7 .TH ovs\-ofctl 8 "January 2010" "Open vSwitch" "Open vSwitch Manual"
11 ovs\-ofctl \- administer OpenFlow switches
15 [\fIoptions\fR] \fIcommand \fR[\fIswitch\fR] [\fIargs\fR\&...]
20 program is a command line tool for monitoring and administering
21 OpenFlow switches. It can also show the current state of an OpenFlow
22 switch, including features, configuration, and table entries.
24 .SS "OpenFlow Switch Management Commands"
26 These commands allow \fBovs\-ofctl\fR to monitor and administer an OpenFlow
27 switch. It is able to show the current state of a switch, including
28 features, configuration, and table entries.
30 Most of these commands take an argument that specifies the method for
31 connecting to an OpenFlow switch. The following connection methods
35 .so lib/vconn-active.man
38 This is short for \fBunix:\fIfile\fR, as long as \fIfile\fR does not
42 This is short for \fBunix:@RUNDIR@/\fIbridge\fB.mgmt\fR, as long as
43 \fIbridge\fR does not contain a colon.
45 .IP [\fItype\fB@\fR]\fIdp\fR
46 Attempts to look up the bridge associated with \fIdp\fR and open as
47 above. If \fItype\fR is given, it specifies the datapath provider of
48 \fIdp\fR, otherwise the default provider \fBsystem\fR is assumed.
53 Prints to the console information on \fIswitch\fR, including
54 information on its flow tables and ports.
57 \fBstatus \fIswitch\fR [\fIkey\fR]
58 Prints to the console a series of key-value pairs that report the
59 status of \fIswitch\fR. If \fIkey\fR is specified, only the key-value
60 pairs whose key names begin with \fIkey\fR are printed. If \fIkey\fR is
61 omitted, all key-value pairs are printed.
64 \fBdump\-tables \fIswitch\fR
65 Prints to the console statistics for each of the flow tables used by
69 \fBdump\-ports \fIswitch\fR [\fInetdev\fR]
70 Prints to the console statistics for network devices associated with
71 \fIswitch\fR. If \fInetdev\fR is specified, only the statistics
72 associated with that device will be printed. \fInetdev\fR can be an
73 OpenFlow assigned port number or device name, e.g. \fBeth0\fR.
76 \fBmod\-port \fIswitch\fR \fInetdev\fR \fIaction\fR
77 Modify characteristics of an interface monitored by \fIswitch\fR.
78 \fInetdev\fR can be referred to by its OpenFlow assigned port number or
79 the device name, e.g. \fBeth0\fR. The \fIaction\fR may be any one of the
84 Enables the interface. This is equivalent to ``ifconfig up'' on a Unix
88 Disables the interface. This is equivalent to ``ifconfig down'' on a Unix
92 When a \fIflood\fR action is specified, traffic will be sent out this
93 interface. This is the default posture for monitored ports.
96 When a \fIflood\fR action is specified, traffic will not be sent out
97 this interface. This is primarily useful to prevent loops when a
98 spanning tree protocol is not in use.
103 \fBdump\-flows \fIswitch \fR[\fIflows\fR]
104 Prints to the console all flow entries in \fIswitch\fR's
105 tables that match \fIflows\fR. If \fIflows\fR is omitted, all flows
106 in the switch are retrieved. See \fBFlow Syntax\fR, below, for the
107 syntax of \fIflows\fR. The output format is described in
108 \fBTable Entry Output\fR.
111 \fBdump\-aggregate \fIswitch \fR[\fIflows\fR]
112 Prints to the console aggregate statistics for flows in
113 \fIswitch\fR's tables that match \fIflows\fR. If \fIflows\fR is omitted,
114 the statistics are aggregated across all flows in the switch's flow
115 tables. See \fBFlow Syntax\fR, below, for the syntax of \fIflows\fR.
116 The output format is descrbed in \fBTable Entry Output\fR.
118 .IP "\fBqueue\-stats \fIswitch \fR[\fIport \fR[\fIqueue\fR]]"
119 Prints to the console statistics for the specified \fIqueue\fR on
120 \fIport\fR within \fIswitch\fR. Either of \fIport\fR or \fIqueue\fR
121 or both may be omitted (or equivalently specified as \fBALL\fR). If
122 both are omitted, statistics are printed for all queues on all ports.
