1 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
2 <database title="Open vSwitch Configuration Database">
4 A database with this schema holds the configuration for one Open
5 vSwitch daemon. The top-level configuration for the daemon is the
6 <ref table="Open_vSwitch"/> table, which must have exactly one
7 record. Records in other tables are significant only when they
8 can be reached directly or indirectly from the <ref
9 table="Open_vSwitch"/> table. Records that are not reachable from
10 the <ref table="Open_vSwitch"/> table are automatically deleted
11 from the database, except for records in a few distinguished
15 <h2>Common Columns</h2>
18 Most tables contain two special columns, named <code>other_config</code>
19 and <code>external_ids</code>. These columns have the same form and
20 purpose each place that they appear, so we describe them here to save space
25 <dt><code>other_config</code>: map of string-string pairs</dt>
28 Key-value pairs for configuring rarely used features. Supported keys,
29 along with the forms taken by their values, are documented individually
33 A few tables do not have <code>other_config</code> columns because no
34 key-value pairs have yet been defined for them.
38 <dt><code>external_ids</code>: map of string-string pairs</dt>
40 Key-value pairs for use by external frameworks that integrate with Open
41 vSwitch, rather than by Open vSwitch itself. System integrators should
42 either use the Open vSwitch development mailing list to coordinate on
43 common key-value definitions, or choose key names that are likely to be
44 unique. In some cases, where key-value pairs have been defined that are
45 likely to be widely useful, they are documented individually for each
50 <table name="Open_vSwitch" title="Open vSwitch configuration.">
51 Configuration for an Open vSwitch daemon. There must be exactly
52 one record in the <ref table="Open_vSwitch"/> table.
54 <group title="Configuration">
55 <column name="bridges">
56 Set of bridges managed by the daemon.
60 SSL used globally by the daemon.
63 <column name="external_ids" key="system-id">
64 A unique identifier for the Open vSwitch's physical host.
65 The form of the identifier depends on the type of the host.
66 On a Citrix XenServer, this will likely be the same as
67 <ref column="external_ids" key="xs-system-uuid"/>.
70 <column name="external_ids" key="xs-system-uuid">
71 The Citrix XenServer universally unique identifier for the physical
72 host as displayed by <code>xe host-list</code>.
76 <group title="Status">
77 <column name="next_cfg">
78 Sequence number for client to increment. When a client modifies
79 any part of the database configuration and wishes to wait for
80 Open vSwitch to finish applying the changes, it may increment
84 <column name="cur_cfg">
85 Sequence number that Open vSwitch sets to the current value of
86 <ref column="next_cfg"/> after it finishes applying a set of
87 configuration changes.
90 <column name="capabilities">
91 Describes functionality supported by the hardware and software platform
92 on which this Open vSwitch is based. Clients should not modify this
93 column. See the <ref table="Capability"/> description for defined
94 capability categories and the meaning of associated
95 <ref table="Capability"/> records.
98 <group title="Statistics">
100 The <code>statistics</code> column contains key-value pairs that
101 report statistics about a system running an Open vSwitch. These are
102 updated periodically (currently, every 5 seconds). Key-value pairs
103 that cannot be determined or that do not apply to a platform are
107 <column name="other_config" key="enable-statistics"
108 type='{"type": "boolean"}'>
109 Statistics are disabled by default to avoid overhead in the common
110 case when statistics gathering is not useful. Set this value to
111 <code>true</code> to enable populating the <ref column="statistics"/>
112 column or to <code>false</code> to explicitly disable it.
115 <column name="statistics" key="cpu"
116 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1}'>
118 Number of CPU processors, threads, or cores currently online and
119 available to the operating system on which Open vSwitch is running,
120 as an integer. This may be less than the number installed, if some
121 are not online or if they are not available to the operating
125 Open vSwitch userspace processes are not multithreaded, but the
126 Linux kernel-based datapath is.
130 <column name="statistics" key="load_average">
131 A comma-separated list of three floating-point numbers,
132 representing the system load average over the last 1, 5, and 15
133 minutes, respectively.
