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).
121 The <code>ovs-ctl</code>'s ``restart'' and ``force-reload-kmod''
122 functions use the above config option during hot upgrades.
126 <column name="other_config" key="flow-limit"
127 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 0}'>
130 number of flows allowed in the datapath flow table. Internally OVS
131 will choose a flow limit which will likely be lower than this number,
132 based on real time network conditions.
135 The default is 200000.
139 <column name="other_config" key="force-miss-model">
141 Specifies userspace behaviour for handling flow misses. This takes
142 precedence over flow-eviction-threshold.
146 <dt><code>auto</code></dt>
147 <dd>Handle automatically based on the flow-eviction-threshold and
148 the flow setup governer (default, recommended).</dd>
149 <dt><code>with-facets</code></dt>
150 <dd>Always create facets. Expensive kernel flow creation and
151 statistics tracking is always performed, even on flows with only
152 a small number of packets.</dd>
153 <dt><code>without-facets</code></dt>
154 <dd>Always handle without facets. Forces flow misses to be handled
155 in userspace. May cause an increase in CPU usage and packet loss
156 on high throughput.</dd>
161 <column name="other_config" key="n-handler-threads"
162 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1}'>
164 Specifies the number of threads for software datapaths to use for
165 handling new flows. The default the number of online CPU cores minus
166 the number of revalidators.
169 This configuration is per datapath. If you have more than one
170 software datapath (e.g. some <code>system</code> bridges and some
171 <code>netdev</code> bridges), then the total number of threads is
172 <code>n-handler-threads</code> times the number of software
177 <column name="other_config" key="n-revalidator-threads"
178 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1}'>
180 Specifies the number of threads for software datapaths to use for
181 revalidating flows in the datapath. Typically, there is a direct
182 correlation between the number of revalidator threads, and the number
183 of flows allowed in the datapath. The default is the number of cpu
184 cores divided by four plus one. If <code>n-handler-threads</code> is
185 set, the default changes to the number of cpu cores minus the number
189 This configuration is per datapath. If you have more than one
190 software datapath (e.g. some <code>system</code> bridges and some
191 <code>netdev</code> bridges), then the total number of threads is
192 <code>n-handler-threads</code> times the number of software
198 <group title="Status">
199 <column name="next_cfg">
200 Sequence number for client to increment. When a client modifies
201 any part of the database configuration and wishes to wait for
202 Open vSwitch to finish applying the changes, it may increment
203 this sequence number.
206 <column name="cur_cfg">
207 Sequence number that Open vSwitch sets to the current value of
208 <ref column="next_cfg"/> after it finishes applying a set of
209 configuration changes.
212 <group title="Statistics">
214 The <code>statistics</code> column contains key-value pairs that
215 report statistics about a system running an Open vSwitch. These are
216 updated periodically (currently, every 5 seconds). Key-value pairs
217 that cannot be determined or that do not apply to a platform are
221 <column name="other_config" key="enable-statistics"
222 type='{"type": "boolean"}'>
223 Statistics are disabled by default to avoid overhead in the common
224 case when statistics gathering is not useful. Set this value to
225 <code>true</code> to enable populating the <ref column="statistics"/>
226 column or to <code>false</code> to explicitly disable it.
229 <column name="statistics" key="cpu"
230 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1}'>
232 Number of CPU processors, threads, or cores currently online and
233 available to the operating system on which Open vSwitch is running,
234 as an integer. This may be less than the number installed, if some
235 are not online or if they are not available to the operating
239 Open vSwitch userspace processes are not multithreaded, but the
240 Linux kernel-based datapath is.
244 <column name="statistics" key="load_average">
245 A comma-separated list of three floating-point numbers,
246 representing the system load average over the last 1, 5, and 15
247 minutes, respectively.
250 <column name="statistics" key="memory">
252 A comma-separated list of integers, each of which represents a
253 quantity of memory in kilobytes that describes the operating
254 system on which Open vSwitch is running. In respective order,
259 <li>Total amount of RAM allocated to the OS.</li>
260 <li>RAM allocated to the OS that is in use.</li>
261 <li>RAM that can be flushed out to disk or otherwise discarded
262 if that space is needed for another purpose. This number is
263 necessarily less than or equal to the previous value.</li>
264 <li>Total disk space allocated for swap.</li>
265 <li>Swap space currently in use.</li>
269 On Linux, all five values can be determined and are included. On
270 other operating systems, only the first two values can be
271 determined, so the list will only have two values.
275 <column name="statistics" key="process_NAME">
277 One such key-value pair, with <code>NAME</code> replaced by
278 a process name, will exist for each running Open vSwitch
279 daemon process, with <var>name</var> replaced by the
280 daemon's name (e.g. <code>process_ovs-vswitchd</code>). The
281 value is a comma-separated list of integers. The integers
282 represent the following, with memory measured in kilobytes
283 and durations in milliseconds:
287 <li>The process's virtual memory size.</li>
288 <li>The process's resident set size.</li>
289 <li>The amount of user and system CPU time consumed by the
291 <li>The number of times that the process has crashed and been
292 automatically restarted by the monitor.</li>
293 <li>The duration since the process was started.</li>
294 <li>The duration for which the process has been running.</li>
298 The interpretation of some of these values depends on whether the
299 process was started with the <option>--monitor</option>. If it
300 was not, then the crash count will always be 0 and the two
301 durations will always be the same. If <option>--monitor</option>
302 was given, then the crash count may be positive; if it is, the
303 latter duration is the amount of time since the most recent crash
308 There will be one key-value pair for each file in Open vSwitch's
309 ``run directory'' (usually <code>/var/run/openvswitch</code>)
310 whose name ends in <code>.pid</code>, whose contents are a
311 process ID, and which is locked by a running process. The
312 <var>name</var> is taken from the pidfile's name.
316 Currently Open vSwitch is only able to obtain all of the above
317 detail on Linux systems. On other systems, the same key-value
318 pairs will be present but the values will always be the empty
323 <column name="statistics" key="file_systems">
325 A space-separated list of information on local, writable file
326 systems. Each item in the list describes one file system and
327 consists in turn of a comma-separated list of the following:
331 <li>Mount point, e.g. <code>/</code> or <code>/var/log</code>.
332 Any spaces or commas in the mount point are replaced by
334 <li>Total size, in kilobytes, as an integer.</li>
335 <li>Amount of storage in use, in kilobytes, as an integer.</li>
339 This key-value pair is omitted if there are no local, writable
340 file systems or if Open vSwitch cannot obtain the needed
347 <group title="Version Reporting">
349 These columns report the types and versions of the hardware and
350 software running Open vSwitch. We recommend in general that software
351 should test whether specific features are supported instead of relying
352 on version number checks. These values are primarily intended for
353 reporting to human administrators.
356 <column name="ovs_version">
357 The Open vSwitch version number, e.g. <code>1.1.0</code>.
360 <column name="db_version">
362 The database schema version number in the form
363 <code><var>major</var>.<var>minor</var>.<var>tweak</var></code>,
364 e.g. <code>1.2.3</code>. Whenever the database schema is changed in
365 a non-backward compatible way (e.g. deleting a column or a table),
366 <var>major</var> is incremented. When the database schema is changed
367 in a backward compatible way (e.g. adding a new column),
368 <var>minor</var> is incremented. When the database schema is changed
369 cosmetically (e.g. reindenting its syntax), <var>tweak</var> is
374 The schema version is part of the database schema, so it can also be
375 retrieved by fetching the schema using the Open vSwitch database
380 <column name="system_type">
382 An identifier for the type of system on top of which Open vSwitch
383 runs, e.g. <code>XenServer</code> or <code>KVM</code>.
386 System integrators are responsible for choosing and setting an
387 appropriate value for this column.
391 <column name="system_version">
393 The version of the system identified by <ref column="system_type"/>,
394 e.g. <code>5.6.100-39265p</code> on XenServer 5.6.100 build 39265.
397 System integrators are responsible for choosing and setting an
398 appropriate value for this column.
404 <group title="Database Configuration">
406 These columns primarily configure the Open vSwitch database
407 (<code>ovsdb-server</code>), not the Open vSwitch switch
408 (<code>ovs-vswitchd</code>). The OVSDB database also uses the <ref
409 column="ssl"/> settings.
413 The Open vSwitch switch does read the database configuration to
414 determine remote IP addresses to which in-band control should apply.
417 <column name="manager_options">
418 Database clients to which the Open vSwitch database server should
419 connect or to which it should listen, along with options for how these
420 connection should be configured. See the <ref table="Manager"/> table
421 for more information.
425 <group title="Common Columns">
426 The overall purpose of these columns is described under <code>Common
427 Columns</code> at the beginning of this document.
429 <column name="other_config"/>
430 <column name="external_ids"/>
434 <table name="Bridge">
436 Configuration for a bridge within an
437 <ref table="Open_vSwitch"/>.
440 A <ref table="Bridge"/> record represents an Ethernet switch with one or
441 more ``ports,'' which are the <ref table="Port"/> records pointed to by
442 the <ref table="Bridge"/>'s <ref column="ports"/> column.
445 <group title="Core Features">
447 Bridge identifier. Should be alphanumeric and no more than about 8
448 bytes long. Must be unique among the names of ports, interfaces, and
452 <column name="ports">
453 Ports included in the bridge.
456 <column name="mirrors">
457 Port mirroring configuration.
460 <column name="netflow">
461 NetFlow configuration.
464 <column name="sflow">
465 sFlow(R) configuration.
468 <column name="ipfix">
472 <column name="flood_vlans">
474 VLAN IDs of VLANs on which MAC address learning should be disabled,
475 so that packets are flooded instead of being sent to specific ports
476 that are believed to contain packets' destination MACs. This should
477 ordinarily be used to disable MAC learning on VLANs used for
478 mirroring (RSPAN VLANs). It may also be useful for debugging.
481 SLB bonding (see the <ref table="Port" column="bond_mode"/> column in
482 the <ref table="Port"/> table) is incompatible with
483 <code>flood_vlans</code>. Consider using another bonding mode or
484 a different type of mirror instead.
489 <group title="OpenFlow Configuration">
490 <column name="controller">
492 OpenFlow controller set. If unset, then no OpenFlow controllers
497 If there are primary controllers, removing all of them clears the
498 flow table. If there are no primary controllers, adding one also
499 clears the flow table. Other changes to the set of controllers, such
500 as adding or removing a service controller, adding another primary
501 controller to supplement an existing primary controller, or removing
502 only one of two primary controllers, have no effect on the flow
507 <column name="flow_tables">
508 Configuration for OpenFlow tables. Each pair maps from an OpenFlow
509 table ID to configuration for that table.
512 <column name="fail_mode">
513 <p>When a controller is configured, it is, ordinarily, responsible
514 for setting up all flows on the switch. Thus, if the connection to
515 the controller fails, no new network connections can be set up.
516 If the connection to the controller stays down long enough,
517 no packets can pass through the switch at all. This setting
518 determines the switch's response to such a situation. It may be set
519 to one of the following:
521 <dt><code>standalone</code></dt>
522 <dd>If no message is received from the controller for three
523 times the inactivity probe interval
524 (see <ref column="inactivity_probe"/>), then Open vSwitch
525 will take over responsibility for setting up flows. In
526 this mode, Open vSwitch causes the bridge to act like an
527 ordinary MAC-learning switch. Open vSwitch will continue
528 to retry connecting to the controller in the background
529 and, when the connection succeeds, it will discontinue its
530 standalone behavior.</dd>
531 <dt><code>secure</code></dt>
532 <dd>Open vSwitch will not set up flows on its own when the
533 controller connection fails or when no controllers are
534 defined. The bridge will continue to retry connecting to
535 any defined controllers forever.</dd>
539 The default is <code>standalone</code> if the value is unset, but
540 future versions of Open vSwitch may change the default.
543 The <code>standalone</code> mode can create forwarding loops on a
544 bridge that has more than one uplink port unless STP is enabled. To
545 avoid loops on such a bridge, configure <code>secure</code> mode or
546 enable STP (see <ref column="stp_enable"/>).
548 <p>When more than one controller is configured,
549 <ref column="fail_mode"/> is considered only when none of the
550 configured controllers can be contacted.</p>
552 Changing <ref column="fail_mode"/> when no primary controllers are
553 configured clears the flow table.
557 <column name="datapath_id">
558 Reports the OpenFlow datapath ID in use. Exactly 16 hex digits.
559 (Setting this column has no useful effect. Set <ref
560 column="other-config" key="datapath-id"/> instead.)
563 <column name="other_config" key="datapath-id">
564 Exactly 16 hex digits to set the OpenFlow datapath ID to a specific
565 value. May not be all-zero.
568 <column name="other_config" key="dp-desc">
569 Human readable description of datapath. It it a maximum 256
570 byte-long free-form string to describe the datapath for
571 debugging purposes, e.g. <code>switch3 in room 3120</code>.
574 <column name="other_config" key="disable-in-band"
575 type='{"type": "boolean"}'>
576 If set to <code>true</code>, disable in-band control on the bridge
577 regardless of controller and manager settings.
580 <column name="other_config" key="in-band-queue"
581 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 0, "maxInteger": 4294967295}'>
582 A queue ID as a nonnegative integer. This sets the OpenFlow queue ID
583 that will be used by flows set up by in-band control on this bridge.
584 If unset, or if the port used by an in-band control flow does not have
585 QoS configured, or if the port does not have a queue with the specified
586 ID, the default queue is used instead.
589 <column name="protocols">
590 List of OpenFlow protocols that may be used when negotiating a
591 connection with a controller. A default value of
592 <code>OpenFlow10</code> will be used if this column is empty.
596 <group title="Spanning Tree Configuration">
597 The IEEE 802.1D Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) is a network protocol
598 that ensures loop-free topologies. It allows redundant links to
599 be included in the network to provide automatic backup paths if
600 the active links fails.
602 <column name="stp_enable">
603 Enable spanning tree on the bridge. By default, STP is disabled
604 on bridges. Bond, internal, and mirror ports are not supported
605 and will not participate in the spanning tree.
608 <column name="other_config" key="stp-system-id">
609 The bridge's STP identifier (the lower 48 bits of the bridge-id)
611 <var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>.
612 By default, the identifier is the MAC address of the bridge.
615 <column name="other_config" key="stp-priority"
616 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 0, "maxInteger": 65535}'>
617 The bridge's relative priority value for determining the root
618 bridge (the upper 16 bits of the bridge-id). A bridge with the
619 lowest bridge-id is elected the root. By default, the priority
623 <column name="other_config" key="stp-hello-time"
624 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1, "maxInteger": 10}'>
625 The interval between transmissions of hello messages by
626 designated ports, in seconds. By default the hello interval is
630 <column name="other_config" key="stp-max-age"
631 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 6, "maxInteger": 40}'>
632 The maximum age of the information transmitted by the bridge
633 when it is the root bridge, in seconds. By default, the maximum
637 <column name="other_config" key="stp-forward-delay"
638 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 4, "maxInteger": 30}'>
639 The delay to wait between transitioning root and designated
640 ports to <code>forwarding</code>, in seconds. By default, the
641 forwarding delay is 15 seconds.
