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">
568 List of OpenFlow protocols that may be used when negotiating a
569 connection with a controller. A default value of
570 <code>OpenFlow10</code> will be used if this column is empty.
574 <group title="Spanning Tree Configuration">
575 The IEEE 802.1D Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) is a network protocol
576 that ensures loop-free topologies. It allows redundant links to
577 be included in the network to provide automatic backup paths if
578 the active links fails.
580 <column name="stp_enable">
581 Enable spanning tree on the bridge. By default, STP is disabled
582 on bridges. Bond, internal, and mirror ports are not supported
583 and will not participate in the spanning tree.
586 <column name="other_config" key="stp-system-id">
587 The bridge's STP identifier (the lower 48 bits of the bridge-id)
589 <var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>.
590 By default, the identifier is the MAC address of the bridge.
593 <column name="other_config" key="stp-priority"
594 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 0, "maxInteger": 65535}'>
595 The bridge's relative priority value for determining the root
596 bridge (the upper 16 bits of the bridge-id). A bridge with the
597 lowest bridge-id is elected the root. By default, the priority
601 <column name="other_config" key="stp-hello-time"
602 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1, "maxInteger": 10}'>
603 The interval between transmissions of hello messages by
604 designated ports, in seconds. By default the hello interval is
608 <column name="other_config" key="stp-max-age"
609 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 6, "maxInteger": 40}'>
610 The maximum age of the information transmitted by the bridge
611 when it is the root bridge, in seconds. By default, the maximum
615 <column name="other_config" key="stp-forward-delay"
616 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 4, "maxInteger": 30}'>
617 The delay to wait between transitioning root and designated
618 ports to <code>forwarding</code>, in seconds. By default, the
619 forwarding delay is 15 seconds.
623 <group title="Other Features">
624 <column name="datapath_type">
625 Name of datapath provider. The kernel datapath has
626 type <code>system</code>. The userspace datapath has
627 type <code>netdev</code>.
630 <column name="external_ids" key="bridge-id">
631 A unique identifier of the bridge. On Citrix XenServer this will
632 commonly be the same as
633 <ref column="external_ids" key="xs-network-uuids"/>.
636 <column name="external_ids" key="xs-network-uuids">
637 Semicolon-delimited set of universally unique identifier(s) for the
638 network with which this bridge is associated on a Citrix XenServer
639 host. The network identifiers are RFC 4122 UUIDs as displayed by,
640 e.g., <code>xe network-list</code>.
643 <column name="other_config" key="hwaddr">
644 An Ethernet address in the form
645 <var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>
646 to set the hardware address of the local port and influence the
650 <column name="other_config" key="forward-bpdu"
651 type='{"type": "boolean"}'>
652 Option to allow forwarding of BPDU frames when NORMAL action is
653 invoked. Frames with reserved Ethernet addresses (e.g. STP
654 BPDU) will be forwarded when this option is enabled and the
655 switch is not providing that functionality. If STP is enabled
656 on the port, STP BPDUs will never be forwarded. If the Open
657 vSwitch bridge is used to connect different Ethernet networks,
658 and if Open vSwitch node does not run STP, then this option
659 should be enabled. Default is disabled, set to
660 <code>true</code> to enable.
662 The following destination MAC addresss will not be forwarded when this
665 <dt><code>01:80:c2:00:00:00</code></dt>
666 <dd>IEEE 802.1D Spanning Tree Protocol (STP).</dd>
668 <dt><code>01:80:c2:00:00:01</code></dt>
669 <dd>IEEE Pause frame.</dd>
671 <dt><code>01:80:c2:00:00:0<var>x</var></code></dt>
672 <dd>Other reserved protocols.</dd>
674 <dt><code>00:e0:2b:00:00:00</code></dt>
675 <dd>Extreme Discovery Protocol (EDP).</dd>
678 <code>00:e0:2b:00:00:04</code> and <code>00:e0:2b:00:00:06</code>
680 <dd>Ethernet Automatic Protection Switching (EAPS).</dd>
682 <dt><code>01:00:0c:cc:cc:cc</code></dt>
684 Cisco Discovery Protocol (CDP), VLAN Trunking Protocol (VTP),
685 Dynamic Trunking Protocol (DTP), Port Aggregation Protocol (PAgP),
689 <dt><code>01:00:0c:cc:cc:cd</code></dt>
690 <dd>Cisco Shared Spanning Tree Protocol PVSTP+.</dd>
692 <dt><code>01:00:0c:cd:cd:cd</code></dt>
693 <dd>Cisco STP Uplink Fast.</dd>
695 <dt><code>01:00:0c:00:00:00</code></dt>
696 <dd>Cisco Inter Switch Link.</dd>
698 <dt><code>01:00:0c:cc:cc:c<var>x</var></code></dt>
703 <column name="other_config" key="mac-aging-time"
704 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1}'>
706 The maximum number of seconds to retain a MAC learning entry for
707 which no packets have been seen. The default is currently 300
708 seconds (5 minutes). The value, if specified, is forced into a
709 reasonable range, currently 15 to 3600 seconds.
713 A short MAC aging time allows a network to more quickly detect that a
714 host is no longer connected to a switch port. However, it also makes
715 it more likely that packets will be flooded unnecessarily, when they
716 are addressed to a connected host that rarely transmits packets. To
717 reduce the incidence of unnecessary flooding, use a MAC aging time
718 longer than the maximum interval at which a host will ordinarily
723 <column name="other_config" key="mac-table-size"
724 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1}'>
726 The maximum number of MAC addresses to learn. The default is
727 currently 2048. The value, if specified, is forced into a reasonable
728 range, currently 10 to 1,000,000.
733 <group title="Bridge Status">
735 Status information about bridges.
737 <column name="status">
738 Key-value pairs that report bridge status.
740 <column name="status" key="stp_bridge_id">
742 The bridge-id (in hex) used in spanning tree advertisements.
743 Configuring the bridge-id is described in the
744 <code>stp-system-id</code> and <code>stp-priority</code> keys
745 of the <code>other_config</code> section earlier.
748 <column name="status" key="stp_designated_root">
750 The designated root (in hex) for this spanning tree.
753 <column name="status" key="stp_root_path_cost">
755 The path cost of reaching the designated bridge. A lower
761 <group title="Common Columns">
762 The overall purpose of these columns is described under <code>Common
763 Columns</code> at the beginning of this document.
765 <column name="other_config"/>
766 <column name="external_ids"/>
770 <table name="Port" table="Port or bond configuration.">
771 <p>A port within a <ref table="Bridge"/>.</p>
772 <p>Most commonly, a port has exactly one ``interface,'' pointed to by its
773 <ref column="interfaces"/> column. Such a port logically
774 corresponds to a port on a physical Ethernet switch. A port
775 with more than one interface is a ``bonded port'' (see
776 <ref group="Bonding Configuration"/>).</p>
777 <p>Some properties that one might think as belonging to a port are actually
778 part of the port's <ref table="Interface"/> members.</p>
781 Port name. Should be alphanumeric and no more than about 8
782 bytes long. May be the same as the interface name, for
783 non-bonded ports. Must otherwise be unique among the names of
784 ports, interfaces, and bridges on a host.
787 <column name="interfaces">
788 The port's interfaces. If there is more than one, this is a
792 <group title="VLAN Configuration">
793 <p>Bridge ports support the following types of VLAN configuration:</p>
798 A trunk port carries packets on one or more specified VLANs
799 specified in the <ref column="trunks"/> column (often, on every
800 VLAN). A packet that ingresses on a trunk port is in the VLAN
801 specified in its 802.1Q header, or VLAN 0 if the packet has no
802 802.1Q header. A packet that egresses through a trunk port will
803 have an 802.1Q header if it has a nonzero VLAN ID.
807 Any packet that ingresses on a trunk port tagged with a VLAN that
808 the port does not trunk is dropped.
815 An access port carries packets on exactly one VLAN specified in the
816 <ref column="tag"/> column. Packets egressing on an access port
817 have no 802.1Q header.
821 Any packet with an 802.1Q header with a nonzero VLAN ID that
822 ingresses on an access port is dropped, regardless of whether the
823 VLAN ID in the header is the access port's VLAN ID.
827 <dt>native-tagged</dt>
829 A native-tagged port resembles a trunk port, with the exception that
830 a packet without an 802.1Q header that ingresses on a native-tagged
831 port is in the ``native VLAN'' (specified in the <ref column="tag"/>
835 <dt>native-untagged</dt>
837 A native-untagged port resembles a native-tagged port, with the
838 exception that a packet that egresses on a native-untagged port in
839 the native VLAN will not have an 802.1Q header.
843 A packet will only egress through bridge ports that carry the VLAN of
844 the packet, as described by the rules above.
847 <column name="vlan_mode">
849 The VLAN mode of the port, as described above. When this column is
850 empty, a default mode is selected as follows:
854 If <ref column="tag"/> contains a value, the port is an access
855 port. The <ref column="trunks"/> column should be empty.
858 Otherwise, the port is a trunk port. The <ref column="trunks"/>
859 column value is honored if it is present.
866 For an access port, the port's implicitly tagged VLAN. For a
867 native-tagged or native-untagged port, the port's native VLAN. Must
868 be empty if this is a trunk port.
872 <column name="trunks">
874 For a trunk, native-tagged, or native-untagged port, the 802.1Q VLAN
875 or VLANs that this port trunks; if it is empty, then the port trunks
876 all VLANs. Must be empty if this is an access port.
879 A native-tagged or native-untagged port always trunks its native
880 VLAN, regardless of whether <ref column="trunks"/> includes that
885 <column name="other_config" key="priority-tags"
886 type='{"type": "boolean"}'>
888 An 802.1Q header contains two important pieces of information: a VLAN
889 ID and a priority. A frame with a zero VLAN ID, called a
890 ``priority-tagged'' frame, is supposed to be treated the same way as
891 a frame without an 802.1Q header at all (except for the priority).
895 However, some network elements ignore any frame that has 802.1Q
896 header at all, even when the VLAN ID is zero. Therefore, by default
897 Open vSwitch does not output priority-tagged frames, instead omitting
898 the 802.1Q header entirely if the VLAN ID is zero. Set this key to
899 <code>true</code> to enable priority-tagged frames on a port.
903 Regardless of this setting, Open vSwitch omits the 802.1Q header on
904 output if both the VLAN ID and priority would be zero.
908 All frames output to native-tagged ports have a nonzero VLAN ID, so
909 this setting is not meaningful on native-tagged ports.
914 <group title="Bonding Configuration">
915 <p>A port that has more than one interface is a ``bonded port.'' Bonding
916 allows for load balancing and fail-over.</p>
919 The following types of bonding will work with any kind of upstream
920 switch. On the upstream switch, do not configure the interfaces as a
925 <dt><code>balance-slb</code></dt>
927 Balances flows among slaves based on source MAC address and output
928 VLAN, with periodic rebalancing as traffic patterns change.
931 <dt><code>active-backup</code></dt>
933 Assigns all flows to one slave, failing over to a backup slave when
934 the active slave is disabled. This is the only bonding mode in which
935 interfaces may be plugged into different upstream switches.
940 The following modes require the upstream switch to support 802.3ad with
941 successful LACP negotiation. If LACP negotiation fails and
942 other-config:lacp-fallback-ab is true, then <code>active-backup</code>
947 <dt><code>balance-tcp</code></dt>
949 Balances flows among slaves based on L2, L3, and L4 protocol
950 information such as destination MAC address, IP address, and TCP
955 <p>These columns apply only to bonded ports. Their values are
956 otherwise ignored.</p>
958 <column name="bond_mode">
959 <p>The type of bonding used for a bonded port. Defaults to
960 <code>active-backup</code> if unset.
964 <column name="other_config" key="bond-hash-basis"
965 type='{"type": "integer"}'>
966 An integer hashed along with flows when choosing output slaves in load
967 balanced bonds. When changed, all flows will be assigned different
968 hash values possibly causing slave selection decisions to change. Does
969 not affect bonding modes which do not employ load balancing such as
970 <code>active-backup</code>.
973 <group title="Link Failure Detection">
975 An important part of link bonding is detecting that links are down so
976 that they may be disabled. These settings determine how Open vSwitch
977 detects link failure.
980 <column name="other_config" key="bond-detect-mode"
981 type='{"type": "string", "enum": ["set", ["carrier", "miimon"]]}'>
982 The means used to detect link failures. Defaults to
983 <code>carrier</code> which uses each interface's carrier to detect
984 failures. When set to <code>miimon</code>, will check for failures
985 by polling each interface's MII.
988 <column name="other_config" key="bond-miimon-interval"
989 type='{"type": "integer"}'>
990 The interval, in milliseconds, between successive attempts to poll
991 each interface's MII. Relevant only when <ref column="other_config"
992 key="bond-detect-mode"/> is <code>miimon</code>.
995 <column name="bond_updelay">
997 The number of milliseconds for which the link must stay up on an
998 interface before the interface is considered to be up. Specify
999 <code>0</code> to enable the interface immediately.
1003 This setting is honored only when at least one bonded interface is
1004 already enabled. When no interfaces are enabled, then the first
1005 bond interface to come up is enabled immediately.
