1 <database title="Open vSwitch Configuration Database">
2 <p>A database with this schema holds the configuration for one Open
3 vSwitch daemon. The root of the configuration for the daemon is
4 the <ref table="Open_vSwitch"/> table, which must have exactly one
5 record. Records in other tables are significant only when they
6 can be reached directly or indirectly from the
7 <ref table="Open_vSwitch"/> table.</p>
9 <table name="Open_vSwitch" title="Open vSwitch configuration.">
10 Configuration for an Open vSwitch daemon. There must be exactly one record
11 in the <ref table="Open_vSwitch"/> table.
13 <group title="Configuration">
14 <column name="bridges">
15 Set of bridges managed by the daemon.
18 <column name="managers">
19 Remote database clients to which the Open vSwitch's database server
20 should connect or to which it should listen.
24 SSL used globally by the daemon.
27 <column name="external_ids">
28 Key-value pairs that identify this Open vSwitch's role in
29 external systems. The currently defined key-value pairs are:
31 <dt><code>system-uuid</code></dt>
32 <dd>A universally unique identifier for the Open vSwitch's
33 physical host. The form of the identifier depends on the
34 type of the host. On a Citrix XenServer, this is the host
35 UUID displayed by, e.g., <code>xe host-list</code>.</dd>
40 <group title="Status">
41 <column name="next_cfg">
42 Sequence number for client to increment. When a client modifies
43 any part of the database configuration and wishes to wait for
44 Open vSwitch to finish applying the changes, it may increment
48 <column name="cur_cfg">
49 Sequence number that Open vSwitch sets to the current value of
50 <ref column="next_cfg"/> after it finishes applying a set of
51 configuration changes.
54 <column name="capabilities">
55 Describes functionality supported by the hardware and software platform
56 on which this Open vSwitch is based. Clients should not modify this
57 column. See the <ref table="Capability"/> description for defined
58 capability categories and the meaning of associated
59 <ref table="Capability"/> records.
62 <column name="statistics">
64 Key-value pairs that report statistics about a running Open_vSwitch
65 daemon. The current implementation updates these counters
66 periodically. In the future, we plan to, instead, update them only
67 when they are queried (e.g. using an OVSDB <code>select</code>
68 operation) and perhaps at other times, but not on any regular
71 The currently defined key-value pairs are listed below. Some Open
72 vSwitch implementations may not support some statistics, in which
73 case those key-value pairs are omitted.</p>
75 <dt><code>load-average</code></dt>
77 System load average multiplied by 100 and rounded to the nearest
86 Configuration for a bridge within an
87 <ref table="Open_vSwitch"/>.
90 A <ref table="Bridge"/> record represents an Ethernet switch with one or
91 more ``ports,'' which are the <ref table="Port"/> records pointed to by
92 the <ref table="Bridge"/>'s <ref column="ports"/> column.
95 <group title="Core Features">
97 Bridge identifier. Should be alphanumeric and no more than about 8
98 bytes long. Must be unique among the names of ports, interfaces, and
102 <column name="ports">
103 Ports included in the bridge.
106 <column name="mirrors">
107 Port mirroring configuration.
110 <column name="netflow">
111 NetFlow configuration.
114 <column name="sflow">
118 <column name="flood_vlans">
119 VLAN IDs of VLANs on which MAC address learning should be disabled, so
120 that packets are flooded instead of being sent to specific ports that
121 are believed to contain packets' destination MACs. This should
122 ordinarily be used to disable MAC learning on VLANs used for mirroring
123 (RSPAN VLANs). It may also be useful for debugging.
127 <group title="OpenFlow Configuration">
128 <column name="controller">
129 OpenFlow controller set. If unset, then no OpenFlow controllers
133 <column name="fail_mode">
134 <p>When a controller is configured, it is, ordinarily, responsible
135 for setting up all flows on the switch. Thus, if the connection to
136 the controller fails, no new network connections can be set up.
137 If the connection to the controller stays down long enough,
138 no packets can pass through the switch at all. This setting
139 determines the switch's response to such a situation. It may be set
140 to one of the following:
142 <dt><code>standalone</code></dt>
143 <dd>If no message is received from the controller for three
144 times the inactivity probe interval
145 (see <ref column="inactivity_probe"/>), then Open vSwitch
146 will take over responsibility for setting up flows. In
147 this mode, Open vSwitch causes the bridge to act like an
148 ordinary MAC-learning switch. Open vSwitch will continue
149 to retry connecting to the controller in the background
150 and, when the connection succeeds, it will discontinue its
151 standalone behavior.</dd>
152 <dt><code>secure</code></dt>
153 <dd>Open vSwitch will not set up flows on its own when the
154 controller connection fails or when no controllers are
155 defined. The bridge will continue to retry connecting to
156 any defined controllers forever.</dd>
159 <p>If this value is unset, the default is implementation-specific.</p>
160 <p>When more than one controller is configured,
161 <ref column="fail_mode"/> is considered only when none of the
162 configured controllers can be contacted.</p>
165 <column name="datapath_id">
166 Reports the OpenFlow datapath ID in use. Exactly 16 hex
167 digits. (Setting this column will have no useful effect. Set
168 <ref column="other_config"/>:<code>other-config</code>
173 <group title="Other Features">
174 <column name="datapath_type">
175 Name of datapath provider. The kernel datapath has
176 type <code>system</code>. The userspace datapath has
177 type <code>netdev</code>.