136 <column name="statistics" key="memory">
138 A comma-separated list of integers, each of which represents a
139 quantity of memory in kilobytes that describes the operating
140 system on which Open vSwitch is running. In respective order,
145 <li>Total amount of RAM allocated to the OS.</li>
146 <li>RAM allocated to the OS that is in use.</li>
147 <li>RAM that can be flushed out to disk or otherwise discarded
148 if that space is needed for another purpose. This number is
149 necessarily less than or equal to the previous value.</li>
150 <li>Total disk space allocated for swap.</li>
151 <li>Swap space currently in use.</li>
155 On Linux, all five values can be determined and are included. On
156 other operating systems, only the first two values can be
157 determined, so the list will only have two values.
161 <column name="statistics" key="process_NAME">
163 One such key-value pair, with <code>NAME</code> replaced by
164 a process name, will exist for each running Open vSwitch
165 daemon process, with <var>name</var> replaced by the
166 daemon's name (e.g. <code>process_ovs-vswitchd</code>). The
167 value is a comma-separated list of integers. The integers
168 represent the following, with memory measured in kilobytes
169 and durations in milliseconds:
173 <li>The process's virtual memory size.</li>
174 <li>The process's resident set size.</li>
175 <li>The amount of user and system CPU time consumed by the
177 <li>The number of times that the process has crashed and been
178 automatically restarted by the monitor.</li>
179 <li>The duration since the process was started.</li>
180 <li>The duration for which the process has been running.</li>
184 The interpretation of some of these values depends on whether the
185 process was started with the <option>--monitor</option>. If it
186 was not, then the crash count will always be 0 and the two
187 durations will always be the same. If <option>--monitor</option>
188 was given, then the crash count may be positive; if it is, the
189 latter duration is the amount of time since the most recent crash
194 There will be one key-value pair for each file in Open vSwitch's
195 ``run directory'' (usually <code>/var/run/openvswitch</code>)
196 whose name ends in <code>.pid</code>, whose contents are a
197 process ID, and which is locked by a running process. The
198 <var>name</var> is taken from the pidfile's name.
202 Currently Open vSwitch is only able to obtain all of the above
203 detail on Linux systems. On other systems, the same key-value
204 pairs will be present but the values will always be the empty
209 <column name="statistics" key="file_systems">
211 A space-separated list of information on local, writable file
212 systems. Each item in the list describes one file system and
213 consists in turn of a comma-separated list of the following:
217 <li>Mount point, e.g. <code>/</code> or <code>/var/log</code>.
218 Any spaces or commas in the mount point are replaced by
220 <li>Total size, in kilobytes, as an integer.</li>
221 <li>Amount of storage in use, in kilobytes, as an integer.</li>
225 This key-value pair is omitted if there are no local, writable
226 file systems or if Open vSwitch cannot obtain the needed
233 <group title="Version Reporting">
235 These columns report the types and versions of the hardware and
236 software running Open vSwitch. We recommend in general that software
237 should test whether specific features are supported instead of relying
238 on version number checks. These values are primarily intended for
239 reporting to human administrators.
242 <column name="ovs_version">
243 The Open vSwitch version number, e.g. <code>1.1.0</code>.
244 If Open vSwitch was configured with a build number, then it is
245 also included, e.g. <code>1.1.0+build6579</code>.
248 <column name="db_version">
250 The database schema version number in the form
251 <code><var>major</var>.<var>minor</var>.<var>tweak</var></code>,
252 e.g. <code>1.2.3</code>. Whenever the database schema is changed in
253 a non-backward compatible way (e.g. deleting a column or a table),
254 <var>major</var> is incremented. When the database schema is changed
255 in a backward compatible way (e.g. adding a new column),
256 <var>minor</var> is incremented. When the database schema is changed
257 cosmetically (e.g. reindenting its syntax), <var>tweak</var> is
262 The schema version is part of the database schema, so it can also be
263 retrieved by fetching the schema using the Open vSwitch database
268 <column name="system_type">
270 An identifier for the type of system on top of which Open vSwitch
271 runs, e.g. <code>XenServer</code> or <code>KVM</code>.
274 System integrators are responsible for choosing and setting an
275 appropriate value for this column.
279 <column name="system_version">
281 The version of the system identified by <ref column="system_type"/>,
282 e.g. <code>5.6.100-39265p</code> on XenServer 5.6.100 build 39265.
285 System integrators are responsible for choosing and setting an
286 appropriate value for this column.
292 <group title="Database Configuration">
294 These columns primarily configure the Open vSwitch database
295 (<code>ovsdb-server</code>), not the Open vSwitch switch
296 (<code>ovs-vswitchd</code>). The OVSDB database also uses the <ref
297 column="ssl"/> settings.