645 <group title="Other Features">
646 <column name="datapath_type">
647 Name of datapath provider. The kernel datapath has
648 type <code>system</code>. The userspace datapath has
649 type <code>netdev</code>.
652 <column name="external_ids" key="bridge-id">
653 A unique identifier of the bridge. On Citrix XenServer this will
654 commonly be the same as
655 <ref column="external_ids" key="xs-network-uuids"/>.
658 <column name="external_ids" key="xs-network-uuids">
659 Semicolon-delimited set of universally unique identifier(s) for the
660 network with which this bridge is associated on a Citrix XenServer
661 host. The network identifiers are RFC 4122 UUIDs as displayed by,
662 e.g., <code>xe network-list</code>.
665 <column name="other_config" key="hwaddr">
666 An Ethernet address in the form
667 <var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>
668 to set the hardware address of the local port and influence the
672 <column name="other_config" key="forward-bpdu"
673 type='{"type": "boolean"}'>
674 Option to allow forwarding of BPDU frames when NORMAL action is
675 invoked. Frames with reserved Ethernet addresses (e.g. STP
676 BPDU) will be forwarded when this option is enabled and the
677 switch is not providing that functionality. If STP is enabled
678 on the port, STP BPDUs will never be forwarded. If the Open
679 vSwitch bridge is used to connect different Ethernet networks,
680 and if Open vSwitch node does not run STP, then this option
681 should be enabled. Default is disabled, set to
682 <code>true</code> to enable.
684 The following destination MAC addresss will not be forwarded when this
687 <dt><code>01:80:c2:00:00:00</code></dt>
688 <dd>IEEE 802.1D Spanning Tree Protocol (STP).</dd>
690 <dt><code>01:80:c2:00:00:01</code></dt>
691 <dd>IEEE Pause frame.</dd>
693 <dt><code>01:80:c2:00:00:0<var>x</var></code></dt>
694 <dd>Other reserved protocols.</dd>
696 <dt><code>00:e0:2b:00:00:00</code></dt>
697 <dd>Extreme Discovery Protocol (EDP).</dd>
700 <code>00:e0:2b:00:00:04</code> and <code>00:e0:2b:00:00:06</code>
702 <dd>Ethernet Automatic Protection Switching (EAPS).</dd>
704 <dt><code>01:00:0c:cc:cc:cc</code></dt>
706 Cisco Discovery Protocol (CDP), VLAN Trunking Protocol (VTP),
707 Dynamic Trunking Protocol (DTP), Port Aggregation Protocol (PAgP),
711 <dt><code>01:00:0c:cc:cc:cd</code></dt>
712 <dd>Cisco Shared Spanning Tree Protocol PVSTP+.</dd>
714 <dt><code>01:00:0c:cd:cd:cd</code></dt>
715 <dd>Cisco STP Uplink Fast.</dd>
717 <dt><code>01:00:0c:00:00:00</code></dt>
718 <dd>Cisco Inter Switch Link.</dd>
720 <dt><code>01:00:0c:cc:cc:c<var>x</var></code></dt>
725 <column name="other_config" key="mac-aging-time"
726 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1}'>
728 The maximum number of seconds to retain a MAC learning entry for
729 which no packets have been seen. The default is currently 300
730 seconds (5 minutes). The value, if specified, is forced into a
731 reasonable range, currently 15 to 3600 seconds.
735 A short MAC aging time allows a network to more quickly detect that a
736 host is no longer connected to a switch port. However, it also makes
737 it more likely that packets will be flooded unnecessarily, when they
738 are addressed to a connected host that rarely transmits packets. To
739 reduce the incidence of unnecessary flooding, use a MAC aging time
740 longer than the maximum interval at which a host will ordinarily
745 <column name="other_config" key="mac-table-size"
746 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1}'>
748 The maximum number of MAC addresses to learn. The default is
749 currently 2048. The value, if specified, is forced into a reasonable
750 range, currently 10 to 1,000,000.
755 <group title="Bridge Status">
757 Status information about bridges.
759 <column name="status">
760 Key-value pairs that report bridge status.
762 <column name="status" key="stp_bridge_id">
764 The bridge-id (in hex) used in spanning tree advertisements.
765 Configuring the bridge-id is described in the
766 <code>stp-system-id</code> and <code>stp-priority</code> keys
767 of the <code>other_config</code> section earlier.
770 <column name="status" key="stp_designated_root">
772 The designated root (in hex) for this spanning tree.
775 <column name="status" key="stp_root_path_cost">
777 The path cost of reaching the designated bridge. A lower
783 <group title="Common Columns">
784 The overall purpose of these columns is described under <code>Common
785 Columns</code> at the beginning of this document.
787 <column name="other_config"/>
788 <column name="external_ids"/>
792 <table name="Port" table="Port or bond configuration.">
793 <p>A port within a <ref table="Bridge"/>.</p>
794 <p>Most commonly, a port has exactly one ``interface,'' pointed to by its
795 <ref column="interfaces"/> column. Such a port logically
796 corresponds to a port on a physical Ethernet switch. A port
797 with more than one interface is a ``bonded port'' (see
798 <ref group="Bonding Configuration"/>).</p>
799 <p>Some properties that one might think as belonging to a port are actually
800 part of the port's <ref table="Interface"/> members.</p>
803 Port name. Should be alphanumeric and no more than about 8
804 bytes long. May be the same as the interface name, for
805 non-bonded ports. Must otherwise be unique among the names of
806 ports, interfaces, and bridges on a host.
809 <column name="interfaces">
810 The port's interfaces. If there is more than one, this is a
814 <group title="VLAN Configuration">
815 <p>Bridge ports support the following types of VLAN configuration:</p>
820 A trunk port carries packets on one or more specified VLANs
821 specified in the <ref column="trunks"/> column (often, on every
822 VLAN). A packet that ingresses on a trunk port is in the VLAN
823 specified in its 802.1Q header, or VLAN 0 if the packet has no
824 802.1Q header. A packet that egresses through a trunk port will
825 have an 802.1Q header if it has a nonzero VLAN ID.
829 Any packet that ingresses on a trunk port tagged with a VLAN that
830 the port does not trunk is dropped.
837 An access port carries packets on exactly one VLAN specified in the
838 <ref column="tag"/> column. Packets egressing on an access port
839 have no 802.1Q header.
843 Any packet with an 802.1Q header with a nonzero VLAN ID that
844 ingresses on an access port is dropped, regardless of whether the
845 VLAN ID in the header is the access port's VLAN ID.
849 <dt>native-tagged</dt>
851 A native-tagged port resembles a trunk port, with the exception that
852 a packet without an 802.1Q header that ingresses on a native-tagged
853 port is in the ``native VLAN'' (specified in the <ref column="tag"/>
857 <dt>native-untagged</dt>
859 A native-untagged port resembles a native-tagged port, with the
860 exception that a packet that egresses on a native-untagged port in
861 the native VLAN will not have an 802.1Q header.
865 A packet will only egress through bridge ports that carry the VLAN of
866 the packet, as described by the rules above.
869 <column name="vlan_mode">
871 The VLAN mode of the port, as described above. When this column is
872 empty, a default mode is selected as follows:
876 If <ref column="tag"/> contains a value, the port is an access
877 port. The <ref column="trunks"/> column should be empty.
880 Otherwise, the port is a trunk port. The <ref column="trunks"/>
881 column value is honored if it is present.
888 For an access port, the port's implicitly tagged VLAN. For a
889 native-tagged or native-untagged port, the port's native VLAN. Must
890 be empty if this is a trunk port.
894 <column name="trunks">
896 For a trunk, native-tagged, or native-untagged port, the 802.1Q VLAN
897 or VLANs that this port trunks; if it is empty, then the port trunks
898 all VLANs. Must be empty if this is an access port.
901 A native-tagged or native-untagged port always trunks its native
902 VLAN, regardless of whether <ref column="trunks"/> includes that
907 <column name="other_config" key="priority-tags"
908 type='{"type": "boolean"}'>
910 An 802.1Q header contains two important pieces of information: a VLAN
911 ID and a priority. A frame with a zero VLAN ID, called a
912 ``priority-tagged'' frame, is supposed to be treated the same way as
913 a frame without an 802.1Q header at all (except for the priority).
917 However, some network elements ignore any frame that has 802.1Q
918 header at all, even when the VLAN ID is zero. Therefore, by default
919 Open vSwitch does not output priority-tagged frames, instead omitting
920 the 802.1Q header entirely if the VLAN ID is zero. Set this key to
921 <code>true</code> to enable priority-tagged frames on a port.
925 Regardless of this setting, Open vSwitch omits the 802.1Q header on
926 output if both the VLAN ID and priority would be zero.
930 All frames output to native-tagged ports have a nonzero VLAN ID, so
931 this setting is not meaningful on native-tagged ports.
936 <group title="Bonding Configuration">
937 <p>A port that has more than one interface is a ``bonded port.'' Bonding
938 allows for load balancing and fail-over.</p>
941 The following types of bonding will work with any kind of upstream
942 switch. On the upstream switch, do not configure the interfaces as a
947 <dt><code>balance-slb</code></dt>
949 Balances flows among slaves based on source MAC address and output
950 VLAN, with periodic rebalancing as traffic patterns change.
953 <dt><code>active-backup</code></dt>
955 Assigns all flows to one slave, failing over to a backup slave when
956 the active slave is disabled. This is the only bonding mode in which
957 interfaces may be plugged into different upstream switches.
962 The following modes require the upstream switch to support 802.3ad with
963 successful LACP negotiation. If LACP negotiation fails and
964 other-config:lacp-fallback-ab is true, then <code>active-backup</code>
969 <dt><code>balance-tcp</code></dt>
971 Balances flows among slaves based on L2, L3, and L4 protocol
972 information such as destination MAC address, IP address, and TCP
977 <p>These columns apply only to bonded ports. Their values are
978 otherwise ignored.</p>
980 <column name="bond_mode">
981 <p>The type of bonding used for a bonded port. Defaults to
982 <code>active-backup</code> if unset.
986 <column name="other_config" key="bond-hash-basis"
987 type='{"type": "integer"}'>
988 An integer hashed along with flows when choosing output slaves in load
989 balanced bonds. When changed, all flows will be assigned different
990 hash values possibly causing slave selection decisions to change. Does
991 not affect bonding modes which do not employ load balancing such as
992 <code>active-backup</code>.
995 <group title="Link Failure Detection">
997 An important part of link bonding is detecting that links are down so
998 that they may be disabled. These settings determine how Open vSwitch
999 detects link failure.
1002 <column name="other_config" key="bond-detect-mode"
1003 type='{"type": "string", "enum": ["set", ["carrier", "miimon"]]}'>
1004 The means used to detect link failures. Defaults to
1005 <code>carrier</code> which uses each interface's carrier to detect
1006 failures. When set to <code>miimon</code>, will check for failures
1007 by polling each interface's MII.
1010 <column name="other_config" key="bond-miimon-interval"
1011 type='{"type": "integer"}'>
1012 The interval, in milliseconds, between successive attempts to poll
1013 each interface's MII. Relevant only when <ref column="other_config"
1014 key="bond-detect-mode"/> is <code>miimon</code>.
1017 <column name="bond_updelay">
1019 The number of milliseconds for which the link must stay up on an
1020 interface before the interface is considered to be up. Specify
1021 <code>0</code> to enable the interface immediately.
1025 This setting is honored only when at least one bonded interface is
1026 already enabled. When no interfaces are enabled, then the first
1027 bond interface to come up is enabled immediately.
1031 <column name="bond_downdelay">
1032 The number of milliseconds for which the link must stay down on an
1033 interface before the interface is considered to be down. Specify
1034 <code>0</code> to disable the interface immediately.
1038 <group title="LACP Configuration">
1040 LACP, the Link Aggregation Control Protocol, is an IEEE standard that
1041 allows switches to automatically detect that they are connected by
1042 multiple links and aggregate across those links. These settings
1043 control LACP behavior.
1046 <column name="lacp">
1047 Configures LACP on this port. LACP allows directly connected
1048 switches to negotiate which links may be bonded. LACP may be enabled
1049 on non-bonded ports for the benefit of any switches they may be
1050 connected to. <code>active</code> ports are allowed to initiate LACP
1051 negotiations. <code>passive</code> ports are allowed to participate
1052 in LACP negotiations initiated by a remote switch, but not allowed to
1053 initiate such negotiations themselves. If LACP is enabled on a port
1054 whose partner switch does not support LACP, the bond will be
1055 disabled, unless other-config:lacp-fallback-ab is set to true.
1056 Defaults to <code>off</code> if unset.
1059 <column name="other_config" key="lacp-system-id">
1060 The LACP system ID of this <ref table="Port"/>. The system ID of a
1061 LACP bond is used to identify itself to its partners. Must be a
1062 nonzero MAC address. Defaults to the bridge Ethernet address if
1066 <column name="other_config" key="lacp-system-priority"
1067 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1, "maxInteger": 65535}'>
1068 The LACP system priority of this <ref table="Port"/>. In LACP
1069 negotiations, link status decisions are made by the system with the
1070 numerically lower priority.
1073 <column name="other_config" key="lacp-time"
1074 type='{"type": "string", "enum": ["set", ["fast", "slow"]]}'>
1076 The LACP timing which should be used on this <ref table="Port"/>.
1077 By default <code>slow</code> is used. When configured to be
1078 <code>fast</code> LACP heartbeats are requested at a rate of once
1079 per second causing connectivity problems to be detected more
1080 quickly. In <code>slow</code> mode, heartbeats are requested at a
1081 rate of once every 30 seconds.
1085 <column name="other_config" key="lacp-fallback-ab"
1086 type='{"type": "boolean"}'>
1088 Determines the behavior of openvswitch bond in LACP mode. If
1089 the partner switch does not support LACP, setting this option
1090 to <code>true</code> allows openvswitch to fallback to
1091 active-backup. If the option is set to <code>false</code>, the
1092 bond will be disabled. In both the cases, once the partner switch
1093 is configured to LACP mode, the bond will use LACP.
1098 <group title="Rebalancing Configuration">
1100 These settings control behavior when a bond is in
1101 <code>balance-slb</code> or <code>balance-tcp</code> mode.