180 <column name="external_ids">
181 Key-value pairs that identify this bridge's role in external systems.
182 The currently defined key-value pairs are:
184 <dt><code>network-uuids</code></dt>
185 <dd>Semicolon-delimited set of universally unique identifier(s) for
186 the network with which this bridge is associated. The form of the
187 identifier(s) depends on the type of the host. On a Citrix
188 XenServer host, the network identifiers are RFC 4122 UUIDs as
189 displayed by, e.g., <code>xe network-list</code>.</dd>
193 <column name="other_config">
194 Key-value pairs for configuring rarely used bridge
195 features. The currently defined key-value pairs are:
197 <dt><code>datapath-id</code></dt>
199 digits to set the OpenFlow datapath ID to a specific
201 <dt><code>hwaddr</code></dt>
202 <dd>An Ethernet address in the form
203 <var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>
204 to set the hardware address of the local port and influence the
211 <table name="Port" table="Port or bond configuration.">
212 <p>A port within a <ref table="Bridge"/>.</p>
213 <p>Most commonly, a port has exactly one ``interface,'' pointed to by its
214 <ref column="interfaces"/> column. Such a port logically
215 corresponds to a port on a physical Ethernet switch. A port
216 with more than one interface is a ``bonded port'' (see
217 <ref group="Bonding Configuration"/>).</p>
218 <p>Some properties that one might think as belonging to a port are actually
219 part of the port's <ref table="Interface"/> members.</p>
222 Port name. Should be alphanumeric and no more than about 8
223 bytes long. May be the same as the interface name, for
224 non-bonded ports. Must otherwise be unique among the names of
225 ports, interfaces, and bridges on a host.
228 <column name="interfaces">
229 The port's interfaces. If there is more than one, this is a
233 <group title="VLAN Configuration">
234 <p>A bridge port must be configured for VLANs in one of two
235 mutually exclusive ways:
237 <li>A ``trunk port'' has an empty value for <ref
238 column="tag"/>. Its <ref column="trunks"/> value may be
239 empty or non-empty.</li>
240 <li>An ``implicitly tagged VLAN port'' or ``access port''
241 has an nonempty value for <ref column="tag"/>. Its
242 <ref column="trunks"/> value must be empty.</li>
244 If <ref column="trunks"/> and <ref column="tag"/> are both
245 nonempty, the configuration is ill-formed.
250 If this is an access port (see above), the port's implicitly
251 tagged VLAN. Must be empty if this is a trunk port.
254 Frames arriving on trunk ports will be forwarded to this
255 port only if they are tagged with the given VLAN (or, if
256 <ref column="tag"/> is 0, then if they lack a VLAN header).
257 Frames arriving on other access ports will be forwarded to
258 this port only if they have the same <ref column="tag"/>
259 value. Frames forwarded to this port will not have an
263 When a frame with a 802.1Q header that indicates a nonzero
264 VLAN is received on an access port, it is discarded.
268 <column name="trunks">
270 If this is a trunk port (see above), the 802.1Q VLAN(s) that
271 this port trunks; if it is empty, then the port trunks all
272 VLANs. Must be empty if this is an access port.
275 Frames arriving on trunk ports are dropped if they are not
276 in one of the specified VLANs. For this purpose, packets
277 that have no VLAN header are treated as part of VLAN 0.
282 <group title="Bonding Configuration">
283 <p>A port that has more than one interface is a ``bonded port.''
284 Bonding allows for load balancing and fail-over. Open vSwitch
285 supports ``source load balancing'' (SLB) bonding, which
286 assigns flows to slaves based on source MAC address, with
287 periodic rebalancing as traffic patterns change. This form of
288 bonding does not require 802.3ad or other special support from
289 the upstream switch to which the slave devices are
292 <p>These columns apply only to bonded ports. Their values are
293 otherwise ignored.</p>
295 <column name="bond_updelay">
296 <p>For a bonded port, the number of milliseconds for which carrier must
297 stay up on an interface before the interface is considered to be up.
298 Specify <code>0</code> to enable the interface immediately.</p>
299 <p>This setting is honored only when at least one bonded interface is
300 already enabled. When no interfaces are enabled, then the first bond
301 interface to come up is enabled immediately.</p>
304 <column name="bond_downdelay">
305 For a bonded port, the number of milliseconds for which carrier must
306 stay down on an interface before the interface is considered to be
307 down. Specify <code>0</code> to disable the interface immediately.
310 <column name="bond_fake_iface">
311 For a bonded port, whether to create a fake internal interface with the
312 name of the port. Use only for compatibility with legacy software that
317 <group title="Other Features">
319 Quality of Service configuration for this port.
323 The MAC address to use for this port for the purpose of choosing the
324 bridge's MAC address. This column does not necessarily reflect the
325 port's actual MAC address, nor will setting it change the port's actual
329 <column name="fake_bridge">
330 Does this port represent a sub-bridge for its tagged VLAN within the
331 Bridge? See ovs-vsctl(8) for more information.
334 <column name="external_ids">
335 Key-value pairs that identify this port's role in external systems. No
336 key-value pairs native to <ref table="Port"/> are currently defined.