301 The Open vSwitch switch does read the database configuration to
302 determine remote IP addresses to which in-band control should apply.
305 <column name="manager_options">
306 Database clients to which the Open vSwitch database server should
307 connect or to which it should listen, along with options for how these
308 connection should be configured. See the <ref table="Manager"/> table
309 for more information.
313 <group title="Common Columns">
314 The overall purpose of these columns is described under <code>Common
315 Columns</code> at the beginning of this document.
317 <column name="other_config"/>
318 <column name="external_ids"/>
322 <table name="Bridge">
324 Configuration for a bridge within an
325 <ref table="Open_vSwitch"/>.
328 A <ref table="Bridge"/> record represents an Ethernet switch with one or
329 more ``ports,'' which are the <ref table="Port"/> records pointed to by
330 the <ref table="Bridge"/>'s <ref column="ports"/> column.
333 <group title="Core Features">
335 Bridge identifier. Should be alphanumeric and no more than about 8
336 bytes long. Must be unique among the names of ports, interfaces, and
340 <column name="ports">
341 Ports included in the bridge.
344 <column name="mirrors">
345 Port mirroring configuration.
348 <column name="netflow">
349 NetFlow configuration.
352 <column name="sflow">
356 <column name="flood_vlans">
358 VLAN IDs of VLANs on which MAC address learning should be disabled,
359 so that packets are flooded instead of being sent to specific ports
360 that are believed to contain packets' destination MACs. This should
361 ordinarily be used to disable MAC learning on VLANs used for
362 mirroring (RSPAN VLANs). It may also be useful for debugging.
365 SLB bonding (see the <ref table="Port" column="bond_mode"/> column in
366 the <ref table="Port"/> table) is incompatible with
367 <code>flood_vlans</code>. Consider using another bonding mode or
368 a different type of mirror instead.
373 <group title="OpenFlow Configuration">
374 <column name="controller">
376 OpenFlow controller set. If unset, then no OpenFlow controllers
381 If there are primary controllers, removing all of them clears the
382 flow table. If there are no primary controllers, adding one also
383 clears the flow table. Other changes to the set of controllers, such
384 as adding or removing a service controller, adding another primary
385 controller to supplement an existing primary controller, or removing
386 only one of two primary controllers, have no effect on the flow
391 <column name="fail_mode">
392 <p>When a controller is configured, it is, ordinarily, responsible
393 for setting up all flows on the switch. Thus, if the connection to
394 the controller fails, no new network connections can be set up.
395 If the connection to the controller stays down long enough,
396 no packets can pass through the switch at all. This setting
397 determines the switch's response to such a situation. It may be set
398 to one of the following:
400 <dt><code>standalone</code></dt>
401 <dd>If no message is received from the controller for three
402 times the inactivity probe interval
403 (see <ref column="inactivity_probe"/>), then Open vSwitch
404 will take over responsibility for setting up flows. In
405 this mode, Open vSwitch causes the bridge to act like an
406 ordinary MAC-learning switch. Open vSwitch will continue
407 to retry connecting to the controller in the background
408 and, when the connection succeeds, it will discontinue its
409 standalone behavior.</dd>
410 <dt><code>secure</code></dt>
411 <dd>Open vSwitch will not set up flows on its own when the
412 controller connection fails or when no controllers are
413 defined. The bridge will continue to retry connecting to
414 any defined controllers forever.</dd>
417 <p>If this value is unset, the default is implementation-specific.</p>
418 <p>When more than one controller is configured,
419 <ref column="fail_mode"/> is considered only when none of the
420 configured controllers can be contacted.</p>
422 Changing <ref column="fail_mode"/> when no primary controllers are
423 configured clears the flow table.
427 <column name="datapath_id">
428 Reports the OpenFlow datapath ID in use. Exactly 16 hex digits.
429 (Setting this column has no useful effect. Set <ref
430 column="other-config" key="datapath-id"/> instead.)
433 <column name="other_config" key="datapath-id">
434 Exactly 16 hex digits to set the OpenFlow datapath ID to a specific
435 value. May not be all-zero.
438 <column name="other_config" key="disable-in-band"
439 type='{"type": "boolean"}'>
440 If set to <code>true</code>, disable in-band control on the bridge
441 regardless of controller and manager settings.
