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="n-handler-threads"
140 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1}'>
142 Specifies the number of threads for software datapaths to use for
143 handling new flows. The default the number of online CPU cores minus
144 the number of revalidators.
147 This configuration is per datapath. If you have more than one
148 software datapath (e.g. some <code>system</code> bridges and some
149 <code>netdev</code> bridges), then the total number of threads is
150 <code>n-handler-threads</code> times the number of software
155 <column name="other_config" key="n-revalidator-threads"
156 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1}'>
158 Specifies the number of threads for software datapaths to use for
159 revalidating flows in the datapath. Typically, there is a direct
160 correlation between the number of revalidator threads, and the number
161 of flows allowed in the datapath. The default is the number of cpu
162 cores divided by four plus one. If <code>n-handler-threads</code> is
163 set, the default changes to the number of cpu cores minus the number
167 This configuration is per datapath. If you have more than one
168 software datapath (e.g. some <code>system</code> bridges and some
169 <code>netdev</code> bridges), then the total number of threads is
170 <code>n-handler-threads</code> times the number of software
176 <group title="Status">
177 <column name="next_cfg">
178 Sequence number for client to increment. When a client modifies
179 any part of the database configuration and wishes to wait for
180 Open vSwitch to finish applying the changes, it may increment
181 this sequence number.
184 <column name="cur_cfg">
185 Sequence number that Open vSwitch sets to the current value of
186 <ref column="next_cfg"/> after it finishes applying a set of
187 configuration changes.
190 <group title="Statistics">
192 The <code>statistics</code> column contains key-value pairs that
193 report statistics about a system running an Open vSwitch. These are
194 updated periodically (currently, every 5 seconds). Key-value pairs
195 that cannot be determined or that do not apply to a platform are
199 <column name="other_config" key="enable-statistics"
200 type='{"type": "boolean"}'>
201 Statistics are disabled by default to avoid overhead in the common
202 case when statistics gathering is not useful. Set this value to
203 <code>true</code> to enable populating the <ref column="statistics"/>
204 column or to <code>false</code> to explicitly disable it.
207 <column name="statistics" key="cpu"
208 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1}'>
210 Number of CPU processors, threads, or cores currently online and
211 available to the operating system on which Open vSwitch is running,
212 as an integer. This may be less than the number installed, if some
213 are not online or if they are not available to the operating
217 Open vSwitch userspace processes are not multithreaded, but the
218 Linux kernel-based datapath is.
222 <column name="statistics" key="load_average">
223 A comma-separated list of three floating-point numbers,
224 representing the system load average over the last 1, 5, and 15
225 minutes, respectively.
228 <column name="statistics" key="memory">
230 A comma-separated list of integers, each of which represents a
231 quantity of memory in kilobytes that describes the operating
232 system on which Open vSwitch is running. In respective order,
237 <li>Total amount of RAM allocated to the OS.</li>
238 <li>RAM allocated to the OS that is in use.</li>
239 <li>RAM that can be flushed out to disk or otherwise discarded
240 if that space is needed for another purpose. This number is
241 necessarily less than or equal to the previous value.</li>
242 <li>Total disk space allocated for swap.</li>
243 <li>Swap space currently in use.</li>
247 On Linux, all five values can be determined and are included. On
248 other operating systems, only the first two values can be
249 determined, so the list will only have two values.
253 <column name="statistics" key="process_NAME">
255 One such key-value pair, with <code>NAME</code> replaced by
256 a process name, will exist for each running Open vSwitch
257 daemon process, with <var>name</var> replaced by the
258 daemon's name (e.g. <code>process_ovs-vswitchd</code>). The
259 value is a comma-separated list of integers. The integers
260 represent the following, with memory measured in kilobytes
261 and durations in milliseconds:
265 <li>The process's virtual memory size.</li>
266 <li>The process's resident set size.</li>
267 <li>The amount of user and system CPU time consumed by the
269 <li>The number of times that the process has crashed and been
270 automatically restarted by the monitor.</li>
271 <li>The duration since the process was started.</li>
272 <li>The duration for which the process has been running.</li>
276 The interpretation of some of these values depends on whether the
277 process was started with the <option>--monitor</option>. If it
278 was not, then the crash count will always be 0 and the two
279 durations will always be the same. If <option>--monitor</option>
280 was given, then the crash count may be positive; if it is, the
281 latter duration is the amount of time since the most recent crash
286 There will be one key-value pair for each file in Open vSwitch's
287 ``run directory'' (usually <code>/var/run/openvswitch</code>)
288 whose name ends in <code>.pid</code>, whose contents are a
289 process ID, and which is locked by a running process. The
290 <var>name</var> is taken from the pidfile's name.
294 Currently Open vSwitch is only able to obtain all of the above
295 detail on Linux systems. On other systems, the same key-value
296 pairs will be present but the values will always be the empty
301 <column name="statistics" key="file_systems">
303 A space-separated list of information on local, writable file
304 systems. Each item in the list describes one file system and
305 consists in turn of a comma-separated list of the following:
309 <li>Mount point, e.g. <code>/</code> or <code>/var/log</code>.
310 Any spaces or commas in the mount point are replaced by
312 <li>Total size, in kilobytes, as an integer.</li>
313 <li>Amount of storage in use, in kilobytes, as an integer.</li>
317 This key-value pair is omitted if there are no local, writable
318 file systems or if Open vSwitch cannot obtain the needed
325 <group title="Version Reporting">
327 These columns report the types and versions of the hardware and
328 software running Open vSwitch. We recommend in general that software
329 should test whether specific features are supported instead of relying
330 on version number checks. These values are primarily intended for
331 reporting to human administrators.
334 <column name="ovs_version">
335 The Open vSwitch version number, e.g. <code>1.1.0</code>.
338 <column name="db_version">
340 The database schema version number in the form
341 <code><var>major</var>.<var>minor</var>.<var>tweak</var></code>,
342 e.g. <code>1.2.3</code>. Whenever the database schema is changed in
343 a non-backward compatible way (e.g. deleting a column or a table),
344 <var>major</var> is incremented. When the database schema is changed
345 in a backward compatible way (e.g. adding a new column),
346 <var>minor</var> is incremented. When the database schema is changed
347 cosmetically (e.g. reindenting its syntax), <var>tweak</var> is
352 The schema version is part of the database schema, so it can also be
353 retrieved by fetching the schema using the Open vSwitch database
358 <column name="system_type">
360 An identifier for the type of system on top of which Open vSwitch
361 runs, e.g. <code>XenServer</code> or <code>KVM</code>.
364 System integrators are responsible for choosing and setting an
365 appropriate value for this column.
369 <column name="system_version">
371 The version of the system identified by <ref column="system_type"/>,
372 e.g. <code>5.6.100-39265p</code> on XenServer 5.6.100 build 39265.
375 System integrators are responsible for choosing and setting an
376 appropriate value for this column.
382 <group title="Database Configuration">
384 These columns primarily configure the Open vSwitch database
385 (<code>ovsdb-server</code>), not the Open vSwitch switch
386 (<code>ovs-vswitchd</code>). The OVSDB database also uses the <ref
387 column="ssl"/> settings.
391 The Open vSwitch switch does read the database configuration to
392 determine remote IP addresses to which in-band control should apply.
395 <column name="manager_options">
396 Database clients to which the Open vSwitch database server should
397 connect or to which it should listen, along with options for how these
398 connection should be configured. See the <ref table="Manager"/> table
399 for more information.
403 <group title="Common Columns">
404 The overall purpose of these columns is described under <code>Common
405 Columns</code> at the beginning of this document.
407 <column name="other_config"/>
408 <column name="external_ids"/>
412 <table name="Bridge">
414 Configuration for a bridge within an
415 <ref table="Open_vSwitch"/>.
418 A <ref table="Bridge"/> record represents an Ethernet switch with one or
419 more ``ports,'' which are the <ref table="Port"/> records pointed to by
420 the <ref table="Bridge"/>'s <ref column="ports"/> column.
423 <group title="Core Features">
425 Bridge identifier. Should be alphanumeric and no more than about 8
426 bytes long. Must be unique among the names of ports, interfaces, and
430 <column name="ports">
431 Ports included in the bridge.
434 <column name="mirrors">
435 Port mirroring configuration.
438 <column name="netflow">
439 NetFlow configuration.
442 <column name="sflow">
443 sFlow(R) configuration.
446 <column name="ipfix">
450 <column name="flood_vlans">
452 VLAN IDs of VLANs on which MAC address learning should be disabled,
453 so that packets are flooded instead of being sent to specific ports
454 that are believed to contain packets' destination MACs. This should
455 ordinarily be used to disable MAC learning on VLANs used for
456 mirroring (RSPAN VLANs). It may also be useful for debugging.
459 SLB bonding (see the <ref table="Port" column="bond_mode"/> column in
460 the <ref table="Port"/> table) is incompatible with
461 <code>flood_vlans</code>. Consider using another bonding mode or
462 a different type of mirror instead.
467 <group title="OpenFlow Configuration">
468 <column name="controller">
470 OpenFlow controller set. If unset, then no OpenFlow controllers
475 If there are primary controllers, removing all of them clears the
476 flow table. If there are no primary controllers, adding one also
477 clears the flow table. Other changes to the set of controllers, such
478 as adding or removing a service controller, adding another primary
479 controller to supplement an existing primary controller, or removing
480 only one of two primary controllers, have no effect on the flow
485 <column name="flow_tables">
486 Configuration for OpenFlow tables. Each pair maps from an OpenFlow
487 table ID to configuration for that table.
490 <column name="fail_mode">
491 <p>When a controller is configured, it is, ordinarily, responsible
492 for setting up all flows on the switch. Thus, if the connection to
493 the controller fails, no new network connections can be set up.
494 If the connection to the controller stays down long enough,
495 no packets can pass through the switch at all. This setting
496 determines the switch's response to such a situation. It may be set
497 to one of the following:
499 <dt><code>standalone</code></dt>
500 <dd>If no message is received from the controller for three
501 times the inactivity probe interval
502 (see <ref column="inactivity_probe"/>), then Open vSwitch
503 will take over responsibility for setting up flows. In
504 this mode, Open vSwitch causes the bridge to act like an
505 ordinary MAC-learning switch. Open vSwitch will continue
506 to retry connecting to the controller in the background
507 and, when the connection succeeds, it will discontinue its
508 standalone behavior.</dd>
509 <dt><code>secure</code></dt>
510 <dd>Open vSwitch will not set up flows on its own when the
511 controller connection fails or when no controllers are
512 defined. The bridge will continue to retry connecting to
513 any defined controllers forever.</dd>
517 The default is <code>standalone</code> if the value is unset, but
518 future versions of Open vSwitch may change the default.
521 The <code>standalone</code> mode can create forwarding loops on a
522 bridge that has more than one uplink port unless STP is enabled. To
523 avoid loops on such a bridge, configure <code>secure</code> mode or
524 enable STP (see <ref column="stp_enable"/>).
526 <p>When more than one controller is configured,
527 <ref column="fail_mode"/> is considered only when none of the
528 configured controllers can be contacted.</p>
530 Changing <ref column="fail_mode"/> when no primary controllers are
531 configured clears the flow table.
535 <column name="datapath_id">
536 Reports the OpenFlow datapath ID in use. Exactly 16 hex digits.
537 (Setting this column has no useful effect. Set <ref
538 column="other-config" key="datapath-id"/> instead.)
541 <column name="other_config" key="datapath-id">
542 Exactly 16 hex digits to set the OpenFlow datapath ID to a specific
543 value. May not be all-zero.
546 <column name="other_config" key="dp-desc">
547 Human readable description of datapath. It it a maximum 256
548 byte-long free-form string to describe the datapath for
549 debugging purposes, e.g. <code>switch3 in room 3120</code>.
552 <column name="other_config" key="disable-in-band"
553 type='{"type": "boolean"}'>
554 If set to <code>true</code>, disable in-band control on the bridge
555 regardless of controller and manager settings.
558 <column name="other_config" key="in-band-queue"
559 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 0, "maxInteger": 4294967295}'>
560 A queue ID as a nonnegative integer. This sets the OpenFlow queue ID
561 that will be used by flows set up by in-band control on this bridge.
562 If unset, or if the port used by an in-band control flow does not have
563 QoS configured, or if the port does not have a queue with the specified
564 ID, the default queue is used instead.
567 <column name="protocols">
569 List of OpenFlow protocols that may be used when negotiating a
570 connection with a controller. A default value of
571 <code>OpenFlow10</code> will be used if this column is empty.
575 The current implementation of OpenFlow 1.4 support is not safe:
576 <code>ovs-vswitchd</code> will abort when certain unimplemented
577 features are tested. Thus, for now it is suitable only for
578 experimental use. For this reason, OpenFlow 1.4 is supported only
579 if, in addition to specifying <code>OpenFlow14</code> in this field,
580 <code>ovs-vswitchd</code> is invoked with the
581 <code>--enable-of14</code> option. (When support becomes safe, this
582 option will be removed.)
587 <group title="Spanning Tree Configuration">
588 The IEEE 802.1D Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) is a network protocol
589 that ensures loop-free topologies. It allows redundant links to
590 be included in the network to provide automatic backup paths if
591 the active links fails.
593 <column name="stp_enable">
594 Enable spanning tree on the bridge. By default, STP is disabled
595 on bridges. Bond, internal, and mirror ports are not supported
596 and will not participate in the spanning tree.
599 <column name="other_config" key="stp-system-id">
600 The bridge's STP identifier (the lower 48 bits of the bridge-id)
602 <var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>.
603 By default, the identifier is the MAC address of the bridge.
606 <column name="other_config" key="stp-priority"
607 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 0, "maxInteger": 65535}'>
608 The bridge's relative priority value for determining the root
609 bridge (the upper 16 bits of the bridge-id). A bridge with the
610 lowest bridge-id is elected the root. By default, the priority
614 <column name="other_config" key="stp-hello-time"
615 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1, "maxInteger": 10}'>
616 The interval between transmissions of hello messages by
617 designated ports, in seconds. By default the hello interval is
621 <column name="other_config" key="stp-max-age"
622 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 6, "maxInteger": 40}'>
623 The maximum age of the information transmitted by the bridge
624 when it is the root bridge, in seconds. By default, the maximum
628 <column name="other_config" key="stp-forward-delay"
629 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 4, "maxInteger": 30}'>
630 The delay to wait between transitioning root and designated
631 ports to <code>forwarding</code>, in seconds. By default, the
632 forwarding delay is 15 seconds.
636 <group title="Other Features">
637 <column name="datapath_type">
638 Name of datapath provider. The kernel datapath has
639 type <code>system</code>. The userspace datapath has
640 type <code>netdev</code>.
643 <column name="external_ids" key="bridge-id">
644 A unique identifier of the bridge. On Citrix XenServer this will
645 commonly be the same as
646 <ref column="external_ids" key="xs-network-uuids"/>.
