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.
64 Configuration for a bridge within an
65 <ref table="Open_vSwitch"/>.
68 A <ref table="Bridge"/> record represents an Ethernet switch with one or
69 more ``ports,'' which are the <ref table="Port"/> records pointed to by
70 the <ref table="Bridge"/>'s <ref column="ports"/> column.
73 <group title="Core Features">
75 Bridge identifier. Should be alphanumeric and no more than about 8
76 bytes long. Must be unique among the names of ports, interfaces, and
81 Ports included in the bridge.
84 <column name="mirrors">
85 Port mirroring configuration.
88 <column name="netflow">
89 NetFlow configuration.
96 <column name="flood_vlans">
97 VLAN IDs of VLANs on which MAC address learning should be disabled, so
98 that packets are flooded instead of being sent to specific ports that
99 are believed to contain packets' destination MACs. This should
100 ordinarily be used to disable MAC learning on VLANs used for mirroring
101 (RSPAN VLANs). It may also be useful for debugging.
105 <group title="OpenFlow Configuration">
106 <column name="controller">
107 OpenFlow controller set. If unset, defaults to the set of
108 controllers specified by <ref column="controller"
109 table="Open_vSwitch"/> in the <ref table="Open_vSwitch"/>
110 table. If the default is also unset, then no OpenFlow
111 controllers will be used.
114 <column name="datapath_id">
115 Reports the OpenFlow datapath ID in use. Exactly 16 hex digits.
119 <group title="Other Features">
120 <column name="datapath_type">
121 Name of datapath provider. The kernel datapath has
122 type <code>system</code>. The userspace datapath has
123 type <code>netdev</code>.
126 <column name="external_ids">
127 Key-value pairs that identify this bridge's role in external systems.
128 The currently defined key-value pairs are:
130 <dt><code>network-uuids</code></dt>
131 <dd>Semicolon-delimited set of universally unique identifier(s) for
132 the network with which this bridge is associated. The form of the
133 identifier(s) depends on the type of the host. On a Citrix
134 XenServer host, the network identifiers are RFC 4122 UUIDs as
135 displayed by, e.g., <code>xe network-list</code>.</dd>
139 <column name="other_config">
140 Key-value pairs for configuring rarely used bridge
141 features. The currently defined key-value pairs are:
143 <dt><code>datapath-id</code></dt>
145 digits to set the OpenFlow datapath ID to a specific
147 <dt><code>hwaddr</code></dt>
148 <dd>An Ethernet address in the form
149 <var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>
150 to set the hardware address of the local port and influence the
157 <table name="Port" table="Port or bond configuration.">
158 <p>A port within a <ref table="Bridge"/>.</p>
159 <p>Most commonly, a port has exactly one ``interface,'' pointed to by its
160 <ref column="interfaces"/> column. Such a port logically
161 corresponds to a port on a physical Ethernet switch. A port
162 with more than one interface is a ``bonded port'' (see
163 <ref group="Bonding Configuration"/>).</p>
164 <p>Some properties that one might think as belonging to a port are actually
165 part of the port's <ref table="Interface"/> members.</p>
168 Port name. Should be alphanumeric and no more than about 8
169 bytes long. May be the same as the interface name, for
170 non-bonded ports. Must otherwise be unique among the names of
171 ports, interfaces, and bridges on a host.
174 <column name="interfaces">
175 The port's interfaces. If there is more than one, this is a
179 <group title="VLAN Configuration">
180 <p>A bridge port must be configured for VLANs in one of two
181 mutually exclusive ways:
183 <li>A ``trunk port'' has an empty value for
184 <ref column="tag"/> and a possibly non-empty
185 <ref column="trunks"/> value.</li>
186 <li>An ``implicitly tagged VLAN port'' or ``access port''
187 has an nonempty value for <ref column="tag"/> and an empty
188 <ref column="trunks"/> value.</li>
190 If <ref column="trunks"/> and <ref column="tag"/> are both
191 nonempty, the configuration is ill-formed.