123 If only \fIqueue\fR is omitted, then statistics are printed for all
124 queues on \fIport\fR; if only \fIport\fR is omitted, then statistics
125 are printed for \fIqueue\fR on every port where it exists.
128 \fBadd\-flow \fIswitch flow\fR
129 Add the flow entry as described by \fIflow\fR to the \fIswitch\fR's
130 tables. The flow entry is in the format described in \fBFlow Syntax\fR,
134 \fBadd\-flows \fIswitch file\fR
135 Add flow entries as described in \fIfile\fR to \fIswitch\fR's
136 tables. Each line in \fIfile\fR is a flow entry in the format
137 described in \fBFlow Syntax\fR, below.
140 \fBmod\-flows \fIswitch flow\fR
141 Modify the actions in entries from the \fIswitch\fR's tables
142 that match \fIflow\fR. When invoked with the \fB\-\-strict\fR option,
143 wildcards are not treated as active for matching purposes. See
144 \fBFlow Syntax\fR, below, for the syntax of \fIflows\fR.
147 \fBdel\-flows \fIswitch \fR[\fIflow\fR]
148 Deletes entries from the \fIswitch\fR's tables that match
149 \fIflow\fR. When invoked with the \fB\-\-strict\fR option, wildcards are
150 not treated as active for matching purposes. If \fIflow\fR is
151 omitted and the \fB\-\-strict\fR option is not used, all flows in the
152 switch's tables are removed. See \fBFlow Syntax\fR, below, for the
153 syntax of \fIflows\fR.
155 .IP "\fBsnoop \fIswitch\fR"
156 Connects to \fIswitch\fR and prints to the console all OpenFlow
157 messages received. Unlike other \fBovs\-ofctl\fR commands, if
158 \fIswitch\fR is the name of a bridge, then the \fBsnoop\fR command
159 connects to a Unix domain socket named
160 \fB@RUNDIR@/\fIbridge\fB.snoop\fR. \fBovs\-vswitchd\fR listens on
161 such a socket for each bridge and sends to it all of the OpenFlow
162 messages sent to or received from its configured OpenFlow controller.
163 Thus, this command can be used to view OpenFlow protocol activity
164 between a switch and its controller.
166 When a switch has more than one controller configured, only the
167 traffic to and from a single controller is output. If none of the
168 controllers is configured as a master or a slave (using a Nicira
169 extension to OpenFlow), then a controller is chosen arbitrarily among
170 them. If there is a master controller, it is chosen; otherwise, if
171 there are any controllers that are not masters or slaves, one is
172 chosen arbitrarily; otherwise, a slave controller is chosen
173 arbitrarily. This choice is made once at connection time and does not
174 change as controllers reconfigure their roles.
176 If a switch has no controller configured, or if
177 the configured controller is disconnected, no traffic is sent, so
178 monitoring will not show any traffic.
180 .IQ "\fBmonitor \fIswitch\fR [\fImiss-len\fR]"
181 Connects to \fIswitch\fR and prints to the console all OpenFlow
182 messages received. Usually, \fIswitch\fR should specify a connection
183 named on \fBovs\-openflowd\fR(8)'s \fB\-l\fR or \fB\-\-listen\fR command line
186 If \fImiss-len\fR is provided, \fBovs\-ofctl\fR sends an OpenFlow ``set
187 configuration'' message at connection setup time that requests
188 \fImiss-len\fR bytes of each packet that misses the flow table. Open vSwitch
189 does not send these and other asynchronous messages to an
190 \fBovs\-ofctl monitor\fR client connection unless a nonzero value is
191 specified on this argument. (Thus, if \fImiss\-len\fR is not
192 specified, very little traffic will ordinarily be printed.)
194 This command may be useful for debugging switch or controller
197 .SS "OpenFlow Switch and Controller Commands"
199 The following commands, like those in the previous section, may be
200 applied to OpenFlow switches, using any of the connection methods
201 described in that section. Unlike those commands, these may also be
202 applied to OpenFlow controllers.