1009 <column name="bond_downdelay">
1010 The number of milliseconds for which the link must stay down on an
1011 interface before the interface is considered to be down. Specify
1012 <code>0</code> to disable the interface immediately.
1016 <group title="LACP Configuration">
1018 LACP, the Link Aggregation Control Protocol, is an IEEE standard that
1019 allows switches to automatically detect that they are connected by
1020 multiple links and aggregate across those links. These settings
1021 control LACP behavior.
1024 <column name="lacp">
1025 Configures LACP on this port. LACP allows directly connected
1026 switches to negotiate which links may be bonded. LACP may be enabled
1027 on non-bonded ports for the benefit of any switches they may be
1028 connected to. <code>active</code> ports are allowed to initiate LACP
1029 negotiations. <code>passive</code> ports are allowed to participate
1030 in LACP negotiations initiated by a remote switch, but not allowed to
1031 initiate such negotiations themselves. If LACP is enabled on a port
1032 whose partner switch does not support LACP, the bond will be
1033 disabled, unless other-config:lacp-fallback-ab is set to true.
1034 Defaults to <code>off</code> if unset.
1037 <column name="other_config" key="lacp-system-id">
1038 The LACP system ID of this <ref table="Port"/>. The system ID of a
1039 LACP bond is used to identify itself to its partners. Must be a
1040 nonzero MAC address. Defaults to the bridge Ethernet address if
1044 <column name="other_config" key="lacp-system-priority"
1045 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1, "maxInteger": 65535}'>
1046 The LACP system priority of this <ref table="Port"/>. In LACP
1047 negotiations, link status decisions are made by the system with the
1048 numerically lower priority.
1051 <column name="other_config" key="lacp-time"
1052 type='{"type": "string", "enum": ["set", ["fast", "slow"]]}'>
1054 The LACP timing which should be used on this <ref table="Port"/>.
1055 By default <code>slow</code> is used. When configured to be
1056 <code>fast</code> LACP heartbeats are requested at a rate of once
1057 per second causing connectivity problems to be detected more
1058 quickly. In <code>slow</code> mode, heartbeats are requested at a
1059 rate of once every 30 seconds.
1063 <column name="other_config" key="lacp-fallback-ab"
1064 type='{"type": "boolean"}'>
1066 Determines the behavior of openvswitch bond in LACP mode. If
1067 the partner switch does not support LACP, setting this option
1068 to <code>true</code> allows openvswitch to fallback to
1069 active-backup. If the option is set to <code>false</code>, the
1070 bond will be disabled. In both the cases, once the partner switch
1071 is configured to LACP mode, the bond will use LACP.
1076 <group title="Rebalancing Configuration">
1078 These settings control behavior when a bond is in
1079 <code>balance-slb</code> or <code>balance-tcp</code> mode.
1082 <column name="other_config" key="bond-rebalance-interval"
1083 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 0, "maxInteger": 10000}'>
1084 For a load balanced bonded port, the number of milliseconds between
1085 successive attempts to rebalance the bond, that is, to move flows
1086 from one interface on the bond to another in an attempt to keep usage
1087 of each interface roughly equal. If zero, load balancing is disabled
1088 on the bond (link failure still cause flows to move). If
1089 less than 1000ms, the rebalance interval will be 1000ms.
1093 <column name="bond_fake_iface">
1094 For a bonded port, whether to create a fake internal interface with the
1095 name of the port. Use only for compatibility with legacy software that
1100 <group title="Spanning Tree Configuration">
1101 <column name="other_config" key="stp-enable"
1102 type='{"type": "boolean"}'>
1103 If spanning tree is enabled on the bridge, member ports are
1104 enabled by default (with the exception of bond, internal, and
1105 mirror ports which do not work with STP). If this column's
1106 value is <code>false</code> spanning tree is disabled on the
1110 <column name="other_config" key="stp-port-num"
1111 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1, "maxInteger": 255}'>
1112 The port number used for the lower 8 bits of the port-id. By
1113 default, the numbers will be assigned automatically. If any
1114 port's number is manually configured on a bridge, then they
1118 <column name="other_config" key="stp-port-priority"
1119 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 0, "maxInteger": 255}'>
1120 The port's relative priority value for determining the root
1121 port (the upper 8 bits of the port-id). A port with a lower
1122 port-id will be chosen as the root port. By default, the
1126 <column name="other_config" key="stp-path-cost"
1127 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 0, "maxInteger": 65535}'>
1128 Spanning tree path cost for the port. A lower number indicates
1129 a faster link. By default, the cost is based on the maximum
1134 <group title="Other Features">
1136 Quality of Service configuration for this port.
1140 The MAC address to use for this port for the purpose of choosing the
1141 bridge's MAC address. This column does not necessarily reflect the
1142 port's actual MAC address, nor will setting it change the port's actual
1146 <column name="fake_bridge">
1147 Does this port represent a sub-bridge for its tagged VLAN within the
1148 Bridge? See ovs-vsctl(8) for more information.
1151 <column name="external_ids" key="fake-bridge-id-*">
1152 External IDs for a fake bridge (see the <ref column="fake_bridge"/>
1153 column) are defined by prefixing a <ref table="Bridge"/> <ref
1154 table="Bridge" column="external_ids"/> key with
1155 <code>fake-bridge-</code>,
1156 e.g. <code>fake-bridge-xs-network-uuids</code>.
1160 <group title="Port Status">
1162 Status information about ports attached to bridges.
1164 <column name="status">
1165 Key-value pairs that report port status.
1167 <column name="status" key="stp_port_id">
1169 The port-id (in hex) used in spanning tree advertisements for
1170 this port. Configuring the port-id is described in the
1171 <code>stp-port-num</code> and <code>stp-port-priority</code>
1172 keys of the <code>other_config</code> section earlier.
1175 <column name="status" key="stp_state"
1176 type='{"type": "string", "enum": ["set",
1177 ["disabled", "listening", "learning",
1178 "forwarding", "blocking"]]}'>
1180 STP state of the port.
1183 <column name="status" key="stp_sec_in_state"
1184 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 0}'>
1186 The amount of time (in seconds) port has been in the current
1190 <column name="status" key="stp_role"
1191 type='{"type": "string", "enum": ["set",
1192 ["root", "designated", "alternate"]]}'>
1194 STP role of the port.
1199 <group title="Port Statistics">
1201 Key-value pairs that report port statistics.
1203 <group title="Statistics: STP transmit and receive counters">
1204 <column name="statistics" key="stp_tx_count">
1205 Number of STP BPDUs sent on this port by the spanning
1208 <column name="statistics" key="stp_rx_count">
1209 Number of STP BPDUs received on this port and accepted by the
1210 spanning tree library.
1212 <column name="statistics" key="stp_error_count">
1213 Number of bad STP BPDUs received on this port. Bad BPDUs
1214 include runt packets and those with an unexpected protocol ID.
1219 <group title="Common Columns">
1220 The overall purpose of these columns is described under <code>Common
1221 Columns</code> at the beginning of this document.
1223 <column name="other_config"/>
1224 <column name="external_ids"/>
1228 <table name="Interface" title="One physical network device in a Port.">
1229 An interface within a <ref table="Port"/>.
1231 <group title="Core Features">
1232 <column name="name">
1233 Interface name. Should be alphanumeric and no more than about 8 bytes
1234 long. May be the same as the port name, for non-bonded ports. Must
1235 otherwise be unique among the names of ports, interfaces, and bridges
1239 <column name="ifindex">
1240 A positive interface index as defined for SNMP MIB-II in RFCs 1213 and
1241 2863, if the interface has one, otherwise 0. The ifindex is useful for
1242 seamless integration with protocols such as SNMP and sFlow.
1245 <column name="mac_in_use">
1246 The MAC address in use by this interface.
1250 <p>Ethernet address to set for this interface. If unset then the
1251 default MAC address is used:</p>
1253 <li>For the local interface, the default is the lowest-numbered MAC
1254 address among the other bridge ports, either the value of the
1255 <ref table="Port" column="mac"/> in its <ref table="Port"/> record,
1256 if set, or its actual MAC (for bonded ports, the MAC of its slave
1257 whose name is first in alphabetical order). Internal ports and
1258 bridge ports that are used as port mirroring destinations (see the
1259 <ref table="Mirror"/> table) are ignored.</li>
1260 <li>For other internal interfaces, the default MAC is randomly
1262 <li>External interfaces typically have a MAC address associated with
1263 their hardware.</li>
1265 <p>Some interfaces may not have a software-controllable MAC
1269 <group title="OpenFlow Port Number">
1271 When a client adds a new interface, Open vSwitch chooses an OpenFlow
1272 port number for the new port. If the client that adds the port fills
1273 in <ref column="ofport_request"/>, then Open vSwitch tries to use its
1274 value as the OpenFlow port number. Otherwise, or if the requested
1275 port number is already in use or cannot be used for another reason,
1276 Open vSwitch automatically assigns a free port number. Regardless of
1277 how the port number was obtained, Open vSwitch then reports in <ref
1278 column="ofport"/> the port number actually assigned.
1282 Open vSwitch limits the port numbers that it automatically assigns to
1283 the range 1 through 32,767, inclusive. Controllers therefore have
1284 free use of ports 32,768 and up.
1287 <column name="ofport">
1289 OpenFlow port number for this interface. Open vSwitch sets this
1290 column's value, so other clients should treat it as read-only.
1293 The OpenFlow ``local'' port (<code>OFPP_LOCAL</code>) is 65,534.
1294 The other valid port numbers are in the range 1 to 65,279,
1295 inclusive. Value -1 indicates an error adding the interface.
1299 <column name="ofport_request"
1300 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1, "maxInteger": 65279}'>
1302 Requested OpenFlow port number for this interface.
1306 A client should ideally set this column's value in the same
1307 database transaction that it uses to create the interface. Open
1308 vSwitch version 2.1 and later will honor a later request for a
1309 specific port number, althuogh it might confuse some controllers:
1310 OpenFlow does not have a way to announce a port number change, so
1311 Open vSwitch represents it over OpenFlow as a port deletion
1312 followed immediately by a port addition.
1316 If <ref column="ofport_request"/> is set or changed to some other
1317 port's automatically assigned port number, Open vSwitch chooses a
1318 new port number for the latter port.
1324 <group title="System-Specific Details">
1325 <column name="type">
1327 The interface type, one of:
1331 <dt><code>system</code></dt>
1332 <dd>An ordinary network device, e.g. <code>eth0</code> on Linux.
1333 Sometimes referred to as ``external interfaces'' since they are
1334 generally connected to hardware external to that on which the Open
1335 vSwitch is running. The empty string is a synonym for
1336 <code>system</code>.</dd>
1338 <dt><code>internal</code></dt>
1339 <dd>A simulated network device that sends and receives traffic. An
1340 internal interface whose <ref column="name"/> is the same as its
1341 bridge's <ref table="Open_vSwitch" column="name"/> is called the
1342 ``local interface.'' It does not make sense to bond an internal
1343 interface, so the terms ``port'' and ``interface'' are often used
1344 imprecisely for internal interfaces.</dd>
1346 <dt><code>tap</code></dt>
1347 <dd>A TUN/TAP device managed by Open vSwitch.</dd>
1349 <dt><code>gre</code></dt>
1351 An Ethernet over RFC 2890 Generic Routing Encapsulation over IPv4
1355 <dt><code>ipsec_gre</code></dt>
1357 An Ethernet over RFC 2890 Generic Routing Encapsulation over IPv4
1361 <dt><code>gre64</code></dt>
1363 It is same as GRE, but it allows 64 bit key. To store higher 32-bits
1364 of key, it uses GRE protocol sequence number field. This is non
1365 standard use of GRE protocol since OVS does not increment
1366 sequence number for every packet at time of encap as expected by
1367 standard GRE implementation. See <ref group="Tunnel Options"/>
1368 for information on configuring GRE tunnels.
1371 <dt><code>ipsec_gre64</code></dt>
1373 Same as IPSEC_GRE except 64 bit key.
1376 <dt><code>vxlan</code></dt>
1379 An Ethernet tunnel over the experimental, UDP-based VXLAN
1380 protocol described at
1381 <code>http://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-mahalingam-dutt-dcops-vxlan-03</code>.
1384 Open vSwitch uses UDP destination port 4789. The source port used for
1385 VXLAN traffic varies on a per-flow basis and is in the ephemeral port
1390 <dt><code>lisp</code></dt>
1393 A layer 3 tunnel over the experimental, UDP-based Locator/ID
1394 Separation Protocol (RFC 6830).
1397 Only IPv4 and IPv6 packets are supported by the protocol, and
1398 they are sent and received without an Ethernet header. Traffic
1399 to/from LISP ports is expected to be configured explicitly, and
1400 the ports are not intended to participate in learning based
1401 switching. As such, they are always excluded from packet
1406 <dt><code>patch</code></dt>
1408 A pair of virtual devices that act as a patch cable.
1411 <dt><code>null</code></dt>
1412 <dd>An ignored interface. Deprecated and slated for removal in
1418 <group title="Tunnel Options">
1420 These options apply to interfaces with <ref column="type"/> of
1421 <code>gre</code>, <code>ipsec_gre</code>, <code>gre64</code>,
1422 <code>ipsec_gre64</code>, <code>vxlan</code>, and <code>lisp</code>.