195 <p>If nonempty, this port's implicitly tagged VLAN. Frames
196 arriving on trunk ports will be forwarded to this port only
197 if they are tagged with the given VLAN. Frames arriving on
198 other VLAN ports will be forwarded to this port only if they
199 have the same <ref column="tag"/> value. Frames forwarded
200 to this port will not have an 802.1Q header.</p>
201 <p>When a frame with a 802.1Q header that indicates a nonzero VLAN is
202 received on an implicit VLAN port, it is discarded.</p>
203 <p>Must be empty if this is a trunk port.</p>
206 <column name="trunks">
207 <p>The 802.1Q VLAN(s) that this port trunks. If the column is
208 empty, then the port trunks all VLANs as well as packets that
209 have no VLAN header. Otherwise, only frames that have an
210 802.1Q header with one of the specified VLANs are accepted.
211 If <code>0</code> is included, then frames without an 802.1Q
212 header are also accepted.</p>
213 <p>Must be empty unless this is a trunk port.</p>
217 <group title="Bonding Configuration">
218 <p>A port that has more than one interface is a ``bonded port.''
219 Bonding allows for load balancing and fail-over. Open vSwitch
220 supports ``source load balancing'' (SLB) bonding, which
221 assigns flows to slaves based on source MAC address, with
222 periodic rebalancing as traffic patterns change. This form of
223 bonding does not require 802.3ad or other special support from
224 the upstream switch to which the slave devices are
227 <p>These columns apply only to bonded ports. Their values are
228 otherwise ignored.</p>
230 <column name="bond_updelay">
231 <p>For a bonded port, the number of milliseconds for which carrier must
232 stay up on an interface before the interface is considered to be up.
233 Specify <code>0</code> to enable the interface immediately.</p>
234 <p>This setting is honored only when at least one bonded interface is
235 already enabled. When no interfaces are enabled, then the first bond
236 interface to come up is enabled immediately.</p>
239 <column name="bond_downdelay">
240 For a bonded port, the number of milliseconds for which carrier must
241 stay down on an interface before the interface is considered to be
242 down. Specify <code>0</code> to disable the interface immediately.
245 <column name="bond_fake_iface">
246 For a bonded port, whether to create a fake internal interface with the
247 name of the port. Use only for compatibility with legacy software that
252 <group title="Other Features">
254 The MAC address to use for this port for the purpose of choosing the
255 bridge's MAC address. This column does not necessarily reflect the
256 port's actual MAC address, nor will setting it change the port's actual
260 <column name="fake_bridge">
261 Does this port represent a sub-bridge for its tagged VLAN within the
262 Bridge? See ovs-vsctl(8) for more information.
265 <column name="external_ids">
266 Key-value pairs that identify this port's role in external systems. No
267 key-value pairs native to <ref table="Port"/> are currently defined.
268 For fake bridges (see the <ref column="fake_bridge"/> column), external
269 IDs for the fake bridge are defined here by prefixing a
270 <ref table="Bridge"/> <ref table="Bridge" column="external_ids"/> key
271 with <code>fake-bridge-</code>,
272 e.g. <code>fake-bridge-network-uuids</code>.
275 <column name="other_config">
276 Key-value pairs for configuring rarely used port features. The
277 currently defined key-value pairs are:
279 <dt><code>hwaddr</code></dt>
280 <dd>An Ethernet address in the form
281 <code><var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var></code>.</dd>
