1 <database title="Open vSwitch Configuration Database">
2 <p>A database with this schema holds the configuration for one Open
3 vSwitch daemon. The root of the configuration for the daemon is
4 the <ref table="Open_vSwitch"/> table, which must have exactly one
5 record. Records in other tables are significant only when they
6 can be reached directly or indirectly from the
7 <ref table="Open_vSwitch"/> table.</p>
9 <table name="Open_vSwitch" title="Open vSwitch configuration.">
10 Configuration for an Open vSwitch daemon. There must be exactly one record
11 in the <ref table="Open_vSwitch"/> table.
13 <group title="Configuration">
14 <column name="bridges">
15 Set of bridges managed by the daemon.
18 <column name="controller">
19 Default OpenFlow <ref table="Controller"/> set used by bridges. May be
20 overridden on a per-bridge basis by the <ref table="Bridge"
21 column="controller"/> column in <ref table="Bridge"/>.
24 <column name="managers">
25 Remote database clients to which the Open vSwitch's database server
26 should connect or to which it should listen.
30 SSL used globally by the daemon.
33 <column name="external_ids">
34 Key-value pairs that identify this Open vSwitch's role in
35 external systems. The currently defined key-value pairs are:
37 <dt><code>system-uuid</code></dt>
38 <dd>A universally unique identifier for the Open vSwitch's
39 physical host. The form of the identifier depends on the
40 type of the host. On a Citrix XenServer, this is the host
41 UUID displayed by, e.g., <code>xe host-list</code>.</dd>
46 <group title="Status">
47 <column name="next_cfg">
48 Sequence number for client to increment. When a client modifies
49 any part of the database configuration and wishes to wait for
50 Open vSwitch to finish applying the changes, it may increment
54 <column name="cur_cfg">
55 Sequence number that Open vSwitch sets to the current value of
56 <ref column="next_cfg"/> after it finishes applying a set of
57 configuration changes.
60 <column name="capabilities">
61 Describes functionality supported by the hardware and software platform
62 on which this Open vSwitch is based. Clients should not modify this
63 column. See the <ref table="Capability"/> description for defined
64 capability categories and the meaning of associated
65 <ref table="Capability"/> records.
72 Configuration for a bridge within an
73 <ref table="Open_vSwitch"/>.
76 A <ref table="Bridge"/> record represents an Ethernet switch with one or
77 more ``ports,'' which are the <ref table="Port"/> records pointed to by
78 the <ref table="Bridge"/>'s <ref column="ports"/> column.
81 <group title="Core Features">
83 Bridge identifier. Should be alphanumeric and no more than about 8
84 bytes long. Must be unique among the names of ports, interfaces, and
89 Ports included in the bridge.
92 <column name="mirrors">
93 Port mirroring configuration.
96 <column name="netflow">
97 NetFlow configuration.
100 <column name="sflow">
104 <column name="flood_vlans">
105 VLAN IDs of VLANs on which MAC address learning should be disabled, so
106 that packets are flooded instead of being sent to specific ports that
107 are believed to contain packets' destination MACs. This should
108 ordinarily be used to disable MAC learning on VLANs used for mirroring
109 (RSPAN VLANs). It may also be useful for debugging.
113 <group title="OpenFlow Configuration">
114 <column name="controller">
115 OpenFlow controller set. If unset, defaults to the set of
116 controllers specified by <ref column="controller"
117 table="Open_vSwitch"/> in the <ref table="Open_vSwitch"/>
118 table. If the default is also unset, then no OpenFlow
119 controllers will be used.
122 <column name="datapath_id">
123 Reports the OpenFlow datapath ID in use. Exactly 16 hex
124 digits. (Setting this column will have no useful effect. Set
125 <ref column="other_config"/>:<code>other-config</code>
130 <group title="Other Features">
131 <column name="datapath_type">
132 Name of datapath provider. The kernel datapath has
133 type <code>system</code>. The userspace datapath has
134 type <code>netdev</code>.
137 <column name="external_ids">
138 Key-value pairs that identify this bridge's role in external systems.
139 The currently defined key-value pairs are:
141 <dt><code>network-uuids</code></dt>
142 <dd>Semicolon-delimited set of universally unique identifier(s) for
143 the network with which this bridge is associated. The form of the
144 identifier(s) depends on the type of the host. On a Citrix
145 XenServer host, the network identifiers are RFC 4122 UUIDs as
146 displayed by, e.g., <code>xe network-list</code>.</dd>
150 <column name="other_config">
151 Key-value pairs for configuring rarely used bridge
152 features. The currently defined key-value pairs are:
154 <dt><code>datapath-id</code></dt>
156 digits to set the OpenFlow datapath ID to a specific
158 <dt><code>hwaddr</code></dt>
159 <dd>An Ethernet address in the form
160 <var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>
161 to set the hardware address of the local port and influence the
168 <table name="Port" table="Port or bond configuration.">
169 <p>A port within a <ref table="Bridge"/>.</p>
170 <p>Most commonly, a port has exactly one ``interface,'' pointed to by its
171 <ref column="interfaces"/> column. Such a port logically
172 corresponds to a port on a physical Ethernet switch. A port
173 with more than one interface is a ``bonded port'' (see
174 <ref group="Bonding Configuration"/>).</p>
175 <p>Some properties that one might think as belonging to a port are actually
176 part of the port's <ref table="Interface"/> members.</p>
179 Port name. Should be alphanumeric and no more than about 8
180 bytes long. May be the same as the interface name, for
181 non-bonded ports. Must otherwise be unique among the names of
182 ports, interfaces, and bridges on a host.