649 <column name="external_ids" key="xs-network-uuids">
650 Semicolon-delimited set of universally unique identifier(s) for the
651 network with which this bridge is associated on a Citrix XenServer
652 host. The network identifiers are RFC 4122 UUIDs as displayed by,
653 e.g., <code>xe network-list</code>.
656 <column name="other_config" key="hwaddr">
657 An Ethernet address in the form
658 <var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>
659 to set the hardware address of the local port and influence the
663 <column name="other_config" key="forward-bpdu"
664 type='{"type": "boolean"}'>
665 Option to allow forwarding of BPDU frames when NORMAL action is
666 invoked. Frames with reserved Ethernet addresses (e.g. STP
667 BPDU) will be forwarded when this option is enabled and the
668 switch is not providing that functionality. If STP is enabled
669 on the port, STP BPDUs will never be forwarded. If the Open
670 vSwitch bridge is used to connect different Ethernet networks,
671 and if Open vSwitch node does not run STP, then this option
672 should be enabled. Default is disabled, set to
673 <code>true</code> to enable.
675 The following destination MAC addresss will not be forwarded when this
678 <dt><code>01:80:c2:00:00:00</code></dt>
679 <dd>IEEE 802.1D Spanning Tree Protocol (STP).</dd>
681 <dt><code>01:80:c2:00:00:01</code></dt>
682 <dd>IEEE Pause frame.</dd>
684 <dt><code>01:80:c2:00:00:0<var>x</var></code></dt>
685 <dd>Other reserved protocols.</dd>
687 <dt><code>00:e0:2b:00:00:00</code></dt>
688 <dd>Extreme Discovery Protocol (EDP).</dd>
691 <code>00:e0:2b:00:00:04</code> and <code>00:e0:2b:00:00:06</code>
693 <dd>Ethernet Automatic Protection Switching (EAPS).</dd>
695 <dt><code>01:00:0c:cc:cc:cc</code></dt>
697 Cisco Discovery Protocol (CDP), VLAN Trunking Protocol (VTP),
698 Dynamic Trunking Protocol (DTP), Port Aggregation Protocol (PAgP),
702 <dt><code>01:00:0c:cc:cc:cd</code></dt>
703 <dd>Cisco Shared Spanning Tree Protocol PVSTP+.</dd>
705 <dt><code>01:00:0c:cd:cd:cd</code></dt>
706 <dd>Cisco STP Uplink Fast.</dd>
708 <dt><code>01:00:0c:00:00:00</code></dt>
709 <dd>Cisco Inter Switch Link.</dd>
711 <dt><code>01:00:0c:cc:cc:c<var>x</var></code></dt>
716 <column name="other_config" key="mac-aging-time"
717 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1}'>
719 The maximum number of seconds to retain a MAC learning entry for
720 which no packets have been seen. The default is currently 300
721 seconds (5 minutes). The value, if specified, is forced into a
722 reasonable range, currently 15 to 3600 seconds.
726 A short MAC aging time allows a network to more quickly detect that a
727 host is no longer connected to a switch port. However, it also makes
728 it more likely that packets will be flooded unnecessarily, when they
729 are addressed to a connected host that rarely transmits packets. To
730 reduce the incidence of unnecessary flooding, use a MAC aging time
731 longer than the maximum interval at which a host will ordinarily
736 <column name="other_config" key="mac-table-size"
737 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1}'>
739 The maximum number of MAC addresses to learn. The default is
740 currently 2048. The value, if specified, is forced into a reasonable
741 range, currently 10 to 1,000,000.
746 <group title="Bridge Status">
748 Status information about bridges.
750 <column name="status">
751 Key-value pairs that report bridge status.
753 <column name="status" key="stp_bridge_id">
755 The bridge-id (in hex) used in spanning tree advertisements.
756 Configuring the bridge-id is described in the
757 <code>stp-system-id</code> and <code>stp-priority</code> keys
758 of the <code>other_config</code> section earlier.
761 <column name="status" key="stp_designated_root">
763 The designated root (in hex) for this spanning tree.
766 <column name="status" key="stp_root_path_cost">
768 The path cost of reaching the designated bridge. A lower
774 <group title="Common Columns">
775 The overall purpose of these columns is described under <code>Common
776 Columns</code> at the beginning of this document.
778 <column name="other_config"/>
779 <column name="external_ids"/>
783 <table name="Port" table="Port or bond configuration.">
784 <p>A port within a <ref table="Bridge"/>.</p>
785 <p>Most commonly, a port has exactly one ``interface,'' pointed to by its
786 <ref column="interfaces"/> column. Such a port logically
787 corresponds to a port on a physical Ethernet switch. A port
788 with more than one interface is a ``bonded port'' (see
789 <ref group="Bonding Configuration"/>).</p>
790 <p>Some properties that one might think as belonging to a port are actually
791 part of the port's <ref table="Interface"/> members.</p>
794 Port name. Should be alphanumeric and no more than about 8
795 bytes long. May be the same as the interface name, for
796 non-bonded ports. Must otherwise be unique among the names of
797 ports, interfaces, and bridges on a host.
800 <column name="interfaces">
801 The port's interfaces. If there is more than one, this is a
805 <group title="VLAN Configuration">
806 <p>Bridge ports support the following types of VLAN configuration:</p>
811 A trunk port carries packets on one or more specified VLANs
812 specified in the <ref column="trunks"/> column (often, on every
813 VLAN). A packet that ingresses on a trunk port is in the VLAN
814 specified in its 802.1Q header, or VLAN 0 if the packet has no
815 802.1Q header. A packet that egresses through a trunk port will
816 have an 802.1Q header if it has a nonzero VLAN ID.
820 Any packet that ingresses on a trunk port tagged with a VLAN that
821 the port does not trunk is dropped.
828 An access port carries packets on exactly one VLAN specified in the
829 <ref column="tag"/> column. Packets egressing on an access port
830 have no 802.1Q header.
834 Any packet with an 802.1Q header with a nonzero VLAN ID that
835 ingresses on an access port is dropped, regardless of whether the
836 VLAN ID in the header is the access port's VLAN ID.
840 <dt>native-tagged</dt>
842 A native-tagged port resembles a trunk port, with the exception that
843 a packet without an 802.1Q header that ingresses on a native-tagged
844 port is in the ``native VLAN'' (specified in the <ref column="tag"/>
848 <dt>native-untagged</dt>
850 A native-untagged port resembles a native-tagged port, with the
851 exception that a packet that egresses on a native-untagged port in
852 the native VLAN will not have an 802.1Q header.
856 A packet will only egress through bridge ports that carry the VLAN of
857 the packet, as described by the rules above.
860 <column name="vlan_mode">
862 The VLAN mode of the port, as described above. When this column is
863 empty, a default mode is selected as follows:
867 If <ref column="tag"/> contains a value, the port is an access
868 port. The <ref column="trunks"/> column should be empty.
871 Otherwise, the port is a trunk port. The <ref column="trunks"/>
872 column value is honored if it is present.
879 For an access port, the port's implicitly tagged VLAN. For a
880 native-tagged or native-untagged port, the port's native VLAN. Must
881 be empty if this is a trunk port.
885 <column name="trunks">
887 For a trunk, native-tagged, or native-untagged port, the 802.1Q VLAN
888 or VLANs that this port trunks; if it is empty, then the port trunks
889 all VLANs. Must be empty if this is an access port.
892 A native-tagged or native-untagged port always trunks its native
893 VLAN, regardless of whether <ref column="trunks"/> includes that
898 <column name="other_config" key="priority-tags"
899 type='{"type": "boolean"}'>
901 An 802.1Q header contains two important pieces of information: a VLAN
902 ID and a priority. A frame with a zero VLAN ID, called a
903 ``priority-tagged'' frame, is supposed to be treated the same way as
904 a frame without an 802.1Q header at all (except for the priority).
908 However, some network elements ignore any frame that has 802.1Q
909 header at all, even when the VLAN ID is zero. Therefore, by default
910 Open vSwitch does not output priority-tagged frames, instead omitting
911 the 802.1Q header entirely if the VLAN ID is zero. Set this key to
912 <code>true</code> to enable priority-tagged frames on a port.
916 Regardless of this setting, Open vSwitch omits the 802.1Q header on
917 output if both the VLAN ID and priority would be zero.
921 All frames output to native-tagged ports have a nonzero VLAN ID, so
922 this setting is not meaningful on native-tagged ports.
927 <group title="Bonding Configuration">
928 <p>A port that has more than one interface is a ``bonded port.'' Bonding
929 allows for load balancing and fail-over.</p>
932 The following types of bonding will work with any kind of upstream
933 switch. On the upstream switch, do not configure the interfaces as a
938 <dt><code>balance-slb</code></dt>
940 Balances flows among slaves based on source MAC address and output
941 VLAN, with periodic rebalancing as traffic patterns change.
944 <dt><code>active-backup</code></dt>
946 Assigns all flows to one slave, failing over to a backup slave when
947 the active slave is disabled. This is the only bonding mode in which
948 interfaces may be plugged into different upstream switches.
953 The following modes require the upstream switch to support 802.3ad with
954 successful LACP negotiation. If LACP negotiation fails and
955 other-config:lacp-fallback-ab is true, then <code>active-backup</code>
960 <dt><code>balance-tcp</code></dt>
962 Balances flows among slaves based on L2, L3, and L4 protocol
963 information such as destination MAC address, IP address, and TCP
968 <p>These columns apply only to bonded ports. Their values are
969 otherwise ignored.</p>
971 <column name="bond_mode">
972 <p>The type of bonding used for a bonded port. Defaults to
973 <code>active-backup</code> if unset.
977 <column name="other_config" key="bond-hash-basis"
978 type='{"type": "integer"}'>
979 An integer hashed along with flows when choosing output slaves in load
980 balanced bonds. When changed, all flows will be assigned different
981 hash values possibly causing slave selection decisions to change. Does
982 not affect bonding modes which do not employ load balancing such as
983 <code>active-backup</code>.
986 <group title="Link Failure Detection">
988 An important part of link bonding is detecting that links are down so
989 that they may be disabled. These settings determine how Open vSwitch
990 detects link failure.
993 <column name="other_config" key="bond-detect-mode"
994 type='{"type": "string", "enum": ["set", ["carrier", "miimon"]]}'>
995 The means used to detect link failures. Defaults to
996 <code>carrier</code> which uses each interface's carrier to detect
997 failures. When set to <code>miimon</code>, will check for failures
998 by polling each interface's MII.
1001 <column name="other_config" key="bond-miimon-interval"
1002 type='{"type": "integer"}'>
1003 The interval, in milliseconds, between successive attempts to poll
1004 each interface's MII. Relevant only when <ref column="other_config"
1005 key="bond-detect-mode"/> is <code>miimon</code>.
1008 <column name="bond_updelay">
1010 The number of milliseconds for which the link must stay up on an
1011 interface before the interface is considered to be up. Specify
1012 <code>0</code> to enable the interface immediately.
1016 This setting is honored only when at least one bonded interface is
1017 already enabled. When no interfaces are enabled, then the first
1018 bond interface to come up is enabled immediately.
1022 <column name="bond_downdelay">
1023 The number of milliseconds for which the link must stay down on an
1024 interface before the interface is considered to be down. Specify
1025 <code>0</code> to disable the interface immediately.
1029 <group title="LACP Configuration">
1031 LACP, the Link Aggregation Control Protocol, is an IEEE standard that
1032 allows switches to automatically detect that they are connected by
1033 multiple links and aggregate across those links. These settings
1034 control LACP behavior.
1037 <column name="lacp">
1038 Configures LACP on this port. LACP allows directly connected
1039 switches to negotiate which links may be bonded. LACP may be enabled
1040 on non-bonded ports for the benefit of any switches they may be
1041 connected to. <code>active</code> ports are allowed to initiate LACP
1042 negotiations. <code>passive</code> ports are allowed to participate
1043 in LACP negotiations initiated by a remote switch, but not allowed to
1044 initiate such negotiations themselves. If LACP is enabled on a port
1045 whose partner switch does not support LACP, the bond will be
1046 disabled, unless other-config:lacp-fallback-ab is set to true.
1047 Defaults to <code>off</code> if unset.
1050 <column name="other_config" key="lacp-system-id">
1051 The LACP system ID of this <ref table="Port"/>. The system ID of a
1052 LACP bond is used to identify itself to its partners. Must be a
1053 nonzero MAC address. Defaults to the bridge Ethernet address if
1057 <column name="other_config" key="lacp-system-priority"
1058 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1, "maxInteger": 65535}'>
1059 The LACP system priority of this <ref table="Port"/>. In LACP
1060 negotiations, link status decisions are made by the system with the
1061 numerically lower priority.
1064 <column name="other_config" key="lacp-time"
1065 type='{"type": "string", "enum": ["set", ["fast", "slow"]]}'>
1067 The LACP timing which should be used on this <ref table="Port"/>.
1068 By default <code>slow</code> is used. When configured to be
1069 <code>fast</code> LACP heartbeats are requested at a rate of once
1070 per second causing connectivity problems to be detected more
1071 quickly. In <code>slow</code> mode, heartbeats are requested at a
1072 rate of once every 30 seconds.
1076 <column name="other_config" key="lacp-fallback-ab"
1077 type='{"type": "boolean"}'>
1079 Determines the behavior of openvswitch bond in LACP mode. If
1080 the partner switch does not support LACP, setting this option
1081 to <code>true</code> allows openvswitch to fallback to
1082 active-backup. If the option is set to <code>false</code>, the
1083 bond will be disabled. In both the cases, once the partner switch
1084 is configured to LACP mode, the bond will use LACP.
1089 <group title="Rebalancing Configuration">
1091 These settings control behavior when a bond is in
1092 <code>balance-slb</code> or <code>balance-tcp</code> mode.
1095 <column name="other_config" key="bond-rebalance-interval"
1096 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 0, "maxInteger": 10000}'>
1097 For a load balanced bonded port, the number of milliseconds between
1098 successive attempts to rebalance the bond, that is, to move flows
1099 from one interface on the bond to another in an attempt to keep usage
1100 of each interface roughly equal. If zero, load balancing is disabled
1101 on the bond (link failure still cause flows to move). If
1102 less than 1000ms, the rebalance interval will be 1000ms.
