not supported
530 and will not participate in the spanning tree.
533 <column name="other_config" key="stp-system-id">
534 The bridge's STP identifier (the lower 48 bits of the bridge-id)
536 <var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>.
537 By default, the identifier is the MAC address of the bridge.
540 <column name="other_config" key="stp-priority"
541 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 0, "maxInteger": 65535}'>
542 The bridge's relative priority value for determining the root
543 bridge (the upper 16 bits of the bridge-id). A bridge with the
544 lowest bridge-id is elected the root. By default, the priority
548 <column name="other_config" key="stp-hello-time"
549 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1, "maxInteger": 10}'>
550 The interval between transmissions of hello messages by
551 designated ports, in seconds. By default the hello interval is
555 <column name="other_config" key="stp-max-age"
556 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 6, "maxInteger": 40}'>
557 The maximum age of the information transmitted by the bridge
558 when it is the root bridge, in seconds. By default, the maximum
562 <column name="other_config" key="stp-forward-delay"
563 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 4, "maxInteger": 30}'>
564 The delay to wait between transitioning root and designated
565 ports to <code>forwarding</code>, in seconds. By default, the
566 forwarding delay is 15 seconds.
570 <group title="Other Features">
571 <column name="datapath_type">
572 Name of datapath provider. The kernel datapath has
573 type <code>system</code>. The userspace datapath has
574 type <code>netdev</code>.
577 <column name="external_ids" key="bridge-id">
578 A unique identifier of the bridge. On Citrix XenServer this will
579 commonly be the same as
580 <ref column="external_ids" key="xs-network-uuids"/>.
583 <column name="external_ids" key="xs-network-uuids">
584 Semicolon-delimited set of universally unique identifier(s) for the
585 network with which this bridge is associated on a Citrix XenServer
586 host. The network identifiers are RFC 4122 UUIDs as displayed by,
587 e.g., <code>xe network-list</code>.
590 <column name="other_config" key="hwaddr">
591 An Ethernet address in the form
592 <var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>
593 to set the hardware address of the local port and influence the
597 <column name="other_config" key="flow-eviction-threshold"
598 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 0}'>
600 A number of flows as a nonnegative integer. This sets number of
601 flows at which eviction from the kernel flow table will be triggered.
602 If there are a large number of flows then increasing this value to
603 around the number of flows present can result in reduced CPU usage
607 The default is 1000. Values below 100 will be rounded up to 100.
611 <column name="other_config" key="forward-bpdu"
612 type='{"type": "boolean"}'>
613 Option to allow forwarding of BPDU frames when NORMAL action is
614 invoked. Frames with reserved Ethernet addresses (e.g. STP
615 BPDU) will be forwarded when this option is enabled and the
616 switch is not providing that functionality. If STP is enabled
617 on the port, STP BPDUs will never be forwarded. If the Open
618 vSwitch bridge is used to connect different Ethernet networks,
619 and if Open vSwitch node does not run STP, then this option
620 should be enabled. Default is disabled, set to
621 <code>true</code> to enable.
623 The following destination MAC addresss will not be forwarded when this
626 <dt><code>01:80:c2:00:00:00</code></dt>
627 <dd>IEEE 802.1D Spanning Tree Protocol (STP).</dd>
629 <dt><code>01:80:c2:00:00:01</code></dt>
630 <dd>IEEE Pause frame.</dd>
632 <dt><code>01:80:c2:00:00:0<var>x</var></code></dt>
633 <dd>Other reserved protocols.</dd>
635 <dt><code>00:e0:2b:00:00:00</code></dt>
636 <dd>Extreme Discovery Protocol (EDP).</dd>
639 <code>00:e0:2b:00:00:04</code> and <code>00:e0:2b:00:00:06</code>
641 <dd>Ethernet Automatic Protection Switching (EAPS).</dd>
643 <dt><code>01:00:0c:cc:cc:cc</code></dt>
645 Cisco Discovery Protocol (CDP), VLAN Trunking Protocol (VTP),
646 Dynamic Trunking Protocol (DTP), Port Aggregation Protocol (PAgP),
650 <dt><code>01:00:0c:cc:cc:cd</code></dt>
651 <dd>Cisco Shared Spanning Tree Protocol PVSTP+.</dd>
653 <dt><code>01:00:0c:cd:cd:cd</code></dt>
654 <dd>Cisco STP Uplink Fast.</dd>
656 <dt><code>01:00:0c:00:00:00</code></dt>
657 <dd>Cisco Inter Switch Link.</dd>
659 <dt><code>01:00:0c:cc:cc:c<var>x</var></code></dt>
664 <column name="other_config" key="mac-aging-time"
665 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1}'>
667 The maximum number of seconds to retain a MAC learning entry for
668 which no packets have been seen. The default is currently 300
669 seconds (5 minutes). The value, if specified, is forced into a
670 reasonable range, currently 15 to 3600 seconds.
674 A short MAC aging time allows a network to more quickly detect that a
675 host is no longer connected to a switch port. However, it also makes
676 it more likely that packets will be flooded unnecessarily, when they
677 are addressed to a connected host that rarely transmits packets. To
678 reduce the incidence of unnecessary flooding, use a MAC aging time
679 longer than the maximum interval at which a host will ordinarily
684 <column name="other_config" key="mac-table-size"
685 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1}'>
687 The maximum number of MAC addresses to learn. The default is
688 currently 2048. The value, if specified, is forced into a reasonable
689 range, currently 10 to 1,000,000.
694 <group title="Bridge Status">
696 Status information about bridges.
698 <column name="status">
699 Key-value pairs that report bridge status.
701 <column name="status" key="stp_bridge_id">
703 The bridge-id (in hex) used in spanning tree advertisements.
704 Configuring the bridge-id is described in the
705 <code>stp-system-id</code> and <code>stp-priority</code> keys
706 of the <code>other_config</code> section earlier.
709 <column name="status" key="stp_designated_root">
711 The designated root (in hex) for this spanning tree.
714 <column name="status" key="stp_root_path_cost">
716 The path cost of reaching the designated bridge. A lower
722 <group title="Common Columns">
723 The overall purpose of these columns is described under <code>Common
724 Columns</code> at the beginning of this document.
726 <column name="other_config"/>
727 <column name="external_ids"/>
731 <table name="Port" table="Port or bond configuration.">
732 <p>A port within a <ref table="Bridge"/>.</p>
733 <p>Most commonly, a port has exactly one ``interface,'' pointed to by its
734 <ref column="interfaces"/> column. Such a port logically
735 corresponds to a port on a physical Ethernet switch. A port
736 with more than one interface is a ``bonded port'' (see
737 <ref group="Bonding Configuration"/>).</p>
738 <p>Some properties that one might think as belonging to a port are actually
739 part of the port's <ref table="Interface"/> members.</p>
742 Port name. Should be alphanumeric and no more than about 8
743 bytes long. May be the same as the interface name, for
744 non-bonded ports. Must otherwise be unique among the names of
745 ports, interfaces, and bridges on a host.
748 <column name="interfaces">
749 The port's interfaces. If there is more than one, this is a
753 <group title="VLAN Configuration">
754 <p>Bridge ports support the following types of VLAN configuration:</p>
759 A trunk port carries packets on one or more specified VLANs
760 specified in the <ref column="trunks"/> column (often, on every
761 VLAN). A packet that ingresses on a trunk port is in the VLAN
762 specified in its 802.1Q header, or VLAN 0 if the packet has no
763 802.1Q header. A packet that egresses through a trunk port will
764 have an 802.1Q header if it has a nonzero VLAN ID.
768 Any packet that ingresses on a trunk port tagged with a VLAN that
769 the port does not trunk is dropped.
776 An access port carries packets on exactly one VLAN specified in the
777 <ref column="tag"/> column. Packets egressing on an access port
778 have no 802.1Q header.
782 Any packet with an 802.1Q header with a nonzero VLAN ID that
783 ingresses on an access port is dropped, regardless of whether the
784 VLAN ID in the header is the access port's VLAN ID.
788 <dt>native-tagged</dt>
790 A native-tagged port resembles a trunk port, with the exception that
791 a packet without an 802.1Q header that ingresses on a native-tagged
792 port is in the ``native VLAN'' (specified in the <ref column="tag"/>
796 <dt>native-untagged</dt>
798 A native-untagged port resembles a native-tagged port, with the
799 exception that a packet that egresses on a native-untagged port in
800 the native VLAN will not have an 802.1Q header.
804 A packet will only egress through bridge ports that carry the VLAN of
805 the packet, as described by the rules above.
808 <column name="vlan_mode">
810 The VLAN mode of the port, as described above. When this column is
811 empty, a default mode is selected as follows:
815 If <ref column="tag"/> contains a value, the port is an access
816 port. The <ref column="trunks"/> column should be empty.
819 Otherwise, the port is a trunk port. The <ref column="trunks"/>
820 column value is honored if it is present.
827 For an access port, the port's implicitly tagged VLAN. For a
828 native-tagged or native-untagged port, the port's native VLAN. Must
829 be empty if this is a trunk port.
833 <column name="trunks">
835 For a trunk, native-tagged, or native-untagged port, the 802.1Q VLAN
836 or VLANs that this port trunks; if it is empty, then the port trunks
837 all VLANs. Must be empty if this is an access port.
840 A native-tagged or native-untagged port always trunks its native
841 VLAN, regardless of whether <ref column="trunks"/> includes that
846 <column name="other_config" key="priority-tags"
847 type='{"type": "boolean"}'>
849 An 802.1Q header contains two important pieces of information: a VLAN
850 ID and a priority. A frame with a zero VLAN ID, called a
851 ``priority-tagged'' frame, is supposed to be treated the same way as
852 a frame without an 802.1Q header at all (except for the priority).
856 However, some network elements ignore any frame that has 802.1Q
857 header at all, even when the VLAN ID is zero. Therefore, by default
858 Open vSwitch does not output priority-tagged frames, instead omitting
859 the 802.1Q header entirely if the VLAN ID is zero. Set this key to
860 <code>true</code> to enable priority-tagged frames on a port.
864 Regardless of this setting, Open vSwitch omits the 802.1Q header on
865 output if both the VLAN ID and priority would be zero.
869 All frames output to native-tagged ports have a nonzero VLAN ID, so
870 this setting is not meaningful on native-tagged ports.
875 <group title="Bonding Configuration">
876 <p>A port that has more than one interface is a ``bonded port.'' Bonding
877 allows for load balancing and fail-over.</p>
880 The following types of bonding will work with any kind of upstream
881 switch. On the upstream switch, do not configure the interfaces as a
886 <dt><code>balance-slb</code></dt>
888 Balances flows among slaves based on source MAC address and output
889 VLAN, with periodic rebalancing as traffic patterns change.
892 <dt><code>active-backup</code></dt>
894 Assigns all flows to one slave, failing over to a backup slave when
895 the active slave is disabled. This is the only bonding mode in which
896 interfaces may be plugged into different upstream switches.
901 The following modes require the upstream switch to support 802.3ad with
902 successful LACP negotiation:
906 <dt><code>balance-tcp</code></dt>
908 Balances flows among slaves based on L2, L3, and L4 protocol
909 information such as destination MAC address, IP address, and TCP
914 <p>These columns apply only to bonded ports. Their values are
915 otherwise ignored.</p>
917 <column name="bond_mode">
918 <p>The type of bonding used for a bonded port. Defaults to
919 <code>active-backup</code> if unset.
923 <column name="other_config" key="bond-hash-basis"
924 type='{"type": "integer"}'>
925 An integer hashed along with flows when choosing output slaves in load
926 balanced bonds. When changed, all flows will be assigned different
927 hash values possibly causing slave selection decisions to change. Does
928 not affect bonding modes which do not employ load balancing such as
929 <code>active-backup</code>.
932 <group title="Link Failure Detection">
934 An important part of link bonding is detecting that links are down so
935 that they may be disabled. These settings determine how Open vSwitch
936 detects link failure.
