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).
340 .IP \fBtun_id=\fItunnel\-id\fR
341 Matches tunnel identifier \fItunnel\-id\fR. Only packets that arrive
342 over a tunnel that carries a key (e.g. GRE with the RFC 2890 key
343 extension) will have a nonzero tunnel ID.
345 \fBtun_id\fR requires use of one of two Nicira extensions to OpenFlow:
347 .IP "NXM (Nicira Extended Match)"
348 This extension fully supports \fBtun_id\fR.
349 .IP "Tunnel ID from Cookie"
350 This extension supports \fBtun_id\fR with two caveats: the top 32 bits
351 of the \fBcookie\fR (see below) are used for \fItunnel\-id\fR and thus
352 unavailable for other use, and specifying \fBtun_id\fR on
353 \fBdump\-flows\fR or \fBdump\-aggregate\fR has no effect.
356 When \fBtun_id\fR is specified, \fBovs\-ofctl\fR will automatically
357 attempt to negotiate use of one of these extensions. It will use the
358 ``tunnel ID from cookie'' extension if neither caveat applies and NXM
359 otherwise. If the switch does not support the needed extension, then
360 \fBovs\-ofctl\fR will report a fatal error.
361 .IP "\fBreg\fIidx\fB=\fIvalue\fR[\fB/\fImask\fR]"
362 Matches \fIvalue\fR either exactly or with optional \fImask\fR in
363 register number \fIidx\fR. The valid range of \fIidx\fR depends on
364 the switch. \fIvalue\fR and \fImask\fR are 32-bit integers, by
365 default in decimal (use a \fB0x\fR prefix to specify hexadecimal).
366 Arbitrary \fImask\fR values are allowed: a 1-bit in \fImask\fR
367 indicates that the corresponding bit in \fIvalue\fR must match
368 exactly, and a 0-bit wildcards that bit.
370 When a packet enters an OpenFlow switch, all of the registers are set
371 to 0. Only explicit Nicira extension actions change register values.
373 Register matches require support for the NXM (Nicira Extended Match)
374 extension to OpenFlow. When a register match is specified,
375 \fBovs\-ofctl\fR will automatically attempt to negotiate use of this
376 extension. If the switch does not support NXM, then \fBovs\-ofctl\fR
377 will report a fatal error.
380 The following shorthand notations are also available:
383 Same as \fBdl_type=0x0800\fR.
386 Same as \fBdl_type=0x0800,nw_proto=1\fR.
389 Same as \fBdl_type=0x0800,nw_proto=6\fR.
392 Same as \fBdl_type=0x0800,nw_proto=17\fR.
395 Same as \fBdl_type=0x0806\fR.
398 The \fBadd\-flow\fR and \fBadd\-flows\fR commands require an additional
399 field, which must be the final field specified:
401 .IP \fBactions=\fR[\fItarget\fR][\fB,\fItarget\fR...]\fR
402 Specifies a comma-separated list of actions to take on a packet when the
403 flow entry matches. If no \fItarget\fR is specified, then packets
404 matching the flow are dropped. The \fItarget\fR may be a decimal port
405 number designating the physical port on which to output the packet, or one
406 of the following keywords:
409 .IP \fBoutput\fR:\fIport\fR
410 Outputs the packet on the port specified by \fIport\fR.
412 .IP \fBenqueue\fR:\fIport\fB:\fIqueue\fR
413 Enqueues the packet on the specified \fIqueue\fR within port
414 \fIport\fR. The number of supported queues depends on the switch;
415 some OpenFlow implementations do not support queuing at all.
418 Subjects the packet to the device's normal L2/L3 processing. (This
419 action is not implemented by all OpenFlow switches.)
422 Outputs the packet on all switch physical ports other than the port on
423 which it was received and any ports on which flooding is disabled
424 (typically, these would be ports disabled by the IEEE 802.1D spanning
428 Outputs the packet on all switch physical ports other than the port on
429 which it was received.