185 <column name="interfaces">
186 The port's interfaces. If there is more than one, this is a
190 <group title="VLAN Configuration">
191 <p>A bridge port must be configured for VLANs in one of two
192 mutually exclusive ways:
194 <li>A ``trunk port'' has an empty value for
195 <ref column="tag"/> and a possibly non-empty
196 <ref column="trunks"/> value.</li>
197 <li>An ``implicitly tagged VLAN port'' or ``access port''
198 has an nonempty value for <ref column="tag"/> and an empty
199 <ref column="trunks"/> value.</li>
201 If <ref column="trunks"/> and <ref column="tag"/> are both
202 nonempty, the configuration is ill-formed.
206 <p>If nonempty, this port's implicitly tagged VLAN. Frames
207 arriving on trunk ports will be forwarded to this port only
208 if they are tagged with the given VLAN. Frames arriving on
209 other VLAN ports will be forwarded to this port only if they
210 have the same <ref column="tag"/> value. Frames forwarded
211 to this port will not have an 802.1Q header.</p>
212 <p>When a frame with a 802.1Q header that indicates a nonzero VLAN is
213 received on an implicit VLAN port, it is discarded.</p>
214 <p>Must be empty if this is a trunk port.</p>
217 <column name="trunks">
218 <p>The 802.1Q VLAN(s) that this port trunks. If the column is
219 empty, then the port trunks all VLANs as well as packets that
220 have no VLAN header. Otherwise, only frames that have an
221 802.1Q header with one of the specified VLANs are accepted.
222 If <code>0</code> is included, then frames without an 802.1Q
223 header are also accepted.</p>
224 <p>Must be empty unless this is a trunk port.</p>
228 <group title="Bonding Configuration">
229 <p>A port that has more than one interface is a ``bonded port.''
230 Bonding allows for load balancing and fail-over. Open vSwitch
231 supports ``source load balancing'' (SLB) bonding, which
232 assigns flows to slaves based on source MAC address, with
233 periodic rebalancing as traffic patterns change. This form of
234 bonding does not require 802.3ad or other special support from
235 the upstream switch to which the slave devices are
238 <p>These columns apply only to bonded ports. Their values are
239 otherwise ignored.</p>
241 <column name="bond_updelay">
242 <p>For a bonded port, the number of milliseconds for which carrier must
243 stay up on an interface before the interface is considered to be up.
244 Specify <code>0</code> to enable the interface immediately.</p>
245 <p>This setting is honored only when at least one bonded interface is
246 already enabled. When no interfaces are enabled, then the first bond
247 interface to come up is enabled immediately.</p>
250 <column name="bond_downdelay">
251 For a bonded port, the number of milliseconds for which carrier must
252 stay down on an interface before the interface is considered to be
253 down. Specify <code>0</code> to disable the interface immediately.
256 <column name="bond_fake_iface">
257 For a bonded port, whether to create a fake internal interface with the
258 name of the port. Use only for compatibility with legacy software that
263 <group title="Other Features">
265 Quality of Service configuration for this port.
269 The MAC address to use for this port for the purpose of choosing the
270 bridge's MAC address. This column does not necessarily reflect the
271 port's actual MAC address, nor will setting it change the port's actual
275 <column name="fake_bridge">
276 Does this port represent a sub-bridge for its tagged VLAN within the
277 Bridge? See ovs-vsctl(8) for more information.
280 <column name="external_ids">
281 Key-value pairs that identify this port's role in external systems. No
282 key-value pairs native to <ref table="Port"/> are currently defined.
283 For fake bridges (see the <ref column="fake_bridge"/> column), external
284 IDs for the fake bridge are defined here by prefixing a
285 <ref table="Bridge"/> <ref table="Bridge" column="external_ids"/> key
286 with <code>fake-bridge-</code>,
287 e.g. <code>fake-bridge-network-uuids</code>.