939 <column name="other_config" key="bond-detect-mode"
940 type='{"type": "string", "enum": ["set", ["carrier", "miimon"]]}'>
941 The means used to detect link failures. Defaults to
942 <code>carrier</code> which uses each interface's carrier to detect
943 failures. When set to <code>miimon</code>, will check for failures
944 by polling each interface's MII.
947 <column name="other_config" key="bond-miimon-interval"
948 type='{"type": "integer"}'>
949 The interval, in milliseconds, between successive attempts to poll
950 each interface's MII. Relevant only when <ref column="other_config"
951 key="bond-detect-mode"/> is <code>miimon</code>.
954 <column name="bond_updelay">
956 The number of milliseconds for which the link must stay up on an
957 interface before the interface is considered to be up. Specify
958 <code>0</code> to enable the interface immediately.
962 This setting is honored only when at least one bonded interface is
963 already enabled. When no interfaces are enabled, then the first
964 bond interface to come up is enabled immediately.
968 <column name="bond_downdelay">
969 The number of milliseconds for which the link must stay down on an
970 interface before the interface is considered to be down. Specify
971 <code>0</code> to disable the interface immediately.
975 <group title="LACP Configuration">
977 LACP, the Link Aggregation Control Protocol, is an IEEE standard that
978 allows switches to automatically detect that they are connected by
979 multiple links and aggregate across those links. These settings
980 control LACP behavior.
984 Configures LACP on this port. LACP allows directly connected
985 switches to negotiate which links may be bonded. LACP may be enabled
986 on non-bonded ports for the benefit of any switches they may be
987 connected to. <code>active</code> ports are allowed to initiate LACP
988 negotiations. <code>passive</code> ports are allowed to participate
989 in LACP negotiations initiated by a remote switch, but not allowed to
990 initiate such negotiations themselves. If LACP is enabled on a port
991 whose partner switch does not support LACP, the bond will be
992 disabled. Defaults to <code>off</code> if unset.
995 <column name="other_config" key="lacp-system-id">
996 The LACP system ID of this <ref table="Port"/>. The system ID of a
997 LACP bond is used to identify itself to its partners. Must be a
998 nonzero MAC address. Defaults to the bridge Ethernet address if
1002 <column name="other_config" key="lacp-system-priority"
1003 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1, "maxInteger": 65535}'>
1004 The LACP system priority of this <ref table="Port"/>. In LACP
1005 negotiations, link status decisions are made by the system with the
1006 numerically lower priority.
1009 <column name="other_config" key="lacp-time"
1010 type='{"type": "string", "enum": ["set", ["fast", "slow"]]}'>
1012 The LACP timing which should be used on this <ref table="Port"/>.
1013 By default <code>slow</code> is used. When configured to be
1014 <code>fast</code> LACP heartbeats are requested at a rate of once
1015 per second causing connectivity problems to be detected more
1016 quickly. In <code>slow</code> mode, heartbeats are requested at a
1017 rate of once every 30 seconds.
1022 <group title="Rebalancing Configuration">
1024 These settings control behavior when a bond is in
1025 <code>balance-slb</code> or <code>balance-tcp</code> mode.
1028 <column name="other_config" key="bond-rebalance-interval"
1029 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 0, "maxInteger": 10000}'>
1030 For a load balanced bonded port, the number of milliseconds between
1031 successive attempts to rebalance the bond, that is, to move flows
1032 from one interface on the bond to another in an attempt to keep usage
1033 of each interface roughly equal. If zero, load balancing is disabled
1034 on the bond (link failure still cause flows to move). If
1035 less than 1000ms, the rebalance interval will be 1000ms.
1039 <column name="bond_fake_iface">
1040 For a bonded port, whether to create a fake internal interface with the
1041 name of the port. Use only for compatibility with legacy software that
1046 <group title="Spanning Tree Configuration">
1047 <column name="other_config" key="stp-enable"
1048 type='{"type": "boolean"}'>
1049 If spanning tree is enabled on the bridge, member ports are
1050 enabled by default (with the exception of bond, internal, and
1051 mirror ports which do not work with STP). If this column's
1052 value is <code>false</code> spanning tree is disabled on the
1056 <column name="other_config" key="stp-port-num"
1057 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1, "maxInteger": 255}'>
1058 The port number used for the lower 8 bits of the port-id. By
1059 default, the numbers will be assigned automatically. If any
1060 port's number is manually configured on a bridge, then they
1064 <column name="other_config" key="stp-port-priority"
1065 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 0, "maxInteger": 255}'>
1066 The port's relative priority value for determining the root
1067 port (the upper 8 bits of the port-id). A port with a lower
1068 port-id will be chosen as the root port. By default, the
1072 <column name="other_config" key="stp-path-cost"
1073 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 0, "maxInteger": 65535}'>
1074 Spanning tree path cost for the port. A lower number indicates
1075 a faster link. By default, the cost is based on the maximum
1080 <group title="Other Features">
1082 Quality of Service configuration for this port.
1086 The MAC address to use for this port for the purpose of choosing the
1087 bridge's MAC address. This column does not necessarily reflect the
1088 port's actual MAC address, nor will setting it change the port's actual
1092 <column name="fake_bridge">
1093 Does this port represent a sub-bridge for its tagged VLAN within the
1094 Bridge? See ovs-vsctl(8) for more information.
1097 <column name="external_ids" key="fake-bridge-id-*">
1098 External IDs for a fake bridge (see the <ref column="fake_bridge"/>
1099 column) are defined by prefixing a <ref table="Bridge"/> <ref
1100 table="Bridge" column="external_ids"/> key with
1101 <code>fake-bridge-</code>,
1102 e.g. <code>fake-bridge-xs-network-uuids</code>.
1106 <group title="Port Status">
1108 Status information about ports attached to bridges.
1110 <column name="status">
1111 Key-value pairs that report port status.
1113 <column name="status" key="stp_port_id">
1115 The port-id (in hex) used in spanning tree advertisements for
1116 this port. Configuring the port-id is described in the
1117 <code>stp-port-num</code> and <code>stp-port-priority</code>
1118 keys of the <code>other_config</code> section earlier.
1121 <column name="status" key="stp_state"
1122 type='{"type": "string", "enum": ["set",
1123 ["disabled", "listening", "learning",
1124 "forwarding", "blocking"]]}'>
1126 STP state of the port.
1129 <column name="status" key="stp_sec_in_state"
1130 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 0}'>
1132 The amount of time (in seconds) port has been in the current
1136 <column name="status" key="stp_role"
1137 type='{"type": "string", "enum": ["set",
1138 ["root", "designated", "alternate"]]}'>
1140 STP role of the port.
1145 <group title="Port Statistics">
1147 Key-value pairs that report port statistics.
1149 <group title="Statistics: STP transmit and receive counters">
1150 <column name="statistics" key="stp_tx_count">
1151 Number of STP BPDUs sent on this port by the spanning
1154 <column name="statistics" key="stp_rx_count">
1155 Number of STP BPDUs received on this port and accepted by the
1156 spanning tree library.
1158 <column name="statistics" key="stp_error_count">
1159 Number of bad STP BPDUs received on this port. Bad BPDUs
1160 include runt packets and those with an unexpected protocol ID.
1165 <group title="Common Columns">
1166 The overall purpose of these columns is described under <code>Common
1167 Columns</code> at the beginning of this document.
1169 <column name="other_config"/>
1170 <column name="external_ids"/>
1174 <table name="Interface" title="One physical network device in a Port.">
1175 An interface within a <ref table="Port"/>.
1177 <group title="Core Features">
1178 <column name="name">
1179 Interface name. Should be alphanumeric and no more than about 8 bytes
1180 long. May be the same as the port name, for non-bonded ports. Must
1181 otherwise be unique among the names of ports, interfaces, and bridges
1185 <column name="mac_in_use">
1186 The MAC address in use by this interface.
1190 <p>Ethernet address to set for this interface. If unset then the
1191 default MAC address is used:</p>
1193 <li>For the local interface, the default is the lowest-numbered MAC
1194 address among the other bridge ports, either the value of the
1195 <ref table="Port" column="mac"/> in its <ref table="Port"/> record,
1196 if set, or its actual MAC (for bonded ports, the MAC of its slave
1197 whose name is first in alphabetical order). Internal ports and
1198 bridge ports that are used as port mirroring destinations (see the
1199 <ref table="Mirror"/> table) are ignored.</li>
1200 <li>For other internal interfaces, the default MAC is randomly
1202 <li>External interfaces typically have a MAC address associated with
1203 their hardware.</li>
1205 <p>Some interfaces may not have a software-controllable MAC
1209 <column name="ofport">
1210 <p>OpenFlow port number for this interface. Unlike most columns, this
1211 column's value should be set only by Open vSwitch itself. Other
1212 clients should set this column to an empty set (the default) when
1213 creating an <ref table="Interface"/>.</p>
1214 <p>Open vSwitch populates this column when the port number becomes
1215 known. If the interface is successfully added,
1216 <ref column="ofport"/> will be set to a number between 1 and 65535
1217 (generally either in the range 1 to 65279, inclusive, or 65534, the
1218 port number for the OpenFlow ``local port''). If the interface
1219 cannot be added then Open vSwitch sets this column
1221 <p>When <ref column="ofport_request"/> is not set, Open vSwitch picks
1222 an appropriate value for this column and then tries to keep the value
1223 constant across restarts.</p>
1226 <column name="ofport_request">
1227 <p>Requested OpenFlow port number for this interface. The port
1228 number must be between 1 and 65279, inclusive. Some datapaths
1229 cannot satisfy all requests for particular port numbers. When
1230 this column is empty or the request cannot be fulfilled, the
1231 system will choose a free port. The <ref column="ofport"/>
1232 column reports the assigned OpenFlow port number.</p>
1233 <p>The port number must be requested in the same transaction
1234 that creates the port.</p>
1238 <group title="System-Specific Details">
1239 <column name="type">
1241 The interface type, one of:
1245 <dt><code>system</code></dt>
1246 <dd>An ordinary network device, e.g. <code>eth0</code> on Linux.
1247 Sometimes referred to as ``external interfaces'' since they are
1248 generally connected to hardware external to that on which the Open
1249 vSwitch is running. The empty string is a synonym for
1250 <code>system</code>.</dd>
1252 <dt><code>internal</code></dt>
1253 <dd>A simulated network device that sends and receives traffic. An
1254 internal interface whose <ref column="name"/> is the same as its
1255 bridge's <ref table="Open_vSwitch" column="name"/> is called the
1256 ``local interface.'' It does not make sense to bond an internal
1257 interface, so the terms ``port'' and ``interface'' are often used
1258 imprecisely for internal interfaces.</dd>
1260 <dt><code>tap</code></dt>
1261 <dd>A TUN/TAP device managed by Open vSwitch.</dd>
1263 <dt><code>gre</code></dt>
1265 An Ethernet over RFC 2890 Generic Routing Encapsulation over IPv4
1269 <dt><code>ipsec_gre</code></dt>
1271 An Ethernet over RFC 2890 Generic Routing Encapsulation over IPv4
1275 <dt><code>gre64</code></dt>
1277 It is same as GRE, but it allows 64 bit key. To store higher 32-bits
1278 of key, it uses GRE protocol sequence number field. This is non
1279 standard use of GRE protocol since OVS does not increment
1280 sequence number for every packet at time of encap as expected by
1281 standard GRE implementation. See <ref group="Tunnel Options"/>
1282 for information on configuring GRE tunnels.
1285 <dt><code>ipsec_gre64</code></dt>
1287 Same as IPSEC_GRE except 64 bit key.
1290 <dt><code>vxlan</code></dt>
1293 An Ethernet tunnel over the experimental, UDP-based VXLAN
1294 protocol described at
1295 <code>http://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-mahalingam-dutt-dcops-vxlan-03</code>.
1296 VXLAN is currently supported only with the Linux kernel datapath
1297 with kernel version 2.6.26 or later.
1300 Open vSwitch uses UDP destination port 4789. The source port used for
1301 VXLAN traffic varies on a per-flow basis and is in the ephemeral port
1306 <dt><code>lisp</code></dt>
1308 A layer 3 tunnel over the experimental, UDP-based Locator/ID
1309 Separation Protocol (RFC 6830). LISP is currently supported only
1310 with the Linux kernel datapath with kernel version 2.6.26 or later.