337 For fake bridges (see the <ref column="fake_bridge"/> column), external
338 IDs for the fake bridge are defined here by prefixing a
339 <ref table="Bridge"/> <ref table="Bridge" column="external_ids"/> key
340 with <code>fake-bridge-</code>,
341 e.g. <code>fake-bridge-network-uuids</code>.
344 <column name="other_config">
345 Key-value pairs for configuring rarely used port features. The
346 currently defined key-value pairs are:
348 <dt><code>hwaddr</code></dt>
349 <dd>An Ethernet address in the form
350 <code><var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var></code>.</dd>
351 <dt><code>bond-rebalance-interval</code></dt>
352 <dd>For a bonded port, the number of milliseconds between
353 successive attempts to rebalance the bond, that is, to
354 move source MACs and their flows from one interface on
355 the bond to another in an attempt to keep usage of each
356 interface roughly equal. The default is 10000 (10
357 seconds), and the minimum is 1000 (1 second).</dd>
363 <table name="Interface" title="One physical network device in a Port.">
364 An interface within a <ref table="Port"/>.
366 <group title="Core Features">
368 Interface name. Should be alphanumeric and no more than about 8 bytes
369 long. May be the same as the port name, for non-bonded ports. Must
370 otherwise be unique among the names of ports, interfaces, and bridges
375 <p>Ethernet address to set for this interface. If unset then the
376 default MAC address is used:</p>
378 <li>For the local interface, the default is the lowest-numbered MAC
379 address among the other bridge ports, either the value of the
380 <ref table="Port" column="mac"/> in its <ref table="Port"/> record,
381 if set, or its actual MAC (for bonded ports, the MAC of its slave
382 whose name is first in alphabetical order). Internal ports and
383 bridge ports that are used as port mirroring destinations (see the
384 <ref table="Mirror"/> table) are ignored.</li>
385 <li>For other internal interfaces, the default MAC is randomly
387 <li>External interfaces typically have a MAC address associated with
390 <p>Some interfaces may not have a software-controllable MAC
394 <column name="ofport">
395 <p>OpenFlow port number for this interface. Unlike most columns, this
396 column's value should be set only by Open vSwitch itself. Other
397 clients should set this column to an empty set (the default) when
398 creating an <ref table="Interface"/>.</p>
399 <p>Open vSwitch populates this column when the port number becomes
400 known. If the interface is successfully added,
401 <ref column="ofport"/> will be set to a number between 1 and 65535
402 (generally either in the range 1 to 65280, exclusive, or 65534, the
403 port number for the OpenFlow ``local port''). If the interface
404 cannot be added then Open vSwitch sets this column
409 <group title="System-Specific Details">
411 The interface type, one of:
413 <dt><code>system</code></dt>
414 <dd>An ordinary network device, e.g. <code>eth0</code> on Linux.
415 Sometimes referred to as ``external interfaces'' since they are
416 generally connected to hardware external to that on which the Open
417 vSwitch is running. The empty string is a synonym for
418 <code>system</code>.</dd>
419 <dt><code>internal</code></dt>
420 <dd>A simulated network device that sends and receives traffic. An
421 internal interface whose <ref column="name"/> is the same as its
422 bridge's <ref table="Open_vSwitch" column="name"/> is called the
423 ``local interface.'' It does not make sense to bond an internal
424 interface, so the terms ``port'' and ``interface'' are often used
425 imprecisely for internal interfaces.</dd>
426 <dt><code>tap</code></dt>
427 <dd>A TUN/TAP device managed by Open vSwitch.</dd>
428 <dt><code>gre</code></dt>
429 <dd>An Ethernet over RFC 1702 Generic Routing Encapsulation over IPv4
430 tunnel. Each tunnel must be uniquely identified by the
431 combination of <code>remote_ip</code>, <code>local_ip</code>, and
432 <code>in_key</code>. Note that if two ports are defined that are
433 the same except one has an optional identifier and the other does
434 not, the more specific one is matched first. <code>in_key</code>
435 is considered more specific than <code>local_ip</code> if a port
436 defines one and another port defines the other. The arguments
439 <dt><code>remote_ip</code></dt>
440 <dd>Required. The tunnel endpoint.</dd>
443 <dt><code>local_ip</code></dt>
444 <dd>Optional. The destination IP that received packets must
445 match. Default is to match all addresses.</dd>
448 <dt><code>in_key</code></dt>
449 <dd>Optional. The GRE key that received packets must contain.