290 <column name="other_config">
291 Key-value pairs for configuring rarely used port features. The
292 currently defined key-value pairs are:
294 <dt><code>hwaddr</code></dt>
295 <dd>An Ethernet address in the form
296 <code><var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var></code>.</dd>
297 <dt><code>bond-rebalance-interval</code></dt>
298 <dd>For a bonded port, the number of milliseconds between
299 successive attempts to rebalance the bond, that is, to
300 move source MACs and their flows from one interface on
301 the bond to another in an attempt to keep usage of each
302 interface roughly equal. The default is 10000 (10
303 seconds), and the minimum is 1000 (1 second).</dd>
309 <table name="Interface" title="One physical network device in a Port.">
310 An interface within a <ref table="Port"/>.
312 <group title="Core Features">
314 Interface name. Should be alphanumeric and no more than about 8 bytes
315 long. May be the same as the port name, for non-bonded ports. Must
316 otherwise be unique among the names of ports, interfaces, and bridges
321 <p>Ethernet address to set for this interface. If unset then the
322 default MAC address is used:</p>
324 <li>For the local interface, the default is the lowest-numbered MAC
325 address among the other bridge ports, either the value of the
326 <ref table="Port" column="mac"/> in its <ref table="Port"/> record,
327 if set, or its actual MAC (for bonded ports, the MAC of its slave
328 whose name is first in alphabetical order). Internal ports and
329 bridge ports that are used as port mirroring destinations (see the
330 <ref table="Mirror"/> table) are ignored.</li>
331 <li>For other internal interfaces, the default MAC is randomly
333 <li>External interfaces typically have a MAC address associated with
336 <p>Some interfaces may not have a software-controllable MAC
340 <column name="ofport">
341 <p>OpenFlow port number for this interface. Unlike most columns, this
342 column's value should be set only by Open vSwitch itself. Other
343 clients should set this column to an empty set (the default) when
344 creating an <ref table="Interface"/>.</p>
345 <p>Open vSwitch populates this column when the port number becomes
346 known. If the interface is successfully added,
347 <ref column="ofport"/> will be set to a number between 1 and 65535
348 (generally either in the range 1 to 65280, exclusive, or 65534, the
349 port number for the OpenFlow ``local port''). If the interface
350 cannot be added then Open vSwitch sets this column
355 <group title="System-Specific Details">
357 The interface type, one of:
359 <dt><code>system</code></dt>
360 <dd>An ordinary network device, e.g. <code>eth0</code> on Linux.
361 Sometimes referred to as ``external interfaces'' since they are
362 generally connected to hardware external to that on which the Open
363 vSwitch is running. The empty string is a synonym for
364 <code>system</code>.</dd>
365 <dt><code>internal</code></dt>
366 <dd>A simulated network device that sends and receives traffic. An
367 internal interface whose <ref column="name"/> is the same as its
368 bridge's <ref table="Open_vSwitch" column="name"/> is called the
369 ``local interface.'' It does not make sense to bond an internal
370 interface, so the terms ``port'' and ``interface'' are often used
371 imprecisely for internal interfaces.</dd>
372 <dt><code>tap</code></dt>
373 <dd>A TUN/TAP device managed by Open vSwitch.</dd>
374 <dt><code>gre</code></dt>
375 <dd>An Ethernet over RFC 1702 Generic Routing Encapsulation over IPv4
376 tunnel. Each tunnel must be uniquely identified by the
377 combination of <code>remote_ip</code>, <code>local_ip</code>, and
378 <code>in_key</code>. Note that if two ports are defined that are
379 the same except one has an optional identifier and the other does
380 not, the more specific one is matched first. <code>in_key</code>
381 is considered more specific than <code>local_ip</code> if a port
382 defines one and another port defines the other. The arguments
385 <dt><code>remote_ip</code></dt>
386 <dd>Required. The tunnel endpoint.</dd>
389 <dt><code>local_ip</code></dt>
390 <dd>Optional. The destination IP that received packets must
391 match. Default is to match all addresses.</dd>
394 <dt><code>in_key</code></dt>
395 <dd>Optional. The GRE key that received packets must contain.
396 It may either be a 32-bit number (no key and a key of 0 are
397 treated as equivalent) or the word <code>flow</code>. If
398 <code>flow</code> is specified then any key will be accepted
399 and the key will be placed in the <code>tun_id</code> field
400 for matching in the flow table. The ovs-ofctl manual page
401 contains additional information about matching fields in
402 OpenFlow flows. Default is no key.</dd>
405 <dt><code>out_key</code></dt>
406 <dd>Optional. The GRE key to be set on outgoing packets. It may
407 either be a 32-bit number or the word <code>flow</code>. If
408 <code>flow</code> is specified then the key may be set using
409 the <code>set_tunnel</code> Nicira OpenFlow vendor extension (0
410 is used in the absense of an action). The ovs-ofctl manual
411 page contains additional information about the Nicira OpenFlow
412 vendor extensions. Default is no key.</dd>
415 <dt><code>key</code></dt>
416 <dd>Optional. Shorthand to set <code>in_key</code> and
417 <code>out_key</code> at the same time.</dd>
420 <dt><code>tos</code></dt>
421 <dd>Optional. The value of the ToS bits to be set on the
422 encapsulating packet. It may also be the word
423 <code>inherit</code>, in which case the ToS will be copied from
424 the inner packet if it is IPv4 or IPv6 (otherwise it will be
425 0). Note that the ECN fields are always inherited. Default is
429 <dt><code>ttl</code></dt>
430 <dd>Optional. The TTL to be set on the encapsulating packet.