1426 Each tunnel must be uniquely identified by the combination of <ref
1427 column="type"/>, <ref column="options" key="remote_ip"/>, <ref
1428 column="options" key="local_ip"/>, and <ref column="options"
1429 key="in_key"/>. If two ports are defined that are the same except one
1430 has an optional identifier and the other does not, the more specific
1431 one is matched first. <ref column="options" key="in_key"/> is
1432 considered more specific than <ref column="options" key="local_ip"/> if
1433 a port defines one and another port defines the other.
1436 <column name="options" key="remote_ip">
1437 <p>Required. The remote tunnel endpoint, one of:</p>
1441 An IPv4 address (not a DNS name), e.g. <code>192.168.0.123</code>.
1442 Only unicast endpoints are supported.
1445 The word <code>flow</code>. The tunnel accepts packets from any
1446 remote tunnel endpoint. To process only packets from a specific
1447 remote tunnel endpoint, the flow entries may match on the
1448 <code>tun_src</code> field. When sending packets to a
1449 <code>remote_ip=flow</code> tunnel, the flow actions must
1450 explicitly set the <code>tun_dst</code> field to the IP address of
1451 the desired remote tunnel endpoint, e.g. with a
1452 <code>set_field</code> action.
1457 The remote tunnel endpoint for any packet received from a tunnel
1458 is available in the <code>tun_src</code> field for matching in the
1463 <column name="options" key="local_ip">
1465 Optional. The tunnel destination IP that received packets must
1466 match. Default is to match all addresses. If specified, may be one
1472 An IPv4 address (not a DNS name), e.g. <code>192.168.12.3</code>.
1475 The word <code>flow</code>. The tunnel accepts packets sent to any
1476 of the local IP addresses of the system running OVS. To process
1477 only packets sent to a specific IP address, the flow entries may
1478 match on the <code>tun_dst</code> field. When sending packets to a
1479 <code>local_ip=flow</code> tunnel, the flow actions may
1480 explicitly set the <code>tun_src</code> field to the desired IP
1481 address, e.g. with a <code>set_field</code> action. However, while
1482 routing the tunneled packet out, the local system may override the
1483 specified address with the local IP address configured for the
1484 outgoing system interface.
1487 This option is valid only for tunnels also configured with the
1488 <code>remote_ip=flow</code> option.
1494 The tunnel destination IP address for any packet received from a
1495 tunnel is available in the <code>tun_dst</code> field for matching in
1500 <column name="options" key="in_key">
1501 <p>Optional. The key that received packets must contain, one of:</p>
1505 <code>0</code>. The tunnel receives packets with no key or with a
1506 key of 0. This is equivalent to specifying no <ref column="options"
1507 key="in_key"/> at all.
1510 A positive 24-bit (for VXLAN and LISP), 32-bit (for GRE) or 64-bit
1511 (for GRE64) number. The tunnel receives only packets with the
1515 The word <code>flow</code>. The tunnel accepts packets with any
1516 key. The key will be placed in the <code>tun_id</code> field for
1517 matching in the flow table. The <code>ovs-ofctl</code> manual page
1518 contains additional information about matching fields in OpenFlow
1527 <column name="options" key="out_key">
1528 <p>Optional. The key to be set on outgoing packets, one of:</p>
1532 <code>0</code>. Packets sent through the tunnel will have no key.
1533 This is equivalent to specifying no <ref column="options"
1534 key="out_key"/> at all.
1537 A positive 24-bit (for VXLAN and LISP), 32-bit (for GRE) or 64-bit
1538 (for GRE64) number. Packets sent through the tunnel will have the
1542 The word <code>flow</code>. Packets sent through the tunnel will
1543 have the key set using the <code>set_tunnel</code> Nicira OpenFlow
1544 vendor extension (0 is used in the absence of an action). The
1545 <code>ovs-ofctl</code> manual page contains additional information
1546 about the Nicira OpenFlow vendor extensions.
1551 <column name="options" key="key">
1552 Optional. Shorthand to set <code>in_key</code> and
1553 <code>out_key</code> at the same time.
1556 <column name="options" key="tos">
1557 Optional. The value of the ToS bits to be set on the encapsulating
1558 packet. ToS is interpreted as DSCP and ECN bits, ECN part must be
1559 zero. It may also be the word <code>inherit</code>, in which case
1560 the ToS will be copied from the inner packet if it is IPv4 or IPv6
1561 (otherwise it will be 0). The ECN fields are always inherited.
1565 <column name="options" key="ttl">
1566 Optional. The TTL to be set on the encapsulating packet. It may also
1567 be the word <code>inherit</code>, in which case the TTL will be copied
1568 from the inner packet if it is IPv4 or IPv6 (otherwise it will be the
1569 system default, typically 64). Default is the system default TTL.
1572 <column name="options" key="df_default"
1573 type='{"type": "boolean"}'>
1574 Optional. If enabled, the Don't Fragment bit will be set on tunnel
1575 outer headers to allow path MTU discovery. Default is enabled; set
1576 to <code>false</code> to disable.
1579 <group title="Tunnel Options: gre and ipsec_gre only">
1581 Only <code>gre</code> and <code>ipsec_gre</code> interfaces support
1585 <column name="options" key="csum" type='{"type": "boolean"}'>
1587 Optional. Compute GRE checksums on outgoing packets. Default is
1588 disabled, set to <code>true</code> to enable. Checksums present on
1589 incoming packets will be validated regardless of this setting.
1593 GRE checksums impose a significant performance penalty because they
1594 cover the entire packet. The encapsulated L3, L4, and L7 packet
1595 contents typically have their own checksums, so this additional
1596 checksum only adds value for the GRE and encapsulated L2 headers.
1600 This option is supported for <code>ipsec_gre</code>, but not useful
1601 because GRE checksums are weaker than, and redundant with, IPsec
1602 payload authentication.
1607 <group title="Tunnel Options: ipsec_gre only">
1609 Only <code>ipsec_gre</code> interfaces support these options.
1612 <column name="options" key="peer_cert">
1613 Required for certificate authentication. A string containing the
1614 peer's certificate in PEM format. Additionally the host's
1615 certificate must be specified with the <code>certificate</code>
1619 <column name="options" key="certificate">
1620 Required for certificate authentication. The name of a PEM file
1621 containing a certificate that will be presented to the peer during
1625 <column name="options" key="private_key">
1626 Optional for certificate authentication. The name of a PEM file
1627 containing the private key associated with <code>certificate</code>.
1628 If <code>certificate</code> contains the private key, this option may
1632 <column name="options" key="psk">
1633 Required for pre-shared key authentication. Specifies a pre-shared
1634 key for authentication that must be identical on both sides of the
1640 <group title="Patch Options">
1642 Only <code>patch</code> interfaces support these options.
1645 <column name="options" key="peer">
1646 The <ref column="name"/> of the <ref table="Interface"/> for the other
1647 side of the patch. The named <ref table="Interface"/>'s own
1648 <code>peer</code> option must specify this <ref table="Interface"/>'s
1649 name. That is, the two patch interfaces must have reversed <ref
1650 column="name"/> and <code>peer</code> values.
1654 <group title="Interface Status">
1656 Status information about interfaces attached to bridges, updated every
1657 5 seconds. Not all interfaces have all of these properties; virtual
1658 interfaces don't have a link speed, for example. Non-applicable
1659 columns will have empty values.
1661 <column name="admin_state">
1663 The administrative state of the physical network link.
1667 <column name="link_state">
1669 The observed state of the physical network link. This is ordinarily
1670 the link's carrier status. If the interface's <ref table="Port"/> is
1671 a bond configured for miimon monitoring, it is instead the network
1672 link's miimon status.
1676 <column name="link_resets">
1678 The number of times Open vSwitch has observed the
1679 <ref column="link_state"/> of this <ref table="Interface"/> change.
1683 <column name="link_speed">
1685 The negotiated speed of the physical network link.
1686 Valid values are positive integers greater than 0.
1690 <column name="duplex">
1692 The duplex mode of the physical network link.
1698 The MTU (maximum transmission unit); i.e. the largest
1699 amount of data that can fit into a single Ethernet frame.
1700 The standard Ethernet MTU is 1500 bytes. Some physical media
1701 and many kinds of virtual interfaces can be configured with
1705 This column will be empty for an interface that does not
1706 have an MTU as, for example, some kinds of tunnels do not.
1710 <column name="lacp_current">
1711 Boolean value indicating LACP status for this interface. If true, this
1712 interface has current LACP information about its LACP partner. This
1713 information may be used to monitor the health of interfaces in a LACP
1714 enabled port. This column will be empty if LACP is not enabled.
1717 <column name="status">
1718 Key-value pairs that report port status. Supported status values are
1719 <ref column="type"/>-dependent; some interfaces may not have a valid
1720 <ref column="status" key="driver_name"/>, for example.
1723 <column name="status" key="driver_name">
1724 The name of the device driver controlling the network adapter.
1727 <column name="status" key="driver_version">
1728 The version string of the device driver controlling the network
1732 <column name="status" key="firmware_version">
1733 The version string of the network adapter's firmware, if available.
1736 <column name="status" key="source_ip">
1737 The source IP address used for an IPv4 tunnel end-point, such as
1741 <column name="status" key="tunnel_egress_iface">
1742 Egress interface for tunnels. Currently only relevant for GRE tunnels
1743 On Linux systems, this column will show the name of the interface
1744 which is responsible for routing traffic destined for the configured
1745 <ref column="options" key="remote_ip"/>. This could be an internal
1746 interface such as a bridge port.
1749 <column name="status" key="tunnel_egress_iface_carrier"
1750 type='{"type": "string", "enum": ["set", ["down", "up"]]}'>
1751 Whether carrier is detected on <ref column="status"
1752 key="tunnel_egress_iface"/>.
1756 <group title="Statistics">
1758 Key-value pairs that report interface statistics. The current
1759 implementation updates these counters periodically. Future
1760 implementations may update them when an interface is created, when they
1761 are queried (e.g. using an OVSDB <code>select</code> operation), and
1762 just before an interface is deleted due to virtual interface hot-unplug
1763 or VM shutdown, and perhaps at other times, but not on any regular
1767 These are the same statistics reported by OpenFlow in its <code>struct
1768 ofp_port_stats</code> structure. If an interface does not support a
1769 given statistic, then that pair is omitted.
1771 <group title="Statistics: Successful transmit and receive counters">
1772 <column name="statistics" key="rx_packets">
1773 Number of received packets.
1775 <column name="statistics" key="rx_bytes">
1776 Number of received bytes.
1778 <column name="statistics" key="tx_packets">
1779 Number of transmitted packets.
1781 <column name="statistics" key="tx_bytes">
1782 Number of transmitted bytes.
1785 <group title="Statistics: Receive errors">
1786 <column name="statistics" key="rx_dropped">
1787 Number of packets dropped by RX.
1789 <column name="statistics" key="rx_frame_err">
1790 Number of frame alignment errors.
1792 <column name="statistics" key="rx_over_err">
1793 Number of packets with RX overrun.
1795 <column name="statistics" key="rx_crc_err">
1796 Number of CRC errors.
1798 <column name="statistics" key="rx_errors">
1799 Total number of receive errors, greater than or equal to the sum of
1803 <group title="Statistics: Transmit errors">
1804 <column name="statistics" key="tx_dropped">
1805 Number of packets dropped by TX.
1807 <column name="statistics" key="collisions">
1808 Number of collisions.
1810 <column name="statistics" key="tx_errors">
1811 Total number of transmit errors, greater than or equal to the sum of
1817 <group title="Ingress Policing">
1819 These settings control ingress policing for packets received on this
1820 interface. On a physical interface, this limits the rate at which
1821 traffic is allowed into the system from the outside; on a virtual
1822 interface (one connected to a virtual machine), this limits the rate at
1823 which the VM is able to transmit.
1826 Policing is a simple form of quality-of-service that simply drops
1827 packets received in excess of the configured rate. Due to its
1828 simplicity, policing is usually less accurate and less effective than
1829 egress QoS (which is configured using the <ref table="QoS"/> and <ref
1830 table="Queue"/> tables).
1833 Policing is currently implemented only on Linux. The Linux
1834 implementation uses a simple ``token bucket'' approach:
1838 The size of the bucket corresponds to <ref
1839 column="ingress_policing_burst"/>. Initially the bucket is full.
1842 Whenever a packet is received, its size (converted to tokens) is
1843 compared to the number of tokens currently in the bucket. If the
1844 required number of tokens are available, they are removed and the
1845 packet is forwarded. Otherwise, the packet is dropped.
1848 Whenever it is not full, the bucket is refilled with tokens at the
1849 rate specified by <ref column="ingress_policing_rate"/>.
1853 Policing interacts badly with some network protocols, and especially
1854 with fragmented IP packets. Suppose that there is enough network
1855 activity to keep the bucket nearly empty all the time. Then this token
1856 bucket algorithm will forward a single packet every so often, with the
1857 period depending on packet size and on the configured rate. All of the
1858 fragments of an IP packets are normally transmitted back-to-back, as a
1859 group. In such a situation, therefore, only one of these fragments
1860 will be forwarded and the rest will be dropped. IP does not provide
1861 any way for the intended recipient to ask for only the remaining
1862 fragments. In such a case there are two likely possibilities for what
1863 will happen next: either all of the fragments will eventually be
1864 retransmitted (as TCP will do), in which case the same problem will
1865 recur, or the sender will not realize that its packet has been dropped
1866 and data will simply be lost (as some UDP-based protocols will do).