444 <column name="other_config" key="in-band-queue"
445 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 0, "maxInteger": 4294967295}'>
446 A queue ID as a nonnegative integer. This sets the OpenFlow queue ID
447 that will be used by flows set up by in-band control on this bridge.
448 If unset, or if the port used by an in-band control flow does not have
449 QoS configured, or if the port does not have a queue with the specified
450 ID, the default queue is used instead.
454 <group title="Spanning Tree Configuration">
455 The IEEE 802.1D Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) is a network protocol
456 that ensures loop-free topologies. It allows redundant links to
457 be included in the network to provide automatic backup paths if
458 the active links fails.
460 <column name="stp_enable">
461 Enable spanning tree on the bridge. By default, STP is disabled
462 on bridges. Bond, internal, and mirror ports are not supported
463 and will not participate in the spanning tree.
466 <column name="other_config" key="stp-system-id">
467 The bridge's STP identifier (the lower 48 bits of the bridge-id)
469 <var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>.
470 By default, the identifier is the MAC address of the bridge.
473 <column name="other_config" key="stp-priority"
474 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 0, "maxInteger": 65535}'>
475 The bridge's relative priority value for determining the root
476 bridge (the upper 16 bits of the bridge-id). A bridge with the
477 lowest bridge-id is elected the root. By default, the priority
481 <column name="other_config" key="stp-hello-time"
482 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1, "maxInteger": 10}'>
483 The interval between transmissions of hello messages by
484 designated ports, in seconds. By default the hello interval is
488 <column name="other_config" key="stp-max-age"
489 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 6, "maxInteger": 40}'>
490 The maximum age of the information transmitted by the bridge
491 when it is the root bridge, in seconds. By default, the maximum
495 <column name="other_config" key="stp-forward-delay"
496 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 4, "maxInteger": 30}'>
497 The delay to wait between transitioning root and designated
498 ports to <code>forwarding</code>, in seconds. By default, the
499 forwarding delay is 15 seconds.
503 <group title="Other Features">
504 <column name="datapath_type">
505 Name of datapath provider. The kernel datapath has
506 type <code>system</code>. The userspace datapath has
507 type <code>netdev</code>.
510 <column name="external_ids" key="bridge-id">
511 A unique identifier of the bridge. On Citrix XenServer this will
512 commonly be the same as
513 <ref column="external_ids" key="xs-network-uuids"/>.
516 <column name="external_ids" key="xs-network-uuids">
517 Semicolon-delimited set of universally unique identifier(s) for the
518 network with which this bridge is associated on a Citrix XenServer
519 host. The network identifiers are RFC 4122 UUIDs as displayed by,
520 e.g., <code>xe network-list</code>.
523 <column name="other_config" key="hwaddr">
524 An Ethernet address in the form
525 <var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>
526 to set the hardware address of the local port and influence the
530 <column name="other_config" key="flow-eviction-threshold"
531 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 0}'>
533 A number of flows as a nonnegative integer. This sets number of
534 flows at which eviction from the kernel flow table will be triggered.
535 If there are a large number of flows then increasing this value to
536 around the number of flows present can result in reduced CPU usage
540 The default is 1000. Values below 100 will be rounded up to 100.
544 <column name="other_config" key="forward-bpdu"
545 type='{"type": "boolean"}'>
546 Option to allow forwarding of BPDU frames when NORMAL action is
547 invoked. Frames with reserved Ethernet addresses (e.g. STP
548 BPDU) will be forwarded when this option is enabled and the
549 switch is not providing that functionality. If STP is enabled
550 on the port, STP BPDUs will never be forwarded. If the Open
551 vSwitch bridge is used to connect different Ethernet networks,
552 and if Open vSwitch node does not run STP, then this option
553 should be enabled. Default is disabled, set to
554 <code>true</code> to enable.
558 <group title="Bridge Status">
560 Status information about bridges.
562 <column name="status">
563 Key-value pairs that report bridge status.
565 <column name="status" key="stp_bridge_id">
567 The bridge-id (in hex) used in spanning tree advertisements.
568 Configuring the bridge-id is described in the
569 <code>stp-system-id</code> and <code>stp-priority</code> keys
570 of the <code>other_config</code> section earlier.