431 It may also be the word <code>inherit</code>, in which case the
432 TTL will be copied from the inner packet if it is IPv4 or IPv6
433 (otherwise it will be the system default, typically 64).
434 Default is the system default TTL.</dd>
437 <dt><code>csum</code></dt>
438 <dd>Optional. Compute GRE checksums for outgoing packets and
439 require checksums for incoming packets. Default is enabled,
440 set to <code>false</code> to disable.</dd>
443 <dt><code>pmtud</code></dt>
444 <dd>Optional. Enable tunnel path MTU discovery. If enabled
445 ``ICMP destination unreachable - fragmentation'' needed
446 messages will be generated for IPv4 packets with the DF bit set
447 and IPv6 packets above the minimum MTU if the packet size
448 exceeds the path MTU minus the size of the tunnel headers. It
449 also forces the encapsulating packet DF bit to be set (it is
450 always set if the inner packet implies path MTU discovery).
451 Note that this option causes behavior that is typically
452 reserved for routers and therefore is not entirely in
453 compliance with the IEEE 802.1D specification for bridges.
454 Default is enabled, set to <code>false</code> to disable.</dd>
457 <dt><code>patch</code></dt>
458 <dd>A pair of virtual devices that act as a patch cable. A
459 <code>peer</code> argument is required that indicates the name
460 of the other side of the patch. Since a patch must work in
461 pairs, a second patch interface must be declared with the
462 <code>name</code> and <code>peer</code> arguments reversed.</dd>
466 <column name="options">
467 Configuration options whose interpretation varies based on
468 <ref column="type"/>.
472 <group title="Ingress Policing">
473 <column name="ingress_policing_burst">
474 <p>Maximum burst size for data received on this interface, in kb. The
475 default burst size if set to <code>0</code> is 1000 kb. This value
476 has no effect if <ref column="ingress_policing_rate"/>
477 is <code>0</code>.</p>
478 <p>The burst size should be at least the size of the interface's
482 <column name="ingress_policing_rate">
483 <p>Maximum rate for data received on this interface, in kbps. Data
484 received faster than this rate is dropped. Set to <code>0</code> to
485 disable policing.</p>
486 <p>The meaning of ``ingress'' is from Open vSwitch's perspective. If
487 configured on a physical interface, then it limits the rate at which
488 traffic is allowed into the system from the outside. If configured
489 on a virtual interface that is connected to a virtual machine, then
490 it limits the rate at which the guest is able to transmit.</p>
494 <group title="Other Features">
495 <column name="external_ids">
496 <p>Key-value pairs that identify this interface's role in external
497 systems. All of the currently defined key-value pairs specifically
498 apply to an interface that represents a virtual Ethernet interface
499 connected to a virtual machine. These key-value pairs should not be
500 present for other types of interfaces. Keys whose names end
501 in <code>-uuid</code> have values that uniquely identify the entity
502 in question. For a Citrix XenServer hypervisor, these values are
503 UUIDs in RFC 4122 format. Other hypervisors may use other
505 <p>The currently defined key-value pairs are:</p>
507 <dt><code>vif-uuid</code></dt>
508 <dd>The virtual interface associated with this interface.</dd>
509 <dt><code>network-uuid</code></dt>
510 <dd>The virtual network to which this interface is attached.</dd>
511 <dt><code>vm-uuid</code></dt>
512 <dd>The VM to which this interface belongs.</dd>
513 <dt><code>vif-mac</code></dt>
514 <dd>The MAC address programmed into the "virtual hardware" for this
516 form <var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>.
517 For Citrix XenServer, this is the value of the <code>MAC</code>
518 field in the VIF record for this interface.</dd>
524 <table name="QoS" title="Quality of Service configuration">
525 <p>Quality of Service (QoS) configuration for each Port that
529 <p>The type of QoS to implement. The <ref table="Open_vSwitch"
530 column="capabilities"/> column in the <ref table="Open_vSwitch"/> table
531 identifies the types that a switch actually supports. The currently
532 defined types are listed below:</p>
534 <dt><code>linux-htb</code></dt>
535 <dd>Linux ``hierarchy token bucket'' classifier.</dd>
539 <column name="queues">
540 <p>A map from queue numbers to <ref table="Queue"/> records. The
541 supported range of queue numbers depend on <ref column="type"/>. The
542 queue numbers are the same as the <code>queue_id</code> used in
543 OpenFlow in <code>struct ofp_action_enqueue</code> and other
544 structures. Queue 0 is used by OpenFlow output actions that do not
545 specify a specific queue.</p>
548 <column name="other_config">
549 <p>Key-value pairs for configuring QoS features that depend on
550 <ref column="type"/>.</p>
551 <p>The <code>linux-htb</code> class supports the following key-value
554 <dt><code>max-rate</code></dt>
555 <dd>Maximum rate shared by all queued traffic, in bit/s.
