7 .TH ovs\-ofctl 8 "January 2010" "Open vSwitch" "Open vSwitch Manual"
11 ovs\-ofctl \- administer OpenFlow switches
15 [\fIoptions\fR] \fIcommand \fR[\fIswitch\fR] [\fIargs\fR\&...]
20 program is a command line tool for monitoring and administering
21 OpenFlow switches. It can also show the current state of an OpenFlow
22 switch, including features, configuration, and table entries.
24 .SS "OpenFlow Switch Management Commands"
26 These commands allow \fBovs\-ofctl\fR to monitor and administer an OpenFlow
27 switch. It is able to show the current state of a switch, including
28 features, configuration, and table entries.
30 Most of these commands take an argument that specifies the method for
31 connecting to an OpenFlow switch. The following connection methods
35 .so lib/vconn-active.man
38 This is short for \fBunix:\fIfile\fR, as long as \fIfile\fR does not
42 This is short for \fBunix:@RUNDIR@/\fIbridge\fB.mgmt\fR, as long as
43 \fIbridge\fR does not contain a colon.
45 .IP [\fItype\fB@\fR]\fIdp\fR
46 Attempts to look up the bridge associated with \fIdp\fR and open as
47 above. If \fItype\fR is given, it specifies the datapath provider of
48 \fIdp\fR, otherwise the default provider \fBsystem\fR is assumed.
53 Prints to the console information on \fIswitch\fR, including
54 information on its flow tables and ports.
57 \fBstatus \fIswitch\fR [\fIkey\fR]
58 Prints to the console a series of key-value pairs that report the
59 status of \fIswitch\fR. If \fIkey\fR is specified, only the key-value
60 pairs whose key names begin with \fIkey\fR are printed. If \fIkey\fR is
61 omitted, all key-value pairs are printed.
64 \fBdump-tables \fIswitch\fR
65 Prints to the console statistics for each of the flow tables used by
69 \fBdump-ports \fIswitch\fR [\fInetdev\fR]
70 Prints to the console statistics for network devices associated with
71 \fIswitch\fR. If \fInetdev\fR is specified, only the statistics
72 associated with that device will be printed. \fInetdev\fR can be an
73 OpenFlow assigned port number or device name, e.g. \fBeth0\fR.
76 \fBmod-port \fIswitch\fR \fInetdev\fR \fIaction\fR
77 Modify characteristics of an interface monitored by \fIswitch\fR.
78 \fInetdev\fR can be referred to by its OpenFlow assigned port number or
79 the device name, e.g. \fBeth0\fR. The \fIaction\fR may be any one of the
84 Enables the interface. This is equivalent to ``ifconfig up'' on a Unix
88 Disables the interface. This is equivalent to ``ifconfig down'' on a Unix
92 When a \fIflood\fR action is specified, traffic will be sent out this
93 interface. This is the default posture for monitored ports.
96 When a \fIflood\fR action is specified, traffic will not be sent out
97 this interface. This is primarily useful to prevent loops when a
98 spanning tree protocol is not in use.
103 \fBdump-flows \fIswitch \fR[\fIflows\fR]
104 Prints to the console all flow entries in \fIswitch\fR's
105 tables that match \fIflows\fR. If \fIflows\fR is omitted, all flows
106 in the switch are retrieved. See \fBFlow Syntax\fR, below, for the
107 syntax of \fIflows\fR. The output format is described in
108 \fBTable Entry Output\fR.
111 \fBdump-aggregate \fIswitch \fR[\fIflows\fR]
112 Prints to the console aggregate statistics for flows in
113 \fIswitch\fR's tables that match \fIflows\fR. If \fIflows\fR is omitted,
114 the statistics are aggregated across all flows in the switch's flow
115 tables. See \fBFlow Syntax\fR, below, for the syntax of \fIflows\fR.