450 It may either be a 32-bit number (no key and a key of 0 are
451 treated as equivalent) or the word <code>flow</code>. If
452 <code>flow</code> is specified then any key will be accepted
453 and the key will be placed in the <code>tun_id</code> field
454 for matching in the flow table. The ovs-ofctl manual page
455 contains additional information about matching fields in
456 OpenFlow flows. Default is no key.</dd>
459 <dt><code>out_key</code></dt>
460 <dd>Optional. The GRE key to be set on outgoing packets. It may
461 either be a 32-bit number or the word <code>flow</code>. If
462 <code>flow</code> is specified then the key may be set using
463 the <code>set_tunnel</code> Nicira OpenFlow vendor extension (0
464 is used in the absense of an action). The ovs-ofctl manual
465 page contains additional information about the Nicira OpenFlow
466 vendor extensions. Default is no key.</dd>
469 <dt><code>key</code></dt>
470 <dd>Optional. Shorthand to set <code>in_key</code> and
471 <code>out_key</code> at the same time.</dd>
474 <dt><code>tos</code></dt>
475 <dd>Optional. The value of the ToS bits to be set on the
476 encapsulating packet. It may also be the word
477 <code>inherit</code>, in which case the ToS will be copied from
478 the inner packet if it is IPv4 or IPv6 (otherwise it will be
479 0). Note that the ECN fields are always inherited. Default is
483 <dt><code>ttl</code></dt>
484 <dd>Optional. The TTL to be set on the encapsulating packet.
485 It may also be the word <code>inherit</code>, in which case the
486 TTL will be copied from the inner packet if it is IPv4 or IPv6
487 (otherwise it will be the system default, typically 64).
488 Default is the system default TTL.</dd>
491 <dt><code>csum</code></dt>
492 <dd>Optional. Compute GRE checksums for outgoing packets and
493 require checksums for incoming packets. Default is enabled,
494 set to <code>false</code> to disable.</dd>
497 <dt><code>pmtud</code></dt>
498 <dd>Optional. Enable tunnel path MTU discovery. If enabled
499 ``ICMP destination unreachable - fragmentation'' needed
500 messages will be generated for IPv4 packets with the DF bit set
501 and IPv6 packets above the minimum MTU if the packet size
502 exceeds the path MTU minus the size of the tunnel headers. It
503 also forces the encapsulating packet DF bit to be set (it is
504 always set if the inner packet implies path MTU discovery).
505 Note that this option causes behavior that is typically
506 reserved for routers and therefore is not entirely in
507 compliance with the IEEE 802.1D specification for bridges.
508 Default is enabled, set to <code>false</code> to disable.</dd>
511 <dt><code>patch</code></dt>
512 <dd>A pair of virtual devices that act as a patch cable. A
513 <code>peer</code> argument is required that indicates the name
514 of the other side of the patch. Since a patch must work in
515 pairs, a second patch interface must be declared with the
516 <code>name</code> and <code>peer</code> arguments reversed.</dd>
520 <column name="options">
521 Configuration options whose interpretation varies based on
522 <ref column="type"/>.
526 <group title="Ingress Policing">
527 <column name="ingress_policing_burst">
528 <p>Maximum burst size for data received on this interface, in kb. The
529 default burst size if set to <code>0</code> is 1000 kb. This value
530 has no effect if <ref column="ingress_policing_rate"/>
531 is <code>0</code>.</p>
532 <p>The burst size should be at least the size of the interface's
536 <column name="ingress_policing_rate">
537 <p>Maximum rate for data received on this interface, in kbps. Data
538 received faster than this rate is dropped. Set to <code>0</code> to
539 disable policing.</p>
540 <p>The meaning of ``ingress'' is from Open vSwitch's perspective. If
541 configured on a physical interface, then it limits the rate at which
542 traffic is allowed into the system from the outside. If configured
543 on a virtual interface that is connected to a virtual machine, then
544 it limits the rate at which the guest is able to transmit.</p>
548 <group title="Other Features">
549 <column name="external_ids">
550 <p>Key-value pairs that identify this interface's role in external
551 systems. All of the currently defined key-value pairs specifically
552 apply to an interface that represents a virtual Ethernet interface
553 connected to a virtual machine. These key-value pairs should not be
554 present for other types of interfaces. Keys whose names end
555 in <code>-uuid</code> have values that uniquely identify the entity
556 in question. For a Citrix XenServer hypervisor, these values are
557 UUIDs in RFC 4122 format. Other hypervisors may use other
559 <p>The currently defined key-value pairs are:</p>
561 <dt><code>vif-uuid</code></dt>
562 <dd>The virtual interface associated with this interface.</dd>
563 <dt><code>network-uuid</code></dt>
564 <dd>The virtual network to which this interface is attached.</dd>
565 <dt><code>vm-uuid</code></dt>
566 <dd>The VM to which this interface belongs.</dd>
567 <dt><code>vif-mac</code></dt>
568 <dd>The MAC address programmed into the "virtual hardware" for this
570 form <var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>.