1867 Either way, it is possible that no forward progress will ever occur.
1869 <column name="ingress_policing_rate">
1871 Maximum rate for data received on this interface, in kbps. Data
1872 received faster than this rate is dropped. Set to <code>0</code>
1873 (the default) to disable policing.
1877 <column name="ingress_policing_burst">
1878 <p>Maximum burst size for data received on this interface, in kb. The
1879 default burst size if set to <code>0</code> is 1000 kb. This value
1880 has no effect if <ref column="ingress_policing_rate"/>
1881 is <code>0</code>.</p>
1883 Specifying a larger burst size lets the algorithm be more forgiving,
1884 which is important for protocols like TCP that react severely to
1885 dropped packets. The burst size should be at least the size of the
1886 interface's MTU. Specifying a value that is numerically at least as
1887 large as 10% of <ref column="ingress_policing_rate"/> helps TCP come
1888 closer to achieving the full rate.
1893 <group title="Bidirectional Forwarding Detection (BFD)">
1895 BFD, defined in RFC 5880 and RFC 5881, allows point-to-point
1896 detection of connectivity failures by occasional transmission of
1897 BFD control messages. Open vSwitch implements BFD to serve
1898 as a more popular and standards compliant alternative to CFM.
1902 BFD operates by regularly transmitting BFD control messages at a rate
1903 negotiated independently in each direction. Each endpoint specifies
1904 the rate at which it expects to receive control messages, and the rate
1905 at which it is willing to transmit them. Open vSwitch uses a detection
1906 multiplier of three, meaning that an endpoint signals a connectivity
1907 fault if three consecutive BFD control messages fail to arrive. In the
1908 case of a unidirectional connectivity issue, the system not receiving
1909 BFD control messages signals the problem to its peer in the messages it
1914 The Open vSwitch implementation of BFD aims to comply faithfully
1915 with RFC 5880 requirements. Open vSwitch does not implement the
1916 optional Authentication or ``Echo Mode'' features.
1919 <group title="BFD Configuration">
1921 A controller sets up key-value pairs in the <ref column="bfd"/>
1922 column to enable and configure BFD.
1925 <column name="bfd" key="enable" type='{"type": "boolean"}'>
1926 True to enable BFD on this <ref table="Interface"/>.
1929 <column name="bfd" key="min_rx"
1930 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1}'>
1931 The shortest interval, in milliseconds, at which this BFD session
1932 offers to receive BFD control messages. The remote endpoint may
1933 choose to send messages at a slower rate. Defaults to
1937 <column name="bfd" key="min_tx"
1938 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1}'>
1939 The shortest interval, in milliseconds, at which this BFD session is
1940 willing to transmit BFD control messages. Messages will actually be
1941 transmitted at a slower rate if the remote endpoint is not willing to
1942 receive as quickly as specified. Defaults to <code>100</code>.
1945 <column name="bfd" key="decay_min_rx" type='{"type": "integer"}'>
1946 An alternate receive interval, in milliseconds, that must be greater
1947 than or equal to <ref column="bfd" key="min_rx"/>. The
1948 implementation switches from <ref column="bfd" key="min_rx"/> to <ref
1949 column="bfd" key="decay_min_rx"/> when there is no obvious incoming
1950 data traffic at the interface, to reduce the CPU and bandwidth cost
1951 of monitoring an idle interface. This feature may be disabled by
1952 setting a value of 0. This feature is reset whenever <ref
1953 column="bfd" key="decay_min_rx"/> or <ref column="bfd" key="min_rx"/>
1957 <column name="bfd" key="forwarding_if_rx" type='{"type": "boolean"}'>
1958 True to consider the interface capable of packet I/O as long as it
1959 continues to receive any packets (not just BFD packets). This
1960 prevents link congestion that causes consecutive BFD control packets
1961 to be lost from marking the interface down.
1964 <column name="bfd" key="cpath_down" type='{"type": "boolean"}'>
1965 Set to true to notify the remote endpoint that traffic should not be
1966 forwarded to this system for some reason other than a connectivty
1967 failure on the interface being monitored. The typical underlying
1968 reason is ``concatenated path down,'' that is, that connectivity
1969 beyond the local system is down. Defaults to false.
1972 <column name="bfd" key="check_tnl_key" type='{"type": "boolean"}'>
1973 Set to true to make BFD accept only control messages with a tunnel
1974 key of zero. By default, BFD accepts control messages with any
1978 <column name="bfd" key="bfd_dst_mac">
1979 Set to an Ethernet address in the form
1980 <var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>
1981 to set the MAC used as destination for transmitted BFD packets and
1982 expected as destination for received BFD packets. The default is
1983 <code>00:23:20:00:00:01</code>.
1986 <column name="bfd" key="bfd_src_ip">
1987 Set to an IPv4 address to set the IP address used as source for
1988 transmitted BFD packets. The default is <code>169.254.1.0</code>.
1991 <column name="bfd" key="bfd_dst_ip">
1992 Set to an IPv4 address to set the IP address used as destination
1993 for transmitted BFD packets. The default is <code>169.254.1.1</code>.
1997 <group title="BFD Status">
1999 The switch sets key-value pairs in the <ref column="bfd_status"/>
2000 column to report the status of BFD on this interface. When BFD is
2001 not enabled, with <ref column="bfd" key="enable"/>, the switch clears
2002 all key-value pairs from <ref column="bfd_status"/>.
2005 <column name="bfd_status" key="state"
2006 type='{"type": "string",
2007 "enum": ["set", ["admin_down", "down", "init", "up"]]}'>
2008 Reports the state of the BFD session. The BFD session is fully
2009 healthy and negotiated if <code>UP</code>.
2012 <column name="bfd_status" key="forwarding" type='{"type": "boolean"}'>
2013 Reports whether the BFD session believes this <ref
2014 table="Interface"/> may be used to forward traffic. Typically this
2015 means the local session is signaling <code>UP</code>, and the remote
2016 system isn't signaling a problem such as concatenated path down.
2019 <column name="bfd_status" key="diagnostic">
2020 In case of a problem, set to a short message that reports what the
2021 local BFD session thinks is wrong.
2024 <column name="bfd_status" key="remote_state"
2025 type='{"type": "string",
2026 "enum": ["set", ["admin_down", "down", "init", "up"]]}'>
2027 Reports the state of the remote endpoint's BFD session.
2030 <column name="bfd_status" key="remote_diagnostic">
2031 In case of a problem, set to a short message that reports what the
2032 remote endpoint's BFD session thinks is wrong.
2035 <column name="bfd_status" key="flap_count"
2036 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 0}'>
2037 Counts the number of <ref column="bfd_status" key="forwarding" />
2038 flaps since start. A flap is considered as a change of the
2039 <ref column="bfd_status" key="forwarding" /> value.
2044 <group title="Connectivity Fault Management">
2046 802.1ag Connectivity Fault Management (CFM) allows a group of
2047 Maintenance Points (MPs) called a Maintenance Association (MA) to
2048 detect connectivity problems with each other. MPs within a MA should
2049 have complete and exclusive interconnectivity. This is verified by
2050 occasionally broadcasting Continuity Check Messages (CCMs) at a
2051 configurable transmission interval.
2055 According to the 802.1ag specification, each Maintenance Point should
2056 be configured out-of-band with a list of Remote Maintenance Points it
2057 should have connectivity to. Open vSwitch differs from the
2058 specification in this area. It simply assumes the link is faulted if
2059 no Remote Maintenance Points are reachable, and considers it not
2064 When operating over tunnels which have no <code>in_key</code>, or an
2065 <code>in_key</code> of <code>flow</code>. CFM will only accept CCMs
2066 with a tunnel key of zero.
2069 <column name="cfm_mpid">
2071 A Maintenance Point ID (MPID) uniquely identifies each endpoint
2072 within a Maintenance Association. The MPID is used to identify this
2073 endpoint to other Maintenance Points in the MA. Each end of a link
2074 being monitored should have a different MPID. Must be configured to
2075 enable CFM on this <ref table="Interface"/>.
2078 According to the 802.1ag specification, MPIDs can only range between
2079 [1, 8191]. However, extended mode (see <ref column="other_config"
2080 key="cfm_extended"/>) supports eight byte MPIDs.
2084 <column name="cfm_flap_count">
2085 Counts the number of cfm fault flapps since boot. A flap is
2086 considered to be a change of the <ref column="cfm_fault"/> value.
2089 <column name="cfm_fault">
2091 Indicates a connectivity fault triggered by an inability to receive
2092 heartbeats from any remote endpoint. When a fault is triggered on
2093 <ref table="Interface"/>s participating in bonds, they will be
2097 Faults can be triggered for several reasons. Most importantly they
2098 are triggered when no CCMs are received for a period of 3.5 times the
2099 transmission interval. Faults are also triggered when any CCMs
2100 indicate that a Remote Maintenance Point is not receiving CCMs but
2101 able to send them. Finally, a fault is triggered if a CCM is
2102 received which indicates unexpected configuration. Notably, this
2103 case arises when a CCM is received which advertises the local MPID.
2107 <column name="cfm_fault_status" key="recv">
2108 Indicates a CFM fault was triggered due to a lack of CCMs received on
2109 the <ref table="Interface"/>.
2112 <column name="cfm_fault_status" key="rdi">
2113 Indicates a CFM fault was triggered due to the reception of a CCM with
2114 the RDI bit flagged. Endpoints set the RDI bit in their CCMs when they
2115 are not receiving CCMs themselves. This typically indicates a
2116 unidirectional connectivity failure.
2119 <column name="cfm_fault_status" key="maid">
2120 Indicates a CFM fault was triggered due to the reception of a CCM with
2121 a MAID other than the one Open vSwitch uses. CFM broadcasts are tagged
2122 with an identification number in addition to the MPID called the MAID.
2123 Open vSwitch only supports receiving CCM broadcasts tagged with the
2124 MAID it uses internally.
2127 <column name="cfm_fault_status" key="loopback">
2128 Indicates a CFM fault was triggered due to the reception of a CCM
2129 advertising the same MPID configured in the <ref column="cfm_mpid"/>
2130 column of this <ref table="Interface"/>. This may indicate a loop in
2134 <column name="cfm_fault_status" key="overflow">
2135 Indicates a CFM fault was triggered because the CFM module received
2136 CCMs from more remote endpoints than it can keep track of.
2139 <column name="cfm_fault_status" key="override">
2140 Indicates a CFM fault was manually triggered by an administrator using
2141 an <code>ovs-appctl</code> command.
2144 <column name="cfm_fault_status" key="interval">
2145 Indicates a CFM fault was triggered due to the reception of a CCM
2146 frame having an invalid interval.
2149 <column name="cfm_remote_opstate">
2150 <p>When in extended mode, indicates the operational state of the
2151 remote endpoint as either <code>up</code> or <code>down</code>. See
2152 <ref column="other_config" key="cfm_opstate"/>.
2156 <column name="cfm_health">
2158 Indicates the health of the interface as a percentage of CCM frames
2159 received over 21 <ref column="other_config" key="cfm_interval"/>s.
2160 The health of an interface is undefined if it is communicating with
2161 more than one <ref column="cfm_remote_mpids"/>. It reduces if
2162 healthy heartbeats are not received at the expected rate, and
2163 gradually improves as healthy heartbeats are received at the desired
2164 rate. Every 21 <ref column="other_config" key="cfm_interval"/>s, the
2165 health of the interface is refreshed.
2168 As mentioned above, the faults can be triggered for several reasons.
2169 The link health will deteriorate even if heartbeats are received but
2170 they are reported to be unhealthy. An unhealthy heartbeat in this
2171 context is a heartbeat for which either some fault is set or is out
2172 of sequence. The interface health can be 100 only on receiving
2173 healthy heartbeats at the desired rate.
2177 <column name="cfm_remote_mpids">
2178 When CFM is properly configured, Open vSwitch will occasionally
2179 receive CCM broadcasts. These broadcasts contain the MPID of the
2180 sending Maintenance Point. The list of MPIDs from which this
2181 <ref table="Interface"/> is receiving broadcasts from is regularly
2182 collected and written to this column.
2185 <column name="other_config" key="cfm_interval"
2186 type='{"type": "integer"}'>
2188 The interval, in milliseconds, between transmissions of CFM
2189 heartbeats. Three missed heartbeat receptions indicate a
2194 In standard operation only intervals of 3, 10, 100, 1,000, 10,000,
2195 60,000, or 600,000 ms are supported. Other values will be rounded
2196 down to the nearest value on the list. Extended mode (see <ref
2197 column="other_config" key="cfm_extended"/>) supports any interval up
2198 to 65,535 ms. In either mode, the default is 1000 ms.
2201 <p>We do not recommend using intervals less than 100 ms.</p>
2204 <column name="other_config" key="cfm_extended"
2205 type='{"type": "boolean"}'>
2206 When <code>true</code>, the CFM module operates in extended mode. This
2207 causes it to use a nonstandard destination address to avoid conflicting
2208 with compliant implementations which may be running concurrently on the
2209 network. Furthermore, extended mode increases the accuracy of the
2210 <code>cfm_interval</code> configuration parameter by breaking wire
2211 compatibility with 802.1ag compliant implementations. And extended
2212 mode allows eight byte MPIDs. Defaults to <code>false</code>.