116 The output format is descrbed in \fBTable Entry Output\fR.
119 \fBadd-flow \fIswitch flow\fR
120 Add the flow entry as described by \fIflow\fR to the \fIswitch\fR's
121 tables. The flow entry is in the format described in \fBFlow Syntax\fR,
125 \fBadd-flows \fIswitch file\fR
126 Add flow entries as described in \fIfile\fR to \fIswitch\fR's
127 tables. Each line in \fIfile\fR is a flow entry in the format
128 described in \fBFlow Syntax\fR, below.
131 \fBmod-flows \fIswitch flow\fR
132 Modify the actions in entries from the \fIswitch\fR's tables
133 that match \fIflow\fR. When invoked with the \fB--strict\fR option,
134 wildcards are not treated as active for matching purposes. See
135 \fBFlow Syntax\fR, below, for the syntax of \fIflows\fR.
138 \fBdel-flows \fIswitch \fR[\fIflow\fR]
139 Deletes entries from the \fIswitch\fR's tables that match
140 \fIflow\fR. When invoked with the \fB--strict\fR option, wildcards are
141 not treated as active for matching purposes. If \fIflow\fR is
142 omitted and the \fB--strict\fR option is not used, all flows in the
143 switch's tables are removed. See \fBFlow Syntax\fR, below, for the
144 syntax of \fIflows\fR.
147 \fBmonitor \fIswitch\fR [\fImiss-len\fR]
148 Connects to \fIswitch\fR and prints to the console all OpenFlow
149 messages received. Usually, \fIswitch\fR should specify a connection
150 named on \fBovs\-openflowd\fR(8)'s \fB-l\fR or \fB--listen\fR command line
153 If \fImiss-len\fR is provided, \fBovs\-ofctl\fR sends an OpenFlow ``set
154 configuration'' message at connection setup time that requests
155 \fImiss-len\fR bytes of each packet that misses the flow table. The
156 OpenFlow reference implementation does not send these messages to the
157 \fBovs\-ofctl monitor\fR client connection unless a nonzero value is
158 specified on this argument.
160 This command may be useful for debugging switch or controller
163 .SS "OpenFlow Switch and Controller Commands"
165 The following commands, like those in the previous section, may be
166 applied to OpenFlow switches, using any of the connection methods
167 described in that section. Unlike those commands, these may also be
168 applied to OpenFlow controllers.
171 \fBprobe \fItarget\fR
172 Sends a single OpenFlow echo-request message to \fItarget\fR and waits
173 for the response. With the \fB-t\fR or \fB--timeout\fR option, this
174 command can test whether an OpenFlow switch or controller is up and
178 \fBping \fItarget \fR[\fIn\fR]
179 Sends a series of 10 echo request packets to \fItarget\fR and times
180 each reply. The echo request packets consist of an OpenFlow header
181 plus \fIn\fR bytes (default: 64) of randomly generated payload. This
182 measures the latency of individual requests.
185 \fBbenchmark \fItarget n count\fR
186 Sends \fIcount\fR echo request packets that each consist of an
187 OpenFlow header plus \fIn\fR bytes of payload and waits for each
188 response. Reports the total time required. This is a measure of the
189 maximum bandwidth to \fItarget\fR for round-trips of \fIn\fR-byte
194 Some \fBovs\-ofctl\fR commands accept an argument that describes a flow or
195 flows. Such flow descriptions comprise a series
196 \fIfield\fB=\fIvalue\fR assignments, separated by commas or white
197 space. (Embedding spaces into a flow description normally requires
198 quoting to prevent the shell from breaking the description into
201 The following field assignments describe how a flow matches a packet.
202 If any of these assignments is omitted from the flow syntax, the field
203 is treated as a wildcard; thus, if all of them are omitted, the
204 resulting flow matches all packets. The string \fB*\fR or \fBANY\fR
205 may be specified to explicitly mark any of these fields as a wildcard.
206 (\fB*\fR should be quoted to protect it from shell expansion.)
208 .IP \fBin_port=\fIport_no\fR
209 Matches physical port \fIport_no\fR. Switch ports are numbered as
210 displayed by \fBovs\-ofctl show\fR.