1313 <dt><code>patch</code></dt>
1315 A pair of virtual devices that act as a patch cable.
1318 <dt><code>null</code></dt>
1319 <dd>An ignored interface. Deprecated and slated for removal in
1325 <group title="Tunnel Options">
1327 These options apply to interfaces with <ref column="type"/> of
1328 <code>gre</code>, <code>ipsec_gre</code>, <code>gre64</code>,
1329 <code>ipsec_gre64</code>, <code>vxlan</code>, and <code>lisp</code>.
1333 Each tunnel must be uniquely identified by the combination of <ref
1334 column="type"/>, <ref column="options" key="remote_ip"/>, <ref
1335 column="options" key="local_ip"/>, and <ref column="options"
1336 key="in_key"/>. If two ports are defined that are the same except one
1337 has an optional identifier and the other does not, the more specific
1338 one is matched first. <ref column="options" key="in_key"/> is
1339 considered more specific than <ref column="options" key="local_ip"/> if
1340 a port defines one and another port defines the other.
1343 <column name="options" key="remote_ip">
1344 <p>Required. The remote tunnel endpoint, one of:</p>
1348 An IPv4 address (not a DNS name), e.g. <code>192.168.0.123</code>.
1349 Only unicast endpoints are supported.
1352 The word <code>flow</code>. The tunnel accepts packets from any
1353 remote tunnel endpoint. To process only packets from a specific
1354 remote tunnel endpoint, the flow entries may match on the
1355 <code>tun_src</code> field. When sending packets to a
1356 <code>remote_ip=flow</code> tunnel, the flow actions must
1357 explicitly set the <code>tun_dst</code> field to the IP address of
1358 the desired remote tunnel endpoint, e.g. with a
1359 <code>set_field</code> action.
1364 The remote tunnel endpoint for any packet received from a tunnel
1365 is available in the <code>tun_src</code> field for matching in the
1370 <column name="options" key="local_ip">
1372 Optional. The tunnel destination IP that received packets must
1373 match. Default is to match all addresses. If specified, may be one
1379 An IPv4 address (not a DNS name), e.g. <code>192.168.12.3</code>.
1382 The word <code>flow</code>. The tunnel accepts packets sent to any
1383 of the local IP addresses of the system running OVS. To process
1384 only packets sent to a specific IP address, the flow entries may
1385 match on the <code>tun_dst</code> field. When sending packets to a
1386 <code>local_ip=flow</code> tunnel, the flow actions may
1387 explicitly set the <code>tun_src</code> field to the desired IP
1388 address, e.g. with a <code>set_field</code> action. However, while
1389 routing the tunneled packet out, the local system may override the
1390 specified address with the local IP address configured for the
1391 outgoing system interface.
1394 This option is valid only for tunnels also configured with the
1395 <code>remote_ip=flow</code> option.
1401 The tunnel destination IP address for any packet received from a
1402 tunnel is available in the <code>tun_dst</code> field for matching in
1407 <column name="options" key="in_key">
1408 <p>Optional. The key that received packets must contain, one of:</p>
1412 <code>0</code>. The tunnel receives packets with no key or with a
1413 key of 0. This is equivalent to specifying no <ref column="options"
1414 key="in_key"/> at all.
1417 A positive 24-bit (for VXLAN and LISP), 32-bit (for GRE) or 64-bit
1418 (for GRE64) number. The tunnel receives only packets with the
1422 The word <code>flow</code>. The tunnel accepts packets with any
1423 key. The key will be placed in the <code>tun_id</code> field for
1424 matching in the flow table. The <code>ovs-ofctl</code> manual page
1425 contains additional information about matching fields in OpenFlow
1434 <column name="options" key="out_key">
1435 <p>Optional. The key to be set on outgoing packets, one of:</p>
1439 <code>0</code>. Packets sent through the tunnel will have no key.
1440 This is equivalent to specifying no <ref column="options"
1441 key="out_key"/> at all.
1444 A positive 24-bit (for VXLAN and LISP), 32-bit (for GRE) or 64-bit
1445 (for GRE64) number. Packets sent through the tunnel will have the
1449 The word <code>flow</code>. Packets sent through the tunnel will
1450 have the key set using the <code>set_tunnel</code> Nicira OpenFlow
1451 vendor extension (0 is used in the absence of an action). The
1452 <code>ovs-ofctl</code> manual page contains additional information
1453 about the Nicira OpenFlow vendor extensions.
1458 <column name="options" key="key">
1459 Optional. Shorthand to set <code>in_key</code> and
1460 <code>out_key</code> at the same time.
1463 <column name="options" key="tos">
1464 Optional. The value of the ToS bits to be set on the encapsulating
1465 packet. ToS is interpreted as DSCP and ECN bits, ECN part must be
1466 zero. It may also be the word <code>inherit</code>, in which case
1467 the ToS will be copied from the inner packet if it is IPv4 or IPv6
1468 (otherwise it will be 0). The ECN fields are always inherited.
1472 <column name="options" key="ttl">
1473 Optional. The TTL to be set on the encapsulating packet. It may also
1474 be the word <code>inherit</code>, in which case the TTL will be copied
1475 from the inner packet if it is IPv4 or IPv6 (otherwise it will be the
1476 system default, typically 64). Default is the system default TTL.
1479 <column name="options" key="df_default"
1480 type='{"type": "boolean"}'>
1481 Optional. If enabled, the Don't Fragment bit will be set on tunnel
1482 outer headers to allow path MTU discovery. Default is enabled; set
1483 to <code>false</code> to disable.
1486 <group title="Tunnel Options: gre and ipsec_gre only">
1488 Only <code>gre</code> and <code>ipsec_gre</code> interfaces support
1492 <column name="options" key="csum" type='{"type": "boolean"}'>
1494 Optional. Compute GRE checksums on outgoing packets. Default is
1495 disabled, set to <code>true</code> to enable. Checksums present on
1496 incoming packets will be validated regardless of this setting.
1500 GRE checksums impose a significant performance penalty because they
1501 cover the entire packet. The encapsulated L3, L4, and L7 packet
1502 contents typically have their own checksums, so this additional
1503 checksum only adds value for the GRE and encapsulated L2 headers.
1507 This option is supported for <code>ipsec_gre</code>, but not useful
1508 because GRE checksums are weaker than, and redundant with, IPsec
1509 payload authentication.
1514 <group title="Tunnel Options: ipsec_gre only">
1516 Only <code>ipsec_gre</code> interfaces support these options.
1519 <column name="options" key="peer_cert">
1520 Required for certificate authentication. A string containing the
1521 peer's certificate in PEM format. Additionally the host's
1522 certificate must be specified with the <code>certificate</code>
1526 <column name="options" key="certificate">
1527 Required for certificate authentication. The name of a PEM file
1528 containing a certificate that will be presented to the peer during
1532 <column name="options" key="private_key">
1533 Optional for certificate authentication. The name of a PEM file
1534 containing the private key associated with <code>certificate</code>.
1535 If <code>certificate</code> contains the private key, this option may
1539 <column name="options" key="psk">
1540 Required for pre-shared key authentication. Specifies a pre-shared
1541 key for authentication that must be identical on both sides of the
1547 <group title="Patch Options">
1549 Only <code>patch</code> interfaces support these options.
1552 <column name="options" key="peer">
1553 The <ref column="name"/> of the <ref table="Interface"/> for the other
1554 side of the patch. The named <ref table="Interface"/>'s own
1555 <code>peer</code> option must specify this <ref table="Interface"/>'s
1556 name. That is, the two patch interfaces must have reversed <ref
1557 column="name"/> and <code>peer</code> values.
1561 <group title="Interface Status">
1563 Status information about interfaces attached to bridges, updated every
1564 5 seconds. Not all interfaces have all of these properties; virtual
1565 interfaces don't have a link speed, for example. Non-applicable
1566 columns will have empty values.
1568 <column name="admin_state">
1570 The administrative state of the physical network link.
1574 <column name="link_state">
1576 The observed state of the physical network link. This is ordinarily
1577 the link's carrier status. If the interface's <ref table="Port"/> is
1578 a bond configured for miimon monitoring, it is instead the network
1579 link's miimon status.
1583 <column name="link_resets">
1585 The number of times Open vSwitch has observed the
1586 <ref column="link_state"/> of this <ref table="Interface"/> change.
1590 <column name="link_speed">
1592 The negotiated speed of the physical network link.
1593 Valid values are positive integers greater than 0.
1597 <column name="duplex">
1599 The duplex mode of the physical network link.
1605 The MTU (maximum transmission unit); i.e. the largest
1606 amount of data that can fit into a single Ethernet frame.
1607 The standard Ethernet MTU is 1500 bytes. Some physical media
1608 and many kinds of virtual interfaces can be configured with
1612 This column will be empty for an interface that does not
1613 have an MTU as, for example, some kinds of tunnels do not.
1617 <column name="lacp_current">
1618 Boolean value indicating LACP status for this interface. If true, this
1619 interface has current LACP information about its LACP partner. This
1620 information may be used to monitor the health of interfaces in a LACP
1621 enabled port. This column will be empty if LACP is not enabled.
1624 <column name="status">
1625 Key-value pairs that report port status. Supported status values are
1626 <ref column="type"/>-dependent; some interfaces may not have a valid
1627 <ref column="status" key="driver_name"/>, for example.
1630 <column name="status" key="driver_name">
1631 The name of the device driver controlling the network adapter.
1634 <column name="status" key="driver_version">
1635 The version string of the device driver controlling the network
1639 <column name="status" key="firmware_version">
1640 The version string of the network adapter's firmware, if available.
1643 <column name="status" key="source_ip">
1644 The source IP address used for an IPv4 tunnel end-point, such as
1648 <column name="status" key="tunnel_egress_iface">
1649 Egress interface for tunnels. Currently only relevant for GRE tunnels
1650 On Linux systems, this column will show the name of the interface
1651 which is responsible for routing traffic destined for the configured
1652 <ref column="options" key="remote_ip"/>. This could be an internal
1653 interface such as a bridge port.
1656 <column name="status" key="tunnel_egress_iface_carrier"
1657 type='{"type": "string", "enum": ["set", ["down", "up"]]}'>
1658 Whether carrier is detected on <ref column="status"
1659 key="tunnel_egress_iface"/>.
1663 <group title="Statistics">
1665 Key-value pairs that report interface statistics. The current
1666 implementation updates these counters periodically. Future
1667 implementations may update them when an interface is created, when they
1668 are queried (e.g. using an OVSDB <code>select</code> operation), and
1669 just before an interface is deleted due to virtual interface hot-unplug
1670 or VM shutdown, and perhaps at other times, but not on any regular
1674 These are the same statistics reported by OpenFlow in its <code>struct
1675 ofp_port_stats</code> structure. If an interface does not support a
1676 given statistic, then that pair is omitted.
1678 <group title="Statistics: Successful transmit and receive counters">
1679 <column name="statistics" key="rx_packets">
1680 Number of received packets.
1682 <column name="statistics" key="rx_bytes">
1683 Number of received bytes.
1685 <column name="statistics" key="tx_packets">
1686 Number of transmitted packets.
1688 <column name="statistics" key="tx_bytes">
1689 Number of transmitted bytes.
1692 <group title="Statistics: Receive errors">
1693 <column name="statistics" key="rx_dropped">
1694 Number of packets dropped by RX.
1696 <column name="statistics" key="rx_frame_err">
1697 Number of frame alignment errors.
1699 <column name="statistics" key="rx_over_err">
1700 Number of packets with RX overrun.
1702 <column name="statistics" key="rx_crc_err">
1703 Number of CRC errors.
1705 <column name="statistics" key="rx_errors">
1706 Total number of receive errors, greater than or equal to the sum of
1710 <group title="Statistics: Transmit errors">
1711 <column name="statistics" key="tx_dropped">
1712 Number of packets dropped by TX.
1714 <column name="statistics" key="collisions">
1715 Number of collisions.
1717 <column name="statistics" key="tx_errors">
1718 Total number of transmit errors, greater than or equal to the sum of
1724 <group title="Ingress Policing">
1726 These settings control ingress policing for packets received on this
1727 interface. On a physical interface, this limits the rate at which
1728 traffic is allowed into the system from the outside; on a virtual
1729 interface (one connected to a virtual machine), this limits the rate at
1730 which the VM is able to transmit.