2215 <column name="other_config" key="cfm_demand" type='{"type": "boolean"}'>
2217 When <code>true</code>, and
2218 <ref column="other_config" key="cfm_extended"/> is true, the CFM
2219 module operates in demand mode. When in demand mode, traffic
2220 received on the <ref table="Interface"/> is used to indicate
2221 liveness. CCMs are still transmitted and received, but if the
2222 <ref table="Interface"/> is receiving traffic, their absence does not
2223 cause a connectivity fault.
2227 Demand mode has a couple of caveats:
2230 To ensure that ovs-vswitchd has enough time to pull statistics
2231 from the datapath, the fault detection interval is set to
2232 3.5 * MAX(<ref column="other_config" key="cfm_interval"/>, 500)
2237 To avoid ambiguity, demand mode disables itself when there are
2238 multiple remote maintenance points.
2242 If the <ref table="Interface"/> is heavily congested, CCMs
2243 containing the <ref column="other_config" key="cfm_opstate"/>
2244 status may be dropped causing changes in the operational state to
2245 be delayed. Similarly, if CCMs containing the RDI bit are not
2246 received, unidirectional link failures may not be detected.
2252 <column name="other_config" key="cfm_opstate"
2253 type='{"type": "string", "enum": ["set", ["down", "up"]]}'>
2254 When <code>down</code>, the CFM module marks all CCMs it generates as
2255 operationally down without triggering a fault. This allows remote
2256 maintenance points to choose not to forward traffic to the
2257 <ref table="Interface"/> on which this CFM module is running.
2258 Currently, in Open vSwitch, the opdown bit of CCMs affects
2259 <ref table="Interface"/>s participating in bonds, and the bundle
2260 OpenFlow action. This setting is ignored when CFM is not in extended
2261 mode. Defaults to <code>up</code>.
2264 <column name="other_config" key="cfm_ccm_vlan"
2265 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1, "maxInteger": 4095}'>
2266 When set, the CFM module will apply a VLAN tag to all CCMs it generates
2267 with the given value. May be the string <code>random</code> in which
2268 case each CCM will be tagged with a different randomly generated VLAN.
2271 <column name="other_config" key="cfm_ccm_pcp"
2272 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1, "maxInteger": 7}'>
2273 When set, the CFM module will apply a VLAN tag to all CCMs it generates
2274 with the given PCP value, the VLAN ID of the tag is governed by the
2275 value of <ref column="other_config" key="cfm_ccm_vlan"/>. If
2276 <ref column="other_config" key="cfm_ccm_vlan"/> is unset, a VLAN ID of
2282 <group title="Bonding Configuration">
2283 <column name="other_config" key="lacp-port-id"
2284 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1, "maxInteger": 65535}'>
2285 The LACP port ID of this <ref table="Interface"/>. Port IDs are
2286 used in LACP negotiations to identify individual ports
2287 participating in a bond.
2290 <column name="other_config" key="lacp-port-priority"
2291 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1, "maxInteger": 65535}'>
2292 The LACP port priority of this <ref table="Interface"/>. In LACP
2293 negotiations <ref table="Interface"/>s with numerically lower
2294 priorities are preferred for aggregation.
2297 <column name="other_config" key="lacp-aggregation-key"
2298 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1, "maxInteger": 65535}'>
2299 The LACP aggregation key of this <ref table="Interface"/>. <ref
2300 table="Interface"/>s with different aggregation keys may not be active
2301 within a given <ref table="Port"/> at the same time.
2305 <group title="Virtual Machine Identifiers">
2307 These key-value pairs specifically apply to an interface that
2308 represents a virtual Ethernet interface connected to a virtual
2309 machine. These key-value pairs should not be present for other types
2310 of interfaces. Keys whose names end in <code>-uuid</code> have
2311 values that uniquely identify the entity in question. For a Citrix
2312 XenServer hypervisor, these values are UUIDs in RFC 4122 format.
2313 Other hypervisors may use other formats.
2316 <column name="external_ids" key="attached-mac">
2317 The MAC address programmed into the ``virtual hardware'' for this
2318 interface, in the form
2319 <var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>.
2320 For Citrix XenServer, this is the value of the <code>MAC</code> field
2321 in the VIF record for this interface.
2324 <column name="external_ids" key="iface-id">
2325 A system-unique identifier for the interface. On XenServer, this will
2326 commonly be the same as <ref column="external_ids" key="xs-vif-uuid"/>.
2329 <column name="external_ids" key="iface-status"
2330 type='{"type": "string",
2331 "enum": ["set", ["active", "inactive"]]}'>
2333 Hypervisors may sometimes have more than one interface associated
2334 with a given <ref column="external_ids" key="iface-id"/>, only one of
2335 which is actually in use at a given time. For example, in some
2336 circumstances XenServer has both a ``tap'' and a ``vif'' interface
2337 for a single <ref column="external_ids" key="iface-id"/>, but only
2338 uses one of them at a time. A hypervisor that behaves this way must
2339 mark the currently in use interface <code>active</code> and the
2340 others <code>inactive</code>. A hypervisor that never has more than
2341 one interface for a given <ref column="external_ids" key="iface-id"/>
2342 may mark that interface <code>active</code> or omit <ref
2343 column="external_ids" key="iface-status"/> entirely.
2347 During VM migration, a given <ref column="external_ids"
2348 key="iface-id"/> might transiently be marked <code>active</code> on
2349 two different hypervisors. That is, <code>active</code> means that
2350 this <ref column="external_ids" key="iface-id"/> is the active
2351 instance within a single hypervisor, not in a broader scope.
2352 There is one exception: some hypervisors support ``migration'' from a
2353 given hypervisor to itself (most often for test purposes). During
2354 such a ``migration,'' two instances of a single <ref
2355 column="external_ids" key="iface-id"/> might both be briefly marked
2356 <code>active</code> on a single hypervisor.
2360 <column name="external_ids" key="xs-vif-uuid">
2361 The virtual interface associated with this interface.
2364 <column name="external_ids" key="xs-network-uuid">
2365 The virtual network to which this interface is attached.
2368 <column name="external_ids" key="vm-id">
2369 The VM to which this interface belongs. On XenServer, this will be the
2370 same as <ref column="external_ids" key="xs-vm-uuid"/>.
2373 <column name="external_ids" key="xs-vm-uuid">
2374 The VM to which this interface belongs.
2378 <group title="VLAN Splinters">
2380 The ``VLAN splinters'' feature increases Open vSwitch compatibility
2381 with buggy network drivers in old versions of Linux that do not
2382 properly support VLANs when VLAN devices are not used, at some cost
2383 in memory and performance.
2387 When VLAN splinters are enabled on a particular interface, Open vSwitch
2388 creates a VLAN device for each in-use VLAN. For sending traffic tagged
2389 with a VLAN on the interface, it substitutes the VLAN device. Traffic
2390 received on the VLAN device is treated as if it had been received on
2391 the interface on the particular VLAN.
2395 VLAN splinters consider a VLAN to be in use if:
2400 The VLAN is the <ref table="Port" column="tag"/> value in any <ref
2401 table="Port"/> record.
2405 The VLAN is listed within the <ref table="Port" column="trunks"/>
2406 column of the <ref table="Port"/> record of an interface on which
2407 VLAN splinters are enabled.
2409 An empty <ref table="Port" column="trunks"/> does not influence the
2410 in-use VLANs: creating 4,096 VLAN devices is impractical because it
2411 will exceed the current 1,024 port per datapath limit.
2415 An OpenFlow flow within any bridge matches the VLAN.
2420 The same set of in-use VLANs applies to every interface on which VLAN
2421 splinters are enabled. That is, the set is not chosen separately for
2422 each interface but selected once as the union of all in-use VLANs based
2427 It does not make sense to enable VLAN splinters on an interface for an
2428 access port, or on an interface that is not a physical port.
2432 VLAN splinters are deprecated. When broken device drivers are no
2433 longer in widespread use, we will delete this feature.
2436 <column name="other_config" key="enable-vlan-splinters"
2437 type='{"type": "boolean"}'>
2439 Set to <code>true</code> to enable VLAN splinters on this interface.
2440 Defaults to <code>false</code>.
2444 VLAN splinters increase kernel and userspace memory overhead, so do
2445 not use them unless they are needed.
2449 VLAN splinters do not support 802.1p priority tags. Received
2450 priorities will appear to be 0, regardless of their actual values,
2451 and priorities on transmitted packets will also be cleared to 0.
2456 <group title="Common Columns">
2457 The overall purpose of these columns is described under <code>Common
2458 Columns</code> at the beginning of this document.
2460 <column name="other_config"/>
2461 <column name="external_ids"/>
2465 <table name="Flow_Table" title="OpenFlow table configuration">
2466 <p>Configuration for a particular OpenFlow table.</p>
2468 <column name="name">
2469 The table's name. Set this column to change the name that controllers
2470 will receive when they request table statistics, e.g. <code>ovs-ofctl
2471 dump-tables</code>. The name does not affect switch behavior.
2474 <column name="flow_limit">
2475 If set, limits the number of flows that may be added to the table. Open
2476 vSwitch may limit the number of flows in a table for other reasons,
2477 e.g. due to hardware limitations or for resource availability or
2478 performance reasons.
2481 <column name="overflow_policy">
2483 Controls the switch's behavior when an OpenFlow flow table modification
2484 request would add flows in excess of <ref column="flow_limit"/>. The
2485 supported values are:
2489 <dt><code>refuse</code></dt>
2491 Refuse to add the flow or flows. This is also the default policy
2492 when <ref column="overflow_policy"/> is unset.
2495 <dt><code>evict</code></dt>
2497 Delete the flow that will expire soonest. See <ref column="groups"/>
2503 <column name="groups">
2505 When <ref column="overflow_policy"/> is <code>evict</code>, this
2506 controls how flows are chosen for eviction when the flow table would
2507 otherwise exceed <ref column="flow_limit"/> flows. Its value is a set
2508 of NXM fields or sub-fields, each of which takes one of the forms
2509 <code><var>field</var>[]</code> or
2510 <code><var>field</var>[<var>start</var>..<var>end</var>]</code>,
2511 e.g. <code>NXM_OF_IN_PORT[]</code>. Please see
2512 <code>nicira-ext.h</code> for a complete list of NXM field names.
2516 When a flow must be evicted due to overflow, the flow to evict is
2517 chosen through an approximation of the following algorithm:
2522 Divide the flows in the table into groups based on the values of the
2523 specified fields or subfields, so that all of the flows in a given
2524 group have the same values for those fields. If a flow does not
2525 specify a given field, that field's value is treated as 0.
2529 Consider the flows in the largest group, that is, the group that
2530 contains the greatest number of flows. If two or more groups all
2531 have the same largest number of flows, consider the flows in all of
2536 Among the flows under consideration, choose the flow that expires
2537 soonest for eviction.
2542 The eviction process only considers flows that have an idle timeout or
2543 a hard timeout. That is, eviction never deletes permanent flows.
2544 (Permanent flows do count against <ref column="flow_limit"/>.)
2548 Open vSwitch ignores any invalid or unknown field specifications.
2552 When <ref column="overflow_policy"/> is not <code>evict</code>, this
2553 column has no effect.
2557 <column name="prefixes">
2559 This string set specifies which fields should be used for
2560 address prefix tracking. Prefix tracking allows the
2561 classifier to skip rules with longer than necessary prefixes,
2562 resulting in better wildcarding for datapath flows.
2565 Prefix tracking may be beneficial when a flow table contains
2566 matches on IP address fields with different prefix lengths.
2567 For example, when a flow table contains IP address matches on
2568 both full addresses and proper prefixes, the full address
2569 matches will typically cause the datapath flow to un-wildcard
2570 the whole address field (depending on flow entry priorities).
2571 In this case each packet with a different address gets handed
2572 to the userspace for flow processing and generates its own
2573 datapath flow. With prefix tracking enabled for the address
2574 field in question packets with addresses matching shorter
2575 prefixes would generate datapath flows where the irrelevant
2576 address bits are wildcarded, allowing the same datapath flow
2577 to handle all the packets within the prefix in question. In
2578 this case many userspace upcalls can be avoided and the
2579 overall performance can be better.
2582 This is a performance optimization only, so packets will
2583 receive the same treatment with or without prefix tracking.
2586 The supported fields are: <code>tun_id</code>,
2587 <code>tun_src</code>, <code>tun_dst</code>,
2588 <code>nw_src</code>, <code>nw_dst</code> (or aliases
2589 <code>ip_src</code> and <code>ip_dst</code>),
2590 <code>ipv6_src</code>, and <code>ipv6_dst</code>. (Using this
2591 feature for <code>tun_id</code> would only make sense if the
2592 tunnel IDs have prefix structure similar to IP addresses.)