571 For Citrix XenServer, this is the value of the <code>MAC</code>
572 field in the VIF record for this interface.</dd>
576 <column name="statistics">
578 Key-value pairs that report interface statistics. The current
579 implementation updates these counters periodically. In the future,
580 we plan to, instead, update them when an interface is created, when
581 they are queried (e.g. using an OVSDB <code>select</code> operation),
582 and just before an interface is deleted due to virtual interface
583 hot-unplug or VM shutdown, and perhaps at other times, but not on any
584 regular periodic basis.</p>
586 The currently defined key-value pairs are listed below. These are
587 the same statistics reported by OpenFlow in its <code>struct
588 ofp_port_stats</code> structure. If an interface does not support a
589 given statistic, then that pair is omitted.</p>
592 Successful transmit and receive counters:
594 <dt><code>rx_packets</code></dt>
595 <dd>Number of received packets.</dd>
596 <dt><code>rx_bytes</code></dt>
597 <dd>Number of received bytes.</dd>
598 <dt><code>tx_packets</code></dt>
599 <dd>Number of transmitted packets.</dd>
600 <dt><code>tx_bytes</code></dt>
601 <dd>Number of transmitted bytes.</dd>
607 <dt><code>rx_dropped</code></dt>
608 <dd>Number of packets dropped by RX.</dd>
609 <dt><code>rx_frame_err</code></dt>
610 <dd>Number of frame alignment errors.</dd>
611 <dt><code>rx_over_err</code></dt>
612 <dd>Number of packets with RX overrun.</dd>
613 <dt><code>rx_crc_err</code></dt>
614 <dd>Number of CRC errors.</dd>
615 <dt><code>rx_errors</code></dt>
617 Total number of receive errors, greater than or equal
618 to the sum of the above.
625 <dt><code>tx_dropped</code></dt>
626 <dd>Number of packets dropped by TX.</dd>
627 <dt><code>collisions</code></dt>
628 <dd>Number of collisions.</dd>
629 <dt><code>tx_errors</code></dt>
631 Total number of transmit errors, greater
632 than or equal to the sum of the above.
641 <table name="QoS" title="Quality of Service configuration">
642 <p>Quality of Service (QoS) configuration for each Port that
646 <p>The type of QoS to implement. The <ref table="Open_vSwitch"
647 column="capabilities"/> column in the <ref table="Open_vSwitch"/> table
648 identifies the types that a switch actually supports. The currently
649 defined types are listed below:</p>
651 <dt><code>linux-htb</code></dt>
652 <dd>Linux ``hierarchy token bucket'' classifier.</dd>
656 <column name="queues">
657 <p>A map from queue numbers to <ref table="Queue"/> records. The
658 supported range of queue numbers depend on <ref column="type"/>. The
659 queue numbers are the same as the <code>queue_id</code> used in
660 OpenFlow in <code>struct ofp_action_enqueue</code> and other
661 structures. Queue 0 is used by OpenFlow output actions that do not
662 specify a specific queue.</p>
665 <column name="other_config">
666 <p>Key-value pairs for configuring QoS features that depend on
667 <ref column="type"/>.</p>
668 <p>The <code>linux-htb</code> class supports the following key-value
671 <dt><code>max-rate</code></dt>
672 <dd>Maximum rate shared by all queued traffic, in bit/s.
673 Optional. If not specified, for physical interfaces, the
674 default is the link rate. For other interfaces or if the
675 link rate cannot be determined, the default is currently 100
681 <table name="Queue" title="QoS output queue.">
682 <p>A configuration for a port output queue, used in configuring Quality of
683 Service (QoS) features. May be referenced by <ref column="queues"
684 table="QoS"/> column in <ref table="QoS"/> table.</p>
686 <column name="other_config">
687 <p>Key-value pairs for configuring the output queue. The supported
688 key-value pairs and their meanings depend on the <ref column="type"/>
689 of the <ref column="QoS"/> records that reference this row.</p>
690 <p>The key-value pairs defined for <ref table="QoS"/> <ref table="QoS"
691 column="type"/> of <code>min-rate</code> are:</p>
693 <dt><code>min-rate</code></dt>
694 <dd>Minimum guaranteed bandwidth, in bit/s. Required.</dd>
696 <p>The key-value pairs defined for <ref table="QoS"/> <ref table="QoS"
697 column="type"/> of <code>linux-htb</code> are:</p>
699 <dt><code>min-rate</code></dt>
700 <dd>Minimum guaranteed bandwidth, in bit/s. Required.</dd>
701 <dt><code>max-rate</code></dt>
702 <dd>Maximum allowed bandwidth, in bit/s. Optional. If specified, the
703 queue's rate will not be allowed to exceed the specified value, even
704 if excess bandwidth is available. If unspecified, defaults to no
706 <dt><code>burst</code></dt>
707 <dd>Burst size, in bits. This is the maximum amount of ``credits''
708 that a queue can accumulate while it is idle. Optional. Details of
709 the <code>linux-htb</code> implementation require a minimum burst
710 size, so a too-small <code>burst</code> will be silently
712 <dt><code>priority</code></dt>
713 <dd>A nonnegative 32-bit integer. Defaults to 0 if
714 unspecified. A queue with a smaller <code>priority</code>
715 will receive all the excess bandwidth that it can use before
716 a queue with a larger value receives any. Specific priority
717 values are unimportant; only relative ordering matters.</dd>
722 <table name="Mirror" title="Port mirroring (SPAN/RSPAN).">
723 <p>A port mirror within a <ref table="Bridge"/>.</p>
724 <p>A port mirror configures a bridge to send selected frames to special
725 ``mirrored'' ports, in addition to their normal destinations. Mirroring
726 traffic may also be referred to as SPAN or RSPAN, depending on the
727 mechanism used for delivery.</p>
730 Arbitrary identifier for the <ref table="Mirror"/>.
733 <group title="Selecting Packets for Mirroring">
734 <column name="select_all">
735 If true, every packet arriving or departing on any port is
736 selected for mirroring.