573 <column name="status" key="stp_designated_root">
575 The designated root (in hex) for this spanning tree.
578 <column name="status" key="stp_root_path_cost">
580 The path cost of reaching the designated bridge. A lower
586 <group title="Common Columns">
587 The overall purpose of these columns is described under <code>Common
588 Columns</code> at the beginning of this document.
590 <column name="other_config"/>
591 <column name="external_ids"/>
595 <table name="Port" table="Port or bond configuration.">
596 <p>A port within a <ref table="Bridge"/>.</p>
597 <p>Most commonly, a port has exactly one ``interface,'' pointed to by its
598 <ref column="interfaces"/> column. Such a port logically
599 corresponds to a port on a physical Ethernet switch. A port
600 with more than one interface is a ``bonded port'' (see
601 <ref group="Bonding Configuration"/>).</p>
602 <p>Some properties that one might think as belonging to a port are actually
603 part of the port's <ref table="Interface"/> members.</p>
606 Port name. Should be alphanumeric and no more than about 8
607 bytes long. May be the same as the interface name, for
608 non-bonded ports. Must otherwise be unique among the names of
609 ports, interfaces, and bridges on a host.
612 <column name="interfaces">
613 The port's interfaces. If there is more than one, this is a
617 <group title="VLAN Configuration">
618 <p>Bridge ports support the following types of VLAN configuration:</p>
623 A trunk port carries packets on one or more specified VLANs
624 specified in the <ref column="trunks"/> column (often, on every
625 VLAN). A packet that ingresses on a trunk port is in the VLAN
626 specified in its 802.1Q header, or VLAN 0 if the packet has no
627 802.1Q header. A packet that egresses through a trunk port will
628 have an 802.1Q header if it has a nonzero VLAN ID.
632 Any packet that ingresses on a trunk port tagged with a VLAN that
633 the port does not trunk is dropped.
640 An access port carries packets on exactly one VLAN specified in the
641 <ref column="tag"/> column. Packets egressing on an access port
642 have no 802.1Q header.
646 Any packet with an 802.1Q header with a nonzero VLAN ID that
647 ingresses on an access port is dropped, regardless of whether the
648 VLAN ID in the header is the access port's VLAN ID.
652 <dt>native-tagged</dt>
654 A native-tagged port resembles a trunk port, with the exception that
655 a packet without an 802.1Q header that ingresses on a native-tagged
656 port is in the ``native VLAN'' (specified in the <ref column="tag"/>
660 <dt>native-untagged</dt>
662 A native-untagged port resembles a native-tagged port, with the
663 exception that a packet that egresses on a native-untagged port in
664 the native VLAN will not have an 802.1Q header.
668 A packet will only egress through bridge ports that carry the VLAN of
669 the packet, as described by the rules above.
672 <column name="vlan_mode">
674 The VLAN mode of the port, as described above. When this column is
675 empty, a default mode is selected as follows:
679 If <ref column="tag"/> contains a value, the port is an access
680 port. The <ref column="trunks"/> column should be empty.
683 Otherwise, the port is a trunk port. The <ref column="trunks"/>
684 column value is honored if it is present.
691 For an access port, the port's implicitly tagged VLAN. For a
692 native-tagged or native-untagged port, the port's native VLAN. Must
693 be empty if this is a trunk port.
697 <column name="trunks">
699 For a trunk, native-tagged, or native-untagged port, the 802.1Q VLAN
700 or VLANs that this port trunks; if it is empty, then the port trunks
701 all VLANs. Must be empty if this is an access port.
704 A native-tagged or native-untagged port always trunks its native
705 VLAN, regardless of whether <ref column="trunks"/> includes that
710 <column name="other_config" key="priority-tags"
711 type='{"type": "boolean"}'>
713 An 802.1Q header contains two important pieces of information: a VLAN
714 ID and a priority. A frame with a zero VLAN ID, called a
715 ``priority-tagged'' frame, is supposed to be treated the same way as
716 a frame without an 802.1Q header at all (except for the priority).
720 However, some network elements ignore any frame that has 802.1Q
721 header at all, even when the VLAN ID is zero. Therefore, by default
722 Open vSwitch does not output priority-tagged frames, instead omitting
723 the 802.1Q header entirely if the VLAN ID is zero. Set this key to
724 <code>true</code> to enable priority-tagged frames on a port.
728 Regardless of this setting, Open vSwitch omits the 802.1Q header on
729 output if both the VLAN ID and priority would be zero.
733 All frames output to native-tagged ports have a nonzero VLAN ID, so
734 this setting is not meaningful on native-tagged ports.