2595 For example, <code>prefixes=ip_dst,ip_src</code> instructs the
2596 flow classifier to track the IP destination and source
2597 addresses used by the rules in this specific flow table. To
2598 set the prefix fields, the flow table record needs to exist:
2601 <dt><code>ovs-vsctl set Bridge br0 flow_tables:0=@N1 -- --id=@N1 create Flow_Table name=table0</code></dt>
2603 Creates a flow table record for the OpenFlow table number 0.
2606 <dt><code>ovs-vsctl set Flow_Table table0 prefixes=ip_dst,ip_src</code></dt>
2608 Enables prefix tracking for IP source and destination
2614 There is a maximum number of fields that can be enabled for any
2615 one flow table. Currently this limit is 3.
2620 <table name="QoS" title="Quality of Service configuration">
2621 <p>Quality of Service (QoS) configuration for each Port that
2624 <column name="type">
2625 <p>The type of QoS to implement. The currently defined types are
2628 <dt><code>linux-htb</code></dt>
2630 Linux ``hierarchy token bucket'' classifier. See tc-htb(8) (also at
2631 <code>http://linux.die.net/man/8/tc-htb</code>) and the HTB manual
2632 (<code>http://luxik.cdi.cz/~devik/qos/htb/manual/userg.htm</code>)
2633 for information on how this classifier works and how to configure it.
2637 <dt><code>linux-hfsc</code></dt>
2639 Linux "Hierarchical Fair Service Curve" classifier.
2640 See <code>http://linux-ip.net/articles/hfsc.en/</code> for
2641 information on how this classifier works.
2646 <column name="queues">
2647 <p>A map from queue numbers to <ref table="Queue"/> records. The
2648 supported range of queue numbers depend on <ref column="type"/>. The
2649 queue numbers are the same as the <code>queue_id</code> used in
2650 OpenFlow in <code>struct ofp_action_enqueue</code> and other
2654 Queue 0 is the ``default queue.'' It is used by OpenFlow output
2655 actions when no specific queue has been set. When no configuration for
2656 queue 0 is present, it is automatically configured as if a <ref
2657 table="Queue"/> record with empty <ref table="Queue" column="dscp"/>
2658 and <ref table="Queue" column="other_config"/> columns had been
2660 (Before version 1.6, Open vSwitch would leave queue 0 unconfigured in
2661 this case. With some queuing disciplines, this dropped all packets
2662 destined for the default queue.)
2666 <group title="Configuration for linux-htb and linux-hfsc">
2668 The <code>linux-htb</code> and <code>linux-hfsc</code> classes support
2669 the following key-value pair:
2672 <column name="other_config" key="max-rate" type='{"type": "integer"}'>
2673 Maximum rate shared by all queued traffic, in bit/s. Optional. If not
2674 specified, for physical interfaces, the default is the link rate. For
2675 other interfaces or if the link rate cannot be determined, the default
2676 is currently 100 Mbps.
2680 <group title="Common Columns">
2681 The overall purpose of these columns is described under <code>Common
2682 Columns</code> at the beginning of this document.
2684 <column name="other_config"/>
2685 <column name="external_ids"/>
2689 <table name="Queue" title="QoS output queue.">
2690 <p>A configuration for a port output queue, used in configuring Quality of
2691 Service (QoS) features. May be referenced by <ref column="queues"
2692 table="QoS"/> column in <ref table="QoS"/> table.</p>
2694 <column name="dscp">
2695 If set, Open vSwitch will mark all traffic egressing this
2696 <ref table="Queue"/> with the given DSCP bits. Traffic egressing the
2697 default <ref table="Queue"/> is only marked if it was explicitly selected
2698 as the <ref table="Queue"/> at the time the packet was output. If unset,
2699 the DSCP bits of traffic egressing this <ref table="Queue"/> will remain
2703 <group title="Configuration for linux-htb QoS">
2705 <ref table="QoS"/> <ref table="QoS" column="type"/>
2706 <code>linux-htb</code> may use <code>queue_id</code>s less than 61440.
2707 It has the following key-value pairs defined.
2710 <column name="other_config" key="min-rate"
2711 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1}'>
2712 Minimum guaranteed bandwidth, in bit/s.
2715 <column name="other_config" key="max-rate"
2716 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1}'>
2717 Maximum allowed bandwidth, in bit/s. Optional. If specified, the
2718 queue's rate will not be allowed to exceed the specified value, even
2719 if excess bandwidth is available. If unspecified, defaults to no
2723 <column name="other_config" key="burst"
2724 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1}'>
2725 Burst size, in bits. This is the maximum amount of ``credits'' that a
2726 queue can accumulate while it is idle. Optional. Details of the
2727 <code>linux-htb</code> implementation require a minimum burst size, so
2728 a too-small <code>burst</code> will be silently ignored.
2731 <column name="other_config" key="priority"
2732 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 0, "maxInteger": 4294967295}'>
2733 A queue with a smaller <code>priority</code> will receive all the
2734 excess bandwidth that it can use before a queue with a larger value
2735 receives any. Specific priority values are unimportant; only relative
2736 ordering matters. Defaults to 0 if unspecified.
2740 <group title="Configuration for linux-hfsc QoS">
2742 <ref table="QoS"/> <ref table="QoS" column="type"/>
2743 <code>linux-hfsc</code> may use <code>queue_id</code>s less than 61440.
2744 It has the following key-value pairs defined.
2747 <column name="other_config" key="min-rate"
2748 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1}'>
2749 Minimum guaranteed bandwidth, in bit/s.
2752 <column name="other_config" key="max-rate"
2753 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1}'>
2754 Maximum allowed bandwidth, in bit/s. Optional. If specified, the
2755 queue's rate will not be allowed to exceed the specified value, even if
2756 excess bandwidth is available. If unspecified, defaults to no
2761 <group title="Common Columns">
2762 The overall purpose of these columns is described under <code>Common
2763 Columns</code> at the beginning of this document.
2765 <column name="other_config"/>
2766 <column name="external_ids"/>
2770 <table name="Mirror" title="Port mirroring.">
2771 <p>A port mirror within a <ref table="Bridge"/>.</p>
2772 <p>A port mirror configures a bridge to send selected frames to special
2773 ``mirrored'' ports, in addition to their normal destinations. Mirroring
2774 traffic may also be referred to as SPAN or RSPAN, depending on how
2775 the mirrored traffic is sent.</p>
2777 <column name="name">
2778 Arbitrary identifier for the <ref table="Mirror"/>.
2781 <group title="Selecting Packets for Mirroring">
2783 To be selected for mirroring, a given packet must enter or leave the
2784 bridge through a selected port and it must also be in one of the
2788 <column name="select_all">
2789 If true, every packet arriving or departing on any port is
2790 selected for mirroring.
2793 <column name="select_dst_port">
2794 Ports on which departing packets are selected for mirroring.
2797 <column name="select_src_port">
2798 Ports on which arriving packets are selected for mirroring.
2801 <column name="select_vlan">
2802 VLANs on which packets are selected for mirroring. An empty set
2803 selects packets on all VLANs.
2807 <group title="Mirroring Destination Configuration">
2809 These columns are mutually exclusive. Exactly one of them must be
2813 <column name="output_port">
2814 <p>Output port for selected packets, if nonempty.</p>
2815 <p>Specifying a port for mirror output reserves that port exclusively
2816 for mirroring. No frames other than those selected for mirroring
2818 will be forwarded to the port, and any frames received on the port
2819 will be discarded.</p>
2821 The output port may be any kind of port supported by Open vSwitch.
2822 It may be, for example, a physical port (sometimes called SPAN) or a
2827 <column name="output_vlan">
2828 <p>Output VLAN for selected packets, if nonempty.</p>
2829 <p>The frames will be sent out all ports that trunk
2830 <ref column="output_vlan"/>, as well as any ports with implicit VLAN
2831 <ref column="output_vlan"/>. When a mirrored frame is sent out a
2832 trunk port, the frame's VLAN tag will be set to
2833 <ref column="output_vlan"/>, replacing any existing tag; when it is
2834 sent out an implicit VLAN port, the frame will not be tagged. This
2835 type of mirroring is sometimes called RSPAN.</p>
2837 See the documentation for
2838 <ref column="other_config" key="forward-bpdu"/> in the
2839 <ref table="Interface"/> table for a list of destination MAC
2840 addresses which will not be mirrored to a VLAN to avoid confusing
2841 switches that interpret the protocols that they represent.
2843 <p><em>Please note:</em> Mirroring to a VLAN can disrupt a network that
2844 contains unmanaged switches. Consider an unmanaged physical switch
2845 with two ports: port 1, connected to an end host, and port 2,
2846 connected to an Open vSwitch configured to mirror received packets
2847 into VLAN 123 on port 2. Suppose that the end host sends a packet on
2848 port 1 that the physical switch forwards to port 2. The Open vSwitch
2849 forwards this packet to its destination and then reflects it back on
2850 port 2 in VLAN 123. This reflected packet causes the unmanaged
2851 physical switch to replace the MAC learning table entry, which
2852 correctly pointed to port 1, with one that incorrectly points to port
2853 2. Afterward, the physical switch will direct packets destined for
2854 the end host to the Open vSwitch on port 2, instead of to the end
2855 host on port 1, disrupting connectivity. If mirroring to a VLAN is
2856 desired in this scenario, then the physical switch must be replaced
2857 by one that learns Ethernet addresses on a per-VLAN basis. In
2858 addition, learning should be disabled on the VLAN containing mirrored
2859 traffic. If this is not done then intermediate switches will learn
2860 the MAC address of each end host from the mirrored traffic. If
2861 packets being sent to that end host are also mirrored, then they will
2862 be dropped since the switch will attempt to send them out the input
2863 port. Disabling learning for the VLAN will cause the switch to
2864 correctly send the packet out all ports configured for that VLAN. If
2865 Open vSwitch is being used as an intermediate switch, learning can be
2866 disabled by adding the mirrored VLAN to <ref column="flood_vlans"/>
2867 in the appropriate <ref table="Bridge"/> table or tables.</p>
2869 Mirroring to a GRE tunnel has fewer caveats than mirroring to a
2870 VLAN and should generally be preferred.
2875 <group title="Statistics: Mirror counters">
2877 Key-value pairs that report mirror statistics.
2879 <column name="statistics" key="tx_packets">
2880 Number of packets transmitted through this mirror.
2882 <column name="statistics" key="tx_bytes">
2883 Number of bytes transmitted through this mirror.
2887 <group title="Common Columns">
2888 The overall purpose of these columns is described under <code>Common
2889 Columns</code> at the beginning of this document.
2891 <column name="external_ids"/>
2895 <table name="Controller" title="OpenFlow controller configuration.">
2896 <p>An OpenFlow controller.</p>
2899 Open vSwitch supports two kinds of OpenFlow controllers:
2903 <dt>Primary controllers</dt>
2906 This is the kind of controller envisioned by the OpenFlow 1.0
2907 specification. Usually, a primary controller implements a network
2908 policy by taking charge of the switch's flow table.
2912 Open vSwitch initiates and maintains persistent connections to
2913 primary controllers, retrying the connection each time it fails or
2914 drops. The <ref table="Bridge" column="fail_mode"/> column in the
2915 <ref table="Bridge"/> table applies to primary controllers.
2919 Open vSwitch permits a bridge to have any number of primary
2920 controllers. When multiple controllers are configured, Open
2921 vSwitch connects to all of them simultaneously. Because
2922 OpenFlow 1.0 does not specify how multiple controllers
2923 coordinate in interacting with a single switch, more than
2924 one primary controller should be specified only if the
2925 controllers are themselves designed to coordinate with each
2926 other. (The Nicira-defined <code>NXT_ROLE</code> OpenFlow
2927 vendor extension may be useful for this.)
2930 <dt>Service controllers</dt>
2933 These kinds of OpenFlow controller connections are intended for
2934 occasional support and maintenance use, e.g. with
2935 <code>ovs-ofctl</code>. Usually a service controller connects only
2936 briefly to inspect or modify some of a switch's state.
2940 Open vSwitch listens for incoming connections from service
2941 controllers. The service controllers initiate and, if necessary,
2942 maintain the connections from their end. The <ref table="Bridge"
2943 column="fail_mode"/> column in the <ref table="Bridge"/> table does
2944 not apply to service controllers.
2948 Open vSwitch supports configuring any number of service controllers.
2954 The <ref column="target"/> determines the type of controller.
2957 <group title="Core Features">
2958 <column name="target">
2959 <p>Connection method for controller.</p>
2961 The following connection methods are currently supported for primary
2965 <dt><code>ssl:<var>ip</var></code>[<code>:<var>port</var></code>]</dt>
2967 <p>The specified SSL <var>port</var> on the host at the
2968 given <var>ip</var>, which must be expressed as an IP
2969 address (not a DNS name). The <ref table="Open_vSwitch"
2970 column="ssl"/> column in the <ref table="Open_vSwitch"/>
2971 table must point to a valid SSL configuration when this form
2973 <p>If <var>port</var> is not specified, it currently
2974 defaults to 6633. In the future, the default will change to
2975 6653, which is the IANA-defined value.</p>
2976 <p>SSL support is an optional feature that is not always built as
2977 part of Open vSwitch.</p>
2979 <dt><code>tcp:<var>ip</var></code>[<code>:<var>port</var></code>]</dt>
2982 The specified TCP <var>port</var> on the host at the given
2983 <var>ip</var>, which must be expressed as an IP address (not a
2984 DNS name), where <var>ip</var> can be IPv4 or IPv6 address. If
2985 <var>ip</var> is an IPv6 address, wrap it in square brackets,
2986 e.g. <code>tcp:[::1]:6632</code>.