282 <dt><code>bond-rebalance-interval</code></dt>
283 <dd>For a bonded port, the number of milliseconds between
284 successive attempts to rebalance the bond, that is, to
285 move source MACs and their flows from one interface on
286 the bond to another in an attempt to keep usage of each
287 interface roughly equal. The default is 10000 (10
288 seconds), and the minimum is 1000 (1 second).</dd>
294 <table name="Interface" title="One physical network device in a Port.">
295 An interface within a <ref table="Port"/>.
297 <group title="Core Features">
299 Interface name. Should be alphanumeric and no more than about 8 bytes
300 long. May be the same as the port name, for non-bonded ports. Must
301 otherwise be unique among the names of ports, interfaces, and bridges
306 <p>Ethernet address to set for this interface. If unset then the
307 default MAC address is used:</p>
309 <li>For the local interface, the default is the lowest-numbered MAC
310 address among the other bridge ports, either the value of the
311 <ref table="Port" column="mac"/> in its <ref table="Port"/> record,
312 if set, or its actual MAC (for bonded ports, the MAC of its slave
313 whose name is first in alphabetical order). Internal ports and
314 bridge ports that are used as port mirroring destinations (see the
315 <ref table="Mirror"/> table) are ignored.</li>
316 <li>For other internal interfaces, the default MAC is randomly
318 <li>External interfaces typically have a MAC address associated with
321 <p>Some interfaces may not have a software-controllable MAC
325 <column name="ofport">
326 <p>OpenFlow port number for this interface. Unlike most columns, this
327 column's value should be set only by Open vSwitch itself. Other
328 clients should set this column to an empty set (the default) when
329 creating an <ref table="Interface"/>.</p>
330 <p>Open vSwitch populates this column when the port number becomes
331 known. If the interface is successfully added,
332 <ref column="ofport"/> will be set to a number between 1 and 65535
333 (generally either in the range 1 to 65280, exclusive, or 65534, the
334 port number for the OpenFlow ``local port''). If the interface
335 cannot be added then Open vSwitch sets this column
340 <group title="System-Specific Details">
342 The interface type, one of:
344 <dt><code>system</code></dt>
345 <dd>An ordinary network device, e.g. <code>eth0</code> on Linux.
346 Sometimes referred to as ``external interfaces'' since they are
347 generally connected to hardware external to that on which the Open
348 vSwitch is running. The empty string is a synonym for
349 <code>system</code>.</dd>
350 <dt><code>internal</code></dt>
351 <dd>A simulated network device that sends and receives traffic. An
352 internal interface whose <ref column="name"/> is the same as its
353 bridge's <ref table="Open_vSwitch" column="name"/> is called the
354 ``local interface.'' It does not make sense to bond an internal
355 interface, so the terms ``port'' and ``interface'' are often used
356 imprecisely for internal interfaces.</dd>
357 <dt><code>tap</code></dt>
358 <dd>A TUN/TAP device managed by Open vSwitch.</dd>
359 <dt><code>gre</code></dt>
360 <dd>An Ethernet over RFC 1702 Generic Routing Encapsulation over IPv4
361 tunnel. Each tunnel must be uniquely identified by the
362 combination of <code>remote_ip</code>, <code>local_ip</code>, and
363 <code>in_key</code>. Note that if two ports are defined that are
364 the same except one has an optional identifier and the other does
365 not, the more specific one is matched first. <code>in_key</code>
366 is considered more specific than <code>local_ip</code> if a port
367 defines one and another port defines the other. The arguments
370 <dt><code>remote_ip</code></dt>
371 <dd>Required. The tunnel endpoint.</dd>
374 <dt><code>local_ip</code></dt>
375 <dd>Optional. The destination IP that received packets must
376 match. Default is to match all addresses.</dd>
379 <dt><code>in_key</code></dt>
380 <dd>Optional. The GRE key that received packets must contain.
381 It may either be a 32-bit number (no key and a key of 0 are
382 treated as equivalent) or the word <code>flow</code>. If
383 <code>flow</code> is specified then any key will be accepted
384 and the key will be placed in the <code>tun_id</code> field
385 for matching in the flow table. The ovs-ofctl manual page
386 contains additional information about matching fields in
387 OpenFlow flows. Default is no key.</dd>
390 <dt><code>out_key</code></dt>
391 <dd>Optional. The GRE key to be set on outgoing packets. It may
392 either be a 32-bit number or the word <code>flow</code>. If
393 <code>flow</code> is specified then the key may be set using
394 the <code>set_tunnel</code> Nicira OpenFlow vendor extension (0
395 is used in the absense of an action). The ovs-ofctl manual
396 page contains additional information about the Nicira OpenFlow
397 vendor extensions. Default is no key.</dd>
400 <dt><code>key</code></dt>
401 <dd>Optional. Shorthand to set <code>in_key</code> and
402 <code>out_key</code> at the same time.</dd>
405 <dt><code>tos</code></dt>
406 <dd>Optional. The value of the ToS bits to be set on the
407 encapsulating packet. It may also be the word
408 <code>inherit</code>, in which case the ToS will be copied from
409 the inner packet if it is IPv4 or IPv6 (otherwise it will be
410 0). Note that the ECN fields are always inherited. Default is
414 <dt><code>ttl</code></dt>
415 <dd>Optional. The TTL to be set on the encapsulating packet.