1106 <column name="bond_fake_iface">
1107 For a bonded port, whether to create a fake internal interface with the
1108 name of the port. Use only for compatibility with legacy software that
1113 <group title="Spanning Tree Configuration">
1114 <column name="other_config" key="stp-enable"
1115 type='{"type": "boolean"}'>
1116 If spanning tree is enabled on the bridge, member ports are
1117 enabled by default (with the exception of bond, internal, and
1118 mirror ports which do not work with STP). If this column's
1119 value is <code>false</code> spanning tree is disabled on the
1123 <column name="other_config" key="stp-port-num"
1124 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1, "maxInteger": 255}'>
1125 The port number used for the lower 8 bits of the port-id. By
1126 default, the numbers will be assigned automatically. If any
1127 port's number is manually configured on a bridge, then they
1131 <column name="other_config" key="stp-port-priority"
1132 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 0, "maxInteger": 255}'>
1133 The port's relative priority value for determining the root
1134 port (the upper 8 bits of the port-id). A port with a lower
1135 port-id will be chosen as the root port. By default, the
1139 <column name="other_config" key="stp-path-cost"
1140 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 0, "maxInteger": 65535}'>
1141 Spanning tree path cost for the port. A lower number indicates
1142 a faster link. By default, the cost is based on the maximum
1147 <group title="Other Features">
1149 Quality of Service configuration for this port.
1153 The MAC address to use for this port for the purpose of choosing the
1154 bridge's MAC address. This column does not necessarily reflect the
1155 port's actual MAC address, nor will setting it change the port's actual
1159 <column name="fake_bridge">
1160 Does this port represent a sub-bridge for its tagged VLAN within the
1161 Bridge? See ovs-vsctl(8) for more information.
1164 <column name="external_ids" key="fake-bridge-id-*">
1165 External IDs for a fake bridge (see the <ref column="fake_bridge"/>
1166 column) are defined by prefixing a <ref table="Bridge"/> <ref
1167 table="Bridge" column="external_ids"/> key with
1168 <code>fake-bridge-</code>,
1169 e.g. <code>fake-bridge-xs-network-uuids</code>.
1173 <group title="Port Status">
1175 Status information about ports attached to bridges.
1177 <column name="status">
1178 Key-value pairs that report port status.
1180 <column name="status" key="stp_port_id">
1182 The port-id (in hex) used in spanning tree advertisements for
1183 this port. Configuring the port-id is described in the
1184 <code>stp-port-num</code> and <code>stp-port-priority</code>
1185 keys of the <code>other_config</code> section earlier.
1188 <column name="status" key="stp_state"
1189 type='{"type": "string", "enum": ["set",
1190 ["disabled", "listening", "learning",
1191 "forwarding", "blocking"]]}'>
1193 STP state of the port.
1196 <column name="status" key="stp_sec_in_state"
1197 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 0}'>
1199 The amount of time (in seconds) port has been in the current
1203 <column name="status" key="stp_role"
1204 type='{"type": "string", "enum": ["set",
1205 ["root", "designated", "alternate"]]}'>
1207 STP role of the port.
1212 <group title="Port Statistics">
1214 Key-value pairs that report port statistics.
1216 <group title="Statistics: STP transmit and receive counters">
1217 <column name="statistics" key="stp_tx_count">
1218 Number of STP BPDUs sent on this port by the spanning
1221 <column name="statistics" key="stp_rx_count">
1222 Number of STP BPDUs received on this port and accepted by the
1223 spanning tree library.
1225 <column name="statistics" key="stp_error_count">
1226 Number of bad STP BPDUs received on this port. Bad BPDUs
1227 include runt packets and those with an unexpected protocol ID.
1232 <group title="Common Columns">
1233 The overall purpose of these columns is described under <code>Common
1234 Columns</code> at the beginning of this document.
1236 <column name="other_config"/>
1237 <column name="external_ids"/>
1241 <table name="Interface" title="One physical network device in a Port.">
1242 An interface within a <ref table="Port"/>.
1244 <group title="Core Features">
1245 <column name="name">
1246 Interface name. Should be alphanumeric and no more than about 8 bytes
1247 long. May be the same as the port name, for non-bonded ports. Must
1248 otherwise be unique among the names of ports, interfaces, and bridges
1252 <column name="ifindex">
1253 A positive interface index as defined for SNMP MIB-II in RFCs 1213 and
1254 2863, if the interface has one, otherwise 0. The ifindex is useful for
1255 seamless integration with protocols such as SNMP and sFlow.
1258 <column name="mac_in_use">
1259 The MAC address in use by this interface.
1263 <p>Ethernet address to set for this interface. If unset then the
1264 default MAC address is used:</p>
1266 <li>For the local interface, the default is the lowest-numbered MAC
1267 address among the other bridge ports, either the value of the
1268 <ref table="Port" column="mac"/> in its <ref table="Port"/> record,
1269 if set, or its actual MAC (for bonded ports, the MAC of its slave
1270 whose name is first in alphabetical order). Internal ports and
1271 bridge ports that are used as port mirroring destinations (see the
1272 <ref table="Mirror"/> table) are ignored.</li>
1273 <li>For other internal interfaces, the default MAC is randomly
1275 <li>External interfaces typically have a MAC address associated with
1276 their hardware.</li>
1278 <p>Some interfaces may not have a software-controllable MAC
1282 <group title="OpenFlow Port Number">
1284 When a client adds a new interface, Open vSwitch chooses an OpenFlow
1285 port number for the new port. If the client that adds the port fills
1286 in <ref column="ofport_request"/>, then Open vSwitch tries to use its
1287 value as the OpenFlow port number. Otherwise, or if the requested
1288 port number is already in use or cannot be used for another reason,
1289 Open vSwitch automatically assigns a free port number. Regardless of
1290 how the port number was obtained, Open vSwitch then reports in <ref
1291 column="ofport"/> the port number actually assigned.
1295 Open vSwitch limits the port numbers that it automatically assigns to
1296 the range 1 through 32,767, inclusive. Controllers therefore have
1297 free use of ports 32,768 and up.
1300 <column name="ofport">
1302 OpenFlow port number for this interface. Open vSwitch sets this
1303 column's value, so other clients should treat it as read-only.
1306 The OpenFlow ``local'' port (<code>OFPP_LOCAL</code>) is 65,534.
1307 The other valid port numbers are in the range 1 to 65,279,
1308 inclusive. Value -1 indicates an error adding the interface.
1312 <column name="ofport_request"
1313 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1, "maxInteger": 65279}'>
1315 Requested OpenFlow port number for this interface.
1319 A client should ideally set this column's value in the same
1320 database transaction that it uses to create the interface. Open
1321 vSwitch version 2.1 and later will honor a later request for a
1322 specific port number, althuogh it might confuse some controllers:
1323 OpenFlow does not have a way to announce a port number change, so
1324 Open vSwitch represents it over OpenFlow as a port deletion
1325 followed immediately by a port addition.
1329 If <ref column="ofport_request"/> is set or changed to some other
1330 port's automatically assigned port number, Open vSwitch chooses a
1331 new port number for the latter port.
1337 <group title="System-Specific Details">
1338 <column name="type">
1340 The interface type, one of:
1344 <dt><code>system</code></dt>
1345 <dd>An ordinary network device, e.g. <code>eth0</code> on Linux.
1346 Sometimes referred to as ``external interfaces'' since they are
1347 generally connected to hardware external to that on which the Open
1348 vSwitch is running. The empty string is a synonym for
1349 <code>system</code>.</dd>
1351 <dt><code>internal</code></dt>
1352 <dd>A simulated network device that sends and receives traffic. An
1353 internal interface whose <ref column="name"/> is the same as its
1354 bridge's <ref table="Open_vSwitch" column="name"/> is called the
1355 ``local interface.'' It does not make sense to bond an internal
1356 interface, so the terms ``port'' and ``interface'' are often used
1357 imprecisely for internal interfaces.</dd>
1359 <dt><code>tap</code></dt>
1360 <dd>A TUN/TAP device managed by Open vSwitch.</dd>
1362 <dt><code>gre</code></dt>
1364 An Ethernet over RFC 2890 Generic Routing Encapsulation over IPv4
1368 <dt><code>ipsec_gre</code></dt>
1370 An Ethernet over RFC 2890 Generic Routing Encapsulation over IPv4
1374 <dt><code>gre64</code></dt>
1376 It is same as GRE, but it allows 64 bit key. To store higher 32-bits
1377 of key, it uses GRE protocol sequence number field. This is non
1378 standard use of GRE protocol since OVS does not increment
1379 sequence number for every packet at time of encap as expected by
1380 standard GRE implementation. See <ref group="Tunnel Options"/>
1381 for information on configuring GRE tunnels.
1384 <dt><code>ipsec_gre64</code></dt>
1386 Same as IPSEC_GRE except 64 bit key.
1389 <dt><code>vxlan</code></dt>
1392 An Ethernet tunnel over the experimental, UDP-based VXLAN
1393 protocol described at
1394 <code>http://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-mahalingam-dutt-dcops-vxlan-03</code>.
1397 Open vSwitch uses UDP destination port 4789. The source port used for
1398 VXLAN traffic varies on a per-flow basis and is in the ephemeral port
1403 <dt><code>lisp</code></dt>
1406 A layer 3 tunnel over the experimental, UDP-based Locator/ID
1407 Separation Protocol (RFC 6830).
1410 Only IPv4 and IPv6 packets are supported by the protocol, and
1411 they are sent and received without an Ethernet header. Traffic
1412 to/from LISP ports is expected to be configured explicitly, and
1413 the ports are not intended to participate in learning based
1414 switching. As such, they are always excluded from packet
1419 <dt><code>patch</code></dt>
1421 A pair of virtual devices that act as a patch cable.
1424 <dt><code>null</code></dt>
1425 <dd>An ignored interface. Deprecated and slated for removal in
1431 <group title="Tunnel Options">
1433 These options apply to interfaces with <ref column="type"/> of
1434 <code>gre</code>, <code>ipsec_gre</code>, <code>gre64</code>,
1435 <code>ipsec_gre64</code>, <code>vxlan</code>, and <code>lisp</code>.
1439 Each tunnel must be uniquely identified by the combination of <ref
1440 column="type"/>, <ref column="options" key="remote_ip"/>, <ref
1441 column="options" key="local_ip"/>, and <ref column="options"
1442 key="in_key"/>. If two ports are defined that are the same except one
1443 has an optional identifier and the other does not, the more specific
1444 one is matched first. <ref column="options" key="in_key"/> is
1445 considered more specific than <ref column="options" key="local_ip"/> if
1446 a port defines one and another port defines the other.
1449 <column name="options" key="remote_ip">
1450 <p>Required. The remote tunnel endpoint, one of:</p>
1454 An IPv4 address (not a DNS name), e.g. <code>192.168.0.123</code>.
1455 Only unicast endpoints are supported.
1458 The word <code>flow</code>. The tunnel accepts packets from any
1459 remote tunnel endpoint. To process only packets from a specific
1460 remote tunnel endpoint, the flow entries may match on the
1461 <code>tun_src</code> field. When sending packets to a
1462 <code>remote_ip=flow</code> tunnel, the flow actions must
1463 explicitly set the <code>tun_dst</code> field to the IP address of
1464 the desired remote tunnel endpoint, e.g. with a
1465 <code>set_field</code> action.
1470 The remote tunnel endpoint for any packet received from a tunnel
1471 is available in the <code>tun_src</code> field for matching in the
1476 <column name="options" key="local_ip">
1478 Optional. The tunnel destination IP that received packets must
1479 match. Default is to match all addresses. If specified, may be one
1485 An IPv4 address (not a DNS name), e.g. <code>192.168.12.3</code>.
1488 The word <code>flow</code>. The tunnel accepts packets sent to any
1489 of the local IP addresses of the system running OVS. To process
1490 only packets sent to a specific IP address, the flow entries may
1491 match on the <code>tun_dst</code> field. When sending packets to a
1492 <code>local_ip=flow</code> tunnel, the flow actions may
1493 explicitly set the <code>tun_src</code> field to the desired IP
1494 address, e.g. with a <code>set_field</code> action. However, while
1495 routing the tunneled packet out, the local system may override the
1496 specified address with the local IP address configured for the
1497 outgoing system interface.
1500 This option is valid only for tunnels also configured with the
1501 <code>remote_ip=flow</code> option.
1507 The tunnel destination IP address for any packet received from a
1508 tunnel is available in the <code>tun_dst</code> field for matching in
1513 <column name="options" key="in_key">
1514 <p>Optional. The key that received packets must contain, one of:</p>
1518 <code>0</code>. The tunnel receives packets with no key or with a
1519 key of 0. This is equivalent to specifying no <ref column="options"
1520 key="in_key"/> at all.
1523 A positive 24-bit (for VXLAN and LISP), 32-bit (for GRE) or 64-bit
1524 (for GRE64) number. The tunnel receives only packets with the
1528 The word <code>flow</code>. The tunnel accepts packets with any
1529 key. The key will be placed in the <code>tun_id</code> field for
1530 matching in the flow table. The <code>ovs-ofctl</code> manual page
1531 contains additional information about matching fields in OpenFlow
1540 <column name="options" key="out_key">
1541 <p>Optional. The key to be set on outgoing packets, one of:</p>
1545 <code>0</code>. Packets sent through the tunnel will have no key.
1546 This is equivalent to specifying no <ref column="options"
1547 key="out_key"/> at all.
1550 A positive 24-bit (for VXLAN and LISP), 32-bit (for GRE) or 64-bit
1551 (for GRE64) number. Packets sent through the tunnel will have the
1555 The word <code>flow</code>. Packets sent through the tunnel will
1556 have the key set using the <code>set_tunnel</code> Nicira OpenFlow
1557 vendor extension (0 is used in the absence of an action). The
1558 <code>ovs-ofctl</code> manual page contains additional information
1559 about the Nicira OpenFlow vendor extensions.
1564 <column name="options" key="key">
1565 Optional. Shorthand to set <code>in_key</code> and
1566 <code>out_key</code> at the same time.
1569 <column name="options" key="tos">
1570 Optional. The value of the ToS bits to be set on the encapsulating
1571 packet. ToS is interpreted as DSCP and ECN bits, ECN part must be
1572 zero. It may also be the word <code>inherit</code>, in which case
1573 the ToS will be copied from the inner packet if it is IPv4 or IPv6
1574 (otherwise it will be 0). The ECN fields are always inherited.
1578 <column name="options" key="ttl">
1579 Optional. The TTL to be set on the encapsulating packet. It may also
1580 be the word <code>inherit</code>, in which case the TTL will be copied
1581 from the inner packet if it is IPv4 or IPv6 (otherwise it will be the
1582 system default, typically 64). Default is the system default TTL.
1585 <column name="options" key="df_default"
1586 type='{"type": "boolean"}'>
1587 Optional. If enabled, the Don't Fragment bit will be set on tunnel
1588 outer headers to allow path MTU discovery. Default is enabled; set
1589 to <code>false</code> to disable.
1592 <group title="Tunnel Options: gre and ipsec_gre only">
1594 Only <code>gre</code> and <code>ipsec_gre</code> interfaces support
1598 <column name="options" key="csum" type='{"type": "boolean"}'>
1600 Optional. Compute GRE checksums on outgoing packets. Default is
1601 disabled, set to <code>true</code> to enable. Checksums present on
1602 incoming packets will be validated regardless of this setting.