2989 If <var>port</var> is not specified, it currently defaults to
2990 6633. In the future, the default will change to 6653, which is
2991 the IANA-defined value.
2996 The following connection methods are currently supported for service
3000 <dt><code>pssl:</code>[<var>port</var>][<code>:<var>ip</var></code>]</dt>
3003 Listens for SSL connections on the specified TCP <var>port</var>.
3004 If <var>ip</var>, which must be expressed as an IP address (not a
3005 DNS name), is specified, then connections are restricted to the
3006 specified local IP address (either IPv4 or IPv6). If
3007 <var>ip</var> is an IPv6 address, wrap it in square brackets,
3008 e.g. <code>pssl:6632:[::1]</code>.
3011 If <var>port</var> is not specified, it currently defaults to
3012 6633. If <var>ip</var> is not specified then it listens only on
3013 IPv4 (but not IPv6) addresses. The
3014 <ref table="Open_vSwitch" column="ssl"/>
3015 column in the <ref table="Open_vSwitch"/> table must point to a
3016 valid SSL configuration when this form is used.
3019 If <var>port</var> is not specified, it currently defaults to
3020 6633. In the future, the default will change to 6653, which is
3021 the IANA-defined value.
3024 SSL support is an optional feature that is not always built as
3025 part of Open vSwitch.
3028 <dt><code>ptcp:</code>[<var>port</var>][<code>:<var>ip</var></code>]</dt>
3031 Listens for connections on the specified TCP <var>port</var>. If
3032 <var>ip</var>, which must be expressed as an IP address (not a
3033 DNS name), is specified, then connections are restricted to the
3034 specified local IP address (either IPv4 or IPv6). If
3035 <var>ip</var> is an IPv6 address, wrap it in square brackets,
3036 e.g. <code>ptcp:6632:[::1]</code>. If <var>ip</var> is not
3037 specified then it listens only on IPv4 addresses.
3040 If <var>port</var> is not specified, it currently defaults to
3041 6633. In the future, the default will change to 6653, which is
3042 the IANA-defined value.
3046 <p>When multiple controllers are configured for a single bridge, the
3047 <ref column="target"/> values must be unique. Duplicate
3048 <ref column="target"/> values yield unspecified results.</p>
3051 <column name="connection_mode">
3052 <p>If it is specified, this setting must be one of the following
3053 strings that describes how Open vSwitch contacts this OpenFlow
3054 controller over the network:</p>
3057 <dt><code>in-band</code></dt>
3058 <dd>In this mode, this controller's OpenFlow traffic travels over the
3059 bridge associated with the controller. With this setting, Open
3060 vSwitch allows traffic to and from the controller regardless of the
3061 contents of the OpenFlow flow table. (Otherwise, Open vSwitch
3062 would never be able to connect to the controller, because it did
3063 not have a flow to enable it.) This is the most common connection
3064 mode because it is not necessary to maintain two independent
3066 <dt><code>out-of-band</code></dt>
3067 <dd>In this mode, OpenFlow traffic uses a control network separate
3068 from the bridge associated with this controller, that is, the
3069 bridge does not use any of its own network devices to communicate
3070 with the controller. The control network must be configured
3071 separately, before or after <code>ovs-vswitchd</code> is started.
3075 <p>If not specified, the default is implementation-specific.</p>
3079 <group title="Controller Failure Detection and Handling">
3080 <column name="max_backoff">
3081 Maximum number of milliseconds to wait between connection attempts.
3082 Default is implementation-specific.
3085 <column name="inactivity_probe">
3086 Maximum number of milliseconds of idle time on connection to
3087 controller before sending an inactivity probe message. If Open
3088 vSwitch does not communicate with the controller for the specified
3089 number of seconds, it will send a probe. If a response is not
3090 received for the same additional amount of time, Open vSwitch
3091 assumes the connection has been broken and attempts to reconnect.
3092 Default is implementation-specific. A value of 0 disables
3097 <group title="Asynchronous Message Configuration">
3099 OpenFlow switches send certain messages to controllers spontanenously,
3100 that is, not in response to any request from the controller. These
3101 messages are called ``asynchronous messages.'' These columns allow
3102 asynchronous messages to be limited or disabled to ensure the best use
3103 of network resources.
3106 <column name="enable_async_messages">
3107 The OpenFlow protocol enables asynchronous messages at time of
3108 connection establishment, which means that a controller can receive
3109 asynchronous messages, potentially many of them, even if it turns them
3110 off immediately after connecting. Set this column to
3111 <code>false</code> to change Open vSwitch behavior to disable, by
3112 default, all asynchronous messages. The controller can use the
3113 <code>NXT_SET_ASYNC_CONFIG</code> Nicira extension to OpenFlow to turn
3114 on any messages that it does want to receive, if any.
3117 <column name="controller_rate_limit">
3119 The maximum rate at which the switch will forward packets to the
3120 OpenFlow controller, in packets per second. This feature prevents a
3121 single bridge from overwhelming the controller. If not specified,
3122 the default is implementation-specific.
3126 In addition, when a high rate triggers rate-limiting, Open vSwitch
3127 queues controller packets for each port and transmits them to the
3128 controller at the configured rate. The <ref
3129 column="controller_burst_limit"/> value limits the number of queued
3130 packets. Ports on a bridge share the packet queue fairly.
3134 Open vSwitch maintains two such packet rate-limiters per bridge: one
3135 for packets sent up to the controller because they do not correspond
3136 to any flow, and the other for packets sent up to the controller by
3137 request through flow actions. When both rate-limiters are filled with
3138 packets, the actual rate that packets are sent to the controller is
3139 up to twice the specified rate.
3143 <column name="controller_burst_limit">
3144 In conjunction with <ref column="controller_rate_limit"/>,
3145 the maximum number of unused packet credits that the bridge will
3146 allow to accumulate, in packets. If not specified, the default
3147 is implementation-specific.
3151 <group title="Additional In-Band Configuration">
3152 <p>These values are considered only in in-band control mode (see
3153 <ref column="connection_mode"/>).</p>
3155 <p>When multiple controllers are configured on a single bridge, there
3156 should be only one set of unique values in these columns. If different
3157 values are set for these columns in different controllers, the effect
3160 <column name="local_ip">
3161 The IP address to configure on the local port,
3162 e.g. <code>192.168.0.123</code>. If this value is unset, then
3163 <ref column="local_netmask"/> and <ref column="local_gateway"/> are
3167 <column name="local_netmask">
3168 The IP netmask to configure on the local port,
3169 e.g. <code>255.255.255.0</code>. If <ref column="local_ip"/> is set
3170 but this value is unset, then the default is chosen based on whether
3171 the IP address is class A, B, or C.
3174 <column name="local_gateway">
3175 The IP address of the gateway to configure on the local port, as a
3176 string, e.g. <code>192.168.0.1</code>. Leave this column unset if
3177 this network has no gateway.
3181 <group title="Controller Status">
3182 <column name="is_connected">
3183 <code>true</code> if currently connected to this controller,
3184 <code>false</code> otherwise.
3188 type='{"type": "string", "enum": ["set", ["other", "master", "slave"]]}'>
3189 <p>The level of authority this controller has on the associated
3190 bridge. Possible values are:</p>
3192 <dt><code>other</code></dt>
3193 <dd>Allows the controller access to all OpenFlow features.</dd>
3194 <dt><code>master</code></dt>
3195 <dd>Equivalent to <code>other</code>, except that there may be at
3196 most one master controller at a time. When a controller configures
3197 itself as <code>master</code>, any existing master is demoted to
3198 the <code>slave</code>role.</dd>
3199 <dt><code>slave</code></dt>
3200 <dd>Allows the controller read-only access to OpenFlow features.
3201 Attempts to modify the flow table will be rejected with an
3202 error. Slave controllers do not receive OFPT_PACKET_IN or
3203 OFPT_FLOW_REMOVED messages, but they do receive OFPT_PORT_STATUS
3208 <column name="status" key="last_error">
3209 A human-readable description of the last error on the connection
3210 to the controller; i.e. <code>strerror(errno)</code>. This key
3211 will exist only if an error has occurred.
3214 <column name="status" key="state"
3215 type='{"type": "string", "enum": ["set", ["VOID", "BACKOFF", "CONNECTING", "ACTIVE", "IDLE"]]}'>
3217 The state of the connection to the controller:
3220 <dt><code>VOID</code></dt>
3221 <dd>Connection is disabled.</dd>
3223 <dt><code>BACKOFF</code></dt>
3224 <dd>Attempting to reconnect at an increasing period.</dd>
3226 <dt><code>CONNECTING</code></dt>
3227 <dd>Attempting to connect.</dd>
3229 <dt><code>ACTIVE</code></dt>
3230 <dd>Connected, remote host responsive.</dd>
3232 <dt><code>IDLE</code></dt>
3233 <dd>Connection is idle. Waiting for response to keep-alive.</dd>
3236 These values may change in the future. They are provided only for
3241 <column name="status" key="sec_since_connect"
3242 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 0}'>
3243 The amount of time since this controller last successfully connected to
3244 the switch (in seconds). Value is empty if controller has never
3245 successfully connected.
3248 <column name="status" key="sec_since_disconnect"
3249 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1}'>
3250 The amount of time since this controller last disconnected from
3251 the switch (in seconds). Value is empty if controller has never
3256 <group title="Connection Parameters">
3258 Additional configuration for a connection between the controller
3259 and the Open vSwitch.
3262 <column name="other_config" key="dscp"
3263 type='{"type": "integer"}'>
3264 The Differentiated Service Code Point (DSCP) is specified using 6 bits
3265 in the Type of Service (TOS) field in the IP header. DSCP provides a
3266 mechanism to classify the network traffic and provide Quality of
3267 Service (QoS) on IP networks.
3269 The DSCP value specified here is used when establishing the connection
3270 between the controller and the Open vSwitch. If no value is specified,
3271 a default value of 48 is chosen. Valid DSCP values must be in the
3277 <group title="Common Columns">
3278 The overall purpose of these columns is described under <code>Common
3279 Columns</code> at the beginning of this document.
3281 <column name="external_ids"/>
3282 <column name="other_config"/>
3286 <table name="Manager" title="OVSDB management connection.">
3288 Configuration for a database connection to an Open vSwitch database
3293 This table primarily configures the Open vSwitch database
3294 (<code>ovsdb-server</code>), not the Open vSwitch switch
3295 (<code>ovs-vswitchd</code>). The switch does read the table to determine
3296 what connections should be treated as in-band.
3300 The Open vSwitch database server can initiate and maintain active
3301 connections to remote clients. It can also listen for database
3305 <group title="Core Features">
3306 <column name="target">
3307 <p>Connection method for managers.</p>
3309 The following connection methods are currently supported:
3312 <dt><code>ssl:<var>ip</var></code>[<code>:<var>port</var></code>]</dt>
3315 The specified SSL <var>port</var> on the host at the given
3316 <var>ip</var>, which must be expressed as an IP address
3317 (not a DNS name). The <ref table="Open_vSwitch"
3318 column="ssl"/> column in the <ref table="Open_vSwitch"/>
3319 table must point to a valid SSL configuration when this
3323 If <var>port</var> is not specified, it currently defaults
3324 to 6632. In the future, the default will change to 6640,
3325 which is the IANA-defined value.
3328 SSL support is an optional feature that is not always
3329 built as part of Open vSwitch.
3333 <dt><code>tcp:<var>ip</var></code>[<code>:<var>port</var></code>]</dt>
3336 The specified TCP <var>port</var> on the host at the given
3337 <var>ip</var>, which must be expressed as an IP address (not a
3338 DNS name), where <var>ip</var> can be IPv4 or IPv6 address. If
3339 <var>ip</var> is an IPv6 address, wrap it in square brackets,
3340 e.g. <code>tcp:[::1]:6632</code>.
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 <dt><code>pssl:</code>[<var>port</var>][<code>:<var>ip</var></code>]</dt>
3351 Listens for SSL connections on the specified TCP <var>port</var>.
3352 Specify 0 for <var>port</var> to have the kernel automatically
3353 choose an available port. If <var>ip</var>, which must be
3354 expressed as an IP address (not a DNS name), is specified, then
3355 connections are restricted to the specified local IP address
3356 (either IPv4 or IPv6 address). If <var>ip</var> is an IPv6
3357 address, wrap in square brackets,
3358 e.g. <code>pssl:6632:[::1]</code>. If <var>ip</var> is not
3359 specified then it listens only on IPv4 (but not IPv6) addresses.
3360 The <ref table="Open_vSwitch" column="ssl"/> column in the <ref
3361 table="Open_vSwitch"/> table must point to a valid SSL
3362 configuration when this form is used.
3365 If <var>port</var> is not specified, it currently defaults
3366 to 6632. In the future, the default will change to 6640,
3367 which is the IANA-defined value.
3370 SSL support is an optional feature that is not always built as
3371 part of Open vSwitch.