1104 <column name="other_config" key="bond-rebalance-interval"
1105 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 0, "maxInteger": 10000}'>
1106 For a load balanced bonded port, the number of milliseconds between
1107 successive attempts to rebalance the bond, that is, to move flows
1108 from one interface on the bond to another in an attempt to keep usage
1109 of each interface roughly equal. If zero, load balancing is disabled
1110 on the bond (link failure still cause flows to move). If
1111 less than 1000ms, the rebalance interval will be 1000ms.
1115 <column name="bond_fake_iface">
1116 For a bonded port, whether to create a fake internal interface with the
1117 name of the port. Use only for compatibility with legacy software that
1122 <group title="Spanning Tree Configuration">
1123 <column name="other_config" key="stp-enable"
1124 type='{"type": "boolean"}'>
1125 If spanning tree is enabled on the bridge, member ports are
1126 enabled by default (with the exception of bond, internal, and
1127 mirror ports which do not work with STP). If this column's
1128 value is <code>false</code> spanning tree is disabled on the
1132 <column name="other_config" key="stp-port-num"
1133 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1, "maxInteger": 255}'>
1134 The port number used for the lower 8 bits of the port-id. By
1135 default, the numbers will be assigned automatically. If any
1136 port's number is manually configured on a bridge, then they
1140 <column name="other_config" key="stp-port-priority"
1141 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 0, "maxInteger": 255}'>
1142 The port's relative priority value for determining the root
1143 port (the upper 8 bits of the port-id). A port with a lower
1144 port-id will be chosen as the root port. By default, the
1148 <column name="other_config" key="stp-path-cost"
1149 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 0, "maxInteger": 65535}'>
1150 Spanning tree path cost for the port. A lower number indicates
1151 a faster link. By default, the cost is based on the maximum
1156 <group title="Other Features">
1158 Quality of Service configuration for this port.
1162 The MAC address to use for this port for the purpose of choosing the
1163 bridge's MAC address. This column does not necessarily reflect the
1164 port's actual MAC address, nor will setting it change the port's actual
1168 <column name="fake_bridge">
1169 Does this port represent a sub-bridge for its tagged VLAN within the
1170 Bridge? See ovs-vsctl(8) for more information.
1173 <column name="external_ids" key="fake-bridge-id-*">
1174 External IDs for a fake bridge (see the <ref column="fake_bridge"/>
1175 column) are defined by prefixing a <ref table="Bridge"/> <ref
1176 table="Bridge" column="external_ids"/> key with
1177 <code>fake-bridge-</code>,
1178 e.g. <code>fake-bridge-xs-network-uuids</code>.
1182 <group title="Port Status">
1184 Status information about ports attached to bridges.
1186 <column name="status">
1187 Key-value pairs that report port status.
1189 <column name="status" key="stp_port_id">
1191 The port-id (in hex) used in spanning tree advertisements for
1192 this port. Configuring the port-id is described in the
1193 <code>stp-port-num</code> and <code>stp-port-priority</code>
1194 keys of the <code>other_config</code> section earlier.
1197 <column name="status" key="stp_state"
1198 type='{"type": "string", "enum": ["set",
1199 ["disabled", "listening", "learning",
1200 "forwarding", "blocking"]]}'>
1202 STP state of the port.
1205 <column name="status" key="stp_sec_in_state"
1206 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 0}'>
1208 The amount of time (in seconds) port has been in the current
1212 <column name="status" key="stp_role"
1213 type='{"type": "string", "enum": ["set",
1214 ["root", "designated", "alternate"]]}'>
1216 STP role of the port.
1221 <group title="Port Statistics">
1223 Key-value pairs that report port statistics.
1225 <group title="Statistics: STP transmit and receive counters">
1226 <column name="statistics" key="stp_tx_count">
1227 Number of STP BPDUs sent on this port by the spanning
1230 <column name="statistics" key="stp_rx_count">
1231 Number of STP BPDUs received on this port and accepted by the
1232 spanning tree library.
1234 <column name="statistics" key="stp_error_count">
1235 Number of bad STP BPDUs received on this port. Bad BPDUs
1236 include runt packets and those with an unexpected protocol ID.
1241 <group title="Common Columns">
1242 The overall purpose of these columns is described under <code>Common
1243 Columns</code> at the beginning of this document.
1245 <column name="other_config"/>
1246 <column name="external_ids"/>
1250 <table name="Interface" title="One physical network device in a Port.">
1251 An interface within a <ref table="Port"/>.
1253 <group title="Core Features">
1254 <column name="name">
1255 Interface name. Should be alphanumeric and no more than about 8 bytes
1256 long. May be the same as the port name, for non-bonded ports. Must
1257 otherwise be unique among the names of ports, interfaces, and bridges
1261 <column name="ifindex">
1262 A positive interface index as defined for SNMP MIB-II in RFCs 1213 and
1263 2863, if the interface has one, otherwise 0. The ifindex is useful for
1264 seamless integration with protocols such as SNMP and sFlow.
1267 <column name="mac_in_use">
1268 The MAC address in use by this interface.
1272 <p>Ethernet address to set for this interface. If unset then the
1273 default MAC address is used:</p>
1275 <li>For the local interface, the default is the lowest-numbered MAC
1276 address among the other bridge ports, either the value of the
1277 <ref table="Port" column="mac"/> in its <ref table="Port"/> record,
1278 if set, or its actual MAC (for bonded ports, the MAC of its slave
1279 whose name is first in alphabetical order). Internal ports and
1280 bridge ports that are used as port mirroring destinations (see the
1281 <ref table="Mirror"/> table) are ignored.</li>
1282 <li>For other internal interfaces, the default MAC is randomly
1284 <li>External interfaces typically have a MAC address associated with
1285 their hardware.</li>
1287 <p>Some interfaces may not have a software-controllable MAC
1291 <group title="OpenFlow Port Number">
1293 When a client adds a new interface, Open vSwitch chooses an OpenFlow
1294 port number for the new port. If the client that adds the port fills
1295 in <ref column="ofport_request"/>, then Open vSwitch tries to use its
1296 value as the OpenFlow port number. Otherwise, or if the requested
1297 port number is already in use or cannot be used for another reason,
1298 Open vSwitch automatically assigns a free port number. Regardless of
1299 how the port number was obtained, Open vSwitch then reports in <ref
1300 column="ofport"/> the port number actually assigned.
1304 Open vSwitch limits the port numbers that it automatically assigns to
1305 the range 1 through 32,767, inclusive. Controllers therefore have
1306 free use of ports 32,768 and up.
1309 <column name="ofport">
1311 OpenFlow port number for this interface. Open vSwitch sets this
1312 column's value, so other clients should treat it as read-only.
1315 The OpenFlow ``local'' port (<code>OFPP_LOCAL</code>) is 65,534.
1316 The other valid port numbers are in the range 1 to 65,279,
1317 inclusive. Value -1 indicates an error adding the interface.
1321 <column name="ofport_request"
1322 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1, "maxInteger": 65279}'>
1324 Requested OpenFlow port number for this interface.
1328 A client should ideally set this column's value in the same
1329 database transaction that it uses to create the interface. Open
1330 vSwitch version 2.1 and later will honor a later request for a
1331 specific port number, althuogh it might confuse some controllers:
1332 OpenFlow does not have a way to announce a port number change, so
1333 Open vSwitch represents it over OpenFlow as a port deletion
1334 followed immediately by a port addition.
1338 If <ref column="ofport_request"/> is set or changed to some other
1339 port's automatically assigned port number, Open vSwitch chooses a
1340 new port number for the latter port.
1346 <group title="System-Specific Details">
1347 <column name="type">
1349 The interface type, one of:
1353 <dt><code>system</code></dt>
1354 <dd>An ordinary network device, e.g. <code>eth0</code> on Linux.
1355 Sometimes referred to as ``external interfaces'' since they are
1356 generally connected to hardware external to that on which the Open
1357 vSwitch is running. The empty string is a synonym for
1358 <code>system</code>.</dd>
1360 <dt><code>internal</code></dt>
1361 <dd>A simulated network device that sends and receives traffic. An
1362 internal interface whose <ref column="name"/> is the same as its
1363 bridge's <ref table="Open_vSwitch" column="name"/> is called the
1364 ``local interface.'' It does not make sense to bond an internal
1365 interface, so the terms ``port'' and ``interface'' are often used
1366 imprecisely for internal interfaces.</dd>
1368 <dt><code>tap</code></dt>
1369 <dd>A TUN/TAP device managed by Open vSwitch.</dd>
1371 <dt><code>gre</code></dt>
1373 An Ethernet over RFC 2890 Generic Routing Encapsulation over IPv4
1377 <dt><code>ipsec_gre</code></dt>
1379 An Ethernet over RFC 2890 Generic Routing Encapsulation over IPv4
1383 <dt><code>gre64</code></dt>
1385 It is same as GRE, but it allows 64 bit key. To store higher 32-bits
1386 of key, it uses GRE protocol sequence number field. This is non
1387 standard use of GRE protocol since OVS does not increment
1388 sequence number for every packet at time of encap as expected by
1389 standard GRE implementation. See <ref group="Tunnel Options"/>
1390 for information on configuring GRE tunnels.
1393 <dt><code>ipsec_gre64</code></dt>
1395 Same as IPSEC_GRE except 64 bit key.
1398 <dt><code>vxlan</code></dt>
1401 An Ethernet tunnel over the experimental, UDP-based VXLAN
1402 protocol described at
1403 <code>http://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-mahalingam-dutt-dcops-vxlan-03</code>.
1406 Open vSwitch uses UDP destination port 4789. The source port used for
1407 VXLAN traffic varies on a per-flow basis and is in the ephemeral port
1412 <dt><code>lisp</code></dt>
1415 A layer 3 tunnel over the experimental, UDP-based Locator/ID
1416 Separation Protocol (RFC 6830).
1419 Only IPv4 and IPv6 packets are supported by the protocol, and
1420 they are sent and received without an Ethernet header. Traffic
1421 to/from LISP ports is expected to be configured explicitly, and
1422 the ports are not intended to participate in learning based
1423 switching. As such, they are always excluded from packet
1428 <dt><code>patch</code></dt>
1430 A pair of virtual devices that act as a patch cable.
1433 <dt><code>null</code></dt>
1434 <dd>An ignored interface. Deprecated and slated for removal in
1440 <group title="Tunnel Options">
1442 These options apply to interfaces with <ref column="type"/> of
1443 <code>gre</code>, <code>ipsec_gre</code>, <code>gre64</code>,
1444 <code>ipsec_gre64</code>, <code>vxlan</code>, and <code>lisp</code>.
1448 Each tunnel must be uniquely identified by the combination of <ref
1449 column="type"/>, <ref column="options" key="remote_ip"/>, <ref
1450 column="options" key="local_ip"/>, and <ref column="options"
1451 key="in_key"/>. If two ports are defined that are the same except one
1452 has an optional identifier and the other does not, the more specific
1453 one is matched first. <ref column="options" key="in_key"/> is
1454 considered more specific than <ref column="options" key="local_ip"/> if
1455 a port defines one and another port defines the other.
1458 <column name="options" key="remote_ip">
1459 <p>Required. The remote tunnel endpoint, one of:</p>
1463 An IPv4 address (not a DNS name), e.g. <code>192.168.0.123</code>.
1464 Only unicast endpoints are supported.
1467 The word <code>flow</code>. The tunnel accepts packets from any
1468 remote tunnel endpoint. To process only packets from a specific
1469 remote tunnel endpoint, the flow entries may match on the
1470 <code>tun_src</code> field. When sending packets to a
1471 <code>remote_ip=flow</code> tunnel, the flow actions must
1472 explicitly set the <code>tun_dst</code> field to the IP address of
1473 the desired remote tunnel endpoint, e.g. with a
1474 <code>set_field</code> action.
1479 The remote tunnel endpoint for any packet received from a tunnel
1480 is available in the <code>tun_src</code> field for matching in the
1485 <column name="options" key="local_ip">
1487 Optional. The tunnel destination IP that received packets must
1488 match. Default is to match all addresses. If specified, may be one
1494 An IPv4 address (not a DNS name), e.g. <code>192.168.12.3</code>.
1497 The word <code>flow</code>. The tunnel accepts packets sent to any
1498 of the local IP addresses of the system running OVS. To process
1499 only packets sent to a specific IP address, the flow entries may
1500 match on the <code>tun_dst</code> field. When sending packets to a
1501 <code>local_ip=flow</code> tunnel, the flow actions may
1502 explicitly set the <code>tun_src</code> field to the desired IP
1503 address, e.g. with a <code>set_field</code> action. However, while
1504 routing the tunneled packet out, the local system may override the
1505 specified address with the local IP address configured for the
1506 outgoing system interface.
1509 This option is valid only for tunnels also configured with the
1510 <code>remote_ip=flow</code> option.
1516 The tunnel destination IP address for any packet received from a
1517 tunnel is available in the <code>tun_dst</code> field for matching in
1522 <column name="options" key="in_key">
1523 <p>Optional. The key that received packets must contain, one of:</p>
1527 <code>0</code>. The tunnel receives packets with no key or with a
1528 key of 0. This is equivalent to specifying no <ref column="options"
1529 key="in_key"/> at all.
1532 A positive 24-bit (for VXLAN and LISP), 32-bit (for GRE) or 64-bit
1533 (for GRE64) number. The tunnel receives only packets with the
1537 The word <code>flow</code>. The tunnel accepts packets with any
1538 key. The key will be placed in the <code>tun_id</code> field for
1539 matching in the flow table. The <code>ovs-ofctl</code> manual page
1540 contains additional information about matching fields in OpenFlow
1549 <column name="options" key="out_key">
1550 <p>Optional. The key to be set on outgoing packets, one of:</p>
1554 <code>0</code>. Packets sent through the tunnel will have no key.
1555 This is equivalent to specifying no <ref column="options"
1556 key="out_key"/> at all.
1559 A positive 24-bit (for VXLAN and LISP), 32-bit (for GRE) or 64-bit
1560 (for GRE64) number. Packets sent through the tunnel will have the
1564 The word <code>flow</code>. Packets sent through the tunnel will
1565 have the key set using the <code>set_tunnel</code> Nicira OpenFlow
1566 vendor extension (0 is used in the absence of an action). The
1567 <code>ovs-ofctl</code> manual page contains additional information
1568 about the Nicira OpenFlow vendor extensions.
1573 <column name="options" key="key">
1574 Optional. Shorthand to set <code>in_key</code> and
1575 <code>out_key</code> at the same time.
1578 <column name="options" key="tos">
1579 Optional. The value of the ToS bits to be set on the encapsulating
1580 packet. ToS is interpreted as DSCP and ECN bits, ECN part must be
1581 zero. It may also be the word <code>inherit</code>, in which case
1582 the ToS will be copied from the inner packet if it is IPv4 or IPv6
1583 (otherwise it will be 0). The ECN fields are always inherited.