212 .IP \fBdl_vlan=\fIvlan\fR
213 Matches IEEE 802.1q Virtual LAN tag \fIvlan\fR. Specify \fB0xffff\fR
214 as \fIvlan\fR to match packets that are not tagged with a Virtual LAN;
215 otherwise, specify a number between 0 and 4095, inclusive, as the
216 12-bit VLAN ID to match.
218 .IP \fBdl_vlan_pcp=\fIpriority\fR
219 Matches IEEE 802.1q Priority Code Point (PCP) \fIpriority\fR, which is
220 specified as a value between 0 and 7, inclusive. A higher value
221 indicates a higher frame priority level.
223 .IP \fBdl_src=\fIxx\fB:\fIxx\fB:\fIxx\fB:\fIxx\fB:\fIxx\fB:\fIxx\fR
224 .IQ \fBdl_dst=\fIxx\fB:\fIxx\fB:\fIxx\fB:\fIxx\fB:\fIxx\fB:\fIxx\fR
225 Matches an Ethernet source (or destination) address specified as 6
226 pairs of hexadecimal digits delimited by colons
227 (e.g. \fB00:0A:E4:25:6B:B0\fR).
229 .IP \fBdl_type=\fIethertype\fR
230 Matches Ethernet protocol type \fIethertype\fR, which is specified as an
231 integer between 0 and 65535, inclusive, either in decimal or as a
232 hexadecimal number prefixed by \fB0x\fR (e.g. \fB0x0806\fR to match ARP
235 .IP \fBnw_src=\fIip\fR[\fB/\fInetmask\fR]
236 .IQ \fBnw_dst=\fIip\fR[\fB/\fInetmask\fR]
237 When \fBdl_type\fR is 0x0800 (possibly via shorthand, e.g. \fBip\fR
238 or \fBtcp\fR), matches IPv4 source (or destination) address \fIip\fR,
239 which may be specified as an IP address or host name
240 (e.g. \fB192.168.1.1\fR or \fBwww.example.com\fR). The optional
241 \fInetmask\fR allows restricting a match to an IPv4 address prefix.
242 The netmask may be specified as a dotted quad
243 (e.g. \fB192.168.1.0/255.255.255.0\fR) or as a CIDR block
244 (e.g. \fB192.168.1.0/24\fR).
246 When \fBdl_type=0x0806\fR or \fBarp\fR is specified, matches the
247 \fBar_spa\fR or \fBar_tpa\fR field, respectively, in ARP packets for
250 When \fBdl_type\fR is wildcarded or set to a value other than 0x0800
251 or 0x0806, the values of \fBnw_src\fR and \fBnw_dst\fR are silently
254 .IP \fBnw_proto=\fIproto\fR
255 When \fBip\fR or \fBdl_type=0x0800\fR is specified, matches IP
256 protocol type \fIproto\fR, which is specified as a decimal number
257 between 0 and 255, inclusive (e.g. 6 to match TCP packets).
259 When \fBarp\fR or \fBdl_type=0x0806\fR is specified, matches the lower
260 8 bits of the ARP opcode. ARP opcodes greater than 255 are treated as
263 When \fBdl_type\fR is wildcarded or set to a value other than 0x0800
264 or 0x0806, the value of \fBnw_proto\fR is silently ignored.
266 .IP \fBnw_tos=\fItos\fR
267 Matches IP ToS/DSCP field \fItos\fR, which is specified as a decimal
268 number between 0 and 255, inclusive. Note that the two lower reserved
269 bits are ignored for matching purposes.
271 The value of \fBnw_proto\fR is silently ignored unless
272 \fBdl_type=0x0800\fR, \fBip\fR, \fBicmp\fR, \fBtcp\fR, or \fBudp\fR is
275 .IP \fBtp_src=\fIport\fR
276 .IQ \fBtp_dst=\fIport\fR
277 When \fBdl_type\fR and \fBnw_proto\fR specify TCP or UDP, \fBtp_src\fR
278 and \fBtp_dst\fR match the UDP or TCP source or destination port
279 \fIport\fR, respectively. which is specified as a decimal number
280 between 0 and 65535, inclusive (e.g. 80 to match packets originating
283 When \fBdl_type\fR and \fBnw_proto\fR take other values, the values of
284 these settings are silently ignored.