416 It may also be the word <code>inherit</code>, in which case the
417 TTL will be copied from the inner packet if it is IPv4 or IPv6
418 (otherwise it will be the system default, typically 64).
419 Default is the system default TTL.</dd>
422 <dt><code>csum</code></dt>
423 <dd>Optional. Compute GRE checksums for outgoing packets and
424 require checksums for incoming packets. Default is enabled,
425 set to <code>false</code> to disable.</dd>
428 <dt><code>pmtud</code></dt>
429 <dd>Optional. Enable tunnel path MTU discovery. If enabled
430 ``ICMP destination unreachable - fragmentation'' needed
431 messages will be generated for IPv4 packets with the DF bit set
432 and IPv6 packets above the minimum MTU if the packet size
433 exceeds the path MTU minus the size of the tunnel headers. It
434 also forces the encapsulating packet DF bit to be set (it is
435 always set if the inner packet implies path MTU discovery).
436 Note that this option causes behavior that is typically
437 reserved for routers and therefore is not entirely in
438 compliance with the IEEE 802.1D specification for bridges.
439 Default is enabled, set to <code>false</code> to disable.</dd>
442 <dt><code>patch</code></dt>
443 <dd>A pair of virtual devices that act as a patch cable. A
444 <code>peer</code> argument is required that indicates the name
445 of the other side of the patch. Since a patch must work in
446 pairs, a second patch interface must be declared with the
447 <code>name</code> and <code>peer</code> arguments reversed.</dd>
451 <column name="options">
452 Configuration options whose interpretation varies based on
453 <ref column="type"/>.
457 <group title="Ingress Policing">
458 <column name="ingress_policing_burst">
459 <p>Maximum burst size for data received on this interface, in kb. The
460 default burst size if set to <code>0</code> is 1000 kb. This value
461 has no effect if <ref column="ingress_policing_rate"/>
462 is <code>0</code>.</p>
463 <p>The burst size should be at least the size of the interface's
467 <column name="ingress_policing_rate">
468 <p>Maximum rate for data received on this interface, in kbps. Data
469 received faster than this rate is dropped. Set to <code>0</code> to
470 disable policing.</p>
471 <p>The meaning of ``ingress'' is from Open vSwitch's perspective. If
472 configured on a physical interface, then it limits the rate at which
473 traffic is allowed into the system from the outside. If configured
474 on a virtual interface that is connected to a virtual machine, then
475 it limits the rate at which the guest is able to transmit.</p>
479 <group title="Other Features">
480 <column name="external_ids">
481 <p>Key-value pairs that identify this interface's role in external
482 systems. All of the currently defined key-value pairs specifically
483 apply to an interface that represents a virtual Ethernet interface
484 connected to a virtual machine. These key-value pairs should not be
485 present for other types of interfaces. Keys whose names end
486 in <code>-uuid</code> have values that uniquely identify the entity
487 in question. For a Citrix XenServer hypervisor, these values are
488 UUIDs in RFC 4122 format. Other hypervisors may use other
490 <p>The currently defined key-value pairs are:</p>
492 <dt><code>vif-uuid</code></dt>
493 <dd>The virtual interface associated with this interface.</dd>
494 <dt><code>network-uuid</code></dt>
495 <dd>The virtual network to which this interface is attached.</dd>
496 <dt><code>vm-uuid</code></dt>
497 <dd>The VM to which this interface belongs.</dd>
498 <dt><code>vif-mac</code></dt>
499 <dd>The MAC address programmed into the "virtual hardware" for this
501 form <var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>.