1587 <column name="options" key="ttl">
1588 Optional. The TTL to be set on the encapsulating packet. It may also
1589 be the word <code>inherit</code>, in which case the TTL will be copied
1590 from the inner packet if it is IPv4 or IPv6 (otherwise it will be the
1591 system default, typically 64). Default is the system default TTL.
1594 <column name="options" key="df_default"
1595 type='{"type": "boolean"}'>
1596 Optional. If enabled, the Don't Fragment bit will be set on tunnel
1597 outer headers to allow path MTU discovery. Default is enabled; set
1598 to <code>false</code> to disable.
1601 <group title="Tunnel Options: gre and ipsec_gre only">
1603 Only <code>gre</code> and <code>ipsec_gre</code> interfaces support
1607 <column name="options" key="csum" type='{"type": "boolean"}'>
1609 Optional. Compute GRE checksums on outgoing packets. Default is
1610 disabled, set to <code>true</code> to enable. Checksums present on
1611 incoming packets will be validated regardless of this setting.
1615 GRE checksums impose a significant performance penalty because they
1616 cover the entire packet. The encapsulated L3, L4, and L7 packet
1617 contents typically have their own checksums, so this additional
1618 checksum only adds value for the GRE and encapsulated L2 headers.
1622 This option is supported for <code>ipsec_gre</code>, but not useful
1623 because GRE checksums are weaker than, and redundant with, IPsec
1624 payload authentication.
1629 <group title="Tunnel Options: ipsec_gre only">
1631 Only <code>ipsec_gre</code> interfaces support these options.
1634 <column name="options" key="peer_cert">
1635 Required for certificate authentication. A string containing the
1636 peer's certificate in PEM format. Additionally the host's
1637 certificate must be specified with the <code>certificate</code>
1641 <column name="options" key="certificate">
1642 Required for certificate authentication. The name of a PEM file
1643 containing a certificate that will be presented to the peer during
1647 <column name="options" key="private_key">
1648 Optional for certificate authentication. The name of a PEM file
1649 containing the private key associated with <code>certificate</code>.
1650 If <code>certificate</code> contains the private key, this option may
1654 <column name="options" key="psk">
1655 Required for pre-shared key authentication. Specifies a pre-shared
1656 key for authentication that must be identical on both sides of the
1662 <group title="Patch Options">
1664 Only <code>patch</code> interfaces support these options.
1667 <column name="options" key="peer">
1668 The <ref column="name"/> of the <ref table="Interface"/> for the other
1669 side of the patch. The named <ref table="Interface"/>'s own
1670 <code>peer</code> option must specify this <ref table="Interface"/>'s
1671 name. That is, the two patch interfaces must have reversed <ref
1672 column="name"/> and <code>peer</code> values.
1676 <group title="Interface Status">
1678 Status information about interfaces attached to bridges, updated every
1679 5 seconds. Not all interfaces have all of these properties; virtual
1680 interfaces don't have a link speed, for example. Non-applicable
1681 columns will have empty values.
1683 <column name="admin_state">
1685 The administrative state of the physical network link.
1689 <column name="link_state">
1691 The observed state of the physical network link. This is ordinarily
1692 the link's carrier status. If the interface's <ref table="Port"/> is
1693 a bond configured for miimon monitoring, it is instead the network
1694 link's miimon status.
1698 <column name="link_resets">
1700 The number of times Open vSwitch has observed the
1701 <ref column="link_state"/> of this <ref table="Interface"/> change.
1705 <column name="link_speed">
1707 The negotiated speed of the physical network link.
1708 Valid values are positive integers greater than 0.
1712 <column name="duplex">
1714 The duplex mode of the physical network link.
1720 The MTU (maximum transmission unit); i.e. the largest
1721 amount of data that can fit into a single Ethernet frame.
1722 The standard Ethernet MTU is 1500 bytes. Some physical media
1723 and many kinds of virtual interfaces can be configured with
1727 This column will be empty for an interface that does not
1728 have an MTU as, for example, some kinds of tunnels do not.
1732 <column name="lacp_current">
1733 Boolean value indicating LACP status for this interface. If true, this
1734 interface has current LACP information about its LACP partner. This
1735 information may be used to monitor the health of interfaces in a LACP
1736 enabled port. This column will be empty if LACP is not enabled.
1739 <column name="status">
1740 Key-value pairs that report port status. Supported status values are
1741 <ref column="type"/>-dependent; some interfaces may not have a valid
1742 <ref column="status" key="driver_name"/>, for example.
1745 <column name="status" key="driver_name">
1746 The name of the device driver controlling the network adapter.
1749 <column name="status" key="driver_version">
1750 The version string of the device driver controlling the network
1754 <column name="status" key="firmware_version">
1755 The version string of the network adapter's firmware, if available.
1758 <column name="status" key="source_ip">
1759 The source IP address used for an IPv4 tunnel end-point, such as
1763 <column name="status" key="tunnel_egress_iface">
1764 Egress interface for tunnels. Currently only relevant for GRE tunnels
1765 On Linux systems, this column will show the name of the interface
1766 which is responsible for routing traffic destined for the configured
1767 <ref column="options" key="remote_ip"/>. This could be an internal
1768 interface such as a bridge port.
1771 <column name="status" key="tunnel_egress_iface_carrier"
1772 type='{"type": "string", "enum": ["set", ["down", "up"]]}'>
1773 Whether carrier is detected on <ref column="status"
1774 key="tunnel_egress_iface"/>.
1778 <group title="Statistics">
1780 Key-value pairs that report interface statistics. The current
1781 implementation updates these counters periodically. Future
1782 implementations may update them when an interface is created, when they
1783 are queried (e.g. using an OVSDB <code>select</code> operation), and
1784 just before an interface is deleted due to virtual interface hot-unplug
1785 or VM shutdown, and perhaps at other times, but not on any regular
1789 These are the same statistics reported by OpenFlow in its <code>struct
1790 ofp_port_stats</code> structure. If an interface does not support a
1791 given statistic, then that pair is omitted.
1793 <group title="Statistics: Successful transmit and receive counters">
1794 <column name="statistics" key="rx_packets">
1795 Number of received packets.
1797 <column name="statistics" key="rx_bytes">
1798 Number of received bytes.
1800 <column name="statistics" key="tx_packets">
1801 Number of transmitted packets.
1803 <column name="statistics" key="tx_bytes">
1804 Number of transmitted bytes.
1807 <group title="Statistics: Receive errors">
1808 <column name="statistics" key="rx_dropped">
1809 Number of packets dropped by RX.
1811 <column name="statistics" key="rx_frame_err">
1812 Number of frame alignment errors.
1814 <column name="statistics" key="rx_over_err">
1815 Number of packets with RX overrun.
1817 <column name="statistics" key="rx_crc_err">
1818 Number of CRC errors.
1820 <column name="statistics" key="rx_errors">
1821 Total number of receive errors, greater than or equal to the sum of
1825 <group title="Statistics: Transmit errors">
1826 <column name="statistics" key="tx_dropped">
1827 Number of packets dropped by TX.
1829 <column name="statistics" key="collisions">
1830 Number of collisions.
1832 <column name="statistics" key="tx_errors">
1833 Total number of transmit errors, greater than or equal to the sum of
1839 <group title="Ingress Policing">
1841 These settings control ingress policing for packets received on this
1842 interface. On a physical interface, this limits the rate at which
1843 traffic is allowed into the system from the outside; on a virtual
1844 interface (one connected to a virtual machine), this limits the rate at
1845 which the VM is able to transmit.
1848 Policing is a simple form of quality-of-service that simply drops
1849 packets received in excess of the configured rate. Due to its
1850 simplicity, policing is usually less accurate and less effective than
1851 egress QoS (which is configured using the <ref table="QoS"/> and <ref
1852 table="Queue"/> tables).
1855 Policing is currently implemented only on Linux. The Linux
1856 implementation uses a simple ``token bucket'' approach:
1860 The size of the bucket corresponds to <ref
1861 column="ingress_policing_burst"/>. Initially the bucket is full.
1864 Whenever a packet is received, its size (converted to tokens) is
1865 compared to the number of tokens currently in the bucket. If the
1866 required number of tokens are available, they are removed and the
1867 packet is forwarded. Otherwise, the packet is dropped.
1870 Whenever it is not full, the bucket is refilled with tokens at the
1871 rate specified by <ref column="ingress_policing_rate"/>.
1875 Policing interacts badly with some network protocols, and especially
1876 with fragmented IP packets. Suppose that there is enough network
1877 activity to keep the bucket nearly empty all the time. Then this token
1878 bucket algorithm will forward a single packet every so often, with the
1879 period depending on packet size and on the configured rate. All of the
1880 fragments of an IP packets are normally transmitted back-to-back, as a
1881 group. In such a situation, therefore, only one of these fragments
1882 will be forwarded and the rest will be dropped. IP does not provide
1883 any way for the intended recipient to ask for only the remaining
1884 fragments. In such a case there are two likely possibilities for what
1885 will happen next: either all of the fragments will eventually be
1886 retransmitted (as TCP will do), in which case the same problem will
1887 recur, or the sender will not realize that its packet has been dropped
1888 and data will simply be lost (as some UDP-based protocols will do).
1889 Either way, it is possible that no forward progress will ever occur.
1891 <column name="ingress_policing_rate">
1893 Maximum rate for data received on this interface, in kbps. Data
1894 received faster than this rate is dropped. Set to <code>0</code>
1895 (the default) to disable policing.
1899 <column name="ingress_policing_burst">
1900 <p>Maximum burst size for data received on this interface, in kb. The
1901 default burst size if set to <code>0</code> is 1000 kb. This value
1902 has no effect if <ref column="ingress_policing_rate"/>
1903 is <code>0</code>.</p>
1905 Specifying a larger burst size lets the algorithm be more forgiving,
1906 which is important for protocols like TCP that react severely to
1907 dropped packets. The burst size should be at least the size of the
1908 interface's MTU. Specifying a value that is numerically at least as
1909 large as 10% of <ref column="ingress_policing_rate"/> helps TCP come
1910 closer to achieving the full rate.
1915 <group title="Bidirectional Forwarding Detection (BFD)">
1917 BFD, defined in RFC 5880 and RFC 5881, allows point-to-point
1918 detection of connectivity failures by occasional transmission of
1919 BFD control messages. Open vSwitch implements BFD to serve
1920 as a more popular and standards compliant alternative to CFM.
1924 BFD operates by regularly transmitting BFD control messages at a rate
1925 negotiated independently in each direction. Each endpoint specifies
1926 the rate at which it expects to receive control messages, and the rate
1927 at which it is willing to transmit them. Open vSwitch uses a detection
1928 multiplier of three, meaning that an endpoint signals a connectivity
1929 fault if three consecutive BFD control messages fail to arrive. In the
1930 case of a unidirectional connectivity issue, the system not receiving
1931 BFD control messages signals the problem to its peer in the messages it
1936 The Open vSwitch implementation of BFD aims to comply faithfully
1937 with RFC 5880 requirements. Open vSwitch does not implement the
1938 optional Authentication or ``Echo Mode'' features.
1941 <group title="BFD Configuration">
1943 A controller sets up key-value pairs in the <ref column="bfd"/>
1944 column to enable and configure BFD.
1947 <column name="bfd" key="enable" type='{"type": "boolean"}'>
1948 True to enable BFD on this <ref table="Interface"/>.
1951 <column name="bfd" key="min_rx"
1952 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1}'>
1953 The shortest interval, in milliseconds, at which this BFD session
1954 offers to receive BFD control messages. The remote endpoint may
1955 choose to send messages at a slower rate. Defaults to
1959 <column name="bfd" key="min_tx"
1960 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1}'>
1961 The shortest interval, in milliseconds, at which this BFD session is
1962 willing to transmit BFD control messages. Messages will actually be
1963 transmitted at a slower rate if the remote endpoint is not willing to
1964 receive as quickly as specified. Defaults to <code>100</code>.
1967 <column name="bfd" key="decay_min_rx" type='{"type": "integer"}'>
1968 An alternate receive interval, in milliseconds, that must be greater
1969 than or equal to <ref column="bfd" key="min_rx"/>. The
1970 implementation switches from <ref column="bfd" key="min_rx"/> to <ref
1971 column="bfd" key="decay_min_rx"/> when there is no obvious incoming
1972 data traffic at the interface, to reduce the CPU and bandwidth cost
1973 of monitoring an idle interface. This feature may be disabled by
1974 setting a value of 0. This feature is reset whenever <ref
1975 column="bfd" key="decay_min_rx"/> or <ref column="bfd" key="min_rx"/>
1979 <column name="bfd" key="forwarding_if_rx" type='{"type": "boolean"}'>
1980 True to consider the interface capable of packet I/O as long as it
1981 continues to receive any packets (not just BFD packets). This
1982 prevents link congestion that causes consecutive BFD control packets
1983 to be lost from marking the interface down.
1986 <column name="bfd" key="cpath_down" type='{"type": "boolean"}'>
1987 Set to true to notify the remote endpoint that traffic should not be
1988 forwarded to this system for some reason other than a connectivty
1989 failure on the interface being monitored. The typical underlying
1990 reason is ``concatenated path down,'' that is, that connectivity
1991 beyond the local system is down. Defaults to false.
1994 <column name="bfd" key="check_tnl_key" type='{"type": "boolean"}'>
1995 Set to true to make BFD accept only control messages with a tunnel
1996 key of zero. By default, BFD accepts control messages with any
2000 <column name="bfd" key="bfd_dst_mac">
2001 Set to an Ethernet address in the form
2002 <var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>
2003 to set the MAC used as destination for transmitted BFD packets and
2004 expected as destination for received BFD packets. The default is
2005 <code>00:23:20:00:00:01</code>.
2009 <group title="BFD Status">
2011 The switch sets key-value pairs in the <ref column="bfd_status"/>
2012 column to report the status of BFD on this interface. When BFD is
2013 not enabled, with <ref column="bfd" key="enable"/>, the switch clears
2014 all key-value pairs from <ref column="bfd_status"/>.
2017 <column name="bfd_status" key="state"
2018 type='{"type": "string",
2019 "enum": ["set", ["admin_down", "down", "init", "up"]]}'>
2020 Reports the state of the BFD session. The BFD session is fully
2021 healthy and negotiated if <code>UP</code>.
2024 <column name="bfd_status" key="forwarding" type='{"type": "boolean"}'>
2025 Reports whether the BFD session believes this <ref
2026 table="Interface"/> may be used to forward traffic. Typically this
2027 means the local session is signaling <code>UP</code>, and the remote
2028 system isn't signaling a problem such as concatenated path down.