1733 Policing is a simple form of quality-of-service that simply drops
1734 packets received in excess of the configured rate. Due to its
1735 simplicity, policing is usually less accurate and less effective than
1736 egress QoS (which is configured using the <ref table="QoS"/> and <ref
1737 table="Queue"/> tables).
1740 Policing is currently implemented only on Linux. The Linux
1741 implementation uses a simple ``token bucket'' approach:
1745 The size of the bucket corresponds to <ref
1746 column="ingress_policing_burst"/>. Initially the bucket is full.
1749 Whenever a packet is received, its size (converted to tokens) is
1750 compared to the number of tokens currently in the bucket. If the
1751 required number of tokens are available, they are removed and the
1752 packet is forwarded. Otherwise, the packet is dropped.
1755 Whenever it is not full, the bucket is refilled with tokens at the
1756 rate specified by <ref column="ingress_policing_rate"/>.
1760 Policing interacts badly with some network protocols, and especially
1761 with fragmented IP packets. Suppose that there is enough network
1762 activity to keep the bucket nearly empty all the time. Then this token
1763 bucket algorithm will forward a single packet every so often, with the
1764 period depending on packet size and on the configured rate. All of the
1765 fragments of an IP packets are normally transmitted back-to-back, as a
1766 group. In such a situation, therefore, only one of these fragments
1767 will be forwarded and the rest will be dropped. IP does not provide
1768 any way for the intended recipient to ask for only the remaining
1769 fragments. In such a case there are two likely possibilities for what
1770 will happen next: either all of the fragments will eventually be
1771 retransmitted (as TCP will do), in which case the same problem will
1772 recur, or the sender will not realize that its packet has been dropped
1773 and data will simply be lost (as some UDP-based protocols will do).
1774 Either way, it is possible that no forward progress will ever occur.
1776 <column name="ingress_policing_rate">
1778 Maximum rate for data received on this interface, in kbps. Data
1779 received faster than this rate is dropped. Set to <code>0</code>
1780 (the default) to disable policing.
1784 <column name="ingress_policing_burst">
1785 <p>Maximum burst size for data received on this interface, in kb. The
1786 default burst size if set to <code>0</code> is 1000 kb. This value
1787 has no effect if <ref column="ingress_policing_rate"/>
1788 is <code>0</code>.</p>
1790 Specifying a larger burst size lets the algorithm be more forgiving,
1791 which is important for protocols like TCP that react severely to
1792 dropped packets. The burst size should be at least the size of the
1793 interface's MTU. Specifying a value that is numerically at least as
1794 large as 10% of <ref column="ingress_policing_rate"/> helps TCP come
1795 closer to achieving the full rate.
1800 <group title="Bidirectional Forwarding Detection (BFD)">
1802 BFD, defined in RFC 5880 and RFC 5881, allows point to point
1803 detection of connectivity failures by occasional transmission of
1804 BFD control messages. It is implemented in Open vSwitch to serve
1805 as a more popular and standards compliant alternative to CFM.
1809 BFD operates by regularly transmitting BFD control messages at a
1810 rate negotiated independently in each direction. Each endpoint
1811 specifies the rate at which it expects to receive control messages,
1812 and the rate at which it's willing to transmit them. Open vSwitch
1813 uses a detection multiplier of three, meaning that an endpoint
1814 which fails to receive BFD control messages for a period of three
1815 times the expected reception rate, will signal a connectivity
1816 fault. In the case of a unidirectional connectivity issue, the
1817 system not receiving BFD control messages will signal the problem
1818 to its peer in the messages is transmists.
1822 The Open vSwitch implementation of BFD aims to comply faithfully
1823 with the requirements put forth in RFC 5880. Currently, the only
1824 known omission is ``Demand Mode'', which we hope to include in
1825 future. Open vSwitch does not implement the optional
1826 Authentication or ``Echo Mode'' features.
1829 <column name="bfd" key="enable">
1830 When <code>true</code> BFD is enabled on this
1831 <ref table="Interface"/>, otherwise it's disabled. Defaults to
1835 <column name="bfd" key="min_rx"
1836 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1}'>
1837 The fastest rate, in milliseconds, at which this BFD session is
1838 willing to receive BFD control messages. The actual rate may be
1839 slower if the remote endpoint isn't willing to transmit as quickly as
1840 specified. Defaults to <code>1000</code>.
1843 <column name="bfd" key="min_tx"
1844 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1}'>
1845 The fastest rate, in milliseconds, at which this BFD session is
1846 willing to transmit BFD control messages. The actual rate may be
1847 slower if the remote endpoint isn't willing to receive as quickly as
1848 specified. Defaults to <code>100</code>.
1851 <column name="bfd" key="cpath_down" type='{"type": "boolean"}'>
1852 Concatenated path down may be used when the local system should not
1853 have traffic forwarded to it for some reason other than a connectivty
1854 failure on the interface being monitored. When a controller thinks
1855 this may be the case, it may set <code>cpath_down</code> to
1856 <code>true</code> which may cause the remote BFD session not to
1857 forward traffic to this <ref table="Interface"/>. Defaults to
1861 <column name="bfd_status" key="state"
1862 type='{"type": "string",
1863 "enum": ["set", ["admin_down", "down", "init", "up"]]}'>
1864 State of the BFD session. The BFD session is fully healthy and
1865 negotiated if <code>UP</code>.
1868 <column name="bfd_status" key="forwarding" type='{"type": "boolean"}'>
1869 True if the BFD session believes this <ref table="Interface"/> may be
1870 used to forward traffic. Typically this means the local session is
1871 signaling <code>UP</code>, and the remote system isn't signaling a
1872 problem such as concatenated path down.
1875 <column name="bfd_status" key="diagnostic">
1876 A short message indicating what the BFD session thinks is wrong in
1880 <column name="bfd_status" key="remote_state"
1881 type='{"type": "string",
1882 "enum": ["set", ["admin_down", "down", "init", "up"]]}'>
1883 State of the remote endpoint's BFD session.
1886 <column name="bfd_status" key="remote_diagnostic">
1887 A short message indicating what the remote endpoint's BFD session
1888 thinks is wrong in case of a problem.
1892 <group title="Connectivity Fault Management">
1894 802.1ag Connectivity Fault Management (CFM) allows a group of
1895 Maintenance Points (MPs) called a Maintenance Association (MA) to
1896 detect connectivity problems with each other. MPs within a MA should
1897 have complete and exclusive interconnectivity. This is verified by
1898 occasionally broadcasting Continuity Check Messages (CCMs) at a
1899 configurable transmission interval.
1903 According to the 802.1ag specification, each Maintenance Point should
1904 be configured out-of-band with a list of Remote Maintenance Points it
1905 should have connectivity to. Open vSwitch differs from the
1906 specification in this area. It simply assumes the link is faulted if
1907 no Remote Maintenance Points are reachable, and considers it not
1912 When operating over tunnels which have no <code>in_key</code>, or an
1913 <code>in_key</code> of <code>flow</code>. CFM will only accept CCMs
1914 with a tunnel key of zero.
1917 <column name="cfm_mpid">
1918 A Maintenance Point ID (MPID) uniquely identifies each endpoint within
1919 a Maintenance Association. The MPID is used to identify this endpoint
1920 to other Maintenance Points in the MA. Each end of a link being
1921 monitored should have a different MPID. Must be configured to enable
1922 CFM on this <ref table="Interface"/>.
1925 <column name="cfm_fault">
1927 Indicates a connectivity fault triggered by an inability to receive
1928 heartbeats from any remote endpoint. When a fault is triggered on
1929 <ref table="Interface"/>s participating in bonds, they will be
1933 Faults can be triggered for several reasons. Most importantly they
1934 are triggered when no CCMs are received for a period of 3.5 times the
1935 transmission interval. Faults are also triggered when any CCMs
1936 indicate that a Remote Maintenance Point is not receiving CCMs but
1937 able to send them. Finally, a fault is triggered if a CCM is
1938 received which indicates unexpected configuration. Notably, this
1939 case arises when a CCM is received which advertises the local MPID.
1943 <column name="cfm_fault_status" key="recv">
1944 Indicates a CFM fault was triggered due to a lack of CCMs received on
1945 the <ref table="Interface"/>.
1948 <column name="cfm_fault_status" key="rdi">
1949 Indicates a CFM fault was triggered due to the reception of a CCM with
1950 the RDI bit flagged. Endpoints set the RDI bit in their CCMs when they
1951 are not receiving CCMs themselves. This typically indicates a
1952 unidirectional connectivity failure.
1955 <column name="cfm_fault_status" key="maid">
1956 Indicates a CFM fault was triggered due to the reception of a CCM with
1957 a MAID other than the one Open vSwitch uses. CFM broadcasts are tagged
1958 with an identification number in addition to the MPID called the MAID.
1959 Open vSwitch only supports receiving CCM broadcasts tagged with the
1960 MAID it uses internally.
1963 <column name="cfm_fault_status" key="loopback">
1964 Indicates a CFM fault was triggered due to the reception of a CCM
1965 advertising the same MPID configured in the <ref column="cfm_mpid"/>
1966 column of this <ref table="Interface"/>. This may indicate a loop in
1970 <column name="cfm_fault_status" key="overflow">
1971 Indicates a CFM fault was triggered because the CFM module received
1972 CCMs from more remote endpoints than it can keep track of.
1975 <column name="cfm_fault_status" key="override">
1976 Indicates a CFM fault was manually triggered by an administrator using
1977 an <code>ovs-appctl</code> command.
1980 <column name="cfm_fault_status" key="interval">
1981 Indicates a CFM fault was triggered due to the reception of a CCM
1982 frame having an invalid interval.
1985 <column name="cfm_remote_opstate">
1986 <p>When in extended mode, indicates the operational state of the
1987 remote endpoint as either <code>up</code> or <code>down</code>. See
1988 <ref column="other_config" key="cfm_opstate"/>.
1992 <column name="cfm_health">
1994 Indicates the health of the interface as a percentage of CCM frames
1995 received over 21 <ref column="other_config" key="cfm_interval"/>s.
1996 The health of an interface is undefined if it is communicating with
1997 more than one <ref column="cfm_remote_mpids"/>. It reduces if
1998 healthy heartbeats are not received at the expected rate, and
1999 gradually improves as healthy heartbeats are received at the desired
2000 rate. Every 21 <ref column="other_config" key="cfm_interval"/>s, the
2001 health of the interface is refreshed.
2004 As mentioned above, the faults can be triggered for several reasons.
2005 The link health will deteriorate even if heartbeats are received but
2006 they are reported to be unhealthy. An unhealthy heartbeat in this
2007 context is a heartbeat for which either some fault is set or is out
2008 of sequence. The interface health can be 100 only on receiving
2009 healthy heartbeats at the desired rate.
2013 <column name="cfm_remote_mpids">
2014 When CFM is properly configured, Open vSwitch will occasionally
2015 receive CCM broadcasts. These broadcasts contain the MPID of the
2016 sending Maintenance Point. The list of MPIDs from which this
2017 <ref table="Interface"/> is receiving broadcasts from is regularly
2018 collected and written to this column.
2021 <column name="other_config" key="cfm_interval"
2022 type='{"type": "integer"}'>
2024 The interval, in milliseconds, between transmissions of CFM
2025 heartbeats. Three missed heartbeat receptions indicate a
2030 In standard operation only intervals of 3, 10, 100, 1,000, 10,000,
2031 60,000, or 600,000 ms are supported. Other values will be rounded
2032 down to the nearest value on the list. Extended mode (see <ref
2033 column="other_config" key="cfm_extended"/>) supports any interval up
2034 to 65,535 ms. In either mode, the default is 1000 ms.