1606 GRE checksums impose a significant performance penalty because they
1607 cover the entire packet. The encapsulated L3, L4, and L7 packet
1608 contents typically have their own checksums, so this additional
1609 checksum only adds value for the GRE and encapsulated L2 headers.
1613 This option is supported for <code>ipsec_gre</code>, but not useful
1614 because GRE checksums are weaker than, and redundant with, IPsec
1615 payload authentication.
1620 <group title="Tunnel Options: ipsec_gre only">
1622 Only <code>ipsec_gre</code> interfaces support these options.
1625 <column name="options" key="peer_cert">
1626 Required for certificate authentication. A string containing the
1627 peer's certificate in PEM format. Additionally the host's
1628 certificate must be specified with the <code>certificate</code>
1632 <column name="options" key="certificate">
1633 Required for certificate authentication. The name of a PEM file
1634 containing a certificate that will be presented to the peer during
1638 <column name="options" key="private_key">
1639 Optional for certificate authentication. The name of a PEM file
1640 containing the private key associated with <code>certificate</code>.
1641 If <code>certificate</code> contains the private key, this option may
1645 <column name="options" key="psk">
1646 Required for pre-shared key authentication. Specifies a pre-shared
1647 key for authentication that must be identical on both sides of the
1653 <group title="Patch Options">
1655 Only <code>patch</code> interfaces support these options.
1658 <column name="options" key="peer">
1659 The <ref column="name"/> of the <ref table="Interface"/> for the other
1660 side of the patch. The named <ref table="Interface"/>'s own
1661 <code>peer</code> option must specify this <ref table="Interface"/>'s
1662 name. That is, the two patch interfaces must have reversed <ref
1663 column="name"/> and <code>peer</code> values.
1667 <group title="Interface Status">
1669 Status information about interfaces attached to bridges, updated every
1670 5 seconds. Not all interfaces have all of these properties; virtual
1671 interfaces don't have a link speed, for example. Non-applicable
1672 columns will have empty values.
1674 <column name="admin_state">
1676 The administrative state of the physical network link.
1680 <column name="link_state">
1682 The observed state of the physical network link. This is ordinarily
1683 the link's carrier status. If the interface's <ref table="Port"/> is
1684 a bond configured for miimon monitoring, it is instead the network
1685 link's miimon status.
1689 <column name="link_resets">
1691 The number of times Open vSwitch has observed the
1692 <ref column="link_state"/> of this <ref table="Interface"/> change.
1696 <column name="link_speed">
1698 The negotiated speed of the physical network link.
1699 Valid values are positive integers greater than 0.
1703 <column name="duplex">
1705 The duplex mode of the physical network link.
1711 The MTU (maximum transmission unit); i.e. the largest
1712 amount of data that can fit into a single Ethernet frame.
1713 The standard Ethernet MTU is 1500 bytes. Some physical media
1714 and many kinds of virtual interfaces can be configured with
1718 This column will be empty for an interface that does not
1719 have an MTU as, for example, some kinds of tunnels do not.
1723 <column name="lacp_current">
1724 Boolean value indicating LACP status for this interface. If true, this
1725 interface has current LACP information about its LACP partner. This
1726 information may be used to monitor the health of interfaces in a LACP
1727 enabled port. This column will be empty if LACP is not enabled.
1730 <column name="status">
1731 Key-value pairs that report port status. Supported status values are
1732 <ref column="type"/>-dependent; some interfaces may not have a valid
1733 <ref column="status" key="driver_name"/>, for example.
1736 <column name="status" key="driver_name">
1737 The name of the device driver controlling the network adapter.
1740 <column name="status" key="driver_version">
1741 The version string of the device driver controlling the network
1745 <column name="status" key="firmware_version">
1746 The version string of the network adapter's firmware, if available.
1749 <column name="status" key="source_ip">
1750 The source IP address used for an IPv4 tunnel end-point, such as
1754 <column name="status" key="tunnel_egress_iface">
1755 Egress interface for tunnels. Currently only relevant for GRE tunnels
1756 On Linux systems, this column will show the name of the interface
1757 which is responsible for routing traffic destined for the configured
1758 <ref column="options" key="remote_ip"/>. This could be an internal
1759 interface such as a bridge port.
1762 <column name="status" key="tunnel_egress_iface_carrier"
1763 type='{"type": "string", "enum": ["set", ["down", "up"]]}'>
1764 Whether carrier is detected on <ref column="status"
1765 key="tunnel_egress_iface"/>.
1769 <group title="Statistics">
1771 Key-value pairs that report interface statistics. The current
1772 implementation updates these counters periodically. Future
1773 implementations may update them when an interface is created, when they
1774 are queried (e.g. using an OVSDB <code>select</code> operation), and
1775 just before an interface is deleted due to virtual interface hot-unplug
1776 or VM shutdown, and perhaps at other times, but not on any regular
1780 These are the same statistics reported by OpenFlow in its <code>struct
1781 ofp_port_stats</code> structure. If an interface does not support a
1782 given statistic, then that pair is omitted.
1784 <group title="Statistics: Successful transmit and receive counters">
1785 <column name="statistics" key="rx_packets">
1786 Number of received packets.
1788 <column name="statistics" key="rx_bytes">
1789 Number of received bytes.
1791 <column name="statistics" key="tx_packets">
1792 Number of transmitted packets.
1794 <column name="statistics" key="tx_bytes">
1795 Number of transmitted bytes.
1798 <group title="Statistics: Receive errors">
1799 <column name="statistics" key="rx_dropped">
1800 Number of packets dropped by RX.
1802 <column name="statistics" key="rx_frame_err">
1803 Number of frame alignment errors.
1805 <column name="statistics" key="rx_over_err">
1806 Number of packets with RX overrun.
1808 <column name="statistics" key="rx_crc_err">
1809 Number of CRC errors.
1811 <column name="statistics" key="rx_errors">
1812 Total number of receive errors, greater than or equal to the sum of
1816 <group title="Statistics: Transmit errors">
1817 <column name="statistics" key="tx_dropped">
1818 Number of packets dropped by TX.
1820 <column name="statistics" key="collisions">
1821 Number of collisions.
1823 <column name="statistics" key="tx_errors">
1824 Total number of transmit errors, greater than or equal to the sum of
1830 <group title="Ingress Policing">
1832 These settings control ingress policing for packets received on this
1833 interface. On a physical interface, this limits the rate at which
1834 traffic is allowed into the system from the outside; on a virtual
1835 interface (one connected to a virtual machine), this limits the rate at
1836 which the VM is able to transmit.
1839 Policing is a simple form of quality-of-service that simply drops
1840 packets received in excess of the configured rate. Due to its
1841 simplicity, policing is usually less accurate and less effective than
1842 egress QoS (which is configured using the <ref table="QoS"/> and <ref
1843 table="Queue"/> tables).
1846 Policing is currently implemented only on Linux. The Linux
1847 implementation uses a simple ``token bucket'' approach:
1851 The size of the bucket corresponds to <ref
1852 column="ingress_policing_burst"/>. Initially the bucket is full.
1855 Whenever a packet is received, its size (converted to tokens) is
1856 compared to the number of tokens currently in the bucket. If the
1857 required number of tokens are available, they are removed and the
1858 packet is forwarded. Otherwise, the packet is dropped.
1861 Whenever it is not full, the bucket is refilled with tokens at the
1862 rate specified by <ref column="ingress_policing_rate"/>.
1866 Policing interacts badly with some network protocols, and especially
1867 with fragmented IP packets. Suppose that there is enough network
1868 activity to keep the bucket nearly empty all the time. Then this token
1869 bucket algorithm will forward a single packet every so often, with the
1870 period depending on packet size and on the configured rate. All of the
1871 fragments of an IP packets are normally transmitted back-to-back, as a
1872 group. In such a situation, therefore, only one of these fragments
1873 will be forwarded and the rest will be dropped. IP does not provide
1874 any way for the intended recipient to ask for only the remaining
1875 fragments. In such a case there are two likely possibilities for what
1876 will happen next: either all of the fragments will eventually be
1877 retransmitted (as TCP will do), in which case the same problem will
1878 recur, or the sender will not realize that its packet has been dropped
1879 and data will simply be lost (as some UDP-based protocols will do).
1880 Either way, it is possible that no forward progress will ever occur.
1882 <column name="ingress_policing_rate">
1884 Maximum rate for data received on this interface, in kbps. Data
1885 received faster than this rate is dropped. Set to <code>0</code>
1886 (the default) to disable policing.
1890 <column name="ingress_policing_burst">
1891 <p>Maximum burst size for data received on this interface, in kb. The
1892 default burst size if set to <code>0</code> is 1000 kb. This value
1893 has no effect if <ref column="ingress_policing_rate"/>
1894 is <code>0</code>.</p>
1896 Specifying a larger burst size lets the algorithm be more forgiving,
1897 which is important for protocols like TCP that react severely to
1898 dropped packets. The burst size should be at least the size of the
1899 interface's MTU. Specifying a value that is numerically at least as
1900 large as 10% of <ref column="ingress_policing_rate"/> helps TCP come
1901 closer to achieving the full rate.
1906 <group title="Bidirectional Forwarding Detection (BFD)">
1908 BFD, defined in RFC 5880 and RFC 5881, allows point-to-point
1909 detection of connectivity failures by occasional transmission of
1910 BFD control messages. Open vSwitch implements BFD to serve
1911 as a more popular and standards compliant alternative to CFM.
1915 BFD operates by regularly transmitting BFD control messages at a rate
1916 negotiated independently in each direction. Each endpoint specifies
1917 the rate at which it expects to receive control messages, and the rate
1918 at which it is willing to transmit them. Open vSwitch uses a detection
1919 multiplier of three, meaning that an endpoint signals a connectivity
1920 fault if three consecutive BFD control messages fail to arrive. In the
1921 case of a unidirectional connectivity issue, the system not receiving
1922 BFD control messages signals the problem to its peer in the messages it
1927 The Open vSwitch implementation of BFD aims to comply faithfully
1928 with RFC 5880 requirements. Open vSwitch does not implement the
1929 optional Authentication or ``Echo Mode'' features.
1932 <group title="BFD Configuration">
1934 A controller sets up key-value pairs in the <ref column="bfd"/>
1935 column to enable and configure BFD.
1938 <column name="bfd" key="enable" type='{"type": "boolean"}'>
1939 True to enable BFD on this <ref table="Interface"/>.
1942 <column name="bfd" key="min_rx"
1943 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1}'>
1944 The shortest interval, in milliseconds, at which this BFD session
1945 offers to receive BFD control messages. The remote endpoint may
1946 choose to send messages at a slower rate. Defaults to
1950 <column name="bfd" key="min_tx"
1951 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1}'>
1952 The shortest interval, in milliseconds, at which this BFD session is
1953 willing to transmit BFD control messages. Messages will actually be
1954 transmitted at a slower rate if the remote endpoint is not willing to
1955 receive as quickly as specified. Defaults to <code>100</code>.
1958 <column name="bfd" key="decay_min_rx" type='{"type": "integer"}'>
1959 An alternate receive interval, in milliseconds, that must be greater
1960 than or equal to <ref column="bfd" key="min_rx"/>. The
1961 implementation switches from <ref column="bfd" key="min_rx"/> to <ref
1962 column="bfd" key="decay_min_rx"/> when there is no obvious incoming
1963 data traffic at the interface, to reduce the CPU and bandwidth cost
1964 of monitoring an idle interface. This feature may be disabled by
1965 setting a value of 0. This feature is reset whenever <ref
1966 column="bfd" key="decay_min_rx"/> or <ref column="bfd" key="min_rx"/>
1970 <column name="bfd" key="forwarding_if_rx" type='{"type": "boolean"}'>
1971 True to consider the interface capable of packet I/O as long as it
1972 continues to receive any packets (not just BFD packets). This
1973 prevents link congestion that causes consecutive BFD control packets
1974 to be lost from marking the interface down.
1977 <column name="bfd" key="cpath_down" type='{"type": "boolean"}'>
1978 Set to true to notify the remote endpoint that traffic should not be
1979 forwarded to this system for some reason other than a connectivty
1980 failure on the interface being monitored. The typical underlying
1981 reason is ``concatenated path down,'' that is, that connectivity
1982 beyond the local system is down. Defaults to false.
1985 <column name="bfd" key="check_tnl_key" type='{"type": "boolean"}'>
1986 Set to true to make BFD accept only control messages with a tunnel
1987 key of zero. By default, BFD accepts control messages with any
1991 <column name="bfd" key="bfd_dst_mac">
1992 Set to an Ethernet address in the form
1993 <var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>
1994 to set the MAC used as destination for transmitted BFD packets and
1995 expected as destination for received BFD packets. The default is
1996 <code>00:23:20:00:00:01</code>.
1999 <column name="bfd" key="bfd_src_ip">
2000 Set to an IPv4 address to set the IP address used as source for
2001 transmitted BFD packets. The default is <code>169.254.1.0</code>.
2004 <column name="bfd" key="bfd_dst_ip">
2005 Set to an IPv4 address to set the IP address used as destination
2006 for transmitted BFD packets. The default is <code>169.254.1.1</code>.
2010 <group title="BFD Status">
2012 The switch sets key-value pairs in the <ref column="bfd_status"/>
2013 column to report the status of BFD on this interface. When BFD is
2014 not enabled, with <ref column="bfd" key="enable"/>, the switch clears
2015 all key-value pairs from <ref column="bfd_status"/>.
2018 <column name="bfd_status" key="state"
2019 type='{"type": "string",
2020 "enum": ["set", ["admin_down", "down", "init", "up"]]}'>
2021 Reports the state of the BFD session. The BFD session is fully
2022 healthy and negotiated if <code>UP</code>.
2025 <column name="bfd_status" key="forwarding" type='{"type": "boolean"}'>
2026 Reports whether the BFD session believes this <ref
2027 table="Interface"/> may be used to forward traffic. Typically this
2028 means the local session is signaling <code>UP</code>, and the remote
2029 system isn't signaling a problem such as concatenated path down.
2032 <column name="bfd_status" key="diagnostic">
2033 In case of a problem, set to a short message that reports what the
2034 local BFD session thinks is wrong.
2037 <column name="bfd_status" key="remote_state"
2038 type='{"type": "string",
2039 "enum": ["set", ["admin_down", "down", "init", "up"]]}'>
2040 Reports the state of the remote endpoint's BFD session.
2043 <column name="bfd_status" key="remote_diagnostic">
2044 In case of a problem, set to a short message that reports what the
2045 remote endpoint's BFD session thinks is wrong.
2048 <column name="bfd_status" key="flap_count"
2049 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 0}'>
2050 Counts the number of <ref column="bfd_status" key="forwarding" />
2051 flaps since start. A flap is considered as a change of the
2052 <ref column="bfd_status" key="forwarding" /> value.