3374 <dt><code>ptcp:</code>[<var>port</var>][<code>:<var>ip</var></code>]</dt>
3377 Listens for connections on the specified TCP <var>port</var>.
3378 Specify 0 for <var>port</var> to have the kernel automatically
3379 choose an available port. If <var>ip</var>, which must be
3380 expressed as an IP address (not a DNS name), is specified, then
3381 connections are restricted to the specified local IP address
3382 (either IPv4 or IPv6 address). If <var>ip</var> is an IPv6
3383 address, wrap it in square brackets,
3384 e.g. <code>ptcp:6632:[::1]</code>. If <var>ip</var> is not
3385 specified then it listens only on IPv4 addresses.
3388 If <var>port</var> is not specified, it currently defaults
3389 to 6632. In the future, the default will change to 6640,
3390 which is the IANA-defined value.
3394 <p>When multiple managers are configured, the <ref column="target"/>
3395 values must be unique. Duplicate <ref column="target"/> values yield
3396 unspecified results.</p>
3399 <column name="connection_mode">
3401 If it is specified, this setting must be one of the following strings
3402 that describes how Open vSwitch contacts this OVSDB client over the
3407 <dt><code>in-band</code></dt>
3409 In this mode, this connection's traffic travels over a bridge
3410 managed by Open vSwitch. With this setting, Open vSwitch allows
3411 traffic to and from the client regardless of the contents of the
3412 OpenFlow flow table. (Otherwise, Open vSwitch would never be able
3413 to connect to the client, because it did not have a flow to enable
3414 it.) This is the most common connection mode because it is not
3415 necessary to maintain two independent networks.
3417 <dt><code>out-of-band</code></dt>
3419 In this mode, the client's traffic uses a control network separate
3420 from that managed by Open vSwitch, that is, Open vSwitch does not
3421 use any of its own network devices to communicate with the client.
3422 The control network must be configured separately, before or after
3423 <code>ovs-vswitchd</code> is started.
3428 If not specified, the default is implementation-specific.
3433 <group title="Client Failure Detection and Handling">
3434 <column name="max_backoff">
3435 Maximum number of milliseconds to wait between connection attempts.
3436 Default is implementation-specific.
3439 <column name="inactivity_probe">
3440 Maximum number of milliseconds of idle time on connection to the client
3441 before sending an inactivity probe message. If Open vSwitch does not
3442 communicate with the client for the specified number of seconds, it
3443 will send a probe. If a response is not received for the same
3444 additional amount of time, Open vSwitch assumes the connection has been
3445 broken and attempts to reconnect. Default is implementation-specific.
3446 A value of 0 disables inactivity probes.
3450 <group title="Status">
3451 <column name="is_connected">
3452 <code>true</code> if currently connected to this manager,
3453 <code>false</code> otherwise.
3456 <column name="status" key="last_error">
3457 A human-readable description of the last error on the connection
3458 to the manager; i.e. <code>strerror(errno)</code>. This key
3459 will exist only if an error has occurred.
3462 <column name="status" key="state"
3463 type='{"type": "string", "enum": ["set", ["VOID", "BACKOFF", "CONNECTING", "ACTIVE", "IDLE"]]}'>
3465 The state of the connection to the manager:
3468 <dt><code>VOID</code></dt>
3469 <dd>Connection is disabled.</dd>
3471 <dt><code>BACKOFF</code></dt>
3472 <dd>Attempting to reconnect at an increasing period.</dd>
3474 <dt><code>CONNECTING</code></dt>
3475 <dd>Attempting to connect.</dd>
3477 <dt><code>ACTIVE</code></dt>
3478 <dd>Connected, remote host responsive.</dd>
3480 <dt><code>IDLE</code></dt>
3481 <dd>Connection is idle. Waiting for response to keep-alive.</dd>
3484 These values may change in the future. They are provided only for
3489 <column name="status" key="sec_since_connect"
3490 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 0}'>
3491 The amount of time since this manager last successfully connected
3492 to the database (in seconds). Value is empty if manager has never
3493 successfully connected.
3496 <column name="status" key="sec_since_disconnect"
3497 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 0}'>
3498 The amount of time since this manager last disconnected from the
3499 database (in seconds). Value is empty if manager has never
3503 <column name="status" key="locks_held">
3504 Space-separated list of the names of OVSDB locks that the connection
3505 holds. Omitted if the connection does not hold any locks.
3508 <column name="status" key="locks_waiting">
3509 Space-separated list of the names of OVSDB locks that the connection is
3510 currently waiting to acquire. Omitted if the connection is not waiting
3514 <column name="status" key="locks_lost">
3515 Space-separated list of the names of OVSDB locks that the connection
3516 has had stolen by another OVSDB client. Omitted if no locks have been
3517 stolen from this connection.
3520 <column name="status" key="n_connections"
3521 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 2}'>
3523 When <ref column="target"/> specifies a connection method that
3524 listens for inbound connections (e.g. <code>ptcp:</code> or
3525 <code>pssl:</code>) and more than one connection is actually active,
3526 the value is the number of active connections. Otherwise, this
3527 key-value pair is omitted.
3530 When multiple connections are active, status columns and key-value
3531 pairs (other than this one) report the status of one arbitrarily
3536 <column name="status" key="bound_port" type='{"type": "integer"}'>
3537 When <ref column="target"/> is <code>ptcp:</code> or
3538 <code>pssl:</code>, this is the TCP port on which the OVSDB server is
3539 listening. (This is is particularly useful when <ref
3540 column="target"/> specifies a port of 0, allowing the kernel to
3541 choose any available port.)
3545 <group title="Connection Parameters">
3547 Additional configuration for a connection between the manager
3548 and the Open vSwitch Database.
3551 <column name="other_config" key="dscp"
3552 type='{"type": "integer"}'>
3553 The Differentiated Service Code Point (DSCP) is specified using 6 bits
3554 in the Type of Service (TOS) field in the IP header. DSCP provides a
3555 mechanism to classify the network traffic and provide Quality of
3556 Service (QoS) on IP networks.
3558 The DSCP value specified here is used when establishing the connection
3559 between the manager and the Open vSwitch. If no value is specified, a
3560 default value of 48 is chosen. Valid DSCP values must be in the range
3565 <group title="Common Columns">
3566 The overall purpose of these columns is described under <code>Common
3567 Columns</code> at the beginning of this document.
3569 <column name="external_ids"/>
3570 <column name="other_config"/>
3574 <table name="NetFlow">
3575 A NetFlow target. NetFlow is a protocol that exports a number of
3576 details about terminating IP flows, such as the principals involved
3579 <column name="targets">
3580 NetFlow targets in the form
3581 <code><var>ip</var>:<var>port</var></code>. The <var>ip</var>
3582 must be specified numerically, not as a DNS name.
3585 <column name="engine_id">
3586 Engine ID to use in NetFlow messages. Defaults to datapath index
3590 <column name="engine_type">
3591 Engine type to use in NetFlow messages. Defaults to datapath
3592 index if not specified.
3595 <column name="active_timeout">
3596 The interval at which NetFlow records are sent for flows that are
3597 still active, in seconds. A value of <code>0</code> requests the
3598 default timeout (currently 600 seconds); a value of <code>-1</code>
3599 disables active timeouts.
3602 <column name="add_id_to_interface">
3603 <p>If this column's value is <code>false</code>, the ingress and egress
3604 interface fields of NetFlow flow records are derived from OpenFlow port
3605 numbers. When it is <code>true</code>, the 7 most significant bits of
3606 these fields will be replaced by the least significant 7 bits of the
3607 engine id. This is useful because many NetFlow collectors do not
3608 expect multiple switches to be sending messages from the same host, so
3609 they do not store the engine information which could be used to
3610 disambiguate the traffic.</p>
3611 <p>When this option is enabled, a maximum of 508 ports are supported.</p>
3614 <group title="Common Columns">
3615 The overall purpose of these columns is described under <code>Common
3616 Columns</code> at the beginning of this document.
3618 <column name="external_ids"/>
3623 SSL configuration for an Open_vSwitch.
3625 <column name="private_key">
3626 Name of a PEM file containing the private key used as the switch's
3627 identity for SSL connections to the controller.
3630 <column name="certificate">
3631 Name of a PEM file containing a certificate, signed by the
3632 certificate authority (CA) used by the controller and manager,
3633 that certifies the switch's private key, identifying a trustworthy
3637 <column name="ca_cert">
3638 Name of a PEM file containing the CA certificate used to verify
3639 that the switch is connected to a trustworthy controller.
3642 <column name="bootstrap_ca_cert">
3643 If set to <code>true</code>, then Open vSwitch will attempt to
3644 obtain the CA certificate from the controller on its first SSL
3645 connection and save it to the named PEM file. If it is successful,
3646 it will immediately drop the connection and reconnect, and from then
3647 on all SSL connections must be authenticated by a certificate signed
3648 by the CA certificate thus obtained. <em>This option exposes the
3649 SSL connection to a man-in-the-middle attack obtaining the initial
3650 CA certificate.</em> It may still be useful for bootstrapping.
3653 <group title="Common Columns">
3654 The overall purpose of these columns is described under <code>Common
3655 Columns</code> at the beginning of this document.
3657 <column name="external_ids"/>
3661 <table name="sFlow">
3662 <p>A set of sFlow(R) targets. sFlow is a protocol for remote
3663 monitoring of switches.</p>
3665 <column name="agent">
3666 Name of the network device whose IP address should be reported as the
3667 ``agent address'' to collectors. If not specified, the agent device is
3668 figured from the first target address and the routing table. If the
3669 routing table does not contain a route to the target, the IP address
3670 defaults to the <ref table="Controller" column="local_ip"/> in the
3671 collector's <ref table="Controller"/>. If an agent IP address cannot be
3672 determined any of these ways, sFlow is disabled.
3675 <column name="header">
3676 Number of bytes of a sampled packet to send to the collector.
3677 If not specified, the default is 128 bytes.
3680 <column name="polling">
3681 Polling rate in seconds to send port statistics to the collector.
3682 If not specified, defaults to 30 seconds.
3685 <column name="sampling">
3686 Rate at which packets should be sampled and sent to the collector.
3687 If not specified, defaults to 400, which means one out of 400
3688 packets, on average, will be sent to the collector.
3691 <column name="targets">
3692 sFlow targets in the form
3693 <code><var>ip</var>:<var>port</var></code>.
3696 <group title="Common Columns">
3697 The overall purpose of these columns is described under <code>Common
3698 Columns</code> at the beginning of this document.
3700 <column name="external_ids"/>
3704 <table name="IPFIX">
3705 <p>A set of IPFIX collectors. IPFIX is a protocol that exports a
3706 number of details about flows.</p>
3708 <column name="targets">
3709 IPFIX target collectors in the form
3710 <code><var>ip</var>:<var>port</var></code>.
3713 <column name="sampling">
3714 For per-bridge packet sampling, i.e. when this row is referenced
3715 from a <ref table="Bridge"/>, the rate at which packets should
3716 be sampled and sent to each target collector. If not specified,
3717 defaults to 400, which means one out of 400 packets, on average,
3718 will be sent to each target collector. Ignored for per-flow
3719 sampling, i.e. when this row is referenced from a <ref
3720 table="Flow_Sample_Collector_Set"/>.
3723 <column name="obs_domain_id">
3724 For per-bridge packet sampling, i.e. when this row is referenced
3725 from a <ref table="Bridge"/>, the IPFIX Observation Domain ID
3726 sent in each IPFIX packet. If not specified, defaults to 0.
3727 Ignored for per-flow sampling, i.e. when this row is referenced
3728 from a <ref table="Flow_Sample_Collector_Set"/>.
3731 <column name="obs_point_id">
3732 For per-bridge packet sampling, i.e. when this row is referenced
3733 from a <ref table="Bridge"/>, the IPFIX Observation Point ID
3734 sent in each IPFIX flow record. If not specified, defaults to
3735 0. Ignored for per-flow sampling, i.e. when this row is
3736 referenced from a <ref table="Flow_Sample_Collector_Set"/>.
3739 <column name="cache_active_timeout">
3740 The maximum period in seconds for which an IPFIX flow record is
3741 cached and aggregated before being sent. If not specified,
3742 defaults to 0. If 0, caching is disabled.
3745 <column name="cache_max_flows">
3746 The maximum number of IPFIX flow records that can be cached at a
3747 time. If not specified, defaults to 0. If 0, caching is
3751 <group title="Common Columns">
3752 The overall purpose of these columns is described under <code>Common
3753 Columns</code> at the beginning of this document.
3755 <column name="external_ids"/>
3759 <table name="Flow_Sample_Collector_Set">
3760 <p>A set of IPFIX collectors of packet samples generated by
3761 OpenFlow <code>sample</code> actions.</p>
3764 The ID of this collector set, unique among the bridge's
3765 collector sets, to be used as the <code>collector_set_id</code>
3766 in OpenFlow <code>sample</code> actions.
3769 <column name="bridge">
3770 The bridge into which OpenFlow <code>sample</code> actions can
3771 be added to send packet samples to this set of IPFIX collectors.
3774 <column name="ipfix">
3775 Configuration of the set of IPFIX collectors to send one flow
3776 record per sampled packet to.
3779 <group title="Common Columns">
3780 The overall purpose of these columns is described under <code>Common
3781 Columns</code> at the beginning of this document.
3783 <column name="external_ids"/>