739 <column name="select_dst_port">
740 Ports on which departing packets are selected for mirroring.
743 <column name="select_src_port">
744 Ports on which arriving packets are selected for mirroring.
747 <column name="select_vlan">
748 VLANs on which packets are selected for mirroring. An empty set
749 selects packets on all VLANs.
753 <group title="Mirroring Destination Configuration">
754 <column name="output_port">
755 <p>Output port for selected packets, if nonempty. Mutually exclusive
756 with <ref column="output_vlan"/>.</p>
757 <p>Specifying a port for mirror output reserves that port exclusively
758 for mirroring. No frames other than those selected for mirroring
759 will be forwarded to the port, and any frames received on the port
760 will be discarded.</p>
761 <p>This type of mirroring is sometimes called SPAN.</p>
764 <column name="output_vlan">
765 <p>Output VLAN for selected packets, if nonempty. Mutually exclusive
766 with <ref column="output_port"/>.</p>
767 <p>The frames will be sent out all ports that trunk
768 <ref column="output_vlan"/>, as well as any ports with implicit VLAN
769 <ref column="output_vlan"/>. When a mirrored frame is sent out a
770 trunk port, the frame's VLAN tag will be set to
771 <ref column="output_vlan"/>, replacing any existing tag; when it is
772 sent out an implicit VLAN port, the frame will not be tagged. This
773 type of mirroring is sometimes called RSPAN.</p>
774 <p><em>Please note:</em> Mirroring to a VLAN can disrupt a network that
775 contains unmanaged switches. Consider an unmanaged physical switch
776 with two ports: port 1, connected to an end host, and port 2,
777 connected to an Open vSwitch configured to mirror received packets
778 into VLAN 123 on port 2. Suppose that the end host sends a packet on
779 port 1 that the physical switch forwards to port 2. The Open vSwitch
780 forwards this packet to its destination and then reflects it back on
781 port 2 in VLAN 123. This reflected packet causes the unmanaged
782 physical switch to replace the MAC learning table entry, which
783 correctly pointed to port 1, with one that incorrectly points to port
784 2. Afterward, the physical switch will direct packets destined for
785 the end host to the Open vSwitch on port 2, instead of to the end
786 host on port 1, disrupting connectivity. If mirroring to a VLAN is
787 desired in this scenario, then the physical switch must be replaced
788 by one that learns Ethernet addresses on a per-VLAN basis. In
789 addition, learning should be disabled on the VLAN containing mirrored
790 traffic. If this is not done then intermediate switches will learn
791 the MAC address of each end host from the mirrored traffic. If
792 packets being sent to that end host are also mirrored, then they will
793 be dropped since the switch will attempt to send them out the input
794 port. Disabling learning for the VLAN will cause the switch to
795 correctly send the packet out all ports configured for that VLAN. If
796 Open vSwitch is being used as an intermediate switch, learning can be
797 disabled by adding the mirrored VLAN to <ref column="flood_vlans"/>
798 in the appropriate <ref table="Bridge"/> table or tables.</p>
803 <table name="Controller" title="OpenFlow controller configuration.">
804 <p>An OpenFlow controller.</p>
806 <p>Open vSwitch permits a bridge to have any number of OpenFlow
807 controllers. When multiple controllers are configured, Open vSwitch
808 connects to all of them simultaneously. OpenFlow 1.0 does not specify
809 how multiple controllers coordinate in interacting with a single switch,
810 so more than one controller should be specified only if the controllers
811 are themselves designed to coordinate with each other.</p>
813 <group title="Core Features">
814 <column name="target">
815 <p>Connection method for controller.
816 The following connection methods are currently
819 <dt><code>ssl:<var>ip</var></code>[<code>:<var>port</var></code>]</dt>
821 <p>The specified SSL <var>port</var> (default: 6633) on the host at
822 the given <var>ip</var>, which must be expressed as an IP address
823 (not a DNS name). The <ref table="Open_vSwitch" column="ssl"/>
824 column in the <ref table="Open_vSwitch"/> must point to a valid
825 SSL configuration when this form is used.</p>
826 <p>SSL support is an optional feature that is not always built as
827 part of Open vSwitch.</p>
829 <dt><code>tcp:<var>ip</var></code>[<code>:<var>port</var></code>]</dt>
830 <dd>The specified TCP <var>port</var> (default: 6633) on the host at
831 the given <var>ip</var>, which must be expressed as an IP address
832 (not a DNS name).</dd>
833 <dt><code>discover</code></dt>
835 <p>Enables controller discovery.</p>
836 <p>In controller discovery mode, Open vSwitch broadcasts a DHCP
837 request with vendor class identifier <code>OpenFlow</code> across
838 all of the bridge's network devices. It will accept any valid
839 DHCP reply that has the same vendor class identifier and includes
840 a vendor-specific option with code 1 whose contents are a string
841 specifying the location of the controller in the same format as
842 <ref column="target"/>.</p>
843 <p>The DHCP reply may also, optionally, include a vendor-specific
844 option with code 2 whose contents are a string specifying the URI
845 to the base of the OpenFlow PKI
846 (e.g. <code>http://192.168.0.1/openflow/pki</code>). This URI is
847 used only for bootstrapping the OpenFlow PKI at initial switch
848 setup; <code>ovs-vswitchd</code> does not use it at all.</p>
850 <dt><code>none</code></dt>
851 <dd>Disables the controller.</dd>
853 <p>When multiple controllers are configured for a single bridge, the
854 <ref column="target"/> values must be unique. Duplicate
855 <ref column="target"/> values yield unspecified results.</p>
858 <column name="connection_mode">
859 <p>If it is specified, this setting must be one of the following
860 strings that describes how Open vSwitch contacts this OpenFlow
861 controller over the network:</p>
864 <dt><code>in-band</code></dt>
865 <dd>In this mode, this controller's OpenFlow traffic travels over the
866 bridge associated with the controller. With this setting, Open
867 vSwitch allows traffic to and from the controller regardless of the
868 contents of the OpenFlow flow table. (Otherwise, Open vSwitch
869 would never be able to connect to the controller, because it did
870 not have a flow to enable it.) This is the most common connection
871 mode because it is not necessary to maintain two independent
873 <dt><code>out-of-band</code></dt>
874 <dd>In this mode, OpenFlow traffic uses a control network separate
875 from the bridge associated with this controller, that is, the
876 bridge does not use any of its own network devices to communicate
877 with the controller. The control network must be configured
878 separately, before or after <code>ovs-vswitchd</code> is started.