2031 <column name="bfd_status" key="diagnostic">
2032 In case of a problem, set to a short message that reports what the
2033 local BFD session thinks is wrong.
2036 <column name="bfd_status" key="remote_state"
2037 type='{"type": "string",
2038 "enum": ["set", ["admin_down", "down", "init", "up"]]}'>
2039 Reports the state of the remote endpoint's BFD session.
2042 <column name="bfd_status" key="remote_diagnostic">
2043 In case of a problem, set to a short message that reports what the
2044 remote endpoint's BFD session thinks is wrong.
2047 <column name="bfd_status" key="flap_count"
2048 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 0}'>
2049 Counts the number of <ref column="bfd_status" key="forwarding" />
2050 flaps since start. A flap is considered as a change of the
2051 <ref column="bfd_status" key="forwarding" /> value.
2056 <group title="Connectivity Fault Management">
2058 802.1ag Connectivity Fault Management (CFM) allows a group of
2059 Maintenance Points (MPs) called a Maintenance Association (MA) to
2060 detect connectivity problems with each other. MPs within a MA should
2061 have complete and exclusive interconnectivity. This is verified by
2062 occasionally broadcasting Continuity Check Messages (CCMs) at a
2063 configurable transmission interval.
2067 According to the 802.1ag specification, each Maintenance Point should
2068 be configured out-of-band with a list of Remote Maintenance Points it
2069 should have connectivity to. Open vSwitch differs from the
2070 specification in this area. It simply assumes the link is faulted if
2071 no Remote Maintenance Points are reachable, and considers it not
2076 When operating over tunnels which have no <code>in_key</code>, or an
2077 <code>in_key</code> of <code>flow</code>. CFM will only accept CCMs
2078 with a tunnel key of zero.
2081 <column name="cfm_mpid">
2083 A Maintenance Point ID (MPID) uniquely identifies each endpoint
2084 within a Maintenance Association. The MPID is used to identify this
2085 endpoint to other Maintenance Points in the MA. Each end of a link
2086 being monitored should have a different MPID. Must be configured to
2087 enable CFM on this <ref table="Interface"/>.
2090 According to the 802.1ag specification, MPIDs can only range between
2091 [1, 8191]. However, extended mode (see <ref column="other_config"
2092 key="cfm_extended"/>) supports eight byte MPIDs.
2096 <column name="cfm_flap_count">
2097 Counts the number of cfm fault flapps since boot. A flap is
2098 considered to be a change of the <ref column="cfm_fault"/> value.
2101 <column name="cfm_fault">
2103 Indicates a connectivity fault triggered by an inability to receive
2104 heartbeats from any remote endpoint. When a fault is triggered on
2105 <ref table="Interface"/>s participating in bonds, they will be
2109 Faults can be triggered for several reasons. Most importantly they
2110 are triggered when no CCMs are received for a period of 3.5 times the
2111 transmission interval. Faults are also triggered when any CCMs
2112 indicate that a Remote Maintenance Point is not receiving CCMs but
2113 able to send them. Finally, a fault is triggered if a CCM is
2114 received which indicates unexpected configuration. Notably, this
2115 case arises when a CCM is received which advertises the local MPID.
2119 <column name="cfm_fault_status" key="recv">
2120 Indicates a CFM fault was triggered due to a lack of CCMs received on
2121 the <ref table="Interface"/>.
2124 <column name="cfm_fault_status" key="rdi">
2125 Indicates a CFM fault was triggered due to the reception of a CCM with
2126 the RDI bit flagged. Endpoints set the RDI bit in their CCMs when they
2127 are not receiving CCMs themselves. This typically indicates a
2128 unidirectional connectivity failure.
2131 <column name="cfm_fault_status" key="maid">
2132 Indicates a CFM fault was triggered due to the reception of a CCM with
2133 a MAID other than the one Open vSwitch uses. CFM broadcasts are tagged
2134 with an identification number in addition to the MPID called the MAID.
2135 Open vSwitch only supports receiving CCM broadcasts tagged with the
2136 MAID it uses internally.
2139 <column name="cfm_fault_status" key="loopback">
2140 Indicates a CFM fault was triggered due to the reception of a CCM
2141 advertising the same MPID configured in the <ref column="cfm_mpid"/>
2142 column of this <ref table="Interface"/>. This may indicate a loop in
2146 <column name="cfm_fault_status" key="overflow">
2147 Indicates a CFM fault was triggered because the CFM module received
2148 CCMs from more remote endpoints than it can keep track of.
2151 <column name="cfm_fault_status" key="override">
2152 Indicates a CFM fault was manually triggered by an administrator using
2153 an <code>ovs-appctl</code> command.
2156 <column name="cfm_fault_status" key="interval">
2157 Indicates a CFM fault was triggered due to the reception of a CCM
2158 frame having an invalid interval.
2161 <column name="cfm_remote_opstate">
2162 <p>When in extended mode, indicates the operational state of the
2163 remote endpoint as either <code>up</code> or <code>down</code>. See
2164 <ref column="other_config" key="cfm_opstate"/>.
2168 <column name="cfm_health">
2170 Indicates the health of the interface as a percentage of CCM frames
2171 received over 21 <ref column="other_config" key="cfm_interval"/>s.
2172 The health of an interface is undefined if it is communicating with
2173 more than one <ref column="cfm_remote_mpids"/>. It reduces if
2174 healthy heartbeats are not received at the expected rate, and
2175 gradually improves as healthy heartbeats are received at the desired
2176 rate. Every 21 <ref column="other_config" key="cfm_interval"/>s, the
2177 health of the interface is refreshed.
2180 As mentioned above, the faults can be triggered for several reasons.
2181 The link health will deteriorate even if heartbeats are received but
2182 they are reported to be unhealthy. An unhealthy heartbeat in this
2183 context is a heartbeat for which either some fault is set or is out
2184 of sequence. The interface health can be 100 only on receiving
2185 healthy heartbeats at the desired rate.
2189 <column name="cfm_remote_mpids">
2190 When CFM is properly configured, Open vSwitch will occasionally
2191 receive CCM broadcasts. These broadcasts contain the MPID of the
2192 sending Maintenance Point. The list of MPIDs from which this
2193 <ref table="Interface"/> is receiving broadcasts from is regularly
2194 collected and written to this column.
2197 <column name="other_config" key="cfm_interval"
2198 type='{"type": "integer"}'>
2200 The interval, in milliseconds, between transmissions of CFM
2201 heartbeats. Three missed heartbeat receptions indicate a
2206 In standard operation only intervals of 3, 10, 100, 1,000, 10,000,
2207 60,000, or 600,000 ms are supported. Other values will be rounded
2208 down to the nearest value on the list. Extended mode (see <ref
2209 column="other_config" key="cfm_extended"/>) supports any interval up
2210 to 65,535 ms. In either mode, the default is 1000 ms.
2213 <p>We do not recommend using intervals less than 100 ms.</p>
2216 <column name="other_config" key="cfm_extended"
2217 type='{"type": "boolean"}'>
2218 When <code>true</code>, the CFM module operates in extended mode. This
2219 causes it to use a nonstandard destination address to avoid conflicting
2220 with compliant implementations which may be running concurrently on the
2221 network. Furthermore, extended mode increases the accuracy of the
2222 <code>cfm_interval</code> configuration parameter by breaking wire
2223 compatibility with 802.1ag compliant implementations. And extended
2224 mode allows eight byte MPIDs. Defaults to <code>false</code>.
2227 <column name="other_config" key="cfm_demand" type='{"type": "boolean"}'>
2229 When <code>true</code>, and
2230 <ref column="other_config" key="cfm_extended"/> is true, the CFM
2231 module operates in demand mode. When in demand mode, traffic
2232 received on the <ref table="Interface"/> is used to indicate
2233 liveness. CCMs are still transmitted and received, but if the
2234 <ref table="Interface"/> is receiving traffic, their absence does not
2235 cause a connectivity fault.
2239 Demand mode has a couple of caveats:
2242 To ensure that ovs-vswitchd has enough time to pull statistics
2243 from the datapath, the fault detection interval is set to
2244 3.5 * MAX(<ref column="other_config" key="cfm_interval"/>, 500)
2249 To avoid ambiguity, demand mode disables itself when there are
2250 multiple remote maintenance points.
2254 If the <ref table="Interface"/> is heavily congested, CCMs
2255 containing the <ref column="other_config" key="cfm_opstate"/>
2256 status may be dropped causing changes in the operational state to
2257 be delayed. Similarly, if CCMs containing the RDI bit are not
2258 received, unidirectional link failures may not be detected.
2264 <column name="other_config" key="cfm_opstate"
2265 type='{"type": "string", "enum": ["set", ["down", "up"]]}'>
2266 When <code>down</code>, the CFM module marks all CCMs it generates as
2267 operationally down without triggering a fault. This allows remote
2268 maintenance points to choose not to forward traffic to the
2269 <ref table="Interface"/> on which this CFM module is running.
2270 Currently, in Open vSwitch, the opdown bit of CCMs affects
2271 <ref table="Interface"/>s participating in bonds, and the bundle
2272 OpenFlow action. This setting is ignored when CFM is not in extended
2273 mode. Defaults to <code>up</code>.
2276 <column name="other_config" key="cfm_ccm_vlan"
2277 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1, "maxInteger": 4095}'>
2278 When set, the CFM module will apply a VLAN tag to all CCMs it generates
2279 with the given value. May be the string <code>random</code> in which
2280 case each CCM will be tagged with a different randomly generated VLAN.
2283 <column name="other_config" key="cfm_ccm_pcp"
2284 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1, "maxInteger": 7}'>
2285 When set, the CFM module will apply a VLAN tag to all CCMs it generates
2286 with the given PCP value, the VLAN ID of the tag is governed by the
2287 value of <ref column="other_config" key="cfm_ccm_vlan"/>. If
2288 <ref column="other_config" key="cfm_ccm_vlan"/> is unset, a VLAN ID of
2294 <group title="Bonding Configuration">
2295 <column name="other_config" key="lacp-port-id"
2296 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1, "maxInteger": 65535}'>
2297 The LACP port ID of this <ref table="Interface"/>. Port IDs are
2298 used in LACP negotiations to identify individual ports
2299 participating in a bond.
2302 <column name="other_config" key="lacp-port-priority"
2303 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1, "maxInteger": 65535}'>
2304 The LACP port priority of this <ref table="Interface"/>. In LACP
2305 negotiations <ref table="Interface"/>s with numerically lower
2306 priorities are preferred for aggregation.
2309 <column name="other_config" key="lacp-aggregation-key"
2310 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1, "maxInteger": 65535}'>
2311 The LACP aggregation key of this <ref table="Interface"/>. <ref
2312 table="Interface"/>s with different aggregation keys may not be active
2313 within a given <ref table="Port"/> at the same time.
2317 <group title="Virtual Machine Identifiers">
2319 These key-value pairs specifically apply to an interface that
2320 represents a virtual Ethernet interface connected to a virtual
2321 machine. These key-value pairs should not be present for other types
2322 of interfaces. Keys whose names end in <code>-uuid</code> have
2323 values that uniquely identify the entity in question. For a Citrix
2324 XenServer hypervisor, these values are UUIDs in RFC 4122 format.
2325 Other hypervisors may use other formats.
2328 <column name="external_ids" key="attached-mac">
2329 The MAC address programmed into the ``virtual hardware'' for this
2330 interface, in the form
2331 <var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>.
2332 For Citrix XenServer, this is the value of the <code>MAC</code> field
2333 in the VIF record for this interface.
2336 <column name="external_ids" key="iface-id">
2337 A system-unique identifier for the interface. On XenServer, this will
2338 commonly be the same as <ref column="external_ids" key="xs-vif-uuid"/>.
2341 <column name="external_ids" key="iface-status"
2342 type='{"type": "string",
2343 "enum": ["set", ["active", "inactive"]]}'>
2345 Hypervisors may sometimes have more than one interface associated
2346 with a given <ref column="external_ids" key="iface-id"/>, only one of
2347 which is actually in use at a given time. For example, in some
2348 circumstances XenServer has both a ``tap'' and a ``vif'' interface
2349 for a single <ref column="external_ids" key="iface-id"/>, but only
2350 uses one of them at a time. A hypervisor that behaves this way must
2351 mark the currently in use interface <code>active</code> and the
2352 others <code>inactive</code>. A hypervisor that never has more than
2353 one interface for a given <ref column="external_ids" key="iface-id"/>
2354 may mark that interface <code>active</code> or omit <ref
2355 column="external_ids" key="iface-status"/> entirely.
2359 During VM migration, a given <ref column="external_ids"
2360 key="iface-id"/> might transiently be marked <code>active</code> on
2361 two different hypervisors. That is, <code>active</code> means that
2362 this <ref column="external_ids" key="iface-id"/> is the active
2363 instance within a single hypervisor, not in a broader scope.
2364 There is one exception: some hypervisors support ``migration'' from a
2365 given hypervisor to itself (most often for test purposes). During
2366 such a ``migration,'' two instances of a single <ref
2367 column="external_ids" key="iface-id"/> might both be briefly marked
2368 <code>active</code> on a single hypervisor.
2372 <column name="external_ids" key="xs-vif-uuid">
2373 The virtual interface associated with this interface.
2376 <column name="external_ids" key="xs-network-uuid">
2377 The virtual network to which this interface is attached.
2380 <column name="external_ids" key="vm-id">
2381 The VM to which this interface belongs. On XenServer, this will be the
2382 same as <ref column="external_ids" key="xs-vm-uuid"/>.
2385 <column name="external_ids" key="xs-vm-uuid">
2386 The VM to which this interface belongs.
2390 <group title="VLAN Splinters">
2392 The ``VLAN splinters'' feature increases Open vSwitch compatibility
2393 with buggy network drivers in old versions of Linux that do not
2394 properly support VLANs when VLAN devices are not used, at some cost
2395 in memory and performance.
2399 When VLAN splinters are enabled on a particular interface, Open vSwitch
2400 creates a VLAN device for each in-use VLAN. For sending traffic tagged
2401 with a VLAN on the interface, it substitutes the VLAN device. Traffic
2402 received on the VLAN device is treated as if it had been received on
2403 the interface on the particular VLAN.
2407 VLAN splinters consider a VLAN to be in use if:
2412 The VLAN is the <ref table="Port" column="tag"/> value in any <ref
2413 table="Port"/> record.
2417 The VLAN is listed within the <ref table="Port" column="trunks"/>
2418 column of the <ref table="Port"/> record of an interface on which
2419 VLAN splinters are enabled.
2421 An empty <ref table="Port" column="trunks"/> does not influence the
2422 in-use VLANs: creating 4,096 VLAN devices is impractical because it
2423 will exceed the current 1,024 port per datapath limit.