286 .IP \fBicmp_type=\fItype\fR
287 .IQ \fBicmp_code=\fIcode\fR
288 When \fBdl_type\fR and \fBnw_proto\fR specify ICMP, \fItype\fR matches
289 the ICMP type and \fIcode\fR matches the ICMP code. Each is specified
290 as a decimal number between 0 and 255, inclusive.
292 When \fBdl_type\fR and \fBnw_proto\fR take other values, the values of
293 these settings are silently ignored.
296 The following shorthand notations are also available:
299 Same as \fBdl_type=0x0800\fR.
302 Same as \fBdl_type=0x0800,nw_proto=1\fR.
305 Same as \fBdl_type=0x0800,nw_proto=6\fR.
308 Same as \fBdl_type=0x0800,nw_proto=17\fR.
311 Same as \fBdl_type=0x0806\fR.
314 The \fBadd-flow\fR and \fBadd-flows\fR commands require an additional field:
316 .IP \fBactions=\fR[\fItarget\fR][\fB,\fItarget\fR...]\fR
317 Specifies a comma-separated list of actions to take on a packet when the
318 flow entry matches. If no \fItarget\fR is specified, then packets
319 matching the flow are dropped. The \fItarget\fR may be a decimal port
320 number designating the physical port on which to output the packet, or one
321 of the following keywords:
324 .IP \fBoutput\fR:\fIport\fR
325 Outputs the packet on the port specified by \fIport\fR.
328 Subjects the packet to the device's normal L2/L3 processing. (This
329 action is not implemented by all OpenFlow switches.)
332 Outputs the packet on all switch physical ports other than the port on
333 which it was received and any ports on which flooding is disabled
334 (typically, these would be ports disabled by the IEEE 802.1D spanning
338 Outputs the packet on all switch physical ports other than the port on
339 which it was received.
341 .IP \fBcontroller\fR:\fImax_len\fR
342 Sends the packet to the OpenFlow controller as a ``packet in''
343 message. If \fImax_len\fR is a number, then it specifies the maximum
344 number of bytes that should be sent. If \fImax_len\fR is \fBALL\fR or
345 omitted, then the entire packet is sent.
348 Outputs the packet on the ``local port,'' which corresponds to the
349 \fBof\fIn\fR network device (see \fBCONTACTING THE CONTROLLER\fR in
350 \fBovs\-openflowd\fR(8) for information on the \fBof\fIn\fR network device).
353 Discards the packet, so no further processing or forwarding takes place.
354 If a drop action is used, no other actions may be specified.
356 .IP \fBmod_vlan_vid\fR:\fIvlan_vid\fR
357 Modifies the VLAN id on a packet. The VLAN tag is added or modified
358 as necessary to match the value specified. If the VLAN tag is added,
359 a priority of zero is used (see the \fBmod_vlan_pcp\fR action to set
362 .IP \fBmod_vlan_pcp\fR:\fIvlan_pcp\fR
363 Modifies the VLAN priority on a packet. The VLAN tag is added or modified
364 as necessary to match the value specified. Valid values are between 0
365 (lowest) and 7 (highest). If the VLAN tag is added, a vid of zero is used
366 (see the \fBmod_vlan_vid\fR action to set this).