2057 <group title="Connectivity Fault Management">
2059 802.1ag Connectivity Fault Management (CFM) allows a group of
2060 Maintenance Points (MPs) called a Maintenance Association (MA) to
2061 detect connectivity problems with each other. MPs within a MA should
2062 have complete and exclusive interconnectivity. This is verified by
2063 occasionally broadcasting Continuity Check Messages (CCMs) at a
2064 configurable transmission interval.
2068 According to the 802.1ag specification, each Maintenance Point should
2069 be configured out-of-band with a list of Remote Maintenance Points it
2070 should have connectivity to. Open vSwitch differs from the
2071 specification in this area. It simply assumes the link is faulted if
2072 no Remote Maintenance Points are reachable, and considers it not
2077 When operating over tunnels which have no <code>in_key</code>, or an
2078 <code>in_key</code> of <code>flow</code>. CFM will only accept CCMs
2079 with a tunnel key of zero.
2082 <column name="cfm_mpid">
2084 A Maintenance Point ID (MPID) uniquely identifies each endpoint
2085 within a Maintenance Association. The MPID is used to identify this
2086 endpoint to other Maintenance Points in the MA. Each end of a link
2087 being monitored should have a different MPID. Must be configured to
2088 enable CFM on this <ref table="Interface"/>.
2091 According to the 802.1ag specification, MPIDs can only range between
2092 [1, 8191]. However, extended mode (see <ref column="other_config"
2093 key="cfm_extended"/>) supports eight byte MPIDs.
2097 <column name="cfm_flap_count">
2098 Counts the number of cfm fault flapps since boot. A flap is
2099 considered to be a change of the <ref column="cfm_fault"/> value.
2102 <column name="cfm_fault">
2104 Indicates a connectivity fault triggered by an inability to receive
2105 heartbeats from any remote endpoint. When a fault is triggered on
2106 <ref table="Interface"/>s participating in bonds, they will be
2110 Faults can be triggered for several reasons. Most importantly they
2111 are triggered when no CCMs are received for a period of 3.5 times the
2112 transmission interval. Faults are also triggered when any CCMs
2113 indicate that a Remote Maintenance Point is not receiving CCMs but
2114 able to send them. Finally, a fault is triggered if a CCM is
2115 received which indicates unexpected configuration. Notably, this
2116 case arises when a CCM is received which advertises the local MPID.
2120 <column name="cfm_fault_status" key="recv">
2121 Indicates a CFM fault was triggered due to a lack of CCMs received on
2122 the <ref table="Interface"/>.
2125 <column name="cfm_fault_status" key="rdi">
2126 Indicates a CFM fault was triggered due to the reception of a CCM with
2127 the RDI bit flagged. Endpoints set the RDI bit in their CCMs when they
2128 are not receiving CCMs themselves. This typically indicates a
2129 unidirectional connectivity failure.
2132 <column name="cfm_fault_status" key="maid">
2133 Indicates a CFM fault was triggered due to the reception of a CCM with
2134 a MAID other than the one Open vSwitch uses. CFM broadcasts are tagged
2135 with an identification number in addition to the MPID called the MAID.
2136 Open vSwitch only supports receiving CCM broadcasts tagged with the
2137 MAID it uses internally.
2140 <column name="cfm_fault_status" key="loopback">
2141 Indicates a CFM fault was triggered due to the reception of a CCM
2142 advertising the same MPID configured in the <ref column="cfm_mpid"/>
2143 column of this <ref table="Interface"/>. This may indicate a loop in
2147 <column name="cfm_fault_status" key="overflow">
2148 Indicates a CFM fault was triggered because the CFM module received
2149 CCMs from more remote endpoints than it can keep track of.
2152 <column name="cfm_fault_status" key="override">
2153 Indicates a CFM fault was manually triggered by an administrator using
2154 an <code>ovs-appctl</code> command.
2157 <column name="cfm_fault_status" key="interval">
2158 Indicates a CFM fault was triggered due to the reception of a CCM
2159 frame having an invalid interval.
2162 <column name="cfm_remote_opstate">
2163 <p>When in extended mode, indicates the operational state of the
2164 remote endpoint as either <code>up</code> or <code>down</code>. See
2165 <ref column="other_config" key="cfm_opstate"/>.
2169 <column name="cfm_health">
2171 Indicates the health of the interface as a percentage of CCM frames
2172 received over 21 <ref column="other_config" key="cfm_interval"/>s.
2173 The health of an interface is undefined if it is communicating with
2174 more than one <ref column="cfm_remote_mpids"/>. It reduces if
2175 healthy heartbeats are not received at the expected rate, and
2176 gradually improves as healthy heartbeats are received at the desired
2177 rate. Every 21 <ref column="other_config" key="cfm_interval"/>s, the
2178 health of the interface is refreshed.
2181 As mentioned above, the faults can be triggered for several reasons.
2182 The link health will deteriorate even if heartbeats are received but
2183 they are reported to be unhealthy. An unhealthy heartbeat in this
2184 context is a heartbeat for which either some fault is set or is out
2185 of sequence. The interface health can be 100 only on receiving
2186 healthy heartbeats at the desired rate.
2190 <column name="cfm_remote_mpids">
2191 When CFM is properly configured, Open vSwitch will occasionally
2192 receive CCM broadcasts. These broadcasts contain the MPID of the
2193 sending Maintenance Point. The list of MPIDs from which this
2194 <ref table="Interface"/> is receiving broadcasts from is regularly
2195 collected and written to this column.
2198 <column name="other_config" key="cfm_interval"
2199 type='{"type": "integer"}'>
2201 The interval, in milliseconds, between transmissions of CFM
2202 heartbeats. Three missed heartbeat receptions indicate a
2207 In standard operation only intervals of 3, 10, 100, 1,000, 10,000,
2208 60,000, or 600,000 ms are supported. Other values will be rounded
2209 down to the nearest value on the list. Extended mode (see <ref
2210 column="other_config" key="cfm_extended"/>) supports any interval up
2211 to 65,535 ms. In either mode, the default is 1000 ms.
2214 <p>We do not recommend using intervals less than 100 ms.</p>
2217 <column name="other_config" key="cfm_extended"
2218 type='{"type": "boolean"}'>
2219 When <code>true</code>, the CFM module operates in extended mode. This
2220 causes it to use a nonstandard destination address to avoid conflicting
2221 with compliant implementations which may be running concurrently on the
2222 network. Furthermore, extended mode increases the accuracy of the
2223 <code>cfm_interval</code> configuration parameter by breaking wire
2224 compatibility with 802.1ag compliant implementations. And extended
2225 mode allows eight byte MPIDs. Defaults to <code>false</code>.
2228 <column name="other_config" key="cfm_demand" type='{"type": "boolean"}'>
2230 When <code>true</code>, and
2231 <ref column="other_config" key="cfm_extended"/> is true, the CFM
2232 module operates in demand mode. When in demand mode, traffic
2233 received on the <ref table="Interface"/> is used to indicate
2234 liveness. CCMs are still transmitted and received, but if the
2235 <ref table="Interface"/> is receiving traffic, their absence does not
2236 cause a connectivity fault.
2240 Demand mode has a couple of caveats:
2243 To ensure that ovs-vswitchd has enough time to pull statistics
2244 from the datapath, the fault detection interval is set to
2245 3.5 * MAX(<ref column="other_config" key="cfm_interval"/>, 500)
2250 To avoid ambiguity, demand mode disables itself when there are
2251 multiple remote maintenance points.
2255 If the <ref table="Interface"/> is heavily congested, CCMs
2256 containing the <ref column="other_config" key="cfm_opstate"/>
2257 status may be dropped causing changes in the operational state to
2258 be delayed. Similarly, if CCMs containing the RDI bit are not
2259 received, unidirectional link failures may not be detected.
2265 <column name="other_config" key="cfm_opstate"
2266 type='{"type": "string", "enum": ["set", ["down", "up"]]}'>
2267 When <code>down</code>, the CFM module marks all CCMs it generates as
2268 operationally down without triggering a fault. This allows remote
2269 maintenance points to choose not to forward traffic to the
2270 <ref table="Interface"/> on which this CFM module is running.
2271 Currently, in Open vSwitch, the opdown bit of CCMs affects
2272 <ref table="Interface"/>s participating in bonds, and the bundle
2273 OpenFlow action. This setting is ignored when CFM is not in extended
2274 mode. Defaults to <code>up</code>.
2277 <column name="other_config" key="cfm_ccm_vlan"
2278 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1, "maxInteger": 4095}'>
2279 When set, the CFM module will apply a VLAN tag to all CCMs it generates
2280 with the given value. May be the string <code>random</code> in which
2281 case each CCM will be tagged with a different randomly generated VLAN.
2284 <column name="other_config" key="cfm_ccm_pcp"
2285 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1, "maxInteger": 7}'>
2286 When set, the CFM module will apply a VLAN tag to all CCMs it generates
2287 with the given PCP value, the VLAN ID of the tag is governed by the
2288 value of <ref column="other_config" key="cfm_ccm_vlan"/>. If
2289 <ref column="other_config" key="cfm_ccm_vlan"/> is unset, a VLAN ID of
2295 <group title="Bonding Configuration">
2296 <column name="other_config" key="lacp-port-id"
2297 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1, "maxInteger": 65535}'>
2298 The LACP port ID of this <ref table="Interface"/>. Port IDs are
2299 used in LACP negotiations to identify individual ports
2300 participating in a bond.
2303 <column name="other_config" key="lacp-port-priority"
2304 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1, "maxInteger": 65535}'>
2305 The LACP port priority of this <ref table="Interface"/>. In LACP
2306 negotiations <ref table="Interface"/>s with numerically lower
2307 priorities are preferred for aggregation.
2310 <column name="other_config" key="lacp-aggregation-key"
2311 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1, "maxInteger": 65535}'>
2312 The LACP aggregation key of this <ref table="Interface"/>. <ref
2313 table="Interface"/>s with different aggregation keys may not be active
2314 within a given <ref table="Port"/> at the same time.
2318 <group title="Virtual Machine Identifiers">
2320 These key-value pairs specifically apply to an interface that
2321 represents a virtual Ethernet interface connected to a virtual
2322 machine. These key-value pairs should not be present for other types
2323 of interfaces. Keys whose names end in <code>-uuid</code> have
2324 values that uniquely identify the entity in question. For a Citrix
2325 XenServer hypervisor, these values are UUIDs in RFC 4122 format.
2326 Other hypervisors may use other formats.
2329 <column name="external_ids" key="attached-mac">
2330 The MAC address programmed into the ``virtual hardware'' for this
2331 interface, in the form
2332 <var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>.
2333 For Citrix XenServer, this is the value of the <code>MAC</code> field
2334 in the VIF record for this interface.
2337 <column name="external_ids" key="iface-id">
2338 A system-unique identifier for the interface. On XenServer, this will
2339 commonly be the same as <ref column="external_ids" key="xs-vif-uuid"/>.
2342 <column name="external_ids" key="iface-status"
2343 type='{"type": "string",
2344 "enum": ["set", ["active", "inactive"]]}'>
2346 Hypervisors may sometimes have more than one interface associated
2347 with a given <ref column="external_ids" key="iface-id"/>, only one of
2348 which is actually in use at a given time. For example, in some
2349 circumstances XenServer has both a ``tap'' and a ``vif'' interface
2350 for a single <ref column="external_ids" key="iface-id"/>, but only
2351 uses one of them at a time. A hypervisor that behaves this way must
2352 mark the currently in use interface <code>active</code> and the
2353 others <code>inactive</code>. A hypervisor that never has more than
2354 one interface for a given <ref column="external_ids" key="iface-id"/>
2355 may mark that interface <code>active</code> or omit <ref
2356 column="external_ids" key="iface-status"/> entirely.
2360 During VM migration, a given <ref column="external_ids"
2361 key="iface-id"/> might transiently be marked <code>active</code> on
2362 two different hypervisors. That is, <code>active</code> means that
2363 this <ref column="external_ids" key="iface-id"/> is the active
2364 instance within a single hypervisor, not in a broader scope.
2365 There is one exception: some hypervisors support ``migration'' from a
2366 given hypervisor to itself (most often for test purposes). During
2367 such a ``migration,'' two instances of a single <ref
2368 column="external_ids" key="iface-id"/> might both be briefly marked
2369 <code>active</code> on a single hypervisor.
2373 <column name="external_ids" key="xs-vif-uuid">
2374 The virtual interface associated with this interface.
2377 <column name="external_ids" key="xs-network-uuid">
2378 The virtual network to which this interface is attached.
2381 <column name="external_ids" key="vm-id">
2382 The VM to which this interface belongs. On XenServer, this will be the
2383 same as <ref column="external_ids" key="xs-vm-uuid"/>.
2386 <column name="external_ids" key="xs-vm-uuid">
2387 The VM to which this interface belongs.
2391 <group title="VLAN Splinters">
2393 The ``VLAN splinters'' feature increases Open vSwitch compatibility
2394 with buggy network drivers in old versions of Linux that do not
2395 properly support VLANs when VLAN devices are not used, at some cost
2396 in memory and performance.
2400 When VLAN splinters are enabled on a particular interface, Open vSwitch
2401 creates a VLAN device for each in-use VLAN. For sending traffic tagged
2402 with a VLAN on the interface, it substitutes the VLAN device. Traffic
2403 received on the VLAN device is treated as if it had been received on
2404 the interface on the particular VLAN.
2408 VLAN splinters consider a VLAN to be in use if:
2413 The VLAN is the <ref table="Port" column="tag"/> value in any <ref
2414 table="Port"/> record.
2418 The VLAN is listed within the <ref table="Port" column="trunks"/>
2419 column of the <ref table="Port"/> record of an interface on which
2420 VLAN splinters are enabled.
2422 An empty <ref table="Port" column="trunks"/> does not influence the
2423 in-use VLANs: creating 4,096 VLAN devices is impractical because it
2424 will exceed the current 1,024 port per datapath limit.
2428 An OpenFlow flow within any bridge matches the VLAN.
2433 The same set of in-use VLANs applies to every interface on which VLAN
2434 splinters are enabled. That is, the set is not chosen separately for
2435 each interface but selected once as the union of all in-use VLANs based
2440 It does not make sense to enable VLAN splinters on an interface for an
2441 access port, or on an interface that is not a physical port.
2445 VLAN splinters are deprecated. When broken device drivers are no
2446 longer in widespread use, we will delete this feature.
2449 <column name="other_config" key="enable-vlan-splinters"
2450 type='{"type": "boolean"}'>
2452 Set to <code>true</code> to enable VLAN splinters on this interface.
2453 Defaults to <code>false</code>.
2457 VLAN splinters increase kernel and userspace memory overhead, so do
2458 not use them unless they are needed.
2462 VLAN splinters do not support 802.1p priority tags. Received
2463 priorities will appear to be 0, regardless of their actual values,
2464 and priorities on transmitted packets will also be cleared to 0.