2037 <p>We do not recommend using intervals less than 100 ms.</p>
2040 <column name="other_config" key="cfm_extended"
2041 type='{"type": "boolean"}'>
2042 When <code>true</code>, the CFM module operates in extended mode. This
2043 causes it to use a nonstandard destination address to avoid conflicting
2044 with compliant implementations which may be running concurrently on the
2045 network. Furthermore, extended mode increases the accuracy of the
2046 <code>cfm_interval</code> configuration parameter by breaking wire
2047 compatibility with 802.1ag compliant implementations. Defaults to
2051 <column name="other_config" key="cfm_demand" type='{"type": "boolean"}'>
2053 When <code>true</code>, and
2054 <ref column="other_config" key="cfm_extended"/> is true, the CFM
2055 module operates in demand mode. When in demand mode, traffic
2056 received on the <ref table="Interface"/> is used to indicate
2057 liveness. CCMs are still transmitted and received, but if the
2058 <ref table="Interface"/> is receiving traffic, their absence does not
2059 cause a connectivity fault.
2063 Demand mode has a couple of caveats:
2066 To ensure that ovs-vswitchd has enough time to pull statistics
2067 from the datapath, the minimum
2068 <ref column="other_config" key="cfm_interval"/> is 500ms.
2072 To avoid ambiguity, demand mode disables itself when there are
2073 multiple remote maintenance points.
2077 If the <ref table="Interface"/> is heavily congested, CCMs
2078 containing the <ref column="other_config" key="cfm_opstate"/>
2079 status may be dropped causing changes in the operational state to
2080 be delayed. Similarly, if CCMs containing the RDI bit are not
2081 received, unidirectional link failures may not be detected.
2087 <column name="other_config" key="cfm_opstate"
2088 type='{"type": "string", "enum": ["set", ["down", "up"]]}'>
2089 When <code>down</code>, the CFM module marks all CCMs it generates as
2090 operationally down without triggering a fault. This allows remote
2091 maintenance points to choose not to forward traffic to the
2092 <ref table="Interface"/> on which this CFM module is running.
2093 Currently, in Open vSwitch, the opdown bit of CCMs affects
2094 <ref table="Interface"/>s participating in bonds, and the bundle
2095 OpenFlow action. This setting is ignored when CFM is not in extended
2096 mode. Defaults to <code>up</code>.
2099 <column name="other_config" key="cfm_ccm_vlan"
2100 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1, "maxInteger": 4095}'>
2101 When set, the CFM module will apply a VLAN tag to all CCMs it generates
2102 with the given value. May be the string <code>random</code> in which
2103 case each CCM will be tagged with a different randomly generated VLAN.
2106 <column name="other_config" key="cfm_ccm_pcp"
2107 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1, "maxInteger": 7}'>
2108 When set, the CFM module will apply a VLAN tag to all CCMs it generates
2109 with the given PCP value, the VLAN ID of the tag is governed by the
2110 value of <ref column="other_config" key="cfm_ccm_vlan"/>. If
2111 <ref column="other_config" key="cfm_ccm_vlan"/> is unset, a VLAN ID of
2117 <group title="Bonding Configuration">
2118 <column name="other_config" key="lacp-port-id"
2119 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1, "maxInteger": 65535}'>
2120 The LACP port ID of this <ref table="Interface"/>. Port IDs are
2121 used in LACP negotiations to identify individual ports
2122 participating in a bond.
2125 <column name="other_config" key="lacp-port-priority"
2126 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1, "maxInteger": 65535}'>
2127 The LACP port priority of this <ref table="Interface"/>. In LACP
2128 negotiations <ref table="Interface"/>s with numerically lower
2129 priorities are preferred for aggregation.
2132 <column name="other_config" key="lacp-aggregation-key"
2133 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1, "maxInteger": 65535}'>
2134 The LACP aggregation key of this <ref table="Interface"/>. <ref
2135 table="Interface"/>s with different aggregation keys may not be active
2136 within a given <ref table="Port"/> at the same time.
2140 <group title="Virtual Machine Identifiers">
2142 These key-value pairs specifically apply to an interface that
2143 represents a virtual Ethernet interface connected to a virtual
2144 machine. These key-value pairs should not be present for other types
2145 of interfaces. Keys whose names end in <code>-uuid</code> have
2146 values that uniquely identify the entity in question. For a Citrix
2147 XenServer hypervisor, these values are UUIDs in RFC 4122 format.
2148 Other hypervisors may use other formats.
2151 <column name="external_ids" key="attached-mac">
2152 The MAC address programmed into the ``virtual hardware'' for this
2153 interface, in the form
2154 <var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>.
2155 For Citrix XenServer, this is the value of the <code>MAC</code> field
2156 in the VIF record for this interface.
2159 <column name="external_ids" key="iface-id">
2160 A system-unique identifier for the interface. On XenServer, this will
2161 commonly be the same as <ref column="external_ids" key="xs-vif-uuid"/>.
2164 <column name="external_ids" key="iface-status"
2165 type='{"type": "string",
2166 "enum": ["set", ["active", "inactive"]]}'>
2168 Hypervisors may sometimes have more than one interface associated
2169 with a given <ref column="external_ids" key="iface-id"/>, only one of
2170 which is actually in use at a given time. For example, in some
2171 circumstances XenServer has both a ``tap'' and a ``vif'' interface
2172 for a single <ref column="external_ids" key="iface-id"/>, but only
2173 uses one of them at a time. A hypervisor that behaves this way must
2174 mark the currently in use interface <code>active</code> and the
2175 others <code>inactive</code>. A hypervisor that never has more than
2176 one interface for a given <ref column="external_ids" key="iface-id"/>
2177 may mark that interface <code>active</code> or omit <ref
2178 column="external_ids" key="iface-status"/> entirely.
2182 During VM migration, a given <ref column="external_ids"
2183 key="iface-id"/> might transiently be marked <code>active</code> on
2184 two different hypervisors. That is, <code>active</code> means that
2185 this <ref column="external_ids" key="iface-id"/> is the active
2186 instance within a single hypervisor, not in a broader scope.
2187 There is one exception: some hypervisors support ``migration'' from a
2188 given hypervisor to itself (most often for test purposes). During
2189 such a ``migration,'' two instances of a single <ref
2190 column="external_ids" key="iface-id"/> might both be briefly marked
2191 <code>active</code> on a single hypervisor.
2195 <column name="external_ids" key="xs-vif-uuid">
2196 The virtual interface associated with this interface.
2199 <column name="external_ids" key="xs-network-uuid">
2200 The virtual network to which this interface is attached.
2203 <column name="external_ids" key="vm-id">
2204 The VM to which this interface belongs. On XenServer, this will be the
2205 same as <ref column="external_ids" key="xs-vm-uuid"/>.
2208 <column name="external_ids" key="xs-vm-uuid">
2209 The VM to which this interface belongs.
2213 <group title="VLAN Splinters">
2215 The ``VLAN splinters'' feature increases Open vSwitch compatibility
2216 with buggy network drivers in old versions of Linux that do not
2217 properly support VLANs when VLAN devices are not used, at some cost
2218 in memory and performance.
2222 When VLAN splinters are enabled on a particular interface, Open vSwitch
2223 creates a VLAN device for each in-use VLAN. For sending traffic tagged
2224 with a VLAN on the interface, it substitutes the VLAN device. Traffic
2225 received on the VLAN device is treated as if it had been received on
2226 the interface on the particular VLAN.
2230 VLAN splinters consider a VLAN to be in use if:
2235 The VLAN is the <ref table="Port" column="tag"/> value in any <ref
2236 table="Port"/> record.
2240 The VLAN is listed within the <ref table="Port" column="trunks"/>
2241 column of the <ref table="Port"/> record of an interface on which
2242 VLAN splinters are enabled.
2244 An empty <ref table="Port" column="trunks"/> does not influence the
2245 in-use VLANs: creating 4,096 VLAN devices is impractical because it
2246 will exceed the current 1,024 port per datapath limit.
2250 An OpenFlow flow within any bridge matches the VLAN.
2255 The same set of in-use VLANs applies to every interface on which VLAN
2256 splinters are enabled. That is, the set is not chosen separately for
2257 each interface but selected once as the union of all in-use VLANs based
2262 It does not make sense to enable VLAN splinters on an interface for an
2263 access port, or on an interface that is not a physical port.
2267 VLAN splinters are deprecated. When broken device drivers are no
2268 longer in widespread use, we will delete this feature.
2271 <column name="other_config" key="enable-vlan-splinters"
2272 type='{"type": "boolean"}'>
2274 Set to <code>true</code> to enable VLAN splinters on this interface.
2275 Defaults to <code>false</code>.
2279 VLAN splinters increase kernel and userspace memory overhead, so do
2280 not use them unless they are needed.
2284 VLAN splinters do not support 802.1p priority tags. Received
2285 priorities will appear to be 0, regardless of their actual values,
2286 and priorities on transmitted packets will also be cleared to 0.
2291 <group title="Common Columns">
2292 The overall purpose of these columns is described under <code>Common
2293 Columns</code> at the beginning of this document.
2295 <column name="other_config"/>
2296 <column name="external_ids"/>
2300 <table name="Flow_Table" title="OpenFlow table configuration">
2301 <p>Configuration for a particular OpenFlow table.</p>
2303 <column name="name">
2304 The table's name. Set this column to change the name that controllers
2305 will receive when they request table statistics, e.g. <code>ovs-ofctl
2306 dump-tables</code>. The name does not affect switch behavior.
2309 <column name="flow_limit">
2310 If set, limits the number of flows that may be added to the table. Open
2311 vSwitch may limit the number of flows in a table for other reasons,
2312 e.g. due to hardware limitations or for resource availability or
2313 performance reasons.
2316 <column name="overflow_policy">
2318 Controls the switch's behavior when an OpenFlow flow table modification
2319 request would add flows in excess of <ref column="flow_limit"/>. The
2320 supported values are:
2324 <dt><code>refuse</code></dt>
2326 Refuse to add the flow or flows. This is also the default policy
2327 when <ref column="overflow_policy"/> is unset.
2330 <dt><code>evict</code></dt>
2332 Delete the flow that will expire soonest. See <ref column="groups"/>
2338 <column name="groups">
2340 When <ref column="overflow_policy"/> is <code>evict</code>, this
2341 controls how flows are chosen for eviction when the flow table would
2342 otherwise exceed <ref column="flow_limit"/> flows. Its value is a set
2343 of NXM fields or sub-fields, each of which takes one of the forms
2344 <code><var>field</var>[]</code> or
2345 <code><var>field</var>[<var>start</var>..<var>end</var>]</code>,
2346 e.g. <code>NXM_OF_IN_PORT[]</code>. Please see
2347 <code>nicira-ext.h</code> for a complete list of NXM field names.
2351 When a flow must be evicted due to overflow, the flow to evict is
2352 chosen through an approximation of the following algorithm:
2357 Divide the flows in the table into groups based on the values of the
2358 specified fields or subfields, so that all of the flows in a given
2359 group have the same values for those fields. If a flow does not
2360 specify a given field, that field's value is treated as 0.
2364 Consider the flows in the largest group, that is, the group that
2365 contains the greatest number of flows. If two or more groups all
2366 have the same largest number of flows, consider the flows in all of
2371 Among the flows under consideration, choose the flow that expires
2372 soonest for eviction.
2377 The eviction process only considers flows that have an idle timeout or
2378 a hard timeout. That is, eviction never deletes permanent flows.
2379 (Permanent flows do count against <ref column="flow_limit"/>.)
2383 Open vSwitch ignores any invalid or unknown field specifications.
2387 When <ref column="overflow_policy"/> is not <code>evict</code>, this
2388 column has no effect.
2393 <table name="QoS" title="Quality of Service configuration">
2394 <p>Quality of Service (QoS) configuration for each Port that
2397 <column name="type">
2398 <p>The type of QoS to implement. The currently defined types are
2401 <dt><code>linux-htb</code></dt>
2403 Linux ``hierarchy token bucket'' classifier. See tc-htb(8) (also at
2404 <code>http://linux.die.net/man/8/tc-htb</code>) and the HTB manual
2405 (<code>http://luxik.cdi.cz/~devik/qos/htb/manual/userg.htm</code>)
2406 for information on how this classifier works and how to configure it.