205 \fBprobe \fItarget\fR
206 Sends a single OpenFlow echo-request message to \fItarget\fR and waits
207 for the response. With the \fB\-t\fR or \fB\-\-timeout\fR option, this
208 command can test whether an OpenFlow switch or controller is up and
212 \fBping \fItarget \fR[\fIn\fR]
213 Sends a series of 10 echo request packets to \fItarget\fR and times
214 each reply. The echo request packets consist of an OpenFlow header
215 plus \fIn\fR bytes (default: 64) of randomly generated payload. This
216 measures the latency of individual requests.
219 \fBbenchmark \fItarget n count\fR
220 Sends \fIcount\fR echo request packets that each consist of an
221 OpenFlow header plus \fIn\fR bytes of payload and waits for each
222 response. Reports the total time required. This is a measure of the
223 maximum bandwidth to \fItarget\fR for round-trips of \fIn\fR-byte
228 Some \fBovs\-ofctl\fR commands accept an argument that describes a flow or
229 flows. Such flow descriptions comprise a series
230 \fIfield\fB=\fIvalue\fR assignments, separated by commas or white
231 space. (Embedding spaces into a flow description normally requires
232 quoting to prevent the shell from breaking the description into
235 Flow descriptions should be in \fBnormal form\fR. This means that a
236 flow may only specify a value for an L3 field if it also specifies a
237 particular L2 protocol, and that a flow may only specify an L4 field
238 if it also specifies particular L2 and L3 protocol types. For
239 example, if the L2 protocol type \fBdl_type\fR is wildcarded, then L3
240 fields \fBnw_src\fR, \fBnw_dst\fR, and \fBnw_proto\fR must also be
241 wildcarded. Similarly, if \fBdl_type\fR or \fBnw_proto\fR (the L3
242 protocol type) is wildcarded, so must be \fBtp_dst\fR and
243 \fBtp_src\fR, which are L4 fields. \fBovs\-ofctl\fR will warn about
244 flows not in normal form.
246 The following field assignments describe how a flow matches a packet.
247 If any of these assignments is omitted from the flow syntax, the field
248 is treated as a wildcard; thus, if all of them are omitted, the
249 resulting flow matches all packets. The string \fB*\fR or \fBANY\fR
250 may be specified to explicitly mark any of these fields as a wildcard.
251 (\fB*\fR should be quoted to protect it from shell expansion.)
253 .IP \fBin_port=\fIport_no\fR
254 Matches physical port \fIport_no\fR. Switch ports are numbered as
255 displayed by \fBovs\-ofctl show\fR.
257 .IP \fBdl_vlan=\fIvlan\fR
258 Matches IEEE 802.1q Virtual LAN tag \fIvlan\fR. Specify \fB0xffff\fR
259 as \fIvlan\fR to match packets that are not tagged with a Virtual LAN;
260 otherwise, specify a number between 0 and 4095, inclusive, as the
261 12-bit VLAN ID to match.
263 .IP \fBdl_vlan_pcp=\fIpriority\fR
264 Matches IEEE 802.1q Priority Code Point (PCP) \fIpriority\fR, which is
265 specified as a value between 0 and 7, inclusive. A higher value
266 indicates a higher frame priority level.
268 .IP \fBdl_src=\fIxx\fB:\fIxx\fB:\fIxx\fB:\fIxx\fB:\fIxx\fB:\fIxx\fR
269 .IQ \fBdl_dst=\fIxx\fB:\fIxx\fB:\fIxx\fB:\fIxx\fB:\fIxx\fB:\fIxx\fR
270 Matches an Ethernet source (or destination) address specified as 6
271 pairs of hexadecimal digits delimited by colons
272 (e.g. \fB00:0A:E4:25:6B:B0\fR).
274 .IP \fBdl_type=\fIethertype\fR
275 Matches Ethernet protocol type \fIethertype\fR, which is specified as an
276 integer between 0 and 65535, inclusive, either in decimal or as a
277 hexadecimal number prefixed by \fB0x\fR (e.g. \fB0x0806\fR to match ARP
280 .IP \fBnw_src=\fIip\fR[\fB/\fInetmask\fR]
281 .IQ \fBnw_dst=\fIip\fR[\fB/\fInetmask\fR]
282 When \fBdl_type\fR is 0x0800 (possibly via shorthand, e.g. \fBip\fR
283 or \fBtcp\fR), matches IPv4 source (or destination) address \fIip\fR,
284 which may be specified as an IP address or host name
285 (e.g. \fB192.168.1.1\fR or \fBwww.example.com\fR). The optional
286 \fInetmask\fR allows restricting a match to an IPv4 address prefix.