502 For Citrix XenServer, this is the value of the <code>MAC</code>
503 field in the VIF record for this interface.</dd>
509 <table name="Mirror" title="Port mirroring (SPAN/RSPAN).">
510 <p>A port mirror within a <ref table="Bridge"/>.</p>
511 <p>A port mirror configures a bridge to send selected frames to special
512 ``mirrored'' ports, in addition to their normal destinations. Mirroring
513 traffic may also be referred to as SPAN or RSPAN, depending on the
514 mechanism used for delivery.</p>
517 Arbitrary identifier for the <ref table="Mirror"/>.
520 <group title="Selecting Packets for Mirroring">
521 <column name="select_all">
522 If true, every packet arriving or departing on any port is
523 selected for mirroring.
526 <column name="select_dst_port">
527 Ports on which departing packets are selected for mirroring.
530 <column name="select_src_port">
531 Ports on which arriving packets are selected for mirroring.
534 <column name="select_vlan">
535 VLANs on which packets are selected for mirroring. An empty set
536 selects packets on all VLANs.
540 <group title="Mirroring Destination Configuration">
541 <column name="output_port">
542 <p>Output port for selected packets, if nonempty. Mutually exclusive
543 with <ref column="output_vlan"/>.</p>
544 <p>Specifying a port for mirror output reserves that port exclusively
545 for mirroring. No frames other than those selected for mirroring
546 will be forwarded to the port, and any frames received on the port
547 will be discarded.</p>
548 <p>This type of mirroring is sometimes called SPAN.</p>
551 <column name="output_vlan">
552 <p>Output VLAN for selected packets, if nonempty. Mutually exclusive
553 with <ref column="output_port"/>.</p>
554 <p>The frames will be sent out all ports that trunk
555 <ref column="output_vlan"/>, as well as any ports with implicit VLAN
556 <ref column="output_vlan"/>. When a mirrored frame is sent out a
557 trunk port, the frame's VLAN tag will be set to
558 <ref column="output_vlan"/>, replacing any existing tag; when it is
559 sent out an implicit VLAN port, the frame will not be tagged. This
560 type of mirroring is sometimes called RSPAN.</p>
561 <p><em>Please note:</em> Mirroring to a VLAN can disrupt a network that
562 contains unmanaged switches. Consider an unmanaged physical switch
563 with two ports: port 1, connected to an end host, and port 2,
564 connected to an Open vSwitch configured to mirror received packets
565 into VLAN 123 on port 2. Suppose that the end host sends a packet on
566 port 1 that the physical switch forwards to port 2. The Open vSwitch
567 forwards this packet to its destination and then reflects it back on
568 port 2 in VLAN 123. This reflected packet causes the unmanaged
569 physical switch to replace the MAC learning table entry, which
570 correctly pointed to port 1, with one that incorrectly points to port
571 2. Afterward, the physical switch will direct packets destined for
572 the end host to the Open vSwitch on port 2, instead of to the end
573 host on port 1, disrupting connectivity. If mirroring to a VLAN is
574 desired in this scenario, then the physical switch must be replaced
575 by one that learns Ethernet addresses on a per-VLAN basis. In
576 addition, learning should be disabled on the VLAN containing mirrored
577 traffic. If this is not done then intermediate switches will learn
578 the MAC address of each end host from the mirrored traffic. If
579 packets being sent to that end host are also mirrored, then they will
580 be dropped since the switch will attempt to send them out the input
581 port. Disabling learning for the VLAN will cause the switch to
582 correctly send the packet out all ports configured for that VLAN. If
583 Open vSwitch is being used as an intermediate switch, learning can be
584 disabled by adding the mirrored VLAN to <ref column="flood_vlans"/>
585 in the appropriate <ref table="Bridge"/> table or tables.</p>
590 <table name="Controller" title="OpenFlow controller configuration.">
591 <p>An OpenFlow controller.</p>
593 <p>Open vSwitch permits a bridge to have any number of OpenFlow
594 controllers. When multiple controllers are configured, Open vSwitch
595 connects to all of them simultaneously. OpenFlow 1.0 does not specify
596 how multiple controllers coordinate in interacting with a single switch,
597 so more than one controller should be specified only if the controllers
598 are themselves designed to coordinate with each other.</p>
600 <group title="Core Features">
601 <column name="target">
602 <p>Connection method for controller.
