Merge commit 'origin/citrix'

[sliver-openvswitch.git] / vswitchd / ovs-vswitchd.conf.5.in

diff --git a/vswitchd/ovs-vswitchd.conf.5.in b/vswitchd/ovs-vswitchd.conf.5.in
index 665d3d0..af3ff27 100644 (file)
--- a/vswitchd/ovs-vswitchd.conf.5.in
+++ b/vswitchd/ovs-vswitchd.conf.5.in
@@ -71,11 +71,23 @@ in the bridge, by specifying it as one of the values for key
 included, then its MAC address is by default the lowest-numbered MAC
 address among the other bridge ports, ignoring other internal ports
 and bridge ports that are
-used as port mirroring destinations (see \fBPort Mirroring\fR, below).  To
-use a specific MAC address instead, set \fBbridge.\fIname\fB.mac\fR to
-a MAC address in the format
+used as port mirroring destinations (see \fBPort Mirroring\fR, below).
+For this purpose, the MAC of a bonded port (see \fBNetwork Device
+Bonding\fR, below) is by default the MAC of its slave whose name is first in
+alphabetical order.
+There are two ways to modify this algorithm for selecting the MAC
+address of the local port:
+.IP \(bu
+To use a specific MAC address for the local port, set
+\fBbridge.\fIname\fB.mac\fR to a MAC address in the format
 \fIxx\fB:\fIxx\fB:\fIxx\fB:\fIxx\fB:\fIxx\fB:\fIxx\fR, where each
-\fIx\fR is a hex digit.  If no valid MAC address can be determined
+\fIx\fR is a hex digit.
+.IP \(bu
+To override the MAC of a port for the purpose of this algorithm, set
+\fBport.\fIport\fB.mac\fR to a MAC address in the format described
+above.
+.PP
+If no valid MAC address can be determined
 either of these ways, then a MAC address is randomly generated.
 .PP
 The following syntax defines a bridge named \fBmybr\fR, configured
@@ -254,6 +266,22 @@ a trunk port, the frame's VLAN tag will be set to \fIvid\fR, replacing
 any existing tag; when it is sent out an implicit VLAN port, the frame
 will not be tagged.  This type of mirroring may be referred to as
 RSPAN.
+.IP
+Please note that mirroring to a VLAN can disrupt a network that
+contains unmanaged switches.  Consider an unmanaged physical switch
+with two ports: port 1, connected to an end host, and port 2,
+connected to an Open vSwitch configured to mirror received packets
+into VLAN 123 on port 2.  Suppose that the end host sends a packet on
+port 1 that the physical switch forwards to port 2.  The Open vSwitch
+forwards this packet to its destination and then reflects it back on
+port 2 in VLAN 123.  This reflected packet causes the unmanaged
+physical switch to replace the MAC learning table entry, which
+correctly pointed to port 1, with one that incorrectly points to port
+2.  Afterward, the physical switch will direct packets destined for
+the end host to the Open vSwitch on port 2, instead of to the end host
+on port 1, disrupting connectivity.  If mirroring to a VLAN is desired
+in this scenario, then the physical switch must be replaced by one
+that learns Ethernet addresses on a per-VLAN basis.
 .ST "Example"
 The following \fBovs\-vswitchd\fR configuration copies all frames received
 on \fBeth1\fR or \fBeth2\fR to \fBeth3\fR.
@@ -363,7 +391,7 @@ The specified TCP \fIport\fR (default: 6633) on the host at the given
 .PP
 The maximum time between attempts to connect to the controller may be
 specified in integral seconds with the \fBmgmt.max-backoff\fR key.  The
-default maximum backoff is 15 seconds, and the minimum value is 1
+default maximum backoff is 8 seconds, and the minimum value is 1
 second.
 
 An inactivity probe may be configured with the \fBmgmt.inactivity-probe\fR
@@ -371,7 +399,7 @@ key.  If \fBovs\-vswitchd\fR does not communicate with the controller for the
 specified number of seconds, it will send a probe.  If a response is not
 received for an additional amount of that time, \fBovs\-vswitchd\fR assumes
 the connection has been broken and attempts to reconnect.  The default
-is 15 seconds, and the minimum value is 5 seconds.
+and minimum values are both 5 seconds.
 
 A management id may be specified with the \fBmgmt.id\fR key.  It takes
 an id in the form of exactly 12 hexadecimal digits.  If one is not