287 The netmask may be specified as a dotted quad
288 (e.g. \fB192.168.1.0/255.255.255.0\fR) or as a CIDR block
289 (e.g. \fB192.168.1.0/24\fR).
291 When \fBdl_type=0x0806\fR or \fBarp\fR is specified, matches the
292 \fBar_spa\fR or \fBar_tpa\fR field, respectively, in ARP packets for
295 When \fBdl_type\fR is wildcarded or set to a value other than 0x0800
296 or 0x0806, the values of \fBnw_src\fR and \fBnw_dst\fR are ignored
297 (see \fBFlow Syntax\fR above).
299 .IP \fBnw_proto=\fIproto\fR
300 When \fBip\fR or \fBdl_type=0x0800\fR is specified, matches IP
301 protocol type \fIproto\fR, which is specified as a decimal number
302 between 0 and 255, inclusive (e.g. 6 to match TCP packets).
304 When \fBarp\fR or \fBdl_type=0x0806\fR is specified, matches the lower
305 8 bits of the ARP opcode. ARP opcodes greater than 255 are treated as
308 When \fBdl_type\fR is wildcarded or set to a value other than 0x0800
309 or 0x0806, the value of \fBnw_proto\fR is ignored (see \fBFlow
312 .IP \fBnw_tos=\fItos\fR
313 Matches IP ToS/DSCP field \fItos\fR, which is specified as a decimal
314 number between 0 and 255, inclusive. Note that the two lower reserved
315 bits are ignored for matching purposes.
317 The value of \fBnw_proto\fR is ignored unless \fBdl_type=0x0800\fR,
318 \fBip\fR, \fBicmp\fR, \fBtcp\fR, or \fBudp\fR is also specified (see
319 \fBFlow Syntax\fR above).
321 .IP \fBtp_src=\fIport\fR
322 .IQ \fBtp_dst=\fIport\fR
323 When \fBdl_type\fR and \fBnw_proto\fR specify TCP or UDP, \fBtp_src\fR
324 and \fBtp_dst\fR match the UDP or TCP source or destination port
325 \fIport\fR, respectively. which is specified as a decimal number
326 between 0 and 65535, inclusive (e.g. 80 to match packets originating
329 When \fBdl_type\fR and \fBnw_proto\fR take other values, the values of
330 these settings are ignored (see \fBFlow Syntax\fR above).
332 .IP \fBicmp_type=\fItype\fR
333 .IQ \fBicmp_code=\fIcode\fR
334 When \fBdl_type\fR and \fBnw_proto\fR specify ICMP, \fItype\fR matches
335 the ICMP type and \fIcode\fR matches the ICMP code. Each is specified
336 as a decimal number between 0 and 255, inclusive.
338 When \fBdl_type\fR and \fBnw_proto\fR take other values, the values of
339 these settings are ignored (see \fBFlow Syntax\fR above).
342 The following shorthand notations are also available:
345 Same as \fBdl_type=0x0800\fR.
348 Same as \fBdl_type=0x0800,nw_proto=1\fR.
351 Same as \fBdl_type=0x0800,nw_proto=6\fR.
354 Same as \fBdl_type=0x0800,nw_proto=17\fR.
357 Same as \fBdl_type=0x0806\fR.
360 The \fBadd\-flow\fR and \fBadd\-flows\fR commands require an additional
361 field, which must be the final field specified:
363 .IP \fBactions=\fR[\fItarget\fR][\fB,\fItarget\fR...]\fR
364 Specifies a comma-separated list of actions to take on a packet when the
365 flow entry matches. If no \fItarget\fR is specified, then packets
366 matching the flow are dropped. The \fItarget\fR may be a decimal port
367 number designating the physical port on which to output the packet, or one
368 of the following keywords:
371 .IP \fBoutput\fR:\fIport\fR
372 Outputs the packet on the port specified by \fIport\fR.
374 .IP \fBenqueue\fR:\fIport\fB:\fIqueue\fR
375 Enqueues the packet on the specified \fIqueue\fR within port
376 \fIport\fR. The number of supported queues depends on the switch;
377 some OpenFlow implementations do not support queuing at all.