556 Optional. If not specified, for physical interfaces, the
557 default is the link rate. For other interfaces or if the
558 link rate cannot be determined, the default is currently 100
564 <table name="Queue" title="QoS output queue.">
565 <p>A configuration for a port output queue, used in configuring Quality of
566 Service (QoS) features. May be referenced by <ref column="queues"
567 table="QoS"/> column in <ref table="QoS"/> table.</p>
569 <column name="other_config">
570 <p>Key-value pairs for configuring the output queue. The supported
571 key-value pairs and their meanings depend on the <ref column="type"/>
572 of the <ref column="QoS"/> records that reference this row.</p>
573 <p>The key-value pairs defined for <ref table="QoS"/> <ref table="QoS"
574 column="type"/> of <code>min-rate</code> are:</p>
576 <dt><code>min-rate</code></dt>
577 <dd>Minimum guaranteed bandwidth, in bit/s. Required.</dd>
579 <p>The key-value pairs defined for <ref table="QoS"/> <ref table="QoS"
580 column="type"/> of <code>linux-htb</code> are:</p>
582 <dt><code>min-rate</code></dt>
583 <dd>Minimum guaranteed bandwidth, in bit/s. Required.</dd>
584 <dt><code>max-rate</code></dt>
585 <dd>Maximum allowed bandwidth, in bit/s. Optional. If specified, the
586 queue's rate will not be allowed to exceed the specified value, even
587 if excess bandwidth is available. If unspecified, defaults to no
589 <dt><code>burst</code></dt>
590 <dd>Burst size, in bits. This is the maximum amount of ``credits''
591 that a queue can accumulate while it is idle. Optional. Details of
592 the <code>linux-htb</code> implementation require a minimum burst
593 size, so a too-small <code>burst</code> will be silently
595 <dt><code>priority</code></dt>
596 <dd>A nonnegative 32-bit integer. Defaults to 0 if
597 unspecified. A queue with a smaller <code>priority</code>
598 will receive all the excess bandwidth that it can use before
599 a queue with a larger value receives any. Specific priority
600 values are unimportant; only relative ordering matters.</dd>
605 <table name="Mirror" title="Port mirroring (SPAN/RSPAN).">
606 <p>A port mirror within a <ref table="Bridge"/>.</p>
607 <p>A port mirror configures a bridge to send selected frames to special
608 ``mirrored'' ports, in addition to their normal destinations. Mirroring
609 traffic may also be referred to as SPAN or RSPAN, depending on the
610 mechanism used for delivery.</p>
613 Arbitrary identifier for the <ref table="Mirror"/>.
616 <group title="Selecting Packets for Mirroring">
617 <column name="select_all">
618 If true, every packet arriving or departing on any port is
619 selected for mirroring.
622 <column name="select_dst_port">
623 Ports on which departing packets are selected for mirroring.
626 <column name="select_src_port">
627 Ports on which arriving packets are selected for mirroring.
630 <column name="select_vlan">
631 VLANs on which packets are selected for mirroring. An empty set
632 selects packets on all VLANs.
636 <group title="Mirroring Destination Configuration">
637 <column name="output_port">
638 <p>Output port for selected packets, if nonempty. Mutually exclusive
639 with <ref column="output_vlan"/>.</p>
640 <p>Specifying a port for mirror output reserves that port exclusively
641 for mirroring. No frames other than those selected for mirroring
642 will be forwarded to the port, and any frames received on the port
643 will be discarded.</p>
644 <p>This type of mirroring is sometimes called SPAN.</p>
647 <column name="output_vlan">
648 <p>Output VLAN for selected packets, if nonempty. Mutually exclusive
649 with <ref column="output_port"/>.</p>
650 <p>The frames will be sent out all ports that trunk
651 <ref column="output_vlan"/>, as well as any ports with implicit VLAN
652 <ref column="output_vlan"/>. When a mirrored frame is sent out a
653 trunk port, the frame's VLAN tag will be set to
654 <ref column="output_vlan"/>, replacing any existing tag; when it is
655 sent out an implicit VLAN port, the frame will not be tagged. This
656 type of mirroring is sometimes called RSPAN.</p>
657 <p><em>Please note:</em> Mirroring to a VLAN can disrupt a network that
658 contains unmanaged switches. Consider an unmanaged physical switch
659 with two ports: port 1, connected to an end host, and port 2,
660 connected to an Open vSwitch configured to mirror received packets
661 into VLAN 123 on port 2. Suppose that the end host sends a packet on
662 port 1 that the physical switch forwards to port 2. The Open vSwitch
663 forwards this packet to its destination and then reflects it back on
664 port 2 in VLAN 123. This reflected packet causes the unmanaged
665 physical switch to replace the MAC learning table entry, which
666 correctly pointed to port 1, with one that incorrectly points to port
667 2. Afterward, the physical switch will direct packets destined for
668 the end host to the Open vSwitch on port 2, instead of to the end
669 host on port 1, disrupting connectivity. If mirroring to a VLAN is
670 desired in this scenario, then the physical switch must be replaced
671 by one that learns Ethernet addresses on a per-VLAN basis. In
672 addition, learning should be disabled on the VLAN containing mirrored
673 traffic. If this is not done then intermediate switches will learn
674 the MAC address of each end host from the mirrored traffic. If
675 packets being sent to that end host are also mirrored, then they will
676 be dropped since the switch will attempt to send them out the input
677 port. Disabling learning for the VLAN will cause the switch to
678 correctly send the packet out all ports configured for that VLAN. If
679 Open vSwitch is being used as an intermediate switch, learning can be
680 disabled by adding the mirrored VLAN to <ref column="flood_vlans"/>
681 in the appropriate <ref table="Bridge"/> table or tables.</p>
686 <table name="Controller" title="OpenFlow controller configuration.">
687 <p>An OpenFlow controller.</p>
689 <p>Open vSwitch permits a bridge to have any number of OpenFlow
690 controllers. When multiple controllers are configured, Open vSwitch
691 connects to all of them simultaneously. OpenFlow 1.0 does not specify
692 how multiple controllers coordinate in interacting with a single switch,
693 so more than one controller should be specified only if the controllers
694 are themselves designed to coordinate with each other.</p>
696 <group title="Core Features">
697 <column name="target">
698 <p>Connection method for controller.