431 .IP \fBcontroller\fR:\fImax_len\fR
432 Sends the packet to the OpenFlow controller as a ``packet in''
433 message. If \fImax_len\fR is a number, then it specifies the maximum
434 number of bytes that should be sent. If \fImax_len\fR is \fBALL\fR or
435 omitted, then the entire packet is sent.
438 Outputs the packet on the ``local port,'' which corresponds to the
439 \fBof\fIn\fR network device (see \fBCONTACTING THE CONTROLLER\fR in
440 \fBovs\-openflowd\fR(8) for information on the \fBof\fIn\fR network device).
443 Discards the packet, so no further processing or forwarding takes place.
444 If a drop action is used, no other actions may be specified.
446 .IP \fBmod_vlan_vid\fR:\fIvlan_vid\fR
447 Modifies the VLAN id on a packet. The VLAN tag is added or modified
448 as necessary to match the value specified. If the VLAN tag is added,
449 a priority of zero is used (see the \fBmod_vlan_pcp\fR action to set
452 .IP \fBmod_vlan_pcp\fR:\fIvlan_pcp\fR
453 Modifies the VLAN priority on a packet. The VLAN tag is added or modified
454 as necessary to match the value specified. Valid values are between 0
455 (lowest) and 7 (highest). If the VLAN tag is added, a vid of zero is used
456 (see the \fBmod_vlan_vid\fR action to set this).
459 Strips the VLAN tag from a packet if it is present.
461 .IP \fBmod_dl_src\fB:\fImac\fR
462 Sets the source Ethernet address to \fImac\fR.
464 .IP \fBmod_dl_dst\fB:\fImac\fR
465 Sets the destination Ethernet address to \fImac\fR.
467 .IP \fBmod_nw_src\fB:\fIip\fR
468 Sets the IPv4 source address to \fIip\fR.
470 .IP \fBmod_nw_dst\fB:\fIip\fR
471 Sets the IPv4 destination address to \fIip\fR.
473 .IP \fBmod_tp_src\fB:\fIport\fR
474 Sets the TCP or UDP source port to \fIport\fR.
476 .IP \fBmod_tp_dst\fB:\fIport\fR
477 Sets the TCP or UDP destination port to \fIport\fR.
479 .IP \fBmod_nw_tos\fB:\fItos\fR
480 Sets the IP ToS/DSCP field to \fItos\fR. Valid values are between 0 and
481 255, inclusive. Note that the two lower reserved bits are never
486 The following actions are Nicira vendor extensions that, as of this writing, are
487 only known to be implemented by Open vSwitch:
491 .IP \fBresubmit\fB:\fIport\fR
492 Re-searches the OpenFlow flow table with the \fBin_port\fR field
493 replaced by \fIport\fR and executes the actions found, if any, in
494 addition to any other actions in this flow entry. Recursive
495 \fBresubmit\fR actions are ignored.
497 .IP \fBset_tunnel\fB:\fIid\fR
498 .IQ \fBset_tunnel64\fB:\fIid\fR
499 If outputting to a port that encapsulates the packet in a tunnel and
500 supports an identifier (such as GRE), sets the identifier to \fBid\fR.
501 If the \fBset_tunnel\fR form is used and \fIid\fR fits in 32 bits,
502 then this uses an action extension that is supported by Open vSwitch
503 1.0 and later. Otherwise, if \fIid\fR is a 64-bit value, it requires
504 Open vSwitch 1.1 or later.
506 .IP \fBdrop_spoofed_arp\fR
507 Stops processing further actions, if the packet being processed is an
508 Ethernet+IPv4 ARP packet for which the source Ethernet address inside
509 the ARP packet differs from the source Ethernet address in the
512 This is useful because OpenFlow does not provide a way to match on the
513 Ethernet addresses inside ARP packets, so there is no other way to
514 drop spoofed ARPs other than sending every ARP packet to a controller.