2427 An OpenFlow flow within any bridge matches the VLAN.
2432 The same set of in-use VLANs applies to every interface on which VLAN
2433 splinters are enabled. That is, the set is not chosen separately for
2434 each interface but selected once as the union of all in-use VLANs based
2439 It does not make sense to enable VLAN splinters on an interface for an
2440 access port, or on an interface that is not a physical port.
2444 VLAN splinters are deprecated. When broken device drivers are no
2445 longer in widespread use, we will delete this feature.
2448 <column name="other_config" key="enable-vlan-splinters"
2449 type='{"type": "boolean"}'>
2451 Set to <code>true</code> to enable VLAN splinters on this interface.
2452 Defaults to <code>false</code>.
2456 VLAN splinters increase kernel and userspace memory overhead, so do
2457 not use them unless they are needed.
2461 VLAN splinters do not support 802.1p priority tags. Received
2462 priorities will appear to be 0, regardless of their actual values,
2463 and priorities on transmitted packets will also be cleared to 0.
2468 <group title="Common Columns">
2469 The overall purpose of these columns is described under <code>Common
2470 Columns</code> at the beginning of this document.
2472 <column name="other_config"/>
2473 <column name="external_ids"/>
2477 <table name="Flow_Table" title="OpenFlow table configuration">
2478 <p>Configuration for a particular OpenFlow table.</p>
2480 <column name="name">
2481 The table's name. Set this column to change the name that controllers
2482 will receive when they request table statistics, e.g. <code>ovs-ofctl
2483 dump-tables</code>. The name does not affect switch behavior.
2486 <column name="flow_limit">
2487 If set, limits the number of flows that may be added to the table. Open
2488 vSwitch may limit the number of flows in a table for other reasons,
2489 e.g. due to hardware limitations or for resource availability or
2490 performance reasons.
2493 <column name="overflow_policy">
2495 Controls the switch's behavior when an OpenFlow flow table modification
2496 request would add flows in excess of <ref column="flow_limit"/>. The
2497 supported values are:
2501 <dt><code>refuse</code></dt>
2503 Refuse to add the flow or flows. This is also the default policy
2504 when <ref column="overflow_policy"/> is unset.
2507 <dt><code>evict</code></dt>
2509 Delete the flow that will expire soonest. See <ref column="groups"/>
2515 <column name="groups">
2517 When <ref column="overflow_policy"/> is <code>evict</code>, this
2518 controls how flows are chosen for eviction when the flow table would
2519 otherwise exceed <ref column="flow_limit"/> flows. Its value is a set
2520 of NXM fields or sub-fields, each of which takes one of the forms
2521 <code><var>field</var>[]</code> or
2522 <code><var>field</var>[<var>start</var>..<var>end</var>]</code>,
2523 e.g. <code>NXM_OF_IN_PORT[]</code>. Please see
2524 <code>nicira-ext.h</code> for a complete list of NXM field names.
2528 When a flow must be evicted due to overflow, the flow to evict is
2529 chosen through an approximation of the following algorithm:
2534 Divide the flows in the table into groups based on the values of the
2535 specified fields or subfields, so that all of the flows in a given
2536 group have the same values for those fields. If a flow does not
2537 specify a given field, that field's value is treated as 0.
2541 Consider the flows in the largest group, that is, the group that
2542 contains the greatest number of flows. If two or more groups all
2543 have the same largest number of flows, consider the flows in all of
2548 Among the flows under consideration, choose the flow that expires
2549 soonest for eviction.
2554 The eviction process only considers flows that have an idle timeout or
2555 a hard timeout. That is, eviction never deletes permanent flows.
2556 (Permanent flows do count against <ref column="flow_limit"/>.)
2560 Open vSwitch ignores any invalid or unknown field specifications.
2564 When <ref column="overflow_policy"/> is not <code>evict</code>, this
2565 column has no effect.
2569 <column name="prefixes">
2571 This string set specifies which fields should be used for
2572 address prefix tracking. Prefix tracking allows the
2573 classifier to skip rules with longer than necessary prefixes,
2574 resulting in better wildcarding for datapath flows.
2577 Prefix tracking may be beneficial when a flow table contains
2578 matches on IP address fields with different prefix lengths.
2579 For example, when a flow table contains IP address matches on
2580 both full addresses and proper prefixes, the full address
2581 matches will typically cause the datapath flow to un-wildcard
2582 the whole address field (depending on flow entry priorities).
2583 In this case each packet with a different address gets handed
2584 to the userspace for flow processing and generates its own
2585 datapath flow. With prefix tracking enabled for the address
2586 field in question packets with addresses matching shorter
2587 prefixes would generate datapath flows where the irrelevant
2588 address bits are wildcarded, allowing the same datapath flow
2589 to handle all the packets within the prefix in question. In
2590 this case many userspace upcalls can be avoided and the
2591 overall performance can be better.
2594 This is a performance optimization only, so packets will
2595 receive the same treatment with or without prefix tracking.
2598 The supported fields are: <code>tun_id</code>,
2599 <code>tun_src</code>, <code>tun_dst</code>,
2600 <code>nw_src</code>, <code>nw_dst</code> (or aliases
2601 <code>ip_src</code> and <code>ip_dst</code>),
2602 <code>ipv6_src</code>, and <code>ipv6_dst</code>. (Using this
2603 feature for <code>tun_id</code> would only make sense if the
2604 tunnel IDs have prefix structure similar to IP addresses.)
2607 For example, <code>prefixes=ip_dst,ip_src</code> instructs the
2608 flow classifier to track the IP destination and source
2609 addresses used by the rules in this specific flow table. To
2610 set the prefix fields, the flow table record needs to exist:
2613 <dt><code>ovs-vsctl set Bridge br0 flow_tables:0=@N1 -- --id=@N1 create Flow_Table name=table0</code></dt>
2615 Creates a flow table record for the OpenFlow table number 0.
2618 <dt><code>ovs-vsctl set Flow_Table table0 prefixes=ip_dst,ip_src</code></dt>
2620 Enables prefix tracking for IP source and destination
2626 There is a maximum number of fields that can be enabled for any
2627 one flow table. Currently this limit is 3.
2632 <table name="QoS" title="Quality of Service configuration">
2633 <p>Quality of Service (QoS) configuration for each Port that
2636 <column name="type">
2637 <p>The type of QoS to implement. The currently defined types are
2640 <dt><code>linux-htb</code></dt>
2642 Linux ``hierarchy token bucket'' classifier. See tc-htb(8) (also at
2643 <code>http://linux.die.net/man/8/tc-htb</code>) and the HTB manual
2644 (<code>http://luxik.cdi.cz/~devik/qos/htb/manual/userg.htm</code>)
2645 for information on how this classifier works and how to configure it.
2649 <dt><code>linux-hfsc</code></dt>
2651 Linux "Hierarchical Fair Service Curve" classifier.
2652 See <code>http://linux-ip.net/articles/hfsc.en/</code> for
2653 information on how this classifier works.
2658 <column name="queues">
2659 <p>A map from queue numbers to <ref table="Queue"/> records. The
2660 supported range of queue numbers depend on <ref column="type"/>. The
2661 queue numbers are the same as the <code>queue_id</code> used in
2662 OpenFlow in <code>struct ofp_action_enqueue</code> and other
2666 Queue 0 is the ``default queue.'' It is used by OpenFlow output
2667 actions when no specific queue has been set. When no configuration for
2668 queue 0 is present, it is automatically configured as if a <ref
2669 table="Queue"/> record with empty <ref table="Queue" column="dscp"/>
2670 and <ref table="Queue" column="other_config"/> columns had been
2672 (Before version 1.6, Open vSwitch would leave queue 0 unconfigured in
2673 this case. With some queuing disciplines, this dropped all packets
2674 destined for the default queue.)
2678 <group title="Configuration for linux-htb and linux-hfsc">
2680 The <code>linux-htb</code> and <code>linux-hfsc</code> classes support
2681 the following key-value pair:
2684 <column name="other_config" key="max-rate" type='{"type": "integer"}'>
2685 Maximum rate shared by all queued traffic, in bit/s. Optional. If not
2686 specified, for physical interfaces, the default is the link rate. For
2687 other interfaces or if the link rate cannot be determined, the default
2688 is currently 100 Mbps.
2692 <group title="Common Columns">
2693 The overall purpose of these columns is described under <code>Common
2694 Columns</code> at the beginning of this document.
2696 <column name="other_config"/>
2697 <column name="external_ids"/>
2701 <table name="Queue" title="QoS output queue.">
2702 <p>A configuration for a port output queue, used in configuring Quality of
2703 Service (QoS) features. May be referenced by <ref column="queues"
2704 table="QoS"/> column in <ref table="QoS"/> table.</p>
2706 <column name="dscp">
2707 If set, Open vSwitch will mark all traffic egressing this
2708 <ref table="Queue"/> with the given DSCP bits. Traffic egressing the
2709 default <ref table="Queue"/> is only marked if it was explicitly selected
2710 as the <ref table="Queue"/> at the time the packet was output. If unset,
2711 the DSCP bits of traffic egressing this <ref table="Queue"/> will remain
2715 <group title="Configuration for linux-htb QoS">
2717 <ref table="QoS"/> <ref table="QoS" column="type"/>
2718 <code>linux-htb</code> may use <code>queue_id</code>s less than 61440.
2719 It has the following key-value pairs defined.
2722 <column name="other_config" key="min-rate"
2723 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1}'>
2724 Minimum guaranteed bandwidth, in bit/s.
2727 <column name="other_config" key="max-rate"
2728 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1}'>
2729 Maximum allowed bandwidth, in bit/s. Optional. If specified, the
2730 queue's rate will not be allowed to exceed the specified value, even
2731 if excess bandwidth is available. If unspecified, defaults to no
2735 <column name="other_config" key="burst"
2736 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1}'>
2737 Burst size, in bits. This is the maximum amount of ``credits'' that a
2738 queue can accumulate while it is idle. Optional. Details of the
2739 <code>linux-htb</code> implementation require a minimum burst size, so
2740 a too-small <code>burst</code> will be silently ignored.
2743 <column name="other_config" key="priority"
2744 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 0, "maxInteger": 4294967295}'>
2745 A queue with a smaller <code>priority</code> will receive all the
2746 excess bandwidth that it can use before a queue with a larger value
2747 receives any. Specific priority values are unimportant; only relative
2748 ordering matters. Defaults to 0 if unspecified.
2752 <group title="Configuration for linux-hfsc QoS">
2754 <ref table="QoS"/> <ref table="QoS" column="type"/>
2755 <code>linux-hfsc</code> may use <code>queue_id</code>s less than 61440.
2756 It has the following key-value pairs defined.
2759 <column name="other_config" key="min-rate"
2760 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1}'>
2761 Minimum guaranteed bandwidth, in bit/s.
2764 <column name="other_config" key="max-rate"
2765 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1}'>
2766 Maximum allowed bandwidth, in bit/s. Optional. If specified, the
2767 queue's rate will not be allowed to exceed the specified value, even if
2768 excess bandwidth is available. If unspecified, defaults to no
2773 <group title="Common Columns">
2774 The overall purpose of these columns is described under <code>Common
2775 Columns</code> at the beginning of this document.
2777 <column name="other_config"/>
2778 <column name="external_ids"/>
2782 <table name="Mirror" title="Port mirroring.">
2783 <p>A port mirror within a <ref table="Bridge"/>.</p>
2784 <p>A port mirror configures a bridge to send selected frames to special
2785 ``mirrored'' ports, in addition to their normal destinations. Mirroring
2786 traffic may also be referred to as SPAN or RSPAN, depending on how
2787 the mirrored traffic is sent.</p>
2789 <column name="name">
2790 Arbitrary identifier for the <ref table="Mirror"/>.
2793 <group title="Selecting Packets for Mirroring">
2795 To be selected for mirroring, a given packet must enter or leave the
2796 bridge through a selected port and it must also be in one of the
2800 <column name="select_all">
2801 If true, every packet arriving or departing on any port is
2802 selected for mirroring.
2805 <column name="select_dst_port">
2806 Ports on which departing packets are selected for mirroring.
2809 <column name="select_src_port">
2810 Ports on which arriving packets are selected for mirroring.
2813 <column name="select_vlan">
2814 VLANs on which packets are selected for mirroring. An empty set
2815 selects packets on all VLANs.
2819 <group title="Mirroring Destination Configuration">
2821 These columns are mutually exclusive. Exactly one of them must be
2825 <column name="output_port">
2826 <p>Output port for selected packets, if nonempty.</p>
2827 <p>Specifying a port for mirror output reserves that port exclusively
2828 for mirroring. No frames other than those selected for mirroring
2830 will be forwarded to the port, and any frames received on the port
2831 will be discarded.</p>
2833 The output port may be any kind of port supported by Open vSwitch.
2834 It may be, for example, a physical port (sometimes called SPAN) or a
2839 <column name="output_vlan">
2840 <p>Output VLAN for selected packets, if nonempty.</p>
2841 <p>The frames will be sent out all ports that trunk
2842 <ref column="output_vlan"/>, as well as any ports with implicit VLAN
2843 <ref column="output_vlan"/>. When a mirrored frame is sent out a
2844 trunk port, the frame's VLAN tag will be set to
2845 <ref column="output_vlan"/>, replacing any existing tag; when it is
2846 sent out an implicit VLAN port, the frame will not be tagged. This
2847 type of mirroring is sometimes called RSPAN.</p>
2849 See the documentation for
2850 <ref column="other_config" key="forward-bpdu"/> in the
2851 <ref table="Interface"/> table for a list of destination MAC
2852 addresses which will not be mirrored to a VLAN to avoid confusing
2853 switches that interpret the protocols that they represent.