699 The following connection methods are currently
702 <dt><code>ssl:<var>ip</var></code>[<code>:<var>port</var></code>]</dt>
704 <p>The specified SSL <var>port</var> (default: 6633) on the host at
705 the given <var>ip</var>, which must be expressed as an IP address
706 (not a DNS name). The <ref table="Open_vSwitch" column="ssl"/>
707 column in the <ref table="Open_vSwitch"/> must point to a valid
708 SSL configuration when this form is used.</p>
709 <p>SSL support is an optional feature that is not always built as
710 part of Open vSwitch.</p>
712 <dt><code>tcp:<var>ip</var></code>[<code>:<var>port</var></code>]</dt>
713 <dd>The specified TCP <var>port</var> (default: 6633) on the host at
714 the given <var>ip</var>, which must be expressed as an IP address
715 (not a DNS name).</dd>
716 <dt><code>discover</code></dt>
718 <p>Enables controller discovery.</p>
719 <p>In controller discovery mode, Open vSwitch broadcasts a DHCP
720 request with vendor class identifier <code>OpenFlow</code> across
721 all of the bridge's network devices. It will accept any valid
722 DHCP reply that has the same vendor class identifier and includes
723 a vendor-specific option with code 1 whose contents are a string
724 specifying the location of the controller in the same format as
725 <ref column="target"/>.</p>
726 <p>The DHCP reply may also, optionally, include a vendor-specific
727 option with code 2 whose contents are a string specifying the URI
728 to the base of the OpenFlow PKI
729 (e.g. <code>http://192.168.0.1/openflow/pki</code>). This URI is
730 used only for bootstrapping the OpenFlow PKI at initial switch
731 setup; <code>ovs-vswitchd</code> does not use it at all.</p>
733 <dt><code>none</code></dt>
734 <dd>Disables the controller.</dd>
736 <p>When multiple controllers are configured for a single bridge, the
737 <ref column="target"/> values must be unique. Duplicate
738 <ref column="target"/> values yield unspecified results.</p>
741 <column name="connection_mode">
742 <p>If it is specified, this setting must be one of the following
743 strings that describes how Open vSwitch contacts this OpenFlow
744 controller over the network:</p>
747 <dt><code>in-band</code></dt>
748 <dd>In this mode, this controller's OpenFlow traffic travels over the
749 bridge associated with the controller. With this setting, Open
750 vSwitch allows traffic to and from the controller regardless of the
751 contents of the OpenFlow flow table. (Otherwise, Open vSwitch
752 would never be able to connect to the controller, because it did
753 not have a flow to enable it.) This is the most common connection
754 mode because it is not necessary to maintain two independent
756 <dt><code>out-of-band</code></dt>
757 <dd>In this mode, OpenFlow traffic uses a control network separate
758 from the bridge associated with this controller, that is, the
759 bridge does not use any of its own network devices to communicate
760 with the controller. The control network must be configured
761 separately, before or after <code>ovs-vswitchd</code> is started.
765 <p>If not specified, the default is implementation-specific. If
766 <ref column="target"/> is <code>discover</code>, the connection mode
767 is always treated as <code>in-band</code> regardless of the actual
772 <group title="Controller Failure Detection and Handling">
773 <column name="max_backoff">
774 Maximum number of milliseconds to wait between connection attempts.
775 Default is implementation-specific.
778 <column name="inactivity_probe">
779 Maximum number of milliseconds of idle time on connection to
780 controller before sending an inactivity probe message. If Open
781 vSwitch does not communicate with the controller for the specified
782 number of seconds, it will send a probe. If a response is not
783 received for the same additional amount of time, Open vSwitch
784 assumes the connection has been broken and attempts to reconnect.
