- Open vSwitch currently assigns the OpenFlow port number for an
- interface once, when the client first adds the interface. It does
- not change the port number later if the client sets or changes or
- clears <ref column="ofport_request"/>. Therefore, to ensure that
- <ref column="ofport_request"/> takes effect, the client should set
- it in the same database transaction that creates the interface.
- (Future versions of Open vSwitch might honor changes to <ref
- column="ofport_request"/>.)
+ A client should ideally set this column's value in the same
+ database transaction that it uses to create the interface. Open
+ vSwitch version 2.1 and later will honor a later request for a
+ specific port number, althuogh it might confuse some controllers:
+ OpenFlow does not have a way to announce a port number change, so
+ Open vSwitch represents it over OpenFlow as a port deletion
+ followed immediately by a port addition.
+ </p>
+
+ <p>
+ If <ref column="ofport_request"/> is set or changed to some other
+ port's automatically assigned port number, Open vSwitch chooses a
+ new port number for the latter port.