380 Subjects the packet to the device's normal L2/L3 processing. (This
381 action is not implemented by all OpenFlow switches.)
384 Outputs the packet on all switch physical ports other than the port on
385 which it was received and any ports on which flooding is disabled
386 (typically, these would be ports disabled by the IEEE 802.1D spanning
390 Outputs the packet on all switch physical ports other than the port on
391 which it was received.
393 .IP \fBcontroller\fR:\fImax_len\fR
394 Sends the packet to the OpenFlow controller as a ``packet in''
395 message. If \fImax_len\fR is a number, then it specifies the maximum
396 number of bytes that should be sent. If \fImax_len\fR is \fBALL\fR or
397 omitted, then the entire packet is sent.
400 Outputs the packet on the ``local port,'' which corresponds to the
401 \fBof\fIn\fR network device (see \fBCONTACTING THE CONTROLLER\fR in
402 \fBovs\-openflowd\fR(8) for information on the \fBof\fIn\fR network device).
405 Discards the packet, so no further processing or forwarding takes place.
406 If a drop action is used, no other actions may be specified.
408 .IP \fBmod_vlan_vid\fR:\fIvlan_vid\fR
409 Modifies the VLAN id on a packet. The VLAN tag is added or modified
410 as necessary to match the value specified. If the VLAN tag is added,
411 a priority of zero is used (see the \fBmod_vlan_pcp\fR action to set
414 .IP \fBmod_vlan_pcp\fR:\fIvlan_pcp\fR
415 Modifies the VLAN priority on a packet. The VLAN tag is added or modified
416 as necessary to match the value specified. Valid values are between 0
417 (lowest) and 7 (highest). If the VLAN tag is added, a vid of zero is used
418 (see the \fBmod_vlan_vid\fR action to set this).
421 Strips the VLAN tag from a packet if it is present.
423 .IP \fBmod_dl_src\fB:\fImac\fR
424 Sets the source Ethernet address to \fImac\fR.
426 .IP \fBmod_dl_dst\fB:\fImac\fR
427 Sets the destination Ethernet address to \fImac\fR.
429 .IP \fBmod_nw_src\fB:\fIip\fR
430 Sets the IPv4 source address to \fIip\fR.
432 .IP \fBmod_nw_dst\fB:\fIip\fR
433 Sets the IPv4 destination address to \fIip\fR.
435 .IP \fBmod_tp_src\fB:\fIport\fR
436 Sets the TCP or UDP source port to \fIport\fR.
438 .IP \fBmod_tp_dst\fB:\fIport\fR
439 Sets the TCP or UDP destination port to \fIport\fR.
441 .IP \fBmod_nw_tos\fB:\fItos\fR
442 Sets the IP ToS/DSCP field to \fItos\fR. Valid values are between 0 and
443 255, inclusive. Note that the two lower reserved bits are never
448 The following actions are Nicira vendor extensions that, as of this writing, are
449 only known to be implemented by Open vSwitch:
453 .IP \fBresubmit\fB:\fIport\fR
454 Re-searches the OpenFlow flow table with the \fBin_port\fR field
455 replaced by \fIport\fR and executes the actions found, if any, in
456 addition to any other actions in this flow entry. Recursive
457 \fBresubmit\fR actions are ignored.
459 .IP \fBset_tunnel\fB:\fIid\fR
460 If outputting to a port that encapsulates the packet in a tunnel and supports
461 an identifier (such as GRE), sets the identifier to \fBid\fR.
463 .IP \fBdrop_spoofed_arp\fR
464 Stops processing further actions, if the packet being processed is an
465 Ethernet+IPv4 ARP packet for which the source Ethernet address inside
466 the ARP packet differs from the source Ethernet address in the
469 This is useful because OpenFlow does not provide a way to match on the
470 Ethernet addresses inside ARP packets, so there is no other way to
471 drop spoofed ARPs other than sending every ARP packet to a controller.