603 The following connection methods are currently
606 <dt><code>ssl:<var>ip</var></code>[<code>:<var>port</var></code>]</dt>
608 <p>The specified SSL <var>port</var> (default: 6633) on the host at
609 the given <var>ip</var>, which must be expressed as an IP address
610 (not a DNS name). The <ref table="Open_vSwitch" column="ssl"/>
611 column in the <ref table="Open_vSwitch"/> must point to a valid
612 SSL configuration when this form is used.</p>
613 <p>SSL support is an optional feature that is not always built as
614 part of Open vSwitch.</p>
616 <dt><code>tcp:<var>ip</var></code>[<code>:<var>port</var></code>]</dt>
617 <dd>The specified TCP <var>port</var> (default: 6633) on the host at
618 the given <var>ip</var>, which must be expressed as an IP address
619 (not a DNS name).</dd>
620 <dt><code>discover</code></dt>
622 <p>Enables controller discovery.</p>
623 <p>In controller discovery mode, Open vSwitch broadcasts a DHCP
624 request with vendor class identifier <code>OpenFlow</code> across
625 all of the bridge's network devices. It will accept any valid
626 DHCP reply that has the same vendor class identifier and includes
627 a vendor-specific option with code 1 whose contents are a string
628 specifying the location of the controller in the same format as
629 <ref column="target"/>.</p>
630 <p>The DHCP reply may also, optionally, include a vendor-specific
631 option with code 2 whose contents are a string specifying the URI
632 to the base of the OpenFlow PKI
633 (e.g. <code>http://192.168.0.1/openflow/pki</code>). This URI is
634 used only for bootstrapping the OpenFlow PKI at initial switch
635 setup; <code>ovs-vswitchd</code> does not use it at all.</p>
637 <dt><code>none</code></dt>
638 <dd>Disables the controller.</dd>
640 <p>When multiple controllers are configured for a single bridge, the
641 <ref column="target"/> values must be unique. Duplicate
642 <ref column="target"/> values yield unspecified results.</p>
645 <column name="connection_mode">
646 <p>If it is specified, this setting must be one of the following
647 strings that describes how Open vSwitch contacts this OpenFlow
648 controller over the network:</p>
651 <dt><code>in-band</code></dt>
652 <dd>In this mode, this controller's OpenFlow traffic travels over the
653 bridge associated with the controller. With this setting, Open
654 vSwitch allows traffic to and from the controller regardless of the
655 contents of the OpenFlow flow table. (Otherwise, Open vSwitch
656 would never be able to connect to the controller, because it did
657 not have a flow to enable it.) This is the most common connection
658 mode because it is not necessary to maintain two independent
660 <dt><code>out-of-band</code></dt>
661 <dd>In this mode, OpenFlow traffic uses a control network separate
662 from the bridge associated with this controller, that is, the
663 bridge does not use any of its own network devices to communicate
664 with the controller. The control network must be configured
665 separately, before or after <code>ovs-vswitchd</code> is started.
669 <p>If not specified, the default is implementation-specific. If
670 <ref column="target"/> is <code>discover</code>, the connection mode
671 is always treated as <code>in-band</code> regardless of the actual
676 <group title="Controller Failure Detection and Handling">
677 <column name="max_backoff">
678 Maximum number of milliseconds to wait between connection attempts.
679 Default is implementation-specific.
682 <column name="inactivity_probe">
683 Maximum number of milliseconds of idle time on connection to
684 controller before sending an inactivity probe message. If Open
685 vSwitch does not communicate with the controller for the specified
686 number of seconds, it will send a probe. If a response is not
687 received for the same additional amount of time, Open vSwitch
688 assumes the connection has been broken and attempts to reconnect.