739 <group title="Bonding Configuration">
740 <p>A port that has more than one interface is a ``bonded port.'' Bonding
741 allows for load balancing and fail-over. Some kinds of bonding will
742 work with any kind of upstream switch:</p>
745 <dt><code>balance-slb</code></dt>
747 Balances flows among slaves based on source MAC address and output
748 VLAN, with periodic rebalancing as traffic patterns change.
751 <dt><code>active-backup</code></dt>
753 Assigns all flows to one slave, failing over to a backup slave when
754 the active slave is disabled.
759 The following modes require the upstream switch to support 802.3ad with
760 successful LACP negotiation. If LACP negotiation fails then
761 <code>balance-slb</code> style flow hashing is used as a fallback:
765 <dt><code>balance-tcp</code></dt>
767 Balances flows among slaves based on L2, L3, and L4 protocol
768 information such as destination MAC address, IP address, and TCP
772 <dt><code>stable</code></dt>
774 <p>Attempts to always assign a given flow to the same slave
775 consistently. In an effort to maintain stability, no load
776 balancing is done. Uses a similar hashing strategy to
777 <code>balance-tcp</code>, always taking into account L3 and L4
778 fields even if LACP negotiations are unsuccessful. </p>
779 <p>Slave selection decisions are made based on <ref table="Interface"
780 column="other_config" key="bond-stable-id"/> if set. Otherwise,
781 OpenFlow port number is used. Decisions are consistent across all
782 <code>ovs-vswitchd</code> instances with equivalent
783 <ref table="Interface" column="other_config" key="bond-stable-id"/>
788 <p>These columns apply only to bonded ports. Their values are
789 otherwise ignored.</p>
791 <column name="bond_mode">
792 <p>The type of bonding used for a bonded port. Defaults to
793 <code>balance-slb</code> if unset.
797 <column name="other_config" key="bond-hash-basis"
798 type='{"type": "integer"}'>
799 An integer hashed along with flows when choosing output slaves in load
800 balanced bonds. When changed, all flows will be assigned different
801 hash values possibly causing slave selection decisions to change. Does
802 not affect bonding modes which do not employ load balancing such as
803 <code>active-backup</code>.
806 <group title="Link Failure Detection">
808 An important part of link bonding is detecting that links are down so
809 that they may be disabled. These settings determine how Open vSwitch
810 detects link failure.
813 <column name="other_config" key="bond-detect-mode"
814 type='{"type": "string", "enum": ["set", ["carrier", "miimon"]]}'>
815 The means used to detect link failures. Defaults to
816 <code>carrier</code> which uses each interface's carrier to detect
817 failures. When set to <code>miimon</code>, will check for failures
818 by polling each interface's MII.
821 <column name="other_config" key="bond-miimon-interval"
822 type='{"type": "integer"}'>
823 The interval, in milliseconds, between successive attempts to poll
824 each interface's MII. Relevant only when <ref column="other_config"
825 key="bond-detect-mode"/> is <code>miimon</code>.
828 <column name="bond_updelay">
830 The number of milliseconds for which carrier must stay up on an
831 interface before the interface is considered to be up. Specify
832 <code>0</code> to enable the interface immediately.
836 This setting is honored only when at least one bonded interface is
837 already enabled. When no interfaces are enabled, then the first
838 bond interface to come up is enabled immediately.
842 <column name="bond_downdelay">
843 The number of milliseconds for which carrier must stay down on an
844 interface before the interface is considered to be down. Specify
845 <code>0</code> to disable the interface immediately.
849 <group title="LACP Configuration">
851 LACP, the Link Aggregation Control Protocol, is an IEEE standard that
852 allows switches to automatically detect that they are connected by
853 multiple links and aggregate across those links. These settings
854 control LACP behavior.
858 Configures LACP on this port. LACP allows directly connected
859 switches to negotiate which links may be bonded. LACP may be enabled
860 on non-bonded ports for the benefit of any switches they may be
861 connected to. <code>active</code> ports are allowed to initiate LACP
862 negotiations. <code>passive</code> ports are allowed to participate
863 in LACP negotiations initiated by a remote switch, but not allowed to
864 initiate such negotiations themselves. Defaults to <code>off</code>
868 <column name="other_config" key="lacp-system-id">
869 The LACP system ID of this <ref table="Port"/>. The system ID of a
870 LACP bond is used to identify itself to its partners. Must be a
871 nonzero MAC address. Defaults to the bridge Ethernet address if
875 <column name="other_config" key="lacp-system-priority"
876 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1, "maxInteger": 65535}'>
877 The LACP system priority of this <ref table="Port"/>. In LACP
878 negotiations, link status decisions are made by the system with the
879 numerically lower priority.