2410 <dt><code>linux-hfsc</code></dt>
2412 Linux "Hierarchical Fair Service Curve" classifier.
2413 See <code>http://linux-ip.net/articles/hfsc.en/</code> for
2414 information on how this classifier works.
2419 <column name="queues">
2420 <p>A map from queue numbers to <ref table="Queue"/> records. The
2421 supported range of queue numbers depend on <ref column="type"/>. The
2422 queue numbers are the same as the <code>queue_id</code> used in
2423 OpenFlow in <code>struct ofp_action_enqueue</code> and other
2427 Queue 0 is the ``default queue.'' It is used by OpenFlow output
2428 actions when no specific queue has been set. When no configuration for
2429 queue 0 is present, it is automatically configured as if a <ref
2430 table="Queue"/> record with empty <ref table="Queue" column="dscp"/>
2431 and <ref table="Queue" column="other_config"/> columns had been
2433 (Before version 1.6, Open vSwitch would leave queue 0 unconfigured in
2434 this case. With some queuing disciplines, this dropped all packets
2435 destined for the default queue.)
2439 <group title="Configuration for linux-htb and linux-hfsc">
2441 The <code>linux-htb</code> and <code>linux-hfsc</code> classes support
2442 the following key-value pair:
2445 <column name="other_config" key="max-rate" type='{"type": "integer"}'>
2446 Maximum rate shared by all queued traffic, in bit/s. Optional. If not
2447 specified, for physical interfaces, the default is the link rate. For
2448 other interfaces or if the link rate cannot be determined, the default
2449 is currently 100 Mbps.
2453 <group title="Common Columns">
2454 The overall purpose of these columns is described under <code>Common
2455 Columns</code> at the beginning of this document.
2457 <column name="other_config"/>
2458 <column name="external_ids"/>
2462 <table name="Queue" title="QoS output queue.">
2463 <p>A configuration for a port output queue, used in configuring Quality of
2464 Service (QoS) features. May be referenced by <ref column="queues"
2465 table="QoS"/> column in <ref table="QoS"/> table.</p>
2467 <column name="dscp">
2468 If set, Open vSwitch will mark all traffic egressing this
2469 <ref table="Queue"/> with the given DSCP bits. Traffic egressing the
2470 default <ref table="Queue"/> is only marked if it was explicitly selected
2471 as the <ref table="Queue"/> at the time the packet was output. If unset,
2472 the DSCP bits of traffic egressing this <ref table="Queue"/> will remain
2476 <group title="Configuration for linux-htb QoS">
2478 <ref table="QoS"/> <ref table="QoS" column="type"/>
2479 <code>linux-htb</code> may use <code>queue_id</code>s less than 61440.
2480 It has the following key-value pairs defined.
2483 <column name="other_config" key="min-rate"
2484 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1}'>
2485 Minimum guaranteed bandwidth, in bit/s.
2488 <column name="other_config" key="max-rate"
2489 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1}'>
2490 Maximum allowed bandwidth, in bit/s. Optional. If specified, the
2491 queue's rate will not be allowed to exceed the specified value, even
2492 if excess bandwidth is available. If unspecified, defaults to no
2496 <column name="other_config" key="burst"
2497 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1}'>
2498 Burst size, in bits. This is the maximum amount of ``credits'' that a
2499 queue can accumulate while it is idle. Optional. Details of the
2500 <code>linux-htb</code> implementation require a minimum burst size, so
2501 a too-small <code>burst</code> will be silently ignored.
2504 <column name="other_config" key="priority"
2505 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 0, "maxInteger": 4294967295}'>
2506 A queue with a smaller <code>priority</code> will receive all the
2507 excess bandwidth that it can use before a queue with a larger value
2508 receives any. Specific priority values are unimportant; only relative
2509 ordering matters. Defaults to 0 if unspecified.
2513 <group title="Configuration for linux-hfsc QoS">
2515 <ref table="QoS"/> <ref table="QoS" column="type"/>
2516 <code>linux-hfsc</code> may use <code>queue_id</code>s less than 61440.
2517 It has the following key-value pairs defined.
2520 <column name="other_config" key="min-rate"
2521 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1}'>
2522 Minimum guaranteed bandwidth, in bit/s.
2525 <column name="other_config" key="max-rate"
2526 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1}'>
2527 Maximum allowed bandwidth, in bit/s. Optional. If specified, the
2528 queue's rate will not be allowed to exceed the specified value, even if
2529 excess bandwidth is available. If unspecified, defaults to no
2534 <group title="Common Columns">
2535 The overall purpose of these columns is described under <code>Common
2536 Columns</code> at the beginning of this document.
2538 <column name="other_config"/>
2539 <column name="external_ids"/>
2543 <table name="Mirror" title="Port mirroring.">
2544 <p>A port mirror within a <ref table="Bridge"/>.</p>
2545 <p>A port mirror configures a bridge to send selected frames to special
2546 ``mirrored'' ports, in addition to their normal destinations. Mirroring
2547 traffic may also be referred to as SPAN or RSPAN, depending on how
2548 the mirrored traffic is sent.</p>
2550 <column name="name">
2551 Arbitrary identifier for the <ref table="Mirror"/>.
2554 <group title="Selecting Packets for Mirroring">
2556 To be selected for mirroring, a given packet must enter or leave the
2557 bridge through a selected port and it must also be in one of the
2561 <column name="select_all">
2562 If true, every packet arriving or departing on any port is
2563 selected for mirroring.
2566 <column name="select_dst_port">
2567 Ports on which departing packets are selected for mirroring.
2570 <column name="select_src_port">
2571 Ports on which arriving packets are selected for mirroring.
2574 <column name="select_vlan">
2575 VLANs on which packets are selected for mirroring. An empty set
2576 selects packets on all VLANs.
2580 <group title="Mirroring Destination Configuration">
2582 These columns are mutually exclusive. Exactly one of them must be
2586 <column name="output_port">
2587 <p>Output port for selected packets, if nonempty.</p>
2588 <p>Specifying a port for mirror output reserves that port exclusively
2589 for mirroring. No frames other than those selected for mirroring
2591 will be forwarded to the port, and any frames received on the port
2592 will be discarded.</p>
2594 The output port may be any kind of port supported by Open vSwitch.
2595 It may be, for example, a physical port (sometimes called SPAN) or a
2600 <column name="output_vlan">
2601 <p>Output VLAN for selected packets, if nonempty.</p>
2602 <p>The frames will be sent out all ports that trunk
2603 <ref column="output_vlan"/>, as well as any ports with implicit VLAN
2604 <ref column="output_vlan"/>. When a mirrored frame is sent out a
2605 trunk port, the frame's VLAN tag will be set to
2606 <ref column="output_vlan"/>, replacing any existing tag; when it is
2607 sent out an implicit VLAN port, the frame will not be tagged. This
2608 type of mirroring is sometimes called RSPAN.</p>
2610 See the documentation for
2611 <ref column="other_config" key="forward-bpdu"/> in the
2612 <ref table="Interface"/> table for a list of destination MAC
2613 addresses which will not be mirrored to a VLAN to avoid confusing
2614 switches that interpret the protocols that they represent.
2616 <p><em>Please note:</em> Mirroring to a VLAN can disrupt a network that
2617 contains unmanaged switches. Consider an unmanaged physical switch
2618 with two ports: port 1, connected to an end host, and port 2,
2619 connected to an Open vSwitch configured to mirror received packets
2620 into VLAN 123 on port 2. Suppose that the end host sends a packet on
2621 port 1 that the physical switch forwards to port 2. The Open vSwitch
2622 forwards this packet to its destination and then reflects it back on
2623 port 2 in VLAN 123. This reflected packet causes the unmanaged
2624 physical switch to replace the MAC learning table entry, which
2625 correctly pointed to port 1, with one that incorrectly points to port
2626 2. Afterward, the physical switch will direct packets destined for
2627 the end host to the Open vSwitch on port 2, instead of to the end
2628 host on port 1, disrupting connectivity. If mirroring to a VLAN is
2629 desired in this scenario, then the physical switch must be replaced
2630 by one that learns Ethernet addresses on a per-VLAN basis. In
2631 addition, learning should be disabled on the VLAN containing mirrored
2632 traffic. If this is not done then intermediate switches will learn
2633 the MAC address of each end host from the mirrored traffic. If
2634 packets being sent to that end host are also mirrored, then they will
2635 be dropped since the switch will attempt to send them out the input
2636 port. Disabling learning for the VLAN will cause the switch to
2637 correctly send the packet out all ports configured for that VLAN. If
2638 Open vSwitch is being used as an intermediate switch, learning can be
2639 disabled by adding the mirrored VLAN to <ref column="flood_vlans"/>
2640 in the appropriate <ref table="Bridge"/> table or tables.</p>
2642 Mirroring to a GRE tunnel has fewer caveats than mirroring to a
2643 VLAN and should generally be preferred.
2648 <group title="Statistics: Mirror counters">
2650 Key-value pairs that report mirror statistics.
2652 <column name="statistics" key="tx_packets">
2653 Number of packets transmitted through this mirror.
2655 <column name="statistics" key="tx_bytes">
2656 Number of bytes transmitted through this mirror.
2660 <group title="Common Columns">
2661 The overall purpose of these columns is described under <code>Common
2662 Columns</code> at the beginning of this document.
2664 <column name="external_ids"/>
2668 <table name="Controller" title="OpenFlow controller configuration.">
2669 <p>An OpenFlow controller.</p>
2672 Open vSwitch supports two kinds of OpenFlow controllers:
2676 <dt>Primary controllers</dt>
2679 This is the kind of controller envisioned by the OpenFlow 1.0
2680 specification. Usually, a primary controller implements a network
2681 policy by taking charge of the switch's flow table.
2685 Open vSwitch initiates and maintains persistent connections to
2686 primary controllers, retrying the connection each time it fails or
2687 drops. The <ref table="Bridge" column="fail_mode"/> column in the
2688 <ref table="Bridge"/> table applies to primary controllers.
2692 Open vSwitch permits a bridge to have any number of primary
2693 controllers. When multiple controllers are configured, Open
2694 vSwitch connects to all of them simultaneously. Because
2695 OpenFlow 1.0 does not specify how multiple controllers
2696 coordinate in interacting with a single switch, more than
2697 one primary controller should be specified only if the
2698 controllers are themselves designed to coordinate with each
2699 other. (The Nicira-defined <code>NXT_ROLE</code> OpenFlow
2700 vendor extension may be useful for this.)
2703 <dt>Service controllers</dt>
2706 These kinds of OpenFlow controller connections are intended for
2707 occasional support and maintenance use, e.g. with
2708 <code>ovs-ofctl</code>. Usually a service controller connects only
2709 briefly to inspect or modify some of a switch's state.
2713 Open vSwitch listens for incoming connections from service
2714 controllers. The service controllers initiate and, if necessary,
2715 maintain the connections from their end. The <ref table="Bridge"
2716 column="fail_mode"/> column in the <ref table="Bridge"/> table does
2717 not apply to service controllers.
2721 Open vSwitch supports configuring any number of service controllers.
2727 The <ref column="target"/> determines the type of controller.
2730 <group title="Core Features">
2731 <column name="target">
2732 <p>Connection method for controller.</p>
2734 The following connection methods are currently supported for primary
2738 <dt><code>ssl:<var>ip</var></code>[<code>:<var>port</var></code>]</dt>
2740 <p>The specified SSL <var>port</var> (default: 6633) on the host at
2741 the given <var>ip</var>, which must be expressed as an IP address
2742 (not a DNS name). The <ref table="Open_vSwitch" column="ssl"/>
2743 column in the <ref table="Open_vSwitch"/> table must point to a
2744 valid SSL configuration when this form is used.</p>
2745 <p>SSL support is an optional feature that is not always built as
2746 part of Open vSwitch.</p>
2748 <dt><code>tcp:<var>ip</var></code>[<code>:<var>port</var></code>]</dt>
2749 <dd>The specified TCP <var>port</var> (default: 6633) on the host at
2750 the given <var>ip</var>, which must be expressed as an IP address
2751 (not a DNS name).</dd>
2754 The following connection methods are currently supported for service
2758 <dt><code>pssl:</code>[<var>port</var>][<code>:<var>ip</var></code>]</dt>
2761 Listens for SSL connections on the specified TCP <var>port</var>
2762 (default: 6633). If <var>ip</var>, which must be expressed as an
2763 IP address (not a DNS name), is specified, then connections are
2764 restricted to the specified local IP address.