2469 <group title="Common Columns">
2470 The overall purpose of these columns is described under <code>Common
2471 Columns</code> at the beginning of this document.
2473 <column name="other_config"/>
2474 <column name="external_ids"/>
2478 <table name="Flow_Table" title="OpenFlow table configuration">
2479 <p>Configuration for a particular OpenFlow table.</p>
2481 <column name="name">
2482 The table's name. Set this column to change the name that controllers
2483 will receive when they request table statistics, e.g. <code>ovs-ofctl
2484 dump-tables</code>. The name does not affect switch behavior.
2487 <column name="flow_limit">
2488 If set, limits the number of flows that may be added to the table. Open
2489 vSwitch may limit the number of flows in a table for other reasons,
2490 e.g. due to hardware limitations or for resource availability or
2491 performance reasons.
2494 <column name="overflow_policy">
2496 Controls the switch's behavior when an OpenFlow flow table modification
2497 request would add flows in excess of <ref column="flow_limit"/>. The
2498 supported values are:
2502 <dt><code>refuse</code></dt>
2504 Refuse to add the flow or flows. This is also the default policy
2505 when <ref column="overflow_policy"/> is unset.
2508 <dt><code>evict</code></dt>
2510 Delete the flow that will expire soonest. See <ref column="groups"/>
2516 <column name="groups">
2518 When <ref column="overflow_policy"/> is <code>evict</code>, this
2519 controls how flows are chosen for eviction when the flow table would
2520 otherwise exceed <ref column="flow_limit"/> flows. Its value is a set
2521 of NXM fields or sub-fields, each of which takes one of the forms
2522 <code><var>field</var>[]</code> or
2523 <code><var>field</var>[<var>start</var>..<var>end</var>]</code>,
2524 e.g. <code>NXM_OF_IN_PORT[]</code>. Please see
2525 <code>nicira-ext.h</code> for a complete list of NXM field names.
2529 When a flow must be evicted due to overflow, the flow to evict is
2530 chosen through an approximation of the following algorithm:
2535 Divide the flows in the table into groups based on the values of the
2536 specified fields or subfields, so that all of the flows in a given
2537 group have the same values for those fields. If a flow does not
2538 specify a given field, that field's value is treated as 0.
2542 Consider the flows in the largest group, that is, the group that
2543 contains the greatest number of flows. If two or more groups all
2544 have the same largest number of flows, consider the flows in all of
2549 Among the flows under consideration, choose the flow that expires
2550 soonest for eviction.
2555 The eviction process only considers flows that have an idle timeout or
2556 a hard timeout. That is, eviction never deletes permanent flows.
2557 (Permanent flows do count against <ref column="flow_limit"/>.)
2561 Open vSwitch ignores any invalid or unknown field specifications.
2565 When <ref column="overflow_policy"/> is not <code>evict</code>, this
2566 column has no effect.
2570 <column name="prefixes">
2572 This string set specifies which fields should be used for
2573 address prefix tracking. Prefix tracking allows the
2574 classifier to skip rules with longer than necessary prefixes,
2575 resulting in better wildcarding for datapath flows.
2578 Prefix tracking may be beneficial when a flow table contains
2579 matches on IP address fields with different prefix lengths.
2580 For example, when a flow table contains IP address matches on
2581 both full addresses and proper prefixes, the full address
2582 matches will typically cause the datapath flow to un-wildcard
2583 the whole address field (depending on flow entry priorities).
2584 In this case each packet with a different address gets handed
2585 to the userspace for flow processing and generates its own
2586 datapath flow. With prefix tracking enabled for the address
2587 field in question packets with addresses matching shorter
2588 prefixes would generate datapath flows where the irrelevant
2589 address bits are wildcarded, allowing the same datapath flow
2590 to handle all the packets within the prefix in question. In
2591 this case many userspace upcalls can be avoided and the
2592 overall performance can be better.
2595 This is a performance optimization only, so packets will
2596 receive the same treatment with or without prefix tracking.
2599 The supported fields are: <code>tun_id</code>,
2600 <code>tun_src</code>, <code>tun_dst</code>,
2601 <code>nw_src</code>, <code>nw_dst</code> (or aliases
2602 <code>ip_src</code> and <code>ip_dst</code>),
2603 <code>ipv6_src</code>, and <code>ipv6_dst</code>. (Using this
2604 feature for <code>tun_id</code> would only make sense if the
2605 tunnel IDs have prefix structure similar to IP addresses.)
2608 For example, <code>prefixes=ip_dst,ip_src</code> instructs the
2609 flow classifier to track the IP destination and source
2610 addresses used by the rules in this specific flow table. To
2611 set the prefix fields, the flow table record needs to exist:
2614 <dt><code>ovs-vsctl set Bridge br0 flow_tables:0=@N1 -- --id=@N1 create Flow_Table name=table0</code></dt>
2616 Creates a flow table record for the OpenFlow table number 0.
2619 <dt><code>ovs-vsctl set Flow_Table table0 prefixes=ip_dst,ip_src</code></dt>
2621 Enables prefix tracking for IP source and destination
2627 There is a maximum number of fields that can be enabled for any
2628 one flow table. Currently this limit is 3.
2632 <group title="Common Columns">
2633 The overall purpose of these columns is described under <code>Common
2634 Columns</code> at the beginning of this document.
2636 <column name="external_ids"/>
2640 <table name="QoS" title="Quality of Service configuration">
2641 <p>Quality of Service (QoS) configuration for each Port that
2644 <column name="type">
2645 <p>The type of QoS to implement. The currently defined types are
2648 <dt><code>linux-htb</code></dt>
2650 Linux ``hierarchy token bucket'' classifier. See tc-htb(8) (also at
2651 <code>http://linux.die.net/man/8/tc-htb</code>) and the HTB manual
2652 (<code>http://luxik.cdi.cz/~devik/qos/htb/manual/userg.htm</code>)
2653 for information on how this classifier works and how to configure it.
2657 <dt><code>linux-hfsc</code></dt>
2659 Linux "Hierarchical Fair Service Curve" classifier.
2660 See <code>http://linux-ip.net/articles/hfsc.en/</code> for
2661 information on how this classifier works.
2666 <column name="queues">
2667 <p>A map from queue numbers to <ref table="Queue"/> records. The
2668 supported range of queue numbers depend on <ref column="type"/>. The
2669 queue numbers are the same as the <code>queue_id</code> used in
2670 OpenFlow in <code>struct ofp_action_enqueue</code> and other
2674 Queue 0 is the ``default queue.'' It is used by OpenFlow output
2675 actions when no specific queue has been set. When no configuration for
2676 queue 0 is present, it is automatically configured as if a <ref
2677 table="Queue"/> record with empty <ref table="Queue" column="dscp"/>
2678 and <ref table="Queue" column="other_config"/> columns had been
2680 (Before version 1.6, Open vSwitch would leave queue 0 unconfigured in
2681 this case. With some queuing disciplines, this dropped all packets
2682 destined for the default queue.)
2686 <group title="Configuration for linux-htb and linux-hfsc">
2688 The <code>linux-htb</code> and <code>linux-hfsc</code> classes support
2689 the following key-value pair:
2692 <column name="other_config" key="max-rate" type='{"type": "integer"}'>
2693 Maximum rate shared by all queued traffic, in bit/s. Optional. If not
2694 specified, for physical interfaces, the default is the link rate. For
2695 other interfaces or if the link rate cannot be determined, the default
2696 is currently 100 Mbps.
2700 <group title="Common Columns">
2701 The overall purpose of these columns is described under <code>Common
2702 Columns</code> at the beginning of this document.
2704 <column name="other_config"/>
2705 <column name="external_ids"/>
2709 <table name="Queue" title="QoS output queue.">
2710 <p>A configuration for a port output queue, used in configuring Quality of
2711 Service (QoS) features. May be referenced by <ref column="queues"
2712 table="QoS"/> column in <ref table="QoS"/> table.</p>
2714 <column name="dscp">
2715 If set, Open vSwitch will mark all traffic egressing this
2716 <ref table="Queue"/> with the given DSCP bits. Traffic egressing the
2717 default <ref table="Queue"/> is only marked if it was explicitly selected
2718 as the <ref table="Queue"/> at the time the packet was output. If unset,
2719 the DSCP bits of traffic egressing this <ref table="Queue"/> will remain
2723 <group title="Configuration for linux-htb QoS">
2725 <ref table="QoS"/> <ref table="QoS" column="type"/>
2726 <code>linux-htb</code> may use <code>queue_id</code>s less than 61440.
2727 It has the following key-value pairs defined.
2730 <column name="other_config" key="min-rate"
2731 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1}'>
2732 Minimum guaranteed bandwidth, in bit/s.
2735 <column name="other_config" key="max-rate"
2736 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1}'>
2737 Maximum allowed bandwidth, in bit/s. Optional. If specified, the
2738 queue's rate will not be allowed to exceed the specified value, even
2739 if excess bandwidth is available. If unspecified, defaults to no
2743 <column name="other_config" key="burst"
2744 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1}'>
2745 Burst size, in bits. This is the maximum amount of ``credits'' that a
2746 queue can accumulate while it is idle. Optional. Details of the
2747 <code>linux-htb</code> implementation require a minimum burst size, so
2748 a too-small <code>burst</code> will be silently ignored.
2751 <column name="other_config" key="priority"
2752 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 0, "maxInteger": 4294967295}'>
2753 A queue with a smaller <code>priority</code> will receive all the
2754 excess bandwidth that it can use before a queue with a larger value
2755 receives any. Specific priority values are unimportant; only relative
2756 ordering matters. Defaults to 0 if unspecified.
2760 <group title="Configuration for linux-hfsc QoS">
2762 <ref table="QoS"/> <ref table="QoS" column="type"/>
2763 <code>linux-hfsc</code> may use <code>queue_id</code>s less than 61440.
2764 It has the following key-value pairs defined.
2767 <column name="other_config" key="min-rate"
2768 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1}'>
2769 Minimum guaranteed bandwidth, in bit/s.
2772 <column name="other_config" key="max-rate"
2773 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1}'>
2774 Maximum allowed bandwidth, in bit/s. Optional. If specified, the
2775 queue's rate will not be allowed to exceed the specified value, even if
2776 excess bandwidth is available. If unspecified, defaults to no
2781 <group title="Common Columns">
2782 The overall purpose of these columns is described under <code>Common
2783 Columns</code> at the beginning of this document.
2785 <column name="other_config"/>
2786 <column name="external_ids"/>
2790 <table name="Mirror" title="Port mirroring.">
2791 <p>A port mirror within a <ref table="Bridge"/>.</p>
2792 <p>A port mirror configures a bridge to send selected frames to special
2793 ``mirrored'' ports, in addition to their normal destinations. Mirroring
2794 traffic may also be referred to as SPAN or RSPAN, depending on how
2795 the mirrored traffic is sent.</p>
2797 <column name="name">
2798 Arbitrary identifier for the <ref table="Mirror"/>.
2801 <group title="Selecting Packets for Mirroring">
2803 To be selected for mirroring, a given packet must enter or leave the
2804 bridge through a selected port and it must also be in one of the
2808 <column name="select_all">
2809 If true, every packet arriving or departing on any port is
2810 selected for mirroring.
2813 <column name="select_dst_port">
2814 Ports on which departing packets are selected for mirroring.
2817 <column name="select_src_port">
2818 Ports on which arriving packets are selected for mirroring.
2821 <column name="select_vlan">
2822 VLANs on which packets are selected for mirroring. An empty set
2823 selects packets on all VLANs.
2827 <group title="Mirroring Destination Configuration">
2829 These columns are mutually exclusive. Exactly one of them must be
2833 <column name="output_port">
2834 <p>Output port for selected packets, if nonempty.</p>
2835 <p>Specifying a port for mirror output reserves that port exclusively
2836 for mirroring. No frames other than those selected for mirroring
2838 will be forwarded to the port, and any frames received on the port
2839 will be discarded.</p>
2841 The output port may be any kind of port supported by Open vSwitch.
2842 It may be, for example, a physical port (sometimes called SPAN) or a
2847 <column name="output_vlan">
2848 <p>Output VLAN for selected packets, if nonempty.</p>
2849 <p>The frames will be sent out all ports that trunk
2850 <ref column="output_vlan"/>, as well as any ports with implicit VLAN
2851 <ref column="output_vlan"/>. When a mirrored frame is sent out a
2852 trunk port, the frame's VLAN tag will be set to
2853 <ref column="output_vlan"/>, replacing any existing tag; when it is
2854 sent out an implicit VLAN port, the frame will not be tagged. This
2855 type of mirroring is sometimes called RSPAN.</p>
2857 See the documentation for
2858 <ref column="other_config" key="forward-bpdu"/> in the
2859 <ref table="Interface"/> table for a list of destination MAC
2860 addresses which will not be mirrored to a VLAN to avoid confusing
2861 switches that interpret the protocols that they represent.
2863 <p><em>Please note:</em> Mirroring to a VLAN can disrupt a network that
2864 contains unmanaged switches. Consider an unmanaged physical switch
2865 with two ports: port 1, connected to an end host, and port 2,
2866 connected to an Open vSwitch configured to mirror received packets
2867 into VLAN 123 on port 2. Suppose that the end host sends a packet on
2868 port 1 that the physical switch forwards to port 2. The Open vSwitch
2869 forwards this packet to its destination and then reflects it back on
2870 port 2 in VLAN 123. This reflected packet causes the unmanaged
2871 physical switch to replace the MAC learning table entry, which
2872 correctly pointed to port 1, with one that incorrectly points to port
2873 2. Afterward, the physical switch will direct packets destined for
2874 the end host to the Open vSwitch on port 2, instead of to the end
2875 host on port 1, disrupting connectivity. If mirroring to a VLAN is
2876 desired in this scenario, then the physical switch must be replaced
2877 by one that learns Ethernet addresses on a per-VLAN basis. In
2878 addition, learning should be disabled on the VLAN containing mirrored
2879 traffic. If this is not done then intermediate switches will learn
2880 the MAC address of each end host from the mirrored traffic. If
2881 packets being sent to that end host are also mirrored, then they will
2882 be dropped since the switch will attempt to send them out the input
2883 port. Disabling learning for the VLAN will cause the switch to
2884 correctly send the packet out all ports configured for that VLAN. If
2885 Open vSwitch is being used as an intermediate switch, learning can be
2886 disabled by adding the mirrored VLAN to <ref column="flood_vlans"/>
2887 in the appropriate <ref table="Bridge"/> table or tables.</p>
2889 Mirroring to a GRE tunnel has fewer caveats than mirroring to a
2890 VLAN and should generally be preferred.
2895 <group title="Statistics: Mirror counters">
2897 Key-value pairs that report mirror statistics.
2899 <column name="statistics" key="tx_packets">
2900 Number of packets transmitted through this mirror.
2902 <column name="statistics" key="tx_bytes">
2903 Number of bytes transmitted through this mirror.
2907 <group title="Common Columns">
2908 The overall purpose of these columns is described under <code>Common
2909 Columns</code> at the beginning of this document.
2911 <column name="external_ids"/>
2915 <table name="Controller" title="OpenFlow controller configuration.">
2916 <p>An OpenFlow controller.</p>
2919 Open vSwitch supports two kinds of OpenFlow controllers:
2923 <dt>Primary controllers</dt>
2926 This is the kind of controller envisioned by the OpenFlow 1.0
2927 specification. Usually, a primary controller implements a network
2928 policy by taking charge of the switch's flow table.