785 Default is implementation-specific.
788 <column name="fail_mode">
789 <p>When a controller is configured, it is, ordinarily, responsible
790 for setting up all flows on the switch. Thus, if the connection to
791 the controller fails, no new network connections can be set up.
792 If the connection to the controller stays down long enough,
793 no packets can pass through the switch at all. This setting
794 determines the switch's response to such a situation. It may be set
795 to one of the following:
797 <dt><code>standalone</code></dt>
798 <dd>If no message is received from the controller for three
799 times the inactivity probe interval
800 (see <ref column="inactivity_probe"/>), then Open vSwitch
801 will take over responsibility for setting up flows. In
802 this mode, Open vSwitch causes the bridge to act like an
803 ordinary MAC-learning switch. Open vSwitch will continue
804 to retry connecting to the controller in the background
805 and, when the connection succeeds, it will discontinue its
806 standalone behavior.</dd>
807 <dt><code>secure</code></dt>
808 <dd>Open vSwitch will not set up flows on its own when the
809 controller connection fails. It will continue retry
810 connecting to the controller forever.</dd>
813 <p>If this value is unset, the default is implementation-specific.</p>
814 <p>When more than one controller is configured,
815 <ref column="fail_mode"/> is considered only when none of the
816 configured controllers can be contacted. At that point, the bridge
817 enters secure mode if any of the controllers'
818 <ref column="fail_mode"/> is set to <code>secure</code>. Otherwise,
819 it enters standalone mode if at least one <ref column="fail_mode"/>
820 is set to <code>standalone</code>. If none of the
821 <ref column="fail_mode"/> values are set, the default is
822 implementation-defined.</p>
826 <group title="OpenFlow Rate Limiting">
827 <column name="controller_rate_limit">
828 <p>The maximum rate at which packets in unknown flows will be
829 forwarded to the OpenFlow controller, in packets per second. This
830 feature prevents a single bridge from overwhelming the controller.
831 If not specified, the default is implementation-specific.</p>
832 <p>In addition, when a high rate triggers rate-limiting, Open
833 vSwitch queues controller packets for each port and transmits
834 them to the controller at the configured rate. The number of
835 queued packets is limited by
836 the <ref column="controller_burst_limit"/> value. The packet
837 queue is shared fairly among the ports on a bridge.</p><p>Open
838 vSwitch maintains two such packet rate-limiters per bridge.
839 One of these applies to packets sent up to the controller
840 because they do not correspond to any flow. The other applies
841 to packets sent up to the controller by request through flow
842 actions. When both rate-limiters are filled with packets, the
843 actual rate that packets are sent to the controller is up to
844 twice the specified rate.</p>
847 <column name="controller_burst_limit">
848 In conjunction with <ref column="controller_rate_limit"/>,
849 the maximum number of unused packet credits that the bridge will
850 allow to accumulate, in packets. If not specified, the default
851 is implementation-specific.
855 <group title="Additional Discovery Configuration">
856 <p>These values are considered only when <ref column="target"/>
857 is <code>discover</code>.</p>
859 <column name="discover_accept_regex">
861 extended regular expression against which the discovered controller
862 location is validated. The regular expression is implicitly
863 anchored at the beginning of the controller location string, as
864 if it begins with <code>^</code>. If not specified, the default
865 is implementation-specific.
868 <column name="discover_update_resolv_conf">
869 Whether to update <code>/etc/resolv.conf</code> when the
870 controller is discovered. If not specified, the default
871 is implementation-specific. Open vSwitch will only modify
872 <code>/etc/resolv.conf</code> if the DHCP response that it receives
873 specifies one or more DNS servers.
877 <group title="Additional In-Band Configuration">
878 <p>These values are considered only in in-band control mode (see
879 <ref column="connection_mode"/>) and only when <ref column="target"/>
880 is not <code>discover</code>. (For controller discovery, the network
881 configuration obtained via DHCP is used instead.)</p>
883 <p>When multiple controllers are configured on a single bridge, there
884 should be only one set of unique values in these columns. If different
885 values are set for these columns in different controllers, the effect
888 <column name="local_ip">
889 The IP address to configure on the local port,
890 e.g. <code>192.168.0.123</code>. If this value is unset, then
891 <ref column="local_netmask"/> and <ref column="local_gateway"/> are
895 <column name="local_netmask">
896 The IP netmask to configure on the local port,
897 e.g. <code>255.255.255.0</code>. If <ref column="local_ip"/> is set
898 but this value is unset, then the default is chosen based on whether
899 the IP address is class A, B, or C.
902 <column name="local_gateway">
903 The IP address of the gateway to configure on the local port, as a
904 string, e.g. <code>192.168.0.1</code>. Leave this column unset if
905 this network has no gateway.