473 .IP \fBset_queue\fB:\fIqueue\fR
474 Sets the queue that should be used to \fIqueue\fR when packets are
475 output. The number of supported queues depends on the switch; some
476 OpenFlow implementations do not support queuing at all.
479 Restores the queue to the value it was before any \fBset_queue\fR
480 actions were applied.
485 (The OpenFlow protocol supports other actions that \fBovs\-ofctl\fR does
486 not yet expose to the user.)
489 The \fBadd\-flow\fR, \fBadd\-flows\fR, and \fBmod\-flows\fR commands
490 support an additional optional field:
492 .IP \fBcookie=\fIvalue\fR
494 A cookie is an opaque identifier that can be associated with the flow.
495 \fIvalue\fR can be any 64-bit number and need not be unique among
499 The following additional field sets the priority for flows added by
500 the \fBadd\-flow\fR and \fBadd\-flows\fR commands. For
501 \fBmod\-flows\fR and \fBdel\-flows\fR when \fB\-\-strict\fR is
502 specified, priority must match along with the rest of the flow
503 specification. Other commands ignore the priority value.
505 .IP \fBpriority=\fIvalue\fR
506 The priority at which a wildcarded entry will match in comparison to
507 others. \fIvalue\fR is a number between 0 and 65535, inclusive. A higher
508 \fIvalue\fR will match before a lower one. An exact-match entry will always
509 have priority over an entry containing wildcards, so it has an implicit
510 priority value of 65535. When adding a flow, if the field is not specified,
511 the flow's priority will default to 32768.
514 The \fBadd\-flow\fR and \fBadd\-flows\fR commands support additional
518 \fBidle_timeout=\fIseconds\fR
519 Causes the flow to expire after the given number of seconds of
520 inactivity. A value of 0 (the default) prevents a flow from expiring due to
523 .IP \fBhard_timeout=\fIseconds\fR
524 Causes the flow to expire after the given number of seconds,
525 regardless of activity. A value of 0 (the default) gives the flow no
526 hard expiration deadline.
529 The \fBdump\-flows\fR, \fBdump\-aggregate\fR, \fBdel\-flow\fR
530 and \fBdel\-flows\fR commands support one additional optional field:
533 \fBout_port=\fIport\fR
534 If set, a matching flow must include an output action to \fIport\fR.
537 The \fBdump\-flows\fR and \fBdump\-aggregate\fR commands support an
538 additional optional field:
540 .IP \fBtable=\fInumber\fR
541 If specified, limits the flows about which statistics are gathered to
542 those in the table with the given \fInumber\fR. Tables are numbered
543 as shown by the \fBdump\-tables\fR command.
545 If this field is not specified, or if \fInumber\fR is given as
546 \fB255\fR, statistics are gathered about flows from all tables.
548 .SS "Table Entry Output"
550 The \fBdump\-tables\fR and \fBdump\-aggregate\fR commands print information
551 about the entries in a datapath's tables. Each line of output is a
552 unique flow entry, which begins with some common information:
555 The number of seconds the entry has been in the table.
558 The table that contains the flow. When a packet arrives, the switch
559 begins searching for an entry at the lowest numbered table. Tables are
560 numbered as shown by the \fBdump\-tables\fR command.
563 The priority of the entry in relation to other entries within the same
564 table. A higher value will match before a lower one.
567 The number of packets that have matched the entry.
570 The total number of bytes from packets that have matched the entry.
573 The rest of the line consists of a description of the flow entry as
574 described in \fBFlow Syntax\fR, above.
580 Uses strict matching when running flow modification commands.
582 .SS "Public Key Infrastructure Options"
589 The following examples assume that an OpenFlow switch on the local
590 host has been configured to listen for management connections on a
591 Unix domain socket named \fB@RUNDIR@/openflow.sock\fR, e.g. by
592 specifying \fB\-\-listen=punix:@RUNDIR@/openflow.sock\fR on the
593 \fBovs\-openflowd\fR(8) command line.
596 \fBovs\-ofctl dump\-tables unix:@RUNDIR@/openflow.sock\fR
597 Prints out the switch's table stats. (This is more interesting after
598 some traffic has passed through.)
601 \fBovs\-ofctl dump\-flows unix:@RUNDIR@/openflow.sock\fR
602 Prints the flow entries in the switch.
607 .BR ovs\-controller (8),
608 .BR ovs\-vswitchd (8)