2932 Open vSwitch initiates and maintains persistent connections to
2933 primary controllers, retrying the connection each time it fails or
2934 drops. The <ref table="Bridge" column="fail_mode"/> column in the
2935 <ref table="Bridge"/> table applies to primary controllers.
2939 Open vSwitch permits a bridge to have any number of primary
2940 controllers. When multiple controllers are configured, Open
2941 vSwitch connects to all of them simultaneously. Because
2942 OpenFlow 1.0 does not specify how multiple controllers
2943 coordinate in interacting with a single switch, more than
2944 one primary controller should be specified only if the
2945 controllers are themselves designed to coordinate with each
2946 other. (The Nicira-defined <code>NXT_ROLE</code> OpenFlow
2947 vendor extension may be useful for this.)
2950 <dt>Service controllers</dt>
2953 These kinds of OpenFlow controller connections are intended for
2954 occasional support and maintenance use, e.g. with
2955 <code>ovs-ofctl</code>. Usually a service controller connects only
2956 briefly to inspect or modify some of a switch's state.
2960 Open vSwitch listens for incoming connections from service
2961 controllers. The service controllers initiate and, if necessary,
2962 maintain the connections from their end. The <ref table="Bridge"
2963 column="fail_mode"/> column in the <ref table="Bridge"/> table does
2964 not apply to service controllers.
2968 Open vSwitch supports configuring any number of service controllers.
2974 The <ref column="target"/> determines the type of controller.
2977 <group title="Core Features">
2978 <column name="target">
2979 <p>Connection method for controller.</p>
2981 The following connection methods are currently supported for primary
2985 <dt><code>ssl:<var>ip</var></code>[<code>:<var>port</var></code>]</dt>
2987 <p>The specified SSL <var>port</var> on the host at the
2988 given <var>ip</var>, which must be expressed as an IP
2989 address (not a DNS name). The <ref table="Open_vSwitch"
2990 column="ssl"/> column in the <ref table="Open_vSwitch"/>
2991 table must point to a valid SSL configuration when this form
2993 <p>If <var>port</var> is not specified, it currently
2994 defaults to 6633. In the future, the default will change to
2995 6653, which is the IANA-defined value.</p>
2996 <p>SSL support is an optional feature that is not always built as
2997 part of Open vSwitch.</p>
2999 <dt><code>tcp:<var>ip</var></code>[<code>:<var>port</var></code>]</dt>
3002 The specified TCP <var>port</var> on the host at the given
3003 <var>ip</var>, which must be expressed as an IP address (not a
3004 DNS name), where <var>ip</var> can be IPv4 or IPv6 address. If
3005 <var>ip</var> is an IPv6 address, wrap it in square brackets,
3006 e.g. <code>tcp:[::1]:6632</code>.
3009 If <var>port</var> is not specified, it currently defaults to
3010 6633. In the future, the default will change to 6653, which is
3011 the IANA-defined value.
3016 The following connection methods are currently supported for service
3020 <dt><code>pssl:</code>[<var>port</var>][<code>:<var>ip</var></code>]</dt>
3023 Listens for SSL connections on the specified TCP <var>port</var>.
3024 If <var>ip</var>, which must be expressed as an IP address (not a
3025 DNS name), is specified, then connections are restricted to the
3026 specified local IP address (either IPv4 or IPv6). If
3027 <var>ip</var> is an IPv6 address, wrap it in square brackets,
3028 e.g. <code>pssl:6632:[::1]</code>.
3031 If <var>port</var> is not specified, it currently defaults to
3032 6633. If <var>ip</var> is not specified then it listens only on
3033 IPv4 (but not IPv6) addresses. The
3034 <ref table="Open_vSwitch" column="ssl"/>
3035 column in the <ref table="Open_vSwitch"/> table must point to a
3036 valid SSL configuration when this form is used.
3039 If <var>port</var> is not specified, it currently defaults to
3040 6633. In the future, the default will change to 6653, which is
3041 the IANA-defined value.
3044 SSL support is an optional feature that is not always built as
3045 part of Open vSwitch.
3048 <dt><code>ptcp:</code>[<var>port</var>][<code>:<var>ip</var></code>]</dt>
3051 Listens for connections on the specified TCP <var>port</var>. If
3052 <var>ip</var>, which must be expressed as an IP address (not a
3053 DNS name), is specified, then connections are restricted to the
3054 specified local IP address (either IPv4 or IPv6). If
3055 <var>ip</var> is an IPv6 address, wrap it in square brackets,
3056 e.g. <code>ptcp:6632:[::1]</code>. If <var>ip</var> is not
3057 specified then it listens only on IPv4 addresses.
3060 If <var>port</var> is not specified, it currently defaults to
3061 6633. In the future, the default will change to 6653, which is
3062 the IANA-defined value.
3066 <p>When multiple controllers are configured for a single bridge, the
3067 <ref column="target"/> values must be unique. Duplicate
3068 <ref column="target"/> values yield unspecified results.</p>
3071 <column name="connection_mode">
3072 <p>If it is specified, this setting must be one of the following
3073 strings that describes how Open vSwitch contacts this OpenFlow
3074 controller over the network:</p>
3077 <dt><code>in-band</code></dt>
3078 <dd>In this mode, this controller's OpenFlow traffic travels over the
3079 bridge associated with the controller. With this setting, Open
3080 vSwitch allows traffic to and from the controller regardless of the
3081 contents of the OpenFlow flow table. (Otherwise, Open vSwitch
3082 would never be able to connect to the controller, because it did
3083 not have a flow to enable it.) This is the most common connection
3084 mode because it is not necessary to maintain two independent
3086 <dt><code>out-of-band</code></dt>
3087 <dd>In this mode, OpenFlow traffic uses a control network separate
3088 from the bridge associated with this controller, that is, the
3089 bridge does not use any of its own network devices to communicate
3090 with the controller. The control network must be configured
3091 separately, before or after <code>ovs-vswitchd</code> is started.
3095 <p>If not specified, the default is implementation-specific.</p>
3099 <group title="Controller Failure Detection and Handling">
3100 <column name="max_backoff">
3101 Maximum number of milliseconds to wait between connection attempts.
3102 Default is implementation-specific.
3105 <column name="inactivity_probe">
3106 Maximum number of milliseconds of idle time on connection to
3107 controller before sending an inactivity probe message. If Open
3108 vSwitch does not communicate with the controller for the specified
3109 number of seconds, it will send a probe. If a response is not
3110 received for the same additional amount of time, Open vSwitch
3111 assumes the connection has been broken and attempts to reconnect.
3112 Default is implementation-specific. A value of 0 disables
3117 <group title="Asynchronous Message Configuration">
3119 OpenFlow switches send certain messages to controllers spontanenously,
3120 that is, not in response to any request from the controller. These
3121 messages are called ``asynchronous messages.'' These columns allow
3122 asynchronous messages to be limited or disabled to ensure the best use
3123 of network resources.
3126 <column name="enable_async_messages">
3127 The OpenFlow protocol enables asynchronous messages at time of
3128 connection establishment, which means that a controller can receive
3129 asynchronous messages, potentially many of them, even if it turns them
3130 off immediately after connecting. Set this column to
3131 <code>false</code> to change Open vSwitch behavior to disable, by
3132 default, all asynchronous messages. The controller can use the
3133 <code>NXT_SET_ASYNC_CONFIG</code> Nicira extension to OpenFlow to turn
3134 on any messages that it does want to receive, if any.
3137 <column name="controller_rate_limit">
3139 The maximum rate at which the switch will forward packets to the
3140 OpenFlow controller, in packets per second. This feature prevents a
3141 single bridge from overwhelming the controller. If not specified,
3142 the default is implementation-specific.
3146 In addition, when a high rate triggers rate-limiting, Open vSwitch
3147 queues controller packets for each port and transmits them to the
3148 controller at the configured rate. The <ref
3149 column="controller_burst_limit"/> value limits the number of queued
3150 packets. Ports on a bridge share the packet queue fairly.
3154 Open vSwitch maintains two such packet rate-limiters per bridge: one
3155 for packets sent up to the controller because they do not correspond
3156 to any flow, and the other for packets sent up to the controller by
3157 request through flow actions. When both rate-limiters are filled with
3158 packets, the actual rate that packets are sent to the controller is
3159 up to twice the specified rate.
3163 <column name="controller_burst_limit">
3164 In conjunction with <ref column="controller_rate_limit"/>,
3165 the maximum number of unused packet credits that the bridge will
3166 allow to accumulate, in packets. If not specified, the default
3167 is implementation-specific.
3171 <group title="Additional In-Band Configuration">
3172 <p>These values are considered only in in-band control mode (see
3173 <ref column="connection_mode"/>).</p>
3175 <p>When multiple controllers are configured on a single bridge, there
3176 should be only one set of unique values in these columns. If different
3177 values are set for these columns in different controllers, the effect
3180 <column name="local_ip">
3181 The IP address to configure on the local port,
3182 e.g. <code>192.168.0.123</code>. If this value is unset, then
3183 <ref column="local_netmask"/> and <ref column="local_gateway"/> are
3187 <column name="local_netmask">
3188 The IP netmask to configure on the local port,
3189 e.g. <code>255.255.255.0</code>. If <ref column="local_ip"/> is set
3190 but this value is unset, then the default is chosen based on whether
3191 the IP address is class A, B, or C.
3194 <column name="local_gateway">
3195 The IP address of the gateway to configure on the local port, as a
3196 string, e.g. <code>192.168.0.1</code>. Leave this column unset if
3197 this network has no gateway.
3201 <group title="Controller Status">
3202 <column name="is_connected">
3203 <code>true</code> if currently connected to this controller,
3204 <code>false</code> otherwise.
3208 type='{"type": "string", "enum": ["set", ["other", "master", "slave"]]}'>
3209 <p>The level of authority this controller has on the associated
3210 bridge. Possible values are:</p>
3212 <dt><code>other</code></dt>
3213 <dd>Allows the controller access to all OpenFlow features.</dd>
3214 <dt><code>master</code></dt>
3215 <dd>Equivalent to <code>other</code>, except that there may be at
3216 most one master controller at a time. When a controller configures
3217 itself as <code>master</code>, any existing master is demoted to
3218 the <code>slave</code>role.</dd>
3219 <dt><code>slave</code></dt>
3220 <dd>Allows the controller read-only access to OpenFlow features.
3221 Attempts to modify the flow table will be rejected with an
3222 error. Slave controllers do not receive OFPT_PACKET_IN or
3223 OFPT_FLOW_REMOVED messages, but they do receive OFPT_PORT_STATUS
3228 <column name="status" key="last_error">
3229 A human-readable description of the last error on the connection
3230 to the controller; i.e. <code>strerror(errno)</code>. This key
3231 will exist only if an error has occurred.
3234 <column name="status" key="state"
3235 type='{"type": "string", "enum": ["set", ["VOID", "BACKOFF", "CONNECTING", "ACTIVE", "IDLE"]]}'>
3237 The state of the connection to the controller:
3240 <dt><code>VOID</code></dt>
3241 <dd>Connection is disabled.</dd>
3243 <dt><code>BACKOFF</code></dt>
3244 <dd>Attempting to reconnect at an increasing period.</dd>
3246 <dt><code>CONNECTING</code></dt>
3247 <dd>Attempting to connect.</dd>
3249 <dt><code>ACTIVE</code></dt>
3250 <dd>Connected, remote host responsive.</dd>
3252 <dt><code>IDLE</code></dt>
3253 <dd>Connection is idle. Waiting for response to keep-alive.</dd>
3256 These values may change in the future. They are provided only for
3261 <column name="status" key="sec_since_connect"
3262 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 0}'>
3263 The amount of time since this controller last successfully connected to
3264 the switch (in seconds). Value is empty if controller has never
3265 successfully connected.
3268 <column name="status" key="sec_since_disconnect"
3269 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1}'>
3270 The amount of time since this controller last disconnected from
3271 the switch (in seconds). Value is empty if controller has never
3276 <group title="Connection Parameters">
3278 Additional configuration for a connection between the controller
3279 and the Open vSwitch.
3282 <column name="other_config" key="dscp"
3283 type='{"type": "integer"}'>
3284 The Differentiated Service Code Point (DSCP) is specified using 6 bits
3285 in the Type of Service (TOS) field in the IP header. DSCP provides a
3286 mechanism to classify the network traffic and provide Quality of
3287 Service (QoS) on IP networks.
3289 The DSCP value specified here is used when establishing the connection
3290 between the controller and the Open vSwitch. If no value is specified,
3291 a default value of 48 is chosen. Valid DSCP values must be in the
3297 <group title="Common Columns">
3298 The overall purpose of these columns is described under <code>Common
3299 Columns</code> at the beginning of this document.
3301 <column name="external_ids"/>
3302 <column name="other_config"/>
3306 <table name="Manager" title="OVSDB management connection.">
3308 Configuration for a database connection to an Open vSwitch database
3313 This table primarily configures the Open vSwitch database
3314 (<code>ovsdb-server</code>), not the Open vSwitch switch
3315 (<code>ovs-vswitchd</code>). The switch does read the table to determine
3316 what connections should be treated as in-band.
3320 The Open vSwitch database server can initiate and maintain active
3321 connections to remote clients. It can also listen for database
3325 <group title="Core Features">
3326 <column name="target">
3327 <p>Connection method for managers.</p>
3329 The following connection methods are currently supported:
3332 <dt><code>ssl:<var>ip</var></code>[<code>:<var>port</var></code>]</dt>
3335 The specified SSL <var>port</var> on the host at the given
3336 <var>ip</var>, which must be expressed as an IP address
3337 (not a DNS name). The <ref table="Open_vSwitch"
3338 column="ssl"/> column in the <ref table="Open_vSwitch"/>
3339 table must point to a valid SSL configuration when this
3343 If <var>port</var> is not specified, it currently defaults
3344 to 6632. In the future, the default will change to 6640,
3345 which is the IANA-defined value.
3348 SSL support is an optional feature that is not always
3349 built as part of Open vSwitch.