910 <table name="NetFlow">
911 A NetFlow target. NetFlow is a protocol that exports a number of
912 details about terminating IP flows, such as the principals involved
915 <column name="targets">
916 NetFlow targets in the form
917 <code><var>ip</var>:<var>port</var></code>. The <var>ip</var>
918 must be specified numerically, not as a DNS name.
921 <column name="engine_id">
922 Engine ID to use in NetFlow messages. Defaults to datapath index
926 <column name="engine_type">
927 Engine type to use in NetFlow messages. Defaults to datapath
928 index if not specified.
931 <column name="active_timeout">
932 The interval at which NetFlow records are sent for flows that are
933 still active, in seconds. A value of <code>0</code> requests the
934 default timeout (currently 600 seconds); a value of <code>-1</code>
935 disables active timeouts.
938 <column name="add_id_to_interface">
939 <p>If this column's value is <code>false</code>, the ingress and egress
940 interface fields of NetFlow flow records are derived from OpenFlow port
941 numbers. When it is <code>true</code>, the 7 most significant bits of
942 these fields will be replaced by the least significant 7 bits of the
943 engine id. This is useful because many NetFlow collectors do not
944 expect multiple switches to be sending messages from the same host, so
945 they do not store the engine information which could be used to
946 disambiguate the traffic.</p>
947 <p>When this option is enabled, a maximum of 508 ports are supported.</p>
952 SSL configuration for an Open_vSwitch.
954 <column name="private_key">
955 Name of a PEM file containing the private key used as the switch's
956 identity for SSL connections to the controller.
959 <column name="certificate">
960 Name of a PEM file containing a certificate, signed by the
961 certificate authority (CA) used by the controller and manager,
962 that certifies the switch's private key, identifying a trustworthy
966 <column name="ca_cert">
967 Name of a PEM file containing the CA certificate used to verify
968 that the switch is connected to a trustworthy controller.
971 <column name="bootstrap_ca_cert">
972 If set to <code>true</code>, then Open vSwitch will attempt to
973 obtain the CA certificate from the controller on its first SSL
974 connection and save it to the named PEM file. If it is successful,
975 it will immediately drop the connection and reconnect, and from then
976 on all SSL connections must be authenticated by a certificate signed
977 by the CA certificate thus obtained. <em>This option exposes the
978 SSL connection to a man-in-the-middle attack obtaining the initial
979 CA certificate.</em> It may still be useful for bootstrapping.
984 <p>An sFlow(R) target. sFlow is a protocol for remote monitoring
987 <column name="agent">
988 Name of the network device whose IP address should be reported as the
989 ``agent address'' to collectors. If not specified, the IP address
990 defaults to the <ref table="Controller" column="local_ip"/> in the
991 collector's <ref table="Controller"/>. If an agent IP address cannot be
992 determined either way, sFlow is disabled.
995 <column name="header">
996 Number of bytes of a sampled packet to send to the collector.
997 If not specified, the default is 128 bytes.
1000 <column name="polling">
1001 Polling rate in seconds to send port statistics to the collector.
1002 If not specified, defaults to 30 seconds.
1005 <column name="sampling">
1006 Rate at which packets should be sampled and sent to the collector.
1007 If not specified, defaults to 400, which means one out of 400
1008 packets, on average, will be sent to the collector.
1011 <column name="targets">
1012 sFlow targets in the form
1013 <code><var>ip</var>:<var>port</var></code>.
1017 <table name="Capability">
1018 <p>Records in this table describe functionality supported by the hardware
1019 and software platform on which this Open vSwitch is based. Clients
1020 should not modify this table.</p>
1022 <p>A record in this table is meaningful only if it is referenced by the
1023 <ref table="Open_vSwitch" column="capabilities"/> column in the
1024 <ref table="Open_vSwitch"/> table. The key used to reference it, called
1025 the record's ``category,'' determines the meanings of the
1026 <ref column="details"/> column. The following general forms of
1027 categories are currently defined:</p>
1030 <dt><code>qos-<var>type</var></code></dt>
1031 <dd><var>type</var> is supported as the value for
1032 <ref column="type" table="QoS"/> in the <ref table="QoS"/> table.
1036 <column name="details">
1037 <p>Key-value pairs that describe capabilities. The meaning of the pairs
1038 depends on the category key that the <ref table="Open_vSwitch"
1039 column="capabilities"/> column in the <ref table="Open_vSwitch"/> table
1040 uses to reference this record, as described above.</p>
1042 <p>The presence of a record for category <code>qos-<var>type</var></code>
1043 indicates that the switch supports <var>type</var> as the value of
1044 the <ref table="QoS" column="type"/> column in the <ref table="QoS"/>
1045 table. The following key-value pairs are defined to further describe
1046 QoS capabilities:</p>
1049 <dt><code>n-queues</code></dt>
1050 <dd>Number of supported queues, as a positive integer. Keys in the
1051 <ref table="QoS" column="queues"/> column for <ref table="QoS"/>
1052 records whose <ref table="QoS" column="type"/> value
1053 equals <var>type</var> must range between 0 and this value minus one,