882 <p>If not specified, the default is implementation-specific. If
883 <ref column="target"/> is <code>discover</code>, the connection mode
884 is always treated as <code>in-band</code> regardless of the actual
889 <group title="Controller Failure Detection and Handling">
890 <column name="max_backoff">
891 Maximum number of milliseconds to wait between connection attempts.
892 Default is implementation-specific.
895 <column name="inactivity_probe">
896 Maximum number of milliseconds of idle time on connection to
897 controller before sending an inactivity probe message. If Open
898 vSwitch does not communicate with the controller for the specified
899 number of seconds, it will send a probe. If a response is not
900 received for the same additional amount of time, Open vSwitch
901 assumes the connection has been broken and attempts to reconnect.
902 Default is implementation-specific.
906 <group title="OpenFlow Rate Limiting">
907 <column name="controller_rate_limit">
908 <p>The maximum rate at which packets in unknown flows will be
909 forwarded to the OpenFlow controller, in packets per second. This
910 feature prevents a single bridge from overwhelming the controller.
911 If not specified, the default is implementation-specific.</p>
912 <p>In addition, when a high rate triggers rate-limiting, Open
913 vSwitch queues controller packets for each port and transmits
914 them to the controller at the configured rate. The number of
915 queued packets is limited by
916 the <ref column="controller_burst_limit"/> value. The packet
917 queue is shared fairly among the ports on a bridge.</p><p>Open
918 vSwitch maintains two such packet rate-limiters per bridge.
919 One of these applies to packets sent up to the controller
920 because they do not correspond to any flow. The other applies
921 to packets sent up to the controller by request through flow
922 actions. When both rate-limiters are filled with packets, the
923 actual rate that packets are sent to the controller is up to
924 twice the specified rate.</p>
927 <column name="controller_burst_limit">
928 In conjunction with <ref column="controller_rate_limit"/>,
929 the maximum number of unused packet credits that the bridge will
930 allow to accumulate, in packets. If not specified, the default
931 is implementation-specific.
935 <group title="Additional Discovery Configuration">
936 <p>These values are considered only when <ref column="target"/>
937 is <code>discover</code>.</p>
939 <column name="discover_accept_regex">
941 extended regular expression against which the discovered controller
942 location is validated. The regular expression is implicitly
943 anchored at the beginning of the controller location string, as
944 if it begins with <code>^</code>. If not specified, the default
945 is implementation-specific.
948 <column name="discover_update_resolv_conf">
949 Whether to update <code>/etc/resolv.conf</code> when the
950 controller is discovered. If not specified, the default
951 is implementation-specific. Open vSwitch will only modify
952 <code>/etc/resolv.conf</code> if the DHCP response that it receives
953 specifies one or more DNS servers.
957 <group title="Additional In-Band Configuration">
958 <p>These values are considered only in in-band control mode (see
959 <ref column="connection_mode"/>) and only when <ref column="target"/>
960 is not <code>discover</code>. (For controller discovery, the network
961 configuration obtained via DHCP is used instead.)</p>
963 <p>When multiple controllers are configured on a single bridge, there
964 should be only one set of unique values in these columns. If different
965 values are set for these columns in different controllers, the effect
968 <column name="local_ip">
969 The IP address to configure on the local port,
970 e.g. <code>192.168.0.123</code>. If this value is unset, then
971 <ref column="local_netmask"/> and <ref column="local_gateway"/> are
975 <column name="local_netmask">
976 The IP netmask to configure on the local port,
977 e.g. <code>255.255.255.0</code>. If <ref column="local_ip"/> is set
978 but this value is unset, then the default is chosen based on whether
979 the IP address is class A, B, or C.
982 <column name="local_gateway">
983 The IP address of the gateway to configure on the local port, as a
984 string, e.g. <code>192.168.0.1</code>. Leave this column unset if
985 this network has no gateway.