2767 The <ref table="Open_vSwitch" column="ssl"/> column in the <ref
2768 table="Open_vSwitch"/> table must point to a valid SSL
2769 configuration when this form is used.
2771 <p>SSL support is an optional feature that is not always built as
2772 part of Open vSwitch.</p>
2774 <dt><code>ptcp:</code>[<var>port</var>][<code>:<var>ip</var></code>]</dt>
2776 Listens for connections on the specified TCP <var>port</var>
2777 (default: 6633). If <var>ip</var>, which must be expressed as an
2778 IP address (not a DNS name), is specified, then connections are
2779 restricted to the specified local IP address.
2782 <p>When multiple controllers are configured for a single bridge, the
2783 <ref column="target"/> values must be unique. Duplicate
2784 <ref column="target"/> values yield unspecified results.</p>
2787 <column name="connection_mode">
2788 <p>If it is specified, this setting must be one of the following
2789 strings that describes how Open vSwitch contacts this OpenFlow
2790 controller over the network:</p>
2793 <dt><code>in-band</code></dt>
2794 <dd>In this mode, this controller's OpenFlow traffic travels over the
2795 bridge associated with the controller. With this setting, Open
2796 vSwitch allows traffic to and from the controller regardless of the
2797 contents of the OpenFlow flow table. (Otherwise, Open vSwitch
2798 would never be able to connect to the controller, because it did
2799 not have a flow to enable it.) This is the most common connection
2800 mode because it is not necessary to maintain two independent
2802 <dt><code>out-of-band</code></dt>
2803 <dd>In this mode, OpenFlow traffic uses a control network separate
2804 from the bridge associated with this controller, that is, the
2805 bridge does not use any of its own network devices to communicate
2806 with the controller. The control network must be configured
2807 separately, before or after <code>ovs-vswitchd</code> is started.
2811 <p>If not specified, the default is implementation-specific.</p>
2815 <group title="Controller Failure Detection and Handling">
2816 <column name="max_backoff">
2817 Maximum number of milliseconds to wait between connection attempts.
2818 Default is implementation-specific.
2821 <column name="inactivity_probe">
2822 Maximum number of milliseconds of idle time on connection to
2823 controller before sending an inactivity probe message. If Open
2824 vSwitch does not communicate with the controller for the specified
2825 number of seconds, it will send a probe. If a response is not
2826 received for the same additional amount of time, Open vSwitch
2827 assumes the connection has been broken and attempts to reconnect.
2828 Default is implementation-specific. A value of 0 disables
2833 <group title="Asynchronous Message Configuration">
2835 OpenFlow switches send certain messages to controllers spontanenously,
2836 that is, not in response to any request from the controller. These
2837 messages are called ``asynchronous messages.'' These columns allow
2838 asynchronous messages to be limited or disabled to ensure the best use
2839 of network resources.
2842 <column name="enable_async_messages">
2843 The OpenFlow protocol enables asynchronous messages at time of
2844 connection establishment, which means that a controller can receive
2845 asynchronous messages, potentially many of them, even if it turns them
2846 off immediately after connecting. Set this column to
2847 <code>false</code> to change Open vSwitch behavior to disable, by
2848 default, all asynchronous messages. The controller can use the
2849 <code>NXT_SET_ASYNC_CONFIG</code> Nicira extension to OpenFlow to turn
2850 on any messages that it does want to receive, if any.
2853 <column name="controller_rate_limit">
2855 The maximum rate at which the switch will forward packets to the
2856 OpenFlow controller, in packets per second. This feature prevents a
2857 single bridge from overwhelming the controller. If not specified,
2858 the default is implementation-specific.
2862 In addition, when a high rate triggers rate-limiting, Open vSwitch
2863 queues controller packets for each port and transmits them to the
2864 controller at the configured rate. The <ref
2865 column="controller_burst_limit"/> value limits the number of queued
2866 packets. Ports on a bridge share the packet queue fairly.
2870 Open vSwitch maintains two such packet rate-limiters per bridge: one
2871 for packets sent up to the controller because they do not correspond
2872 to any flow, and the other for packets sent up to the controller by
2873 request through flow actions. When both rate-limiters are filled with
2874 packets, the actual rate that packets are sent to the controller is
2875 up to twice the specified rate.
2879 <column name="controller_burst_limit">
2880 In conjunction with <ref column="controller_rate_limit"/>,
2881 the maximum number of unused packet credits that the bridge will
2882 allow to accumulate, in packets. If not specified, the default
2883 is implementation-specific.
2887 <group title="Additional In-Band Configuration">
2888 <p>These values are considered only in in-band control mode (see
2889 <ref column="connection_mode"/>).</p>
2891 <p>When multiple controllers are configured on a single bridge, there
2892 should be only one set of unique values in these columns. If different
2893 values are set for these columns in different controllers, the effect
2896 <column name="local_ip">
2897 The IP address to configure on the local port,
2898 e.g. <code>192.168.0.123</code>. If this value is unset, then
2899 <ref column="local_netmask"/> and <ref column="local_gateway"/> are
2903 <column name="local_netmask">
2904 The IP netmask to configure on the local port,
2905 e.g. <code>255.255.255.0</code>. If <ref column="local_ip"/> is set
2906 but this value is unset, then the default is chosen based on whether
2907 the IP address is class A, B, or C.
2910 <column name="local_gateway">
2911 The IP address of the gateway to configure on the local port, as a
2912 string, e.g. <code>192.168.0.1</code>. Leave this column unset if
2913 this network has no gateway.
2917 <group title="Controller Status">
2918 <column name="is_connected">
2919 <code>true</code> if currently connected to this controller,
2920 <code>false</code> otherwise.
2924 type='{"type": "string", "enum": ["set", ["other", "master", "slave"]]}'>
2925 <p>The level of authority this controller has on the associated
2926 bridge. Possible values are:</p>
2928 <dt><code>other</code></dt>
2929 <dd>Allows the controller access to all OpenFlow features.</dd>
2930 <dt><code>master</code></dt>
2931 <dd>Equivalent to <code>other</code>, except that there may be at
2932 most one master controller at a time. When a controller configures
2933 itself as <code>master</code>, any existing master is demoted to
2934 the <code>slave</code>role.</dd>
2935 <dt><code>slave</code></dt>
2936 <dd>Allows the controller read-only access to OpenFlow features.
2937 Attempts to modify the flow table will be rejected with an
2938 error. Slave controllers do not receive OFPT_PACKET_IN or
2939 OFPT_FLOW_REMOVED messages, but they do receive OFPT_PORT_STATUS
2944 <column name="status" key="last_error">
2945 A human-readable description of the last error on the connection
2946 to the controller; i.e. <code>strerror(errno)</code>. This key
2947 will exist only if an error has occurred.
2950 <column name="status" key="state"
2951 type='{"type": "string", "enum": ["set", ["VOID", "BACKOFF", "CONNECTING", "ACTIVE", "IDLE"]]}'>
2953 The state of the connection to the controller:
2956 <dt><code>VOID</code></dt>
2957 <dd>Connection is disabled.</dd>
2959 <dt><code>BACKOFF</code></dt>
2960 <dd>Attempting to reconnect at an increasing period.</dd>
2962 <dt><code>CONNECTING</code></dt>
2963 <dd>Attempting to connect.</dd>
2965 <dt><code>ACTIVE</code></dt>
2966 <dd>Connected, remote host responsive.</dd>
2968 <dt><code>IDLE</code></dt>
2969 <dd>Connection is idle. Waiting for response to keep-alive.</dd>
2972 These values may change in the future. They are provided only for
2977 <column name="status" key="sec_since_connect"
2978 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 0}'>
2979 The amount of time since this controller last successfully connected to
2980 the switch (in seconds). Value is empty if controller has never
2981 successfully connected.
2984 <column name="status" key="sec_since_disconnect"
2985 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1}'>
2986 The amount of time since this controller last disconnected from
2987 the switch (in seconds). Value is empty if controller has never
2992 <group title="Connection Parameters">
2994 Additional configuration for a connection between the controller
2995 and the Open vSwitch.
2998 <column name="other_config" key="dscp"
2999 type='{"type": "integer"}'>
3000 The Differentiated Service Code Point (DSCP) is specified using 6 bits
3001 in the Type of Service (TOS) field in the IP header. DSCP provides a
3002 mechanism to classify the network traffic and provide Quality of
3003 Service (QoS) on IP networks.
3005 The DSCP value specified here is used when establishing the connection
3006 between the controller and the Open vSwitch. If no value is specified,
3007 a default value of 48 is chosen. Valid DSCP values must be in the
3013 <group title="Common Columns">
3014 The overall purpose of these columns is described under <code>Common
3015 Columns</code> at the beginning of this document.
3017 <column name="external_ids"/>
3018 <column name="other_config"/>
3022 <table name="Manager" title="OVSDB management connection.">
3024 Configuration for a database connection to an Open vSwitch database
3029 This table primarily configures the Open vSwitch database
3030 (<code>ovsdb-server</code>), not the Open vSwitch switch
3031 (<code>ovs-vswitchd</code>). The switch does read the table to determine
3032 what connections should be treated as in-band.
3036 The Open vSwitch database server can initiate and maintain active
3037 connections to remote clients. It can also listen for database
3041 <group title="Core Features">
3042 <column name="target">
3043 <p>Connection method for managers.</p>
3045 The following connection methods are currently supported:
3048 <dt><code>ssl:<var>ip</var></code>[<code>:<var>port</var></code>]</dt>
3051 The specified SSL <var>port</var> (default: 6632) on the host at
3052 the given <var>ip</var>, which must be expressed as an IP address
3053 (not a DNS name). The <ref table="Open_vSwitch" column="ssl"/>
3054 column in the <ref table="Open_vSwitch"/> table must point to a
3055 valid SSL configuration when this form is used.
3058 SSL support is an optional feature that is not always built as
3059 part of Open vSwitch.
3063 <dt><code>tcp:<var>ip</var></code>[<code>:<var>port</var></code>]</dt>
3065 The specified TCP <var>port</var> (default: 6632) on the host at
3066 the given <var>ip</var>, which must be expressed as an IP address
3069 <dt><code>pssl:</code>[<var>port</var>][<code>:<var>ip</var></code>]</dt>
3072 Listens for SSL connections on the specified TCP <var>port</var>
3073 (default: 6632). Specify 0 for <var>port</var> to have the
3074 kernel automatically choose an available port. If <var>ip</var>,
3075 which must be expressed as an IP address (not a DNS name), is
3076 specified, then connections are restricted to the specified local
3080 The <ref table="Open_vSwitch" column="ssl"/> column in the <ref
3081 table="Open_vSwitch"/> table must point to a valid SSL
3082 configuration when this form is used.
3085 SSL support is an optional feature that is not always built as
3086 part of Open vSwitch.
3089 <dt><code>ptcp:</code>[<var>port</var>][<code>:<var>ip</var></code>]</dt>
3091 Listens for connections on the specified TCP <var>port</var>
3092 (default: 6632). Specify 0 for <var>port</var> to have the kernel
3093 automatically choose an available port. If <var>ip</var>, which
3094 must be expressed as an IP address (not a DNS name), is specified,
3095 then connections are restricted to the specified local IP address.