516 .IP \fBset_queue\fB:\fIqueue\fR
517 Sets the queue that should be used to \fIqueue\fR when packets are
518 output. The number of supported queues depends on the switch; some
519 OpenFlow implementations do not support queuing at all.
522 Restores the queue to the value it was before any \fBset_queue\fR
523 actions were applied.
525 .IP \fBnote:\fR[\fIhh\fR]...
526 Does nothing at all. Any number of bytes represented as hex digits
527 \fIhh\fR may be included. Pairs of hex digits may be separated by
528 periods for readability.
530 .IP "\fBmove:\fIsrc\fB[\fIstart\fB..\fIend\fB]->\fIdst\fB[\fIstart\fB..\fIend\fB]\fR"
531 Copies the named bits from field \fIsrc\fR to field \fIdst\fR.
532 \fIsrc\fR and \fIdst\fR must be NXM field names as defined in
533 \fBnicira\-ext.h\fR, e.g. \fBNXM_OF_UDP_SRC\fR or \fBNXM_NX_REG0\fR.
534 Each \fIstart\fR and \fIend\fR pair, which are inclusive, must specify
535 the same number of bits and must fit within its respective field.
536 Shorthands for \fB[\fIstart\fB..\fIend\fB]\fR exist: use
537 \fB[\fIbit\fB]\fR to specify a single bit or \fB[]\fR to specify an
540 Examples: \fBmove:NXM_NX_REG0[0..5]\->NXM_NX_REG1[26..31]\fR copies the
541 six bits numbered 0 through 5, inclusive, in register 0 into bits 26
542 through 31, inclusive;
543 \fBmove:NXM_NX_REG0[0..15]->NXM_OF_VLAN_TCI[]\fR copies the least
544 significant 16 bits of register 0 into the VLAN TCI field.
546 .IP "\fBload:\fIvalue\fB\->\fIdst\fB[\fIstart\fB..\fIend\fB]"
547 Writes \fIvalue\fR to bits \fIstart\fR through \fIend\fR, inclusive,
550 Example: \fBload:55\->NXM_NX_REG2[0..5]\fR loads value 55 (bit pattern
551 \fB110111\fR) into bits 0 through 5, inclusive, in register 2.
555 (The OpenFlow protocol supports other actions that \fBovs\-ofctl\fR does
556 not yet expose to the user.)
559 The \fBadd\-flow\fR, \fBadd\-flows\fR, and \fBmod\-flows\fR commands
560 support an additional optional field:
562 .IP \fBcookie=\fIvalue\fR
564 A cookie is an opaque identifier that can be associated with the flow.
565 \fIvalue\fR can be any 64-bit number and need not be unique among
569 The following additional field sets the priority for flows added by
570 the \fBadd\-flow\fR and \fBadd\-flows\fR commands. For
571 \fBmod\-flows\fR and \fBdel\-flows\fR when \fB\-\-strict\fR is
572 specified, priority must match along with the rest of the flow
573 specification. Other commands ignore the priority value.
575 .IP \fBpriority=\fIvalue\fR
576 The priority at which a wildcarded entry will match in comparison to
577 others. \fIvalue\fR is a number between 0 and 65535, inclusive. A higher
578 \fIvalue\fR will match before a lower one. An exact-match entry will always
579 have priority over an entry containing wildcards, so it has an implicit
580 priority value of 65535. When adding a flow, if the field is not specified,
581 the flow's priority will default to 32768.
584 The \fBadd\-flow\fR and \fBadd\-flows\fR commands support additional
588 \fBidle_timeout=\fIseconds\fR
589 Causes the flow to expire after the given number of seconds of
590 inactivity. A value of 0 (the default) prevents a flow from expiring due to
593 .IP \fBhard_timeout=\fIseconds\fR
594 Causes the flow to expire after the given number of seconds,
595 regardless of activity. A value of 0 (the default) gives the flow no
596 hard expiration deadline.