689 Default is implementation-specific.
692 <column name="fail_mode">
693 <p>When a controller is configured, it is, ordinarily, responsible
694 for setting up all flows on the switch. Thus, if the connection to
695 the controller fails, no new network connections can be set up.
696 If the connection to the controller stays down long enough,
697 no packets can pass through the switch at all. This setting
698 determines the switch's response to such a situation. It may be set
699 to one of the following:
701 <dt><code>standalone</code></dt>
702 <dd>If no message is received from the controller for three
703 times the inactivity probe interval
704 (see <ref column="inactivity_probe"/>), then Open vSwitch
705 will take over responsibility for setting up flows. In
706 this mode, Open vSwitch causes the bridge to act like an
707 ordinary MAC-learning switch. Open vSwitch will continue
708 to retry connecting to the controller in the background
709 and, when the connection succeeds, it will discontinue its
710 standalone behavior.</dd>
711 <dt><code>secure</code></dt>
712 <dd>Open vSwitch will not set up flows on its own when the
713 controller connection fails. It will continue retry
714 connecting to the controller forever.</dd>
717 <p>If this value is unset, the default is implementation-specific.</p>
718 <p>When more than one controller is configured,
719 <ref column="fail_mode"/> is considered only when none of the
720 configured controllers can be contacted. At that point, the bridge
721 enters secure mode if any of the controllers'
722 <ref column="fail_mode"/> is set to <code>secure</code>. Otherwise,
723 it enters standalone mode if at least one <ref column="fail_mode"/>
724 is set to <code>standalone</code>. If none of the
725 <ref column="fail_mode"/> values are set, the default is
726 implementation-defined.</p>
730 <group title="OpenFlow Rate Limiting">
731 <column name="controller_rate_limit">
732 <p>The maximum rate at which packets in unknown flows will be
733 forwarded to the OpenFlow controller, in packets per second. This
734 feature prevents a single bridge from overwhelming the controller.
735 If not specified, the default is implementation-specific.</p>
736 <p>In addition, when a high rate triggers rate-limiting, Open
737 vSwitch queues controller packets for each port and transmits
738 them to the controller at the configured rate. The number of
739 queued packets is limited by
740 the <ref column="controller_burst_limit"/> value. The packet
741 queue is shared fairly among the ports on a bridge.</p><p>Open
742 vSwitch maintains two such packet rate-limiters per bridge.
743 One of these applies to packets sent up to the controller
744 because they do not correspond to any flow. The other applies
745 to packets sent up to the controller by request through flow
746 actions. When both rate-limiters are filled with packets, the
747 actual rate that packets are sent to the controller is up to
748 twice the specified rate.</p>
751 <column name="controller_burst_limit">
752 In conjunction with <ref column="controller_rate_limit"/>,
753 the maximum number of unused packet credits that the bridge will
754 allow to accumulate, in packets. If not specified, the default
755 is implementation-specific.
759 <group title="Additional Discovery Configuration">
760 <p>These values are considered only when <ref column="target"/>
761 is <code>discover</code>.</p>
763 <column name="discover_accept_regex">
765 extended regular expression against which the discovered controller
766 location is validated. The regular expression is implicitly
767 anchored at the beginning of the controller location string, as
768 if it begins with <code>^</code>. If not specified, the default
769 is implementation-specific.
772 <column name="discover_update_resolv_conf">
773 Whether to update <code>/etc/resolv.conf</code> when the
774 controller is discovered. If not specified, the default
775 is implementation-specific. Open vSwitch will only modify
776 <code>/etc/resolv.conf</code> if the DHCP response that it receives
777 specifies one or more DNS servers.