3098 <p>When multiple managers are configured, the <ref column="target"/>
3099 values must be unique. Duplicate <ref column="target"/> values yield
3100 unspecified results.</p>
3103 <column name="connection_mode">
3105 If it is specified, this setting must be one of the following strings
3106 that describes how Open vSwitch contacts this OVSDB client over the
3111 <dt><code>in-band</code></dt>
3113 In this mode, this connection's traffic travels over a bridge
3114 managed by Open vSwitch. With this setting, Open vSwitch allows
3115 traffic to and from the client regardless of the contents of the
3116 OpenFlow flow table. (Otherwise, Open vSwitch would never be able
3117 to connect to the client, because it did not have a flow to enable
3118 it.) This is the most common connection mode because it is not
3119 necessary to maintain two independent networks.
3121 <dt><code>out-of-band</code></dt>
3123 In this mode, the client's traffic uses a control network separate
3124 from that managed by Open vSwitch, that is, Open vSwitch does not
3125 use any of its own network devices to communicate with the client.
3126 The control network must be configured separately, before or after
3127 <code>ovs-vswitchd</code> is started.
3132 If not specified, the default is implementation-specific.
3137 <group title="Client Failure Detection and Handling">
3138 <column name="max_backoff">
3139 Maximum number of milliseconds to wait between connection attempts.
3140 Default is implementation-specific.
3143 <column name="inactivity_probe">
3144 Maximum number of milliseconds of idle time on connection to the client
3145 before sending an inactivity probe message. If Open vSwitch does not
3146 communicate with the client for the specified number of seconds, it
3147 will send a probe. If a response is not received for the same
3148 additional amount of time, Open vSwitch assumes the connection has been
3149 broken and attempts to reconnect. Default is implementation-specific.
3150 A value of 0 disables inactivity probes.
3154 <group title="Status">
3155 <column name="is_connected">
3156 <code>true</code> if currently connected to this manager,
3157 <code>false</code> otherwise.
3160 <column name="status" key="last_error">
3161 A human-readable description of the last error on the connection
3162 to the manager; i.e. <code>strerror(errno)</code>. This key
3163 will exist only if an error has occurred.
3166 <column name="status" key="state"
3167 type='{"type": "string", "enum": ["set", ["VOID", "BACKOFF", "CONNECTING", "ACTIVE", "IDLE"]]}'>
3169 The state of the connection to the manager:
3172 <dt><code>VOID</code></dt>
3173 <dd>Connection is disabled.</dd>
3175 <dt><code>BACKOFF</code></dt>
3176 <dd>Attempting to reconnect at an increasing period.</dd>
3178 <dt><code>CONNECTING</code></dt>
3179 <dd>Attempting to connect.</dd>
3181 <dt><code>ACTIVE</code></dt>
3182 <dd>Connected, remote host responsive.</dd>
3184 <dt><code>IDLE</code></dt>
3185 <dd>Connection is idle. Waiting for response to keep-alive.</dd>
3188 These values may change in the future. They are provided only for
3193 <column name="status" key="sec_since_connect"
3194 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 0}'>
3195 The amount of time since this manager last successfully connected
3196 to the database (in seconds). Value is empty if manager has never
3197 successfully connected.
3200 <column name="status" key="sec_since_disconnect"
3201 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 0}'>
3202 The amount of time since this manager last disconnected from the
3203 database (in seconds). Value is empty if manager has never
3207 <column name="status" key="locks_held">
3208 Space-separated list of the names of OVSDB locks that the connection
3209 holds. Omitted if the connection does not hold any locks.
3212 <column name="status" key="locks_waiting">
3213 Space-separated list of the names of OVSDB locks that the connection is
3214 currently waiting to acquire. Omitted if the connection is not waiting
3218 <column name="status" key="locks_lost">
3219 Space-separated list of the names of OVSDB locks that the connection
3220 has had stolen by another OVSDB client. Omitted if no locks have been
3221 stolen from this connection.
3224 <column name="status" key="n_connections"
3225 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 2}'>
3227 When <ref column="target"/> specifies a connection method that
3228 listens for inbound connections (e.g. <code>ptcp:</code> or
3229 <code>pssl:</code>) and more than one connection is actually active,
3230 the value is the number of active connections. Otherwise, this
3231 key-value pair is omitted.
3234 When multiple connections are active, status columns and key-value
3235 pairs (other than this one) report the status of one arbitrarily
3240 <column name="status" key="bound_port" type='{"type": "integer"}'>
3241 When <ref column="target"/> is <code>ptcp:</code> or
3242 <code>pssl:</code>, this is the TCP port on which the OVSDB server is
3243 listening. (This is is particularly useful when <ref
3244 column="target"/> specifies a port of 0, allowing the kernel to
3245 choose any available port.)
3249 <group title="Connection Parameters">
3251 Additional configuration for a connection between the manager
3252 and the Open vSwitch Database.
3255 <column name="other_config" key="dscp"
3256 type='{"type": "integer"}'>
3257 The Differentiated Service Code Point (DSCP) is specified using 6 bits
3258 in the Type of Service (TOS) field in the IP header. DSCP provides a
3259 mechanism to classify the network traffic and provide Quality of
3260 Service (QoS) on IP networks.
3262 The DSCP value specified here is used when establishing the connection
3263 between the manager and the Open vSwitch. If no value is specified, a
3264 default value of 48 is chosen. Valid DSCP values must be in the range
3269 <group title="Common Columns">
3270 The overall purpose of these columns is described under <code>Common
3271 Columns</code> at the beginning of this document.
3273 <column name="external_ids"/>
3274 <column name="other_config"/>
3278 <table name="NetFlow">
3279 A NetFlow target. NetFlow is a protocol that exports a number of
3280 details about terminating IP flows, such as the principals involved
3283 <column name="targets">
3284 NetFlow targets in the form
3285 <code><var>ip</var>:<var>port</var></code>. The <var>ip</var>
3286 must be specified numerically, not as a DNS name.
3289 <column name="engine_id">
3290 Engine ID to use in NetFlow messages. Defaults to datapath index
3294 <column name="engine_type">
3295 Engine type to use in NetFlow messages. Defaults to datapath
3296 index if not specified.
3299 <column name="active_timeout">
3300 The interval at which NetFlow records are sent for flows that are
3301 still active, in seconds. A value of <code>0</code> requests the
3302 default timeout (currently 600 seconds); a value of <code>-1</code>
3303 disables active timeouts.
3306 <column name="add_id_to_interface">
3307 <p>If this column's value is <code>false</code>, the ingress and egress
3308 interface fields of NetFlow flow records are derived from OpenFlow port
3309 numbers. When it is <code>true</code>, the 7 most significant bits of
3310 these fields will be replaced by the least significant 7 bits of the
3311 engine id. This is useful because many NetFlow collectors do not
3312 expect multiple switches to be sending messages from the same host, so
3313 they do not store the engine information which could be used to
3314 disambiguate the traffic.</p>
3315 <p>When this option is enabled, a maximum of 508 ports are supported.</p>
3318 <group title="Common Columns">
3319 The overall purpose of these columns is described under <code>Common
3320 Columns</code> at the beginning of this document.
3322 <column name="external_ids"/>
3327 SSL configuration for an Open_vSwitch.
3329 <column name="private_key">
3330 Name of a PEM file containing the private key used as the switch's
3331 identity for SSL connections to the controller.
3334 <column name="certificate">
3335 Name of a PEM file containing a certificate, signed by the
3336 certificate authority (CA) used by the controller and manager,
3337 that certifies the switch's private key, identifying a trustworthy
3341 <column name="ca_cert">
3342 Name of a PEM file containing the CA certificate used to verify
3343 that the switch is connected to a trustworthy controller.
3346 <column name="bootstrap_ca_cert">
3347 If set to <code>true</code>, then Open vSwitch will attempt to
3348 obtain the CA certificate from the controller on its first SSL
3349 connection and save it to the named PEM file. If it is successful,
3350 it will immediately drop the connection and reconnect, and from then
3351 on all SSL connections must be authenticated by a certificate signed
3352 by the CA certificate thus obtained. <em>This option exposes the
3353 SSL connection to a man-in-the-middle attack obtaining the initial
3354 CA certificate.</em> It may still be useful for bootstrapping.
3357 <group title="Common Columns">
3358 The overall purpose of these columns is described under <code>Common
3359 Columns</code> at the beginning of this document.
3361 <column name="external_ids"/>
3365 <table name="sFlow">
3366 <p>A set of sFlow(R) targets. sFlow is a protocol for remote
3367 monitoring of switches.</p>
3369 <column name="agent">
3370 Name of the network device whose IP address should be reported as the
3371 ``agent address'' to collectors. If not specified, the agent device is
3372 figured from the first target address and the routing table. If the
3373 routing table does not contain a route to the target, the IP address
3374 defaults to the <ref table="Controller" column="local_ip"/> in the
3375 collector's <ref table="Controller"/>. If an agent IP address cannot be
3376 determined any of these ways, sFlow is disabled.
3379 <column name="header">
3380 Number of bytes of a sampled packet to send to the collector.
3381 If not specified, the default is 128 bytes.
3384 <column name="polling">
3385 Polling rate in seconds to send port statistics to the collector.
3386 If not specified, defaults to 30 seconds.
3389 <column name="sampling">
3390 Rate at which packets should be sampled and sent to the collector.
3391 If not specified, defaults to 400, which means one out of 400
3392 packets, on average, will be sent to the collector.
3395 <column name="targets">
3396 sFlow targets in the form
3397 <code><var>ip</var>:<var>port</var></code>.
3400 <group title="Common Columns">
3401 The overall purpose of these columns is described under <code>Common
3402 Columns</code> at the beginning of this document.
3404 <column name="external_ids"/>
3408 <table name="IPFIX">
3409 <p>A set of IPFIX collectors. IPFIX is a protocol that exports a
3410 number of details about flows.</p>
3412 <column name="targets">
3413 IPFIX target collectors in the form
3414 <code><var>ip</var>:<var>port</var></code>.
3417 <column name="sampling">
3418 For per-bridge packet sampling, i.e. when this row is referenced
3419 from a <ref table="Bridge"/>, the rate at which packets should
3420 be sampled and sent to each target collector. If not specified,
3421 defaults to 400, which means one out of 400 packets, on average,
3422 will be sent to each target collector. Ignored for per-flow
3423 sampling, i.e. when this row is referenced from a <ref
3424 table="Flow_Sample_Collector_Set"/>.
3427 <column name="obs_domain_id">
3428 For per-bridge packet sampling, i.e. when this row is referenced
3429 from a <ref table="Bridge"/>, the IPFIX Observation Domain ID
3430 sent in each IPFIX packet. If not specified, defaults to 0.
3431 Ignored for per-flow sampling, i.e. when this row is referenced
3432 from a <ref table="Flow_Sample_Collector_Set"/>.
3435 <column name="obs_point_id">
3436 For per-bridge packet sampling, i.e. when this row is referenced
3437 from a <ref table="Bridge"/>, the IPFIX Observation Point ID
3438 sent in each IPFIX flow record. If not specified, defaults to
3439 0. Ignored for per-flow sampling, i.e. when this row is
3440 referenced from a <ref table="Flow_Sample_Collector_Set"/>.
3443 <group title="Common Columns">
3444 The overall purpose of these columns is described under <code>Common
3445 Columns</code> at the beginning of this document.
3447 <column name="external_ids"/>
3451 <table name="Flow_Sample_Collector_Set">
3452 <p>A set of IPFIX collectors of packet samples generated by
3453 OpenFlow <code>sample</code> actions.</p>
3456 The ID of this collector set, unique among the bridge's
3457 collector sets, to be used as the <code>collector_set_id</code>
3458 in OpenFlow <code>sample</code> actions.
3461 <column name="bridge">
3462 The bridge into which OpenFlow <code>sample</code> actions can
3463 be added to send packet samples to this set of IPFIX collectors.
3466 <column name="ipfix">
3467 Configuration of the set of IPFIX collectors to send one flow
3468 record per sampled packet to.
3471 <group title="Common Columns">
3472 The overall purpose of these columns is described under <code>Common
3473 Columns</code> at the beginning of this document.
3475 <column name="external_ids"/>