2855 <p><em>Please note:</em> Mirroring to a VLAN can disrupt a network that
2856 contains unmanaged switches. Consider an unmanaged physical switch
2857 with two ports: port 1, connected to an end host, and port 2,
2858 connected to an Open vSwitch configured to mirror received packets
2859 into VLAN 123 on port 2. Suppose that the end host sends a packet on
2860 port 1 that the physical switch forwards to port 2. The Open vSwitch
2861 forwards this packet to its destination and then reflects it back on
2862 port 2 in VLAN 123. This reflected packet causes the unmanaged
2863 physical switch to replace the MAC learning table entry, which
2864 correctly pointed to port 1, with one that incorrectly points to port
2865 2. Afterward, the physical switch will direct packets destined for
2866 the end host to the Open vSwitch on port 2, instead of to the end
2867 host on port 1, disrupting connectivity. If mirroring to a VLAN is
2868 desired in this scenario, then the physical switch must be replaced
2869 by one that learns Ethernet addresses on a per-VLAN basis. In
2870 addition, learning should be disabled on the VLAN containing mirrored
2871 traffic. If this is not done then intermediate switches will learn
2872 the MAC address of each end host from the mirrored traffic. If
2873 packets being sent to that end host are also mirrored, then they will
2874 be dropped since the switch will attempt to send them out the input
2875 port. Disabling learning for the VLAN will cause the switch to
2876 correctly send the packet out all ports configured for that VLAN. If
2877 Open vSwitch is being used as an intermediate switch, learning can be
2878 disabled by adding the mirrored VLAN to <ref column="flood_vlans"/>
2879 in the appropriate <ref table="Bridge"/> table or tables.</p>
2881 Mirroring to a GRE tunnel has fewer caveats than mirroring to a
2882 VLAN and should generally be preferred.
2887 <group title="Statistics: Mirror counters">
2889 Key-value pairs that report mirror statistics.
2891 <column name="statistics" key="tx_packets">
2892 Number of packets transmitted through this mirror.
2894 <column name="statistics" key="tx_bytes">
2895 Number of bytes transmitted through this mirror.
2899 <group title="Common Columns">
2900 The overall purpose of these columns is described under <code>Common
2901 Columns</code> at the beginning of this document.
2903 <column name="external_ids"/>
2907 <table name="Controller" title="OpenFlow controller configuration.">
2908 <p>An OpenFlow controller.</p>
2911 Open vSwitch supports two kinds of OpenFlow controllers:
2915 <dt>Primary controllers</dt>
2918 This is the kind of controller envisioned by the OpenFlow 1.0
2919 specification. Usually, a primary controller implements a network
2920 policy by taking charge of the switch's flow table.
2924 Open vSwitch initiates and maintains persistent connections to
2925 primary controllers, retrying the connection each time it fails or
2926 drops. The <ref table="Bridge" column="fail_mode"/> column in the
2927 <ref table="Bridge"/> table applies to primary controllers.
2931 Open vSwitch permits a bridge to have any number of primary
2932 controllers. When multiple controllers are configured, Open
2933 vSwitch connects to all of them simultaneously. Because
2934 OpenFlow 1.0 does not specify how multiple controllers
2935 coordinate in interacting with a single switch, more than
2936 one primary controller should be specified only if the
2937 controllers are themselves designed to coordinate with each
2938 other. (The Nicira-defined <code>NXT_ROLE</code> OpenFlow
2939 vendor extension may be useful for this.)
2942 <dt>Service controllers</dt>
2945 These kinds of OpenFlow controller connections are intended for
2946 occasional support and maintenance use, e.g. with
2947 <code>ovs-ofctl</code>. Usually a service controller connects only
2948 briefly to inspect or modify some of a switch's state.
2952 Open vSwitch listens for incoming connections from service
2953 controllers. The service controllers initiate and, if necessary,
2954 maintain the connections from their end. The <ref table="Bridge"
2955 column="fail_mode"/> column in the <ref table="Bridge"/> table does
2956 not apply to service controllers.
2960 Open vSwitch supports configuring any number of service controllers.
2966 The <ref column="target"/> determines the type of controller.
2969 <group title="Core Features">
2970 <column name="target">
2971 <p>Connection method for controller.</p>
2973 The following connection methods are currently supported for primary
2977 <dt><code>ssl:<var>ip</var></code>[<code>:<var>port</var></code>]</dt>
2979 <p>The specified SSL <var>port</var> on the host at the
2980 given <var>ip</var>, which must be expressed as an IP
2981 address (not a DNS name). The <ref table="Open_vSwitch"
2982 column="ssl"/> column in the <ref table="Open_vSwitch"/>
2983 table must point to a valid SSL configuration when this form
2985 <p>If <var>port</var> is not specified, it currently
2986 defaults to 6633. In the future, the default will change to
2987 6653, which is the IANA-defined value.</p>
2988 <p>SSL support is an optional feature that is not always built as
2989 part of Open vSwitch.</p>
2991 <dt><code>tcp:<var>ip</var></code>[<code>:<var>port</var></code>]</dt>
2993 <p>The specified TCP <var>port</var> on the host at the
2994 given <var>ip</var>, which must be expressed as an IP
2995 address (not a DNS name).</p>
2996 <p>If <var>port</var> is not specified, it currently
2997 defaults to 6633. In the future, the default will change to
2998 6653, which is the IANA-defined value.</p>
3002 The following connection methods are currently supported for service
3006 <dt><code>pssl:</code>[<var>port</var>][<code>:<var>ip</var></code>]</dt>
3008 <p> Listens for SSL connections on the specified TCP
3009 <var>port</var>. If <var>ip</var>, which must be expressed
3010 as an IP address (not a DNS name), is specified, then
3011 connections are restricted to the specified local IP
3012 address. The <ref table="Open_vSwitch" column="ssl"/>
3013 column in the <ref table="Open_vSwitch"/> table must point
3014 to a valid SSL configuration when this form is used.</p>
3015 <p>If <var>port</var> is not specified, it currently
3016 defaults to 6633. In the future, the default will change to
3017 6653, which is the IANA-defined value.</p>
3018 <p>SSL support is an optional feature that is not always built as
3019 part of Open vSwitch.</p>
3021 <dt><code>ptcp:</code>[<var>port</var>][<code>:<var>ip</var></code>]</dt>
3023 <p>Listens for connections on the specified TCP
3024 <var>port</var>. If <var>ip</var>, which must be expressed
3025 as an IP address (not a DNS name), is specified, then
3026 connections are restricted to the specified local IP
3028 <p>If <var>port</var> is not specified, it currently
3029 defaults to 6633. In the future, the default will change to
3030 6653, which is the IANA-defined value.</p>
3033 <p>When multiple controllers are configured for a single bridge, the
3034 <ref column="target"/> values must be unique. Duplicate
3035 <ref column="target"/> values yield unspecified results.</p>
3038 <column name="connection_mode">
3039 <p>If it is specified, this setting must be one of the following
3040 strings that describes how Open vSwitch contacts this OpenFlow
3041 controller over the network:</p>
3044 <dt><code>in-band</code></dt>
3045 <dd>In this mode, this controller's OpenFlow traffic travels over the
3046 bridge associated with the controller. With this setting, Open
3047 vSwitch allows traffic to and from the controller regardless of the
3048 contents of the OpenFlow flow table. (Otherwise, Open vSwitch
3049 would never be able to connect to the controller, because it did
3050 not have a flow to enable it.) This is the most common connection
3051 mode because it is not necessary to maintain two independent
3053 <dt><code>out-of-band</code></dt>
3054 <dd>In this mode, OpenFlow traffic uses a control network separate
3055 from the bridge associated with this controller, that is, the
3056 bridge does not use any of its own network devices to communicate
3057 with the controller. The control network must be configured
3058 separately, before or after <code>ovs-vswitchd</code> is started.
3062 <p>If not specified, the default is implementation-specific.</p>
3066 <group title="Controller Failure Detection and Handling">
3067 <column name="max_backoff">
3068 Maximum number of milliseconds to wait between connection attempts.
3069 Default is implementation-specific.
3072 <column name="inactivity_probe">
3073 Maximum number of milliseconds of idle time on connection to
3074 controller before sending an inactivity probe message. If Open
3075 vSwitch does not communicate with the controller for the specified
3076 number of seconds, it will send a probe. If a response is not
3077 received for the same additional amount of time, Open vSwitch
3078 assumes the connection has been broken and attempts to reconnect.
3079 Default is implementation-specific. A value of 0 disables
3084 <group title="Asynchronous Message Configuration">
3086 OpenFlow switches send certain messages to controllers spontanenously,
3087 that is, not in response to any request from the controller. These
3088 messages are called ``asynchronous messages.'' These columns allow
3089 asynchronous messages to be limited or disabled to ensure the best use
3090 of network resources.
3093 <column name="enable_async_messages">
3094 The OpenFlow protocol enables asynchronous messages at time of
3095 connection establishment, which means that a controller can receive
3096 asynchronous messages, potentially many of them, even if it turns them
3097 off immediately after connecting. Set this column to
3098 <code>false</code> to change Open vSwitch behavior to disable, by
3099 default, all asynchronous messages. The controller can use the
3100 <code>NXT_SET_ASYNC_CONFIG</code> Nicira extension to OpenFlow to turn
3101 on any messages that it does want to receive, if any.
3104 <column name="controller_rate_limit">
3106 The maximum rate at which the switch will forward packets to the
3107 OpenFlow controller, in packets per second. This feature prevents a
3108 single bridge from overwhelming the controller. If not specified,
3109 the default is implementation-specific.
3113 In addition, when a high rate triggers rate-limiting, Open vSwitch
3114 queues controller packets for each port and transmits them to the
3115 controller at the configured rate. The <ref
3116 column="controller_burst_limit"/> value limits the number of queued
3117 packets. Ports on a bridge share the packet queue fairly.
3121 Open vSwitch maintains two such packet rate-limiters per bridge: one
3122 for packets sent up to the controller because they do not correspond
3123 to any flow, and the other for packets sent up to the controller by
3124 request through flow actions. When both rate-limiters are filled with
3125 packets, the actual rate that packets are sent to the controller is
3126 up to twice the specified rate.
3130 <column name="controller_burst_limit">
3131 In conjunction with <ref column="controller_rate_limit"/>,
3132 the maximum number of unused packet credits that the bridge will
3133 allow to accumulate, in packets. If not specified, the default
3134 is implementation-specific.
3138 <group title="Additional In-Band Configuration">
3139 <p>These values are considered only in in-band control mode (see
3140 <ref column="connection_mode"/>).</p>
3142 <p>When multiple controllers are configured on a single bridge, there
3143 should be only one set of unique values in these columns. If different
3144 values are set for these columns in different controllers, the effect
3147 <column name="local_ip">
3148 The IP address to configure on the local port,
3149 e.g. <code>192.168.0.123</code>. If this value is unset, then
3150 <ref column="local_netmask"/> and <ref column="local_gateway"/> are
3154 <column name="local_netmask">
3155 The IP netmask to configure on the local port,
3156 e.g. <code>255.255.255.0</code>. If <ref column="local_ip"/> is set
3157 but this value is unset, then the default is chosen based on whether
3158 the IP address is class A, B, or C.
3161 <column name="local_gateway">
3162 The IP address of the gateway to configure on the local port, as a
3163 string, e.g. <code>192.168.0.1</code>. Leave this column unset if
3164 this network has no gateway.
3168 <group title="Controller Status">
3169 <column name="is_connected">
3170 <code>true</code> if currently connected to this controller,
3171 <code>false</code> otherwise.
3175 type='{"type": "string", "enum": ["set", ["other", "master", "slave"]]}'>
3176 <p>The level of authority this controller has on the associated
3177 bridge. Possible values are:</p>
3179 <dt><code>other</code></dt>
3180 <dd>Allows the controller access to all OpenFlow features.</dd>
3181 <dt><code>master</code></dt>
3182 <dd>Equivalent to <code>other</code>, except that there may be at
3183 most one master controller at a time. When a controller configures
3184 itself as <code>master</code>, any existing master is demoted to
3185 the <code>slave</code>role.</dd>
3186 <dt><code>slave</code></dt>
3187 <dd>Allows the controller read-only access to OpenFlow features.
3188 Attempts to modify the flow table will be rejected with an
3189 error. Slave controllers do not receive OFPT_PACKET_IN or
3190 OFPT_FLOW_REMOVED messages, but they do receive OFPT_PORT_STATUS
3195 <column name="status" key="last_error">
3196 A human-readable description of the last error on the connection
3197 to the controller; i.e. <code>strerror(errno)</code>. This key
3198 will exist only if an error has occurred.
3201 <column name="status" key="state"
3202 type='{"type": "string", "enum": ["set", ["VOID", "BACKOFF", "CONNECTING", "ACTIVE", "IDLE"]]}'>
3204 The state of the connection to the controller:
3207 <dt><code>VOID</code></dt>
3208 <dd>Connection is disabled.</dd>
3210 <dt><code>BACKOFF</code></dt>
3211 <dd>Attempting to reconnect at an increasing period.</dd>
3213 <dt><code>CONNECTING</code></dt>
3214 <dd>Attempting to connect.</dd>
3216 <dt><code>ACTIVE</code></dt>
3217 <dd>Connected, remote host responsive.</dd>
3219 <dt><code>IDLE</code></dt>
3220 <dd>Connection is idle. Waiting for response to keep-alive.</dd>
3223 These values may change in the future. They are provided only for
3228 <column name="status" key="sec_since_connect"
3229 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 0}'>
3230 The amount of time since this controller last successfully connected to
3231 the switch (in seconds). Value is empty if controller has never
3232 successfully connected.
3235 <column name="status" key="sec_since_disconnect"
3236 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1}'>
3237 The amount of time since this controller last disconnected from
3238 the switch (in seconds). Value is empty if controller has never
3243 <group title="Connection Parameters">
3245 Additional configuration for a connection between the controller
3246 and the Open vSwitch.
3249 <column name="other_config" key="dscp"
3250 type='{"type": "integer"}'>
3251 The Differentiated Service Code Point (DSCP) is specified using 6 bits
3252 in the Type of Service (TOS) field in the IP header. DSCP provides a
3253 mechanism to classify the network traffic and provide Quality of
3254 Service (QoS) on IP networks.
3256 The DSCP value specified here is used when establishing the connection
3257 between the controller and the Open vSwitch. If no value is specified,
3258 a default value of 48 is chosen. Valid DSCP values must be in the
3264 <group title="Common Columns">
3265 The overall purpose of these columns is described under <code>Common
3266 Columns</code> at the beginning of this document.
3268 <column name="external_ids"/>
3269 <column name="other_config"/>
3273 <table name="Manager" title="OVSDB management connection.">
3275 Configuration for a database connection to an Open vSwitch database
3280 This table primarily configures the Open vSwitch database
3281 (<code>ovsdb-server</code>), not the Open vSwitch switch
3282 (<code>ovs-vswitchd</code>). The switch does read the table to determine
3283 what connections should be treated as in-band.
3287 The Open vSwitch database server can initiate and maintain active
3288 connections to remote clients. It can also listen for database
3292 <group title="Core Features">
3293 <column name="target">
3294 <p>Connection method for managers.</p>
3296 The following connection methods are currently supported:
3299 <dt><code>ssl:<var>ip</var></code>[<code>:<var>port</var></code>]</dt>
3302 The specified SSL <var>port</var> on the host at the given
3303 <var>ip</var>, which must be expressed as an IP address
3304 (not a DNS name). The <ref table="Open_vSwitch"
3305 column="ssl"/> column in the <ref table="Open_vSwitch"/>
3306 table must point to a valid SSL configuration when this
3310 If <var>port</var> is not specified, it currently defaults
3311 to 6632. In the future, the default will change to 6640,
3312 which is the IANA-defined value.