781 <group title="Additional In-Band Configuration">
782 <p>These values are considered only in in-band control mode (see
783 <ref column="connection_mode"/>) and only when <ref column="target"/>
784 is not <code>discover</code>. (For controller discovery, the network
785 configuration obtained via DHCP is used instead.)</p>
787 <p>When multiple controllers are configured on a single bridge, there
788 should be only one set of unique values in these columns. If different
789 values are set for these columns in different controllers, the effect
792 <column name="local_ip">
793 The IP address to configure on the local port,
794 e.g. <code>192.168.0.123</code>. If this value is unset, then
795 <ref column="local_netmask"/> and <ref column="local_gateway"/> are
799 <column name="local_netmask">
800 The IP netmask to configure on the local port,
801 e.g. <code>255.255.255.0</code>. If <ref column="local_ip"/> is set
802 but this value is unset, then the default is chosen based on whether
803 the IP address is class A, B, or C.
806 <column name="local_gateway">
807 The IP address of the gateway to configure on the local port, as a
808 string, e.g. <code>192.168.0.1</code>. Leave this column unset if
809 this network has no gateway.
814 <table name="NetFlow">
815 A NetFlow target. NetFlow is a protocol that exports a number of
816 details about terminating IP flows, such as the principals involved
819 <column name="targets">
820 NetFlow targets in the form
821 <code><var>ip</var>:<var>port</var></code>. The <var>ip</var>
822 must be specified numerically, not as a DNS name.
825 <column name="engine_id">
826 Engine ID to use in NetFlow messages. Defaults to datapath index
830 <column name="engine_type">
831 Engine type to use in NetFlow messages. Defaults to datapath
832 index if not specified.
835 <column name="active_timeout">
836 The interval at which NetFlow records are sent for flows that are
837 still active, in seconds. A value of <code>0</code> requests the
838 default timeout (currently 600 seconds); a value of <code>-1</code>
839 disables active timeouts.
842 <column name="add_id_to_interface">
843 <p>If this column's value is <code>false</code>, the ingress and egress
844 interface fields of NetFlow flow records are derived from OpenFlow port
845 numbers. When it is <code>true</code>, the 7 most significant bits of
846 these fields will be replaced by the least significant 7 bits of the
847 engine id. This is useful because many NetFlow collectors do not
848 expect multiple switches to be sending messages from the same host, so
849 they do not store the engine information which could be used to
850 disambiguate the traffic.</p>
851 <p>When this option is enabled, a maximum of 508 ports are supported.</p>
856 SSL configuration for an Open_vSwitch.
858 <column name="private_key">
859 Name of a PEM file containing the private key used as the switch's
860 identity for SSL connections to the controller.
863 <column name="certificate">
864 Name of a PEM file containing a certificate, signed by the
865 certificate authority (CA) used by the controller and manager,
866 that certifies the switch's private key, identifying a trustworthy
870 <column name="ca_cert">
871 Name of a PEM file containing the CA certificate used to verify
872 that the switch is connected to a trustworthy controller.
875 <column name="bootstrap_ca_cert">
876 If set to <code>true</code>, then Open vSwitch will attempt to
877 obtain the CA certificate from the controller on its first SSL
878 connection and save it to the named PEM file. If it is successful,
879 it will immediately drop the connection and reconnect, and from then
880 on all SSL connections must be authenticated by a certificate signed
881 by the CA certificate thus obtained. <em>This option exposes the
882 SSL connection to a man-in-the-middle attack obtaining the initial
883 CA certificate.</em> It may still be useful for bootstrapping.
888 <p>An sFlow(R) target. sFlow is a protocol for remote monitoring
891 <column name="agent">
892 IP address to report as ``agent address'' to collectors. If not
893 specified, defaults to the <ref table="Controller" column="local_ip"/> in
894 the collector's <ref table="Controller"/>. If neither is specified,
898 <column name="header">
899 Number of bytes of a sampled packet to send to the collector.
900 If not specified, the default is 128 bytes.
903 <column name="polling">
904 Polling rate in seconds to send port statistics to the collector.
905 If not specified, defaults to 30 seconds.
908 <column name="sampling">
909 Rate at which packets should be sampled and sent to the collector.
910 If not specified, defaults to 400, which means one out of 400
911 packets, on average, will be sent to the collector.
914 <column name="targets">
915 sFlow targets in the form
916 <code><var>ip</var>:<var>port</var></code>.