599 The \fBdump\-flows\fR, \fBdump\-aggregate\fR, \fBdel\-flow\fR
600 and \fBdel\-flows\fR commands support one additional optional field:
603 \fBout_port=\fIport\fR
604 If set, a matching flow must include an output action to \fIport\fR.
607 The \fBdump\-flows\fR and \fBdump\-aggregate\fR commands support an
608 additional optional field:
610 .IP \fBtable=\fInumber\fR
611 If specified, limits the flows about which statistics are gathered to
612 those in the table with the given \fInumber\fR. Tables are numbered
613 as shown by the \fBdump\-tables\fR command.
615 If this field is not specified, or if \fInumber\fR is given as
616 \fB255\fR, statistics are gathered about flows from all tables.
618 .SS "Table Entry Output"
620 The \fBdump\-tables\fR and \fBdump\-aggregate\fR commands print information
621 about the entries in a datapath's tables. Each line of output is a
622 unique flow entry, which begins with some common information:
625 The number of seconds the entry has been in the table.
628 The table that contains the flow. When a packet arrives, the switch
629 begins searching for an entry at the lowest numbered table. Tables are
630 numbered as shown by the \fBdump\-tables\fR command.
633 The priority of the entry in relation to other entries within the same
634 table. A higher value will match before a lower one.
637 The number of packets that have matched the entry.
640 The total number of bytes from packets that have matched the entry.
643 The rest of the line consists of a description of the flow entry as
644 described in \fBFlow Syntax\fR, above.
650 Uses strict matching when running flow modification commands.
652 .IP "\fB\-F \fIformat\fR"
653 .IQ "\fB\-\-flow\-format=\fIformat\fR"
654 \fBovs\-ofctl\fR supports the following flow formats, in order of
655 increasing capability:
657 .IP "\fBopenflow10\fR"
658 This is the standard OpenFlow 1.0 flow format. It should be supported
659 by all OpenFlow switches.
661 .IP "\fBtun_id_from_cookie\fR"
662 This Nicira extension to OpenFlow adds minimal and limited support for
663 \fBtun_id\fR, but it does not support any other Nicira flow
664 extensions. (This flow format is deprecated.)
666 .IP "\fBnxm\fR (Nicira Extended Match)"
667 This Nicira extension to OpenFlow is flexible and extensible. It
668 supports all of the Nicira flow extensions, such as \fBtun_id\fR and
672 Usually, \fBovs\-ofctl\fR picks the correct format automatically. For
673 commands that modify the flow table, \fBovs\-ofctl\fR by default uses
674 the most widely supported flow format that supports the flows being
675 added. For commands that query the flow table, \fBovs\-ofctl\fR by
676 default queries and uses the most advanced format supported by the
679 This option, where \fIformat\fR is one of the formats listed in the
680 above table, overrides \fBovs\-ofctl\fR's default choice of flow
681 format. If a command cannot work as requested using the requested
682 flow format, \fBovs\-ofctl\fR will report a fatal error.
686 Increases the verbosity of OpenFlow messages printed and logged by
687 \fBovs\-ofctl\fR commands. Specify this option more than once to
688 increase verbosity further.
689 .SS "Public Key Infrastructure Options"
696 The following examples assume that an OpenFlow switch on the local
697 host has been configured to listen for management connections on a
698 Unix domain socket named \fB@RUNDIR@/openflow.sock\fR, e.g. by
699 specifying \fB\-\-listen=punix:@RUNDIR@/openflow.sock\fR on the
700 \fBovs\-openflowd\fR(8) command line.
703 \fBovs\-ofctl dump\-tables unix:@RUNDIR@/openflow.sock\fR
704 Prints out the switch's table stats. (This is more interesting after
705 some traffic has passed through.)
708 \fBovs\-ofctl dump\-flows unix:@RUNDIR@/openflow.sock\fR
709 Prints the flow entries in the switch.
714 .BR ovs\-controller (8),
715 .BR ovs\-vswitchd (8)