369 Strips the VLAN tag from a packet if it is present.
371 .IP \fBmod_dl_src\fB:\fImac\fR
372 Sets the source Ethernet address to \fImac\fR.
374 .IP \fBmod_dl_dst\fB:\fImac\fR
375 Sets the destination Ethernet address to \fImac\fR.
377 .IP \fBmod_nw_src\fB:\fIip\fR
378 Sets the IPv4 source address to \fIip\fR.
380 .IP \fBmod_nw_dst\fB:\fIip\fR
381 Sets the IPv4 destination address to \fIip\fR.
383 .IP \fBmod_tp_src\fB:\fIport\fR
384 Sets the TCP or UDP source port to \fIport\fR.
386 .IP \fBmod_tp_dst\fB:\fIport\fR
387 Sets the TCP or UDP destination port to \fIport\fR.
389 .IP \fBmod_nw_tos\fB:\fItos\fR
390 Sets the IP ToS/DSCP field to \fItos\fR. Valid values are between 0 and
391 255, inclusive. Note that the two lower reserved bits are never
397 (The OpenFlow protocol supports other actions that \fBovs\-ofctl\fR does
398 not yet expose to the user.)
401 The \fBadd-flow\fR, \fBadd-flows\fR, and \fBdel-flows\fR commands
402 support an additional optional field:
404 .IP \fBpriority=\fIvalue\fR
405 The priority at which a wildcarded entry will match in comparison to
406 others. \fIvalue\fR is a number between 0 and 65535, inclusive. A higher
407 \fIvalue\fR will match before a lower one. An exact-match entry will always
408 have priority over an entry containing wildcards, so it has an implicit
409 priority value of 65535. When adding a flow, if the field is not specified,
410 the flow's priority will default to 32768.
413 The \fBadd-flow\fR and \fBadd-flows\fR commands support additional
417 \fBidle_timeout=\fIseconds\fR
418 Causes the flow to expire after the given number of seconds of
419 inactivity. A value of 0 prevents a flow from expiring due to
420 inactivity. The default is 60 seconds.
422 .IP \fBhard_timeout=\fIseconds\fR
423 Causes the flow to expire after the given number of seconds,
424 regardless of activity. A value of 0 (the default) gives the flow no
425 hard expiration deadline.
428 The \fBdump-flows\fR, \fBdump-aggregate\fR, \fBdel-flow\fR
429 and \fBdel-flows\fR commands support one additional optional field:
432 \fBout_port=\fIport\fR
433 If set, a matching flow must include an output action to \fIport\fR.
436 The \fBdump-flows\fR and \fBdump-aggregate\fR commands support an
437 additional optional field:
439 .IP \fBtable=\fInumber\fR
440 If specified, limits the flows about which statistics are gathered to
441 those in the table with the given \fInumber\fR. Tables are numbered
442 as shown by the \fBdump-tables\fR command.
444 If this field is not specified, or if \fInumber\fR is given as
445 \fB255\fR, statistics are gathered about flows from all tables.
447 .SS "Table Entry Output"
449 The \fBdump-tables\fR and \fBdump-aggregate\fR commands print information
450 about the entries in a datapath's tables. Each line of output is a
451 unique flow entry, which begins with some common information:
454 The number of seconds the entry has been in the table.
457 The table that contains the flow. When a packet arrives, the switch
458 begins searching for an entry at the lowest numbered table. Tables are
459 numbered as shown by the \fBdump-tables\fR command.
462 The priority of the entry in relation to other entries within the same
463 table. A higher value will match before a lower one.
466 The number of packets that have matched the entry.
469 The total number of bytes from packets that have matched the entry.
472 The rest of the line consists of a description of the flow entry as
473 described in \fBFlow Syntax\fR, above.
479 Uses strict matching when running flow modification commands.
481 .SS "Public Key Infrastructure Options"
488 The following examples assume that an OpenFlow switch on the local
489 host has been configured to listen for management connections on a
490 Unix domain socket named \fB@RUNDIR@/openflow.sock\fR, e.g. by
491 specifying \fB--listen=punix:@RUNDIR@/openflow.sock\fR on the
492 \fBovs\-openflowd\fR(8) command line.
495 \fBovs\-ofctl dump-tables unix:@RUNDIR@/openflow.sock\fR
496 Prints out the switch's table stats. (This is more interesting after
497 some traffic has passed through.)
500 \fBovs\-ofctl dump-flows unix:@RUNDIR@/openflow.sock\fR
501 Prints the flow entries in the switch.
506 .BR ovs\-controller (8),
507 .BR ovs\-vswitchd (8)