3315 SSL support is an optional feature that is not always
3316 built as part of Open vSwitch.
3320 <dt><code>tcp:<var>ip</var></code>[<code>:<var>port</var></code>]</dt>
3323 The specified TCP <var>port</var> on the host at the given
3324 <var>ip</var>, which must be expressed as an IP address
3328 If <var>port</var> is not specified, it currently defaults
3329 to 6632. In the future, the default will change to 6640,
3330 which is the IANA-defined value.
3333 <dt><code>pssl:</code>[<var>port</var>][<code>:<var>ip</var></code>]</dt>
3336 Listens for SSL connections on the specified TCP
3337 <var>port</var>. Specify 0 for <var>port</var> to have
3338 the kernel automatically choose an available port. If
3339 <var>ip</var>, which must be expressed as an IP address
3340 (not a DNS name), is specified, then connections are
3341 restricted to the specified local IP address. The <ref
3342 table="Open_vSwitch" column="ssl"/> column in the <ref
3343 table="Open_vSwitch"/> table must point to a valid SSL
3344 configuration when this form is used.
3347 If <var>port</var> is not specified, it currently defaults
3348 to 6632. In the future, the default will change to 6640,
3349 which is the IANA-defined value.
3352 SSL support is an optional feature that is not always built as
3353 part of Open vSwitch.
3356 <dt><code>ptcp:</code>[<var>port</var>][<code>:<var>ip</var></code>]</dt>
3359 Listens for connections on the specified TCP
3360 <var>port</var>. Specify 0 for <var>port</var> to have
3361 the kernel automatically choose an available port. If
3362 <var>ip</var>, which must be expressed as an IP address
3363 (not a DNS name), is specified, then connections are
3364 restricted to the specified local IP address.
3367 If <var>port</var> is not specified, it currently defaults
3368 to 6632. In the future, the default will change to 6640,
3369 which is the IANA-defined value.
3373 <p>When multiple managers are configured, the <ref column="target"/>
3374 values must be unique. Duplicate <ref column="target"/> values yield
3375 unspecified results.</p>
3378 <column name="connection_mode">
3380 If it is specified, this setting must be one of the following strings
3381 that describes how Open vSwitch contacts this OVSDB client over the
3386 <dt><code>in-band</code></dt>
3388 In this mode, this connection's traffic travels over a bridge
3389 managed by Open vSwitch. With this setting, Open vSwitch allows
3390 traffic to and from the client regardless of the contents of the
3391 OpenFlow flow table. (Otherwise, Open vSwitch would never be able
3392 to connect to the client, because it did not have a flow to enable
3393 it.) This is the most common connection mode because it is not
3394 necessary to maintain two independent networks.
3396 <dt><code>out-of-band</code></dt>
3398 In this mode, the client's traffic uses a control network separate
3399 from that managed by Open vSwitch, that is, Open vSwitch does not
3400 use any of its own network devices to communicate with the client.
3401 The control network must be configured separately, before or after
3402 <code>ovs-vswitchd</code> is started.
3407 If not specified, the default is implementation-specific.
3412 <group title="Client Failure Detection and Handling">
3413 <column name="max_backoff">
3414 Maximum number of milliseconds to wait between connection attempts.
3415 Default is implementation-specific.
3418 <column name="inactivity_probe">
3419 Maximum number of milliseconds of idle time on connection to the client
3420 before sending an inactivity probe message. If Open vSwitch does not
3421 communicate with the client for the specified number of seconds, it
3422 will send a probe. If a response is not received for the same
3423 additional amount of time, Open vSwitch assumes the connection has been
3424 broken and attempts to reconnect. Default is implementation-specific.
3425 A value of 0 disables inactivity probes.
3429 <group title="Status">
3430 <column name="is_connected">
3431 <code>true</code> if currently connected to this manager,
3432 <code>false</code> otherwise.
3435 <column name="status" key="last_error">
3436 A human-readable description of the last error on the connection
3437 to the manager; i.e. <code>strerror(errno)</code>. This key
3438 will exist only if an error has occurred.
3441 <column name="status" key="state"
3442 type='{"type": "string", "enum": ["set", ["VOID", "BACKOFF", "CONNECTING", "ACTIVE", "IDLE"]]}'>
3444 The state of the connection to the manager:
3447 <dt><code>VOID</code></dt>
3448 <dd>Connection is disabled.</dd>
3450 <dt><code>BACKOFF</code></dt>
3451 <dd>Attempting to reconnect at an increasing period.</dd>
3453 <dt><code>CONNECTING</code></dt>
3454 <dd>Attempting to connect.</dd>
3456 <dt><code>ACTIVE</code></dt>
3457 <dd>Connected, remote host responsive.</dd>
3459 <dt><code>IDLE</code></dt>
3460 <dd>Connection is idle. Waiting for response to keep-alive.</dd>
3463 These values may change in the future. They are provided only for
3468 <column name="status" key="sec_since_connect"
3469 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 0}'>
3470 The amount of time since this manager last successfully connected
3471 to the database (in seconds). Value is empty if manager has never
3472 successfully connected.
3475 <column name="status" key="sec_since_disconnect"
3476 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 0}'>
3477 The amount of time since this manager last disconnected from the
3478 database (in seconds). Value is empty if manager has never
3482 <column name="status" key="locks_held">
3483 Space-separated list of the names of OVSDB locks that the connection
3484 holds. Omitted if the connection does not hold any locks.
3487 <column name="status" key="locks_waiting">
3488 Space-separated list of the names of OVSDB locks that the connection is
3489 currently waiting to acquire. Omitted if the connection is not waiting
3493 <column name="status" key="locks_lost">
3494 Space-separated list of the names of OVSDB locks that the connection
3495 has had stolen by another OVSDB client. Omitted if no locks have been
3496 stolen from this connection.
3499 <column name="status" key="n_connections"
3500 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 2}'>
3502 When <ref column="target"/> specifies a connection method that
3503 listens for inbound connections (e.g. <code>ptcp:</code> or
3504 <code>pssl:</code>) and more than one connection is actually active,
3505 the value is the number of active connections. Otherwise, this
3506 key-value pair is omitted.
3509 When multiple connections are active, status columns and key-value
3510 pairs (other than this one) report the status of one arbitrarily
3515 <column name="status" key="bound_port" type='{"type": "integer"}'>
3516 When <ref column="target"/> is <code>ptcp:</code> or
3517 <code>pssl:</code>, this is the TCP port on which the OVSDB server is
3518 listening. (This is is particularly useful when <ref
3519 column="target"/> specifies a port of 0, allowing the kernel to
3520 choose any available port.)
3524 <group title="Connection Parameters">
3526 Additional configuration for a connection between the manager
3527 and the Open vSwitch Database.
3530 <column name="other_config" key="dscp"
3531 type='{"type": "integer"}'>
3532 The Differentiated Service Code Point (DSCP) is specified using 6 bits
3533 in the Type of Service (TOS) field in the IP header. DSCP provides a
3534 mechanism to classify the network traffic and provide Quality of
3535 Service (QoS) on IP networks.
3537 The DSCP value specified here is used when establishing the connection
3538 between the manager and the Open vSwitch. If no value is specified, a
3539 default value of 48 is chosen. Valid DSCP values must be in the range
3544 <group title="Common Columns">
3545 The overall purpose of these columns is described under <code>Common
3546 Columns</code> at the beginning of this document.
3548 <column name="external_ids"/>
3549 <column name="other_config"/>
3553 <table name="NetFlow">
3554 A NetFlow target. NetFlow is a protocol that exports a number of
3555 details about terminating IP flows, such as the principals involved
3558 <column name="targets">
3559 NetFlow targets in the form
3560 <code><var>ip</var>:<var>port</var></code>. The <var>ip</var>
3561 must be specified numerically, not as a DNS name.
3564 <column name="engine_id">
3565 Engine ID to use in NetFlow messages. Defaults to datapath index
3569 <column name="engine_type">
3570 Engine type to use in NetFlow messages. Defaults to datapath
3571 index if not specified.
3574 <column name="active_timeout">
3575 The interval at which NetFlow records are sent for flows that are
3576 still active, in seconds. A value of <code>0</code> requests the
3577 default timeout (currently 600 seconds); a value of <code>-1</code>
3578 disables active timeouts.
3581 <column name="add_id_to_interface">
3582 <p>If this column's value is <code>false</code>, the ingress and egress
3583 interface fields of NetFlow flow records are derived from OpenFlow port
3584 numbers. When it is <code>true</code>, the 7 most significant bits of
3585 these fields will be replaced by the least significant 7 bits of the
3586 engine id. This is useful because many NetFlow collectors do not
3587 expect multiple switches to be sending messages from the same host, so
3588 they do not store the engine information which could be used to
3589 disambiguate the traffic.</p>
3590 <p>When this option is enabled, a maximum of 508 ports are supported.</p>
3593 <group title="Common Columns">
3594 The overall purpose of these columns is described under <code>Common
3595 Columns</code> at the beginning of this document.
3597 <column name="external_ids"/>
3602 SSL configuration for an Open_vSwitch.
3604 <column name="private_key">
3605 Name of a PEM file containing the private key used as the switch's
3606 identity for SSL connections to the controller.
3609 <column name="certificate">
3610 Name of a PEM file containing a certificate, signed by the
3611 certificate authority (CA) used by the controller and manager,
3612 that certifies the switch's private key, identifying a trustworthy
3616 <column name="ca_cert">
3617 Name of a PEM file containing the CA certificate used to verify
3618 that the switch is connected to a trustworthy controller.
3621 <column name="bootstrap_ca_cert">
3622 If set to <code>true</code>, then Open vSwitch will attempt to
3623 obtain the CA certificate from the controller on its first SSL
3624 connection and save it to the named PEM file. If it is successful,
3625 it will immediately drop the connection and reconnect, and from then
3626 on all SSL connections must be authenticated by a certificate signed
3627 by the CA certificate thus obtained. <em>This option exposes the
3628 SSL connection to a man-in-the-middle attack obtaining the initial
3629 CA certificate.</em> It may still be useful for bootstrapping.
3632 <group title="Common Columns">
3633 The overall purpose of these columns is described under <code>Common
3634 Columns</code> at the beginning of this document.
3636 <column name="external_ids"/>
3640 <table name="sFlow">
3641 <p>A set of sFlow(R) targets. sFlow is a protocol for remote
3642 monitoring of switches.</p>
3644 <column name="agent">
3645 Name of the network device whose IP address should be reported as the
3646 ``agent address'' to collectors. If not specified, the agent device is
3647 figured from the first target address and the routing table. If the
3648 routing table does not contain a route to the target, the IP address
3649 defaults to the <ref table="Controller" column="local_ip"/> in the
3650 collector's <ref table="Controller"/>. If an agent IP address cannot be
3651 determined any of these ways, sFlow is disabled.
3654 <column name="header">
3655 Number of bytes of a sampled packet to send to the collector.
3656 If not specified, the default is 128 bytes.
3659 <column name="polling">
3660 Polling rate in seconds to send port statistics to the collector.
3661 If not specified, defaults to 30 seconds.
3664 <column name="sampling">
3665 Rate at which packets should be sampled and sent to the collector.
3666 If not specified, defaults to 400, which means one out of 400
3667 packets, on average, will be sent to the collector.
3670 <column name="targets">
3671 sFlow targets in the form
3672 <code><var>ip</var>:<var>port</var></code>.
3675 <group title="Common Columns">
3676 The overall purpose of these columns is described under <code>Common
3677 Columns</code> at the beginning of this document.
3679 <column name="external_ids"/>
3683 <table name="IPFIX">
3684 <p>A set of IPFIX collectors. IPFIX is a protocol that exports a
3685 number of details about flows.</p>
3687 <column name="targets">
3688 IPFIX target collectors in the form
3689 <code><var>ip</var>:<var>port</var></code>.
3692 <column name="sampling">
3693 For per-bridge packet sampling, i.e. when this row is referenced
3694 from a <ref table="Bridge"/>, the rate at which packets should
3695 be sampled and sent to each target collector. If not specified,
3696 defaults to 400, which means one out of 400 packets, on average,
3697 will be sent to each target collector. Ignored for per-flow
3698 sampling, i.e. when this row is referenced from a <ref
3699 table="Flow_Sample_Collector_Set"/>.
3702 <column name="obs_domain_id">
3703 For per-bridge packet sampling, i.e. when this row is referenced
3704 from a <ref table="Bridge"/>, the IPFIX Observation Domain ID
3705 sent in each IPFIX packet. If not specified, defaults to 0.
3706 Ignored for per-flow sampling, i.e. when this row is referenced
3707 from a <ref table="Flow_Sample_Collector_Set"/>.
3710 <column name="obs_point_id">
3711 For per-bridge packet sampling, i.e. when this row is referenced
3712 from a <ref table="Bridge"/>, the IPFIX Observation Point ID
3713 sent in each IPFIX flow record. If not specified, defaults to
3714 0. Ignored for per-flow sampling, i.e. when this row is
3715 referenced from a <ref table="Flow_Sample_Collector_Set"/>.
3718 <column name="cache_active_timeout">
3719 The maximum period in seconds for which an IPFIX flow record is
3720 cached and aggregated before being sent. If not specified,
3721 defaults to 0. If 0, caching is disabled.
3724 <column name="cache_max_flows">
3725 The maximum number of IPFIX flow records that can be cached at a
3726 time. If not specified, defaults to 0. If 0, caching is
3730 <group title="Common Columns">
3731 The overall purpose of these columns is described under <code>Common
3732 Columns</code> at the beginning of this document.
3734 <column name="external_ids"/>
3738 <table name="Flow_Sample_Collector_Set">
3739 <p>A set of IPFIX collectors of packet samples generated by
3740 OpenFlow <code>sample</code> actions.</p>
3743 The ID of this collector set, unique among the bridge's
3744 collector sets, to be used as the <code>collector_set_id</code>
3745 in OpenFlow <code>sample</code> actions.
3748 <column name="bridge">
3749 The bridge into which OpenFlow <code>sample</code> actions can
3750 be added to send packet samples to this set of IPFIX collectors.
3753 <column name="ipfix">
3754 Configuration of the set of IPFIX collectors to send one flow
3755 record per sampled packet to.
3758 <group title="Common Columns">
3759 The overall purpose of these columns is described under <code>Common
3760 Columns</code> at the beginning of this document.
3762 <column name="external_ids"/>