990 <table name="NetFlow">
991 A NetFlow target. NetFlow is a protocol that exports a number of
992 details about terminating IP flows, such as the principals involved
995 <column name="targets">
996 NetFlow targets in the form
997 <code><var>ip</var>:<var>port</var></code>. The <var>ip</var>
998 must be specified numerically, not as a DNS name.
1001 <column name="engine_id">
1002 Engine ID to use in NetFlow messages. Defaults to datapath index
1006 <column name="engine_type">
1007 Engine type to use in NetFlow messages. Defaults to datapath
1008 index if not specified.
1011 <column name="active_timeout">
1012 The interval at which NetFlow records are sent for flows that are
1013 still active, in seconds. A value of <code>0</code> requests the
1014 default timeout (currently 600 seconds); a value of <code>-1</code>
1015 disables active timeouts.
1018 <column name="add_id_to_interface">
1019 <p>If this column's value is <code>false</code>, the ingress and egress
1020 interface fields of NetFlow flow records are derived from OpenFlow port
1021 numbers. When it is <code>true</code>, the 7 most significant bits of
1022 these fields will be replaced by the least significant 7 bits of the
1023 engine id. This is useful because many NetFlow collectors do not
1024 expect multiple switches to be sending messages from the same host, so
1025 they do not store the engine information which could be used to
1026 disambiguate the traffic.</p>
1027 <p>When this option is enabled, a maximum of 508 ports are supported.</p>
1032 SSL configuration for an Open_vSwitch.
1034 <column name="private_key">
1035 Name of a PEM file containing the private key used as the switch's
1036 identity for SSL connections to the controller.
1039 <column name="certificate">
1040 Name of a PEM file containing a certificate, signed by the
1041 certificate authority (CA) used by the controller and manager,
1042 that certifies the switch's private key, identifying a trustworthy
1046 <column name="ca_cert">
1047 Name of a PEM file containing the CA certificate used to verify
1048 that the switch is connected to a trustworthy controller.
1051 <column name="bootstrap_ca_cert">
1052 If set to <code>true</code>, then Open vSwitch will attempt to
1053 obtain the CA certificate from the controller on its first SSL
1054 connection and save it to the named PEM file. If it is successful,
1055 it will immediately drop the connection and reconnect, and from then
1056 on all SSL connections must be authenticated by a certificate signed
1057 by the CA certificate thus obtained. <em>This option exposes the
1058 SSL connection to a man-in-the-middle attack obtaining the initial
1059 CA certificate.</em> It may still be useful for bootstrapping.
1063 <table name="sFlow">
1064 <p>An sFlow(R) target. sFlow is a protocol for remote monitoring
1067 <column name="agent">
1068 Name of the network device whose IP address should be reported as the
1069 ``agent address'' to collectors. If not specified, the IP address
1070 defaults to the <ref table="Controller" column="local_ip"/> in the
1071 collector's <ref table="Controller"/>. If an agent IP address cannot be
1072 determined either way, sFlow is disabled.
1075 <column name="header">
1076 Number of bytes of a sampled packet to send to the collector.
1077 If not specified, the default is 128 bytes.
1080 <column name="polling">
1081 Polling rate in seconds to send port statistics to the collector.
1082 If not specified, defaults to 30 seconds.
1085 <column name="sampling">
1086 Rate at which packets should be sampled and sent to the collector.
1087 If not specified, defaults to 400, which means one out of 400
1088 packets, on average, will be sent to the collector.
1091 <column name="targets">
1092 sFlow targets in the form
1093 <code><var>ip</var>:<var>port</var></code>.
1097 <table name="Capability">
1098 <p>Records in this table describe functionality supported by the hardware
1099 and software platform on which this Open vSwitch is based. Clients
1100 should not modify this table.</p>
1102 <p>A record in this table is meaningful only if it is referenced by the
1103 <ref table="Open_vSwitch" column="capabilities"/> column in the
1104 <ref table="Open_vSwitch"/> table. The key used to reference it, called
1105 the record's ``category,'' determines the meanings of the
1106 <ref column="details"/> column. The following general forms of
1107 categories are currently defined:</p>
1110 <dt><code>qos-<var>type</var></code></dt>
1111 <dd><var>type</var> is supported as the value for
1112 <ref column="type" table="QoS"/> in the <ref table="QoS"/> table.
1116 <column name="details">
1117 <p>Key-value pairs that describe capabilities. The meaning of the pairs
1118 depends on the category key that the <ref table="Open_vSwitch"
1119 column="capabilities"/> column in the <ref table="Open_vSwitch"/> table
1120 uses to reference this record, as described above.</p>
1122 <p>The presence of a record for category <code>qos-<var>type</var></code>
1123 indicates that the switch supports <var>type</var> as the value of
1124 the <ref table="QoS" column="type"/> column in the <ref table="QoS"/>
1125 table. The following key-value pairs are defined to further describe
1126 QoS capabilities:</p>
1129 <dt><code>n-queues</code></dt>
1130 <dd>Number of supported queues, as a positive integer. Keys in the
1131 <ref table="QoS" column="queues"/> column for <ref table="QoS"/>
1132 records whose <ref table="QoS" column="type"/> value
1133 equals <var>type</var> must range between 0 and this value minus one,