3353 <dt><code>tcp:<var>ip</var></code>[<code>:<var>port</var></code>]</dt>
3356 The specified TCP <var>port</var> on the host at the given
3357 <var>ip</var>, which must be expressed as an IP address (not a
3358 DNS name), where <var>ip</var> can be IPv4 or IPv6 address. If
3359 <var>ip</var> is an IPv6 address, wrap it in square brackets,
3360 e.g. <code>tcp:[::1]:6632</code>.
3363 If <var>port</var> is not specified, it currently defaults
3364 to 6632. In the future, the default will change to 6640,
3365 which is the IANA-defined value.
3368 <dt><code>pssl:</code>[<var>port</var>][<code>:<var>ip</var></code>]</dt>
3371 Listens for SSL connections on the specified TCP <var>port</var>.
3372 Specify 0 for <var>port</var> to have the kernel automatically
3373 choose an available port. If <var>ip</var>, which must be
3374 expressed as an IP address (not a DNS name), is specified, then
3375 connections are restricted to the specified local IP address
3376 (either IPv4 or IPv6 address). If <var>ip</var> is an IPv6
3377 address, wrap in square brackets,
3378 e.g. <code>pssl:6632:[::1]</code>. If <var>ip</var> is not
3379 specified then it listens only on IPv4 (but not IPv6) addresses.
3380 The <ref table="Open_vSwitch" column="ssl"/> column in the <ref
3381 table="Open_vSwitch"/> table must point to a valid SSL
3382 configuration when this form is used.
3385 If <var>port</var> is not specified, it currently defaults
3386 to 6632. In the future, the default will change to 6640,
3387 which is the IANA-defined value.
3390 SSL support is an optional feature that is not always built as
3391 part of Open vSwitch.
3394 <dt><code>ptcp:</code>[<var>port</var>][<code>:<var>ip</var></code>]</dt>
3397 Listens for connections on the specified TCP <var>port</var>.
3398 Specify 0 for <var>port</var> to have the kernel automatically
3399 choose an available port. If <var>ip</var>, which must be
3400 expressed as an IP address (not a DNS name), is specified, then
3401 connections are restricted to the specified local IP address
3402 (either IPv4 or IPv6 address). If <var>ip</var> is an IPv6
3403 address, wrap it in square brackets,
3404 e.g. <code>ptcp:6632:[::1]</code>. If <var>ip</var> is not
3405 specified then it listens only on IPv4 addresses.
3408 If <var>port</var> is not specified, it currently defaults
3409 to 6632. In the future, the default will change to 6640,
3410 which is the IANA-defined value.
3414 <p>When multiple managers are configured, the <ref column="target"/>
3415 values must be unique. Duplicate <ref column="target"/> values yield
3416 unspecified results.</p>
3419 <column name="connection_mode">
3421 If it is specified, this setting must be one of the following strings
3422 that describes how Open vSwitch contacts this OVSDB client over the
3427 <dt><code>in-band</code></dt>
3429 In this mode, this connection's traffic travels over a bridge
3430 managed by Open vSwitch. With this setting, Open vSwitch allows
3431 traffic to and from the client regardless of the contents of the
3432 OpenFlow flow table. (Otherwise, Open vSwitch would never be able
3433 to connect to the client, because it did not have a flow to enable
3434 it.) This is the most common connection mode because it is not
3435 necessary to maintain two independent networks.
3437 <dt><code>out-of-band</code></dt>
3439 In this mode, the client's traffic uses a control network separate
3440 from that managed by Open vSwitch, that is, Open vSwitch does not
3441 use any of its own network devices to communicate with the client.
3442 The control network must be configured separately, before or after
3443 <code>ovs-vswitchd</code> is started.
3448 If not specified, the default is implementation-specific.
3453 <group title="Client Failure Detection and Handling">
3454 <column name="max_backoff">
3455 Maximum number of milliseconds to wait between connection attempts.
3456 Default is implementation-specific.
3459 <column name="inactivity_probe">
3460 Maximum number of milliseconds of idle time on connection to the client
3461 before sending an inactivity probe message. If Open vSwitch does not
3462 communicate with the client for the specified number of seconds, it
3463 will send a probe. If a response is not received for the same
3464 additional amount of time, Open vSwitch assumes the connection has been
3465 broken and attempts to reconnect. Default is implementation-specific.
3466 A value of 0 disables inactivity probes.
3470 <group title="Status">
3471 <column name="is_connected">
3472 <code>true</code> if currently connected to this manager,
3473 <code>false</code> otherwise.
3476 <column name="status" key="last_error">
3477 A human-readable description of the last error on the connection
3478 to the manager; i.e. <code>strerror(errno)</code>. This key
3479 will exist only if an error has occurred.
3482 <column name="status" key="state"
3483 type='{"type": "string", "enum": ["set", ["VOID", "BACKOFF", "CONNECTING", "ACTIVE", "IDLE"]]}'>
3485 The state of the connection to the manager:
3488 <dt><code>VOID</code></dt>
3489 <dd>Connection is disabled.</dd>
3491 <dt><code>BACKOFF</code></dt>
3492 <dd>Attempting to reconnect at an increasing period.</dd>
3494 <dt><code>CONNECTING</code></dt>
3495 <dd>Attempting to connect.</dd>
3497 <dt><code>ACTIVE</code></dt>
3498 <dd>Connected, remote host responsive.</dd>
3500 <dt><code>IDLE</code></dt>
3501 <dd>Connection is idle. Waiting for response to keep-alive.</dd>
3504 These values may change in the future. They are provided only for
3509 <column name="status" key="sec_since_connect"
3510 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 0}'>
3511 The amount of time since this manager last successfully connected
3512 to the database (in seconds). Value is empty if manager has never
3513 successfully connected.
3516 <column name="status" key="sec_since_disconnect"
3517 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 0}'>
3518 The amount of time since this manager last disconnected from the
3519 database (in seconds). Value is empty if manager has never
3523 <column name="status" key="locks_held">
3524 Space-separated list of the names of OVSDB locks that the connection
3525 holds. Omitted if the connection does not hold any locks.
3528 <column name="status" key="locks_waiting">
3529 Space-separated list of the names of OVSDB locks that the connection is
3530 currently waiting to acquire. Omitted if the connection is not waiting
3534 <column name="status" key="locks_lost">
3535 Space-separated list of the names of OVSDB locks that the connection
3536 has had stolen by another OVSDB client. Omitted if no locks have been
3537 stolen from this connection.
3540 <column name="status" key="n_connections"
3541 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 2}'>
3543 When <ref column="target"/> specifies a connection method that
3544 listens for inbound connections (e.g. <code>ptcp:</code> or
3545 <code>pssl:</code>) and more than one connection is actually active,
3546 the value is the number of active connections. Otherwise, this
3547 key-value pair is omitted.
3550 When multiple connections are active, status columns and key-value
3551 pairs (other than this one) report the status of one arbitrarily
3556 <column name="status" key="bound_port" type='{"type": "integer"}'>
3557 When <ref column="target"/> is <code>ptcp:</code> or
3558 <code>pssl:</code>, this is the TCP port on which the OVSDB server is
3559 listening. (This is is particularly useful when <ref
3560 column="target"/> specifies a port of 0, allowing the kernel to
3561 choose any available port.)
3565 <group title="Connection Parameters">
3567 Additional configuration for a connection between the manager
3568 and the Open vSwitch Database.
3571 <column name="other_config" key="dscp"
3572 type='{"type": "integer"}'>
3573 The Differentiated Service Code Point (DSCP) is specified using 6 bits
3574 in the Type of Service (TOS) field in the IP header. DSCP provides a
3575 mechanism to classify the network traffic and provide Quality of
3576 Service (QoS) on IP networks.
3578 The DSCP value specified here is used when establishing the connection
3579 between the manager and the Open vSwitch. If no value is specified, a
3580 default value of 48 is chosen. Valid DSCP values must be in the range
3585 <group title="Common Columns">
3586 The overall purpose of these columns is described under <code>Common
3587 Columns</code> at the beginning of this document.
3589 <column name="external_ids"/>
3590 <column name="other_config"/>
3594 <table name="NetFlow">
3595 A NetFlow target. NetFlow is a protocol that exports a number of
3596 details about terminating IP flows, such as the principals involved
3599 <column name="targets">
3600 NetFlow targets in the form
3601 <code><var>ip</var>:<var>port</var></code>. The <var>ip</var>
3602 must be specified numerically, not as a DNS name.
3605 <column name="engine_id">
3606 Engine ID to use in NetFlow messages. Defaults to datapath index
3610 <column name="engine_type">
3611 Engine type to use in NetFlow messages. Defaults to datapath
3612 index if not specified.
3615 <column name="active_timeout">
3616 The interval at which NetFlow records are sent for flows that are
3617 still active, in seconds. A value of <code>0</code> requests the
3618 default timeout (currently 600 seconds); a value of <code>-1</code>
3619 disables active timeouts.
3622 <column name="add_id_to_interface">
3623 <p>If this column's value is <code>false</code>, the ingress and egress
3624 interface fields of NetFlow flow records are derived from OpenFlow port
3625 numbers. When it is <code>true</code>, the 7 most significant bits of
3626 these fields will be replaced by the least significant 7 bits of the
3627 engine id. This is useful because many NetFlow collectors do not
3628 expect multiple switches to be sending messages from the same host, so
3629 they do not store the engine information which could be used to
3630 disambiguate the traffic.</p>
3631 <p>When this option is enabled, a maximum of 508 ports are supported.</p>
3634 <group title="Common Columns">
3635 The overall purpose of these columns is described under <code>Common
3636 Columns</code> at the beginning of this document.
3638 <column name="external_ids"/>
3643 SSL configuration for an Open_vSwitch.
3645 <column name="private_key">
3646 Name of a PEM file containing the private key used as the switch's
3647 identity for SSL connections to the controller.
3650 <column name="certificate">
3651 Name of a PEM file containing a certificate, signed by the
3652 certificate authority (CA) used by the controller and manager,
3653 that certifies the switch's private key, identifying a trustworthy
3657 <column name="ca_cert">
3658 Name of a PEM file containing the CA certificate used to verify
3659 that the switch is connected to a trustworthy controller.
3662 <column name="bootstrap_ca_cert">
3663 If set to <code>true</code>, then Open vSwitch will attempt to
3664 obtain the CA certificate from the controller on its first SSL
3665 connection and save it to the named PEM file. If it is successful,
3666 it will immediately drop the connection and reconnect, and from then
3667 on all SSL connections must be authenticated by a certificate signed
3668 by the CA certificate thus obtained. <em>This option exposes the
3669 SSL connection to a man-in-the-middle attack obtaining the initial
3670 CA certificate.</em> It may still be useful for bootstrapping.
3673 <group title="Common Columns">
3674 The overall purpose of these columns is described under <code>Common
3675 Columns</code> at the beginning of this document.
3677 <column name="external_ids"/>
3681 <table name="sFlow">
3682 <p>A set of sFlow(R) targets. sFlow is a protocol for remote
3683 monitoring of switches.</p>
3685 <column name="agent">
3686 Name of the network device whose IP address should be reported as the
3687 ``agent address'' to collectors. If not specified, the agent device is
3688 figured from the first target address and the routing table. If the
3689 routing table does not contain a route to the target, the IP address
3690 defaults to the <ref table="Controller" column="local_ip"/> in the
3691 collector's <ref table="Controller"/>. If an agent IP address cannot be
3692 determined any of these ways, sFlow is disabled.
3695 <column name="header">
3696 Number of bytes of a sampled packet to send to the collector.
3697 If not specified, the default is 128 bytes.
3700 <column name="polling">
3701 Polling rate in seconds to send port statistics to the collector.
3702 If not specified, defaults to 30 seconds.
3705 <column name="sampling">
3706 Rate at which packets should be sampled and sent to the collector.
3707 If not specified, defaults to 400, which means one out of 400
3708 packets, on average, will be sent to the collector.
3711 <column name="targets">
3712 sFlow targets in the form
3713 <code><var>ip</var>:<var>port</var></code>.
3716 <group title="Common Columns">
3717 The overall purpose of these columns is described under <code>Common
3718 Columns</code> at the beginning of this document.
3720 <column name="external_ids"/>
3724 <table name="IPFIX">
3725 <p>A set of IPFIX collectors. IPFIX is a protocol that exports a
3726 number of details about flows.</p>
3728 <column name="targets">
3729 IPFIX target collectors in the form
3730 <code><var>ip</var>:<var>port</var></code>.
3733 <column name="sampling">
3734 For per-bridge packet sampling, i.e. when this row is referenced
3735 from a <ref table="Bridge"/>, the rate at which packets should
3736 be sampled and sent to each target collector. If not specified,
3737 defaults to 400, which means one out of 400 packets, on average,
3738 will be sent to each target collector. Ignored for per-flow
3739 sampling, i.e. when this row is referenced from a <ref
3740 table="Flow_Sample_Collector_Set"/>.
3743 <column name="obs_domain_id">
3744 For per-bridge packet sampling, i.e. when this row is referenced
3745 from a <ref table="Bridge"/>, the IPFIX Observation Domain ID
3746 sent in each IPFIX packet. If not specified, defaults to 0.
3747 Ignored for per-flow sampling, i.e. when this row is referenced
3748 from a <ref table="Flow_Sample_Collector_Set"/>.
3751 <column name="obs_point_id">
3752 For per-bridge packet sampling, i.e. when this row is referenced
3753 from a <ref table="Bridge"/>, the IPFIX Observation Point ID
3754 sent in each IPFIX flow record. If not specified, defaults to
3755 0. Ignored for per-flow sampling, i.e. when this row is
3756 referenced from a <ref table="Flow_Sample_Collector_Set"/>.
3759 <column name="cache_active_timeout">
3760 The maximum period in seconds for which an IPFIX flow record is
3761 cached and aggregated before being sent. If not specified,
3762 defaults to 0. If 0, caching is disabled.
3765 <column name="cache_max_flows">
3766 The maximum number of IPFIX flow records that can be cached at a
3767 time. If not specified, defaults to 0. If 0, caching is
3771 <group title="Common Columns">
3772 The overall purpose of these columns is described under <code>Common
3773 Columns</code> at the beginning of this document.
3775 <column name="external_ids"/>
3779 <table name="Flow_Sample_Collector_Set">
3780 <p>A set of IPFIX collectors of packet samples generated by
3781 OpenFlow <code>sample</code> actions.</p>
3784 The ID of this collector set, unique among the bridge's
3785 collector sets, to be used as the <code>collector_set_id</code>
3786 in OpenFlow <code>sample</code> actions.
3789 <column name="bridge">
3790 The bridge into which OpenFlow <code>sample</code> actions can
3791 be added to send packet samples to this set of IPFIX collectors.
3794 <column name="ipfix">
3795 Configuration of the set of IPFIX collectors to send one flow
3796 record per sampled packet to.
3799 <group title="Common Columns">
3800 The overall purpose of these columns is described under <code>Common
3801 Columns</code> at the beginning of this document.
3803 <column name="external_ids"/>