882 <column name="other_config" key="lacp-time">
884 The LACP timing which should be used on this <ref table="Port"/>.
885 Possible values are <code>fast</code>, <code>slow</code> and a
886 positive number of milliseconds. By default <code>slow</code> is
887 used. When configured to be <code>fast</code> LACP heartbeats are
888 requested at a rate of once per second causing connectivity
889 problems to be detected more quickly. In <code>slow</code> mode,
890 heartbeats are requested at a rate of once every 30 seconds.
894 Users may manually set a heartbeat transmission rate to increase
895 the fault detection speed further. When manually set, OVS expects
896 the partner switch to be configured with the same transmission
897 rate. Manually setting <code>lacp-time</code> to something other
898 than <code>fast</code> or <code>slow</code> is not supported by the
903 <column name="other_config" key="lacp-heartbeat"
904 type='{"type": "boolean"}'>
905 Treat LACP like a simple heartbeat protocol for link state
906 monitoring. Most features of the LACP protocol are disabled
907 when this mode is in use. The default if not specified is
912 <group title="SLB Configuration">
914 These settings control behavior when a bond is in
915 <code>balance-slb</code> mode, regardless of whether the bond was
916 intentionally configured in SLB mode or it fell back to SLB mode
917 because LACP negotiation failed.
920 <column name="other_config" key="bond-rebalance-interval"
921 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1000, "maxInteger": 10000}'>
922 For an SLB bonded port, the number of milliseconds between successive
923 attempts to rebalance the bond, that is, to move source MACs and
924 their flows from one interface on the bond to another in an attempt
925 to keep usage of each interface roughly equal.
929 <column name="bond_fake_iface">
930 For a bonded port, whether to create a fake internal interface with the
931 name of the port. Use only for compatibility with legacy software that
936 <group title="Spanning Tree Configuration">
937 <column name="other_config" key="stp-enable"
938 type='{"type": "boolean"}'>
939 If spanning tree is enabled on the bridge, member ports are
940 enabled by default (with the exception of bond, internal, and
941 mirror ports which do not work with STP). If this column's
942 value is <code>false</code> spanning tree is disabled on the
946 <column name="other_config" key="stp-port-num"
947 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1, "maxInteger": 255}'>
948 The port number used for the lower 8 bits of the port-id. By
949 default, the numbers will be assigned automatically. If any
950 port's number is manually configured on a bridge, then they
954 <column name="other_config" key="stp-port-priority"
955 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 0, "maxInteger": 255}'>
956 The port's relative priority value for determining the root
957 port (the upper 8 bits of the port-id). A port with a lower
958 port-id will be chosen as the root port. By default, the
962 <column name="other_config" key="stp-path-cost"
963 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 0, "maxInteger": 65535}'>
964 Spanning tree path cost for the port. A lower number indicates
965 a faster link. By default, the cost is based on the maximum
970 <group title="Other Features">
972 Quality of Service configuration for this port.
976 The MAC address to use for this port for the purpose of choosing the
977 bridge's MAC address. This column does not necessarily reflect the
978 port's actual MAC address, nor will setting it change the port's actual
982 <column name="fake_bridge">
983 Does this port represent a sub-bridge for its tagged VLAN within the
984 Bridge? See ovs-vsctl(8) for more information.
987 <column name="external_ids" key="fake-bridge-id-*">
988 External IDs for a fake bridge (see the <ref column="fake_bridge"/>
989 column) are defined by prefixing a <ref table="Bridge"/> <ref
990 table="Bridge" column="external_ids"/> key with
991 <code>fake-bridge-</code>,
992 e.g. <code>fake-bridge-xs-network-uuids</code>.
996 <group title="Port Status">
998 Status information about ports attached to bridges.
1000 <column name="status">
1001 Key-value pairs that report port status.
1003 <column name="status" key="stp_port_id">
1005 The port-id (in hex) used in spanning tree advertisements for
1006 this port. Configuring the port-id is described in the
1007 <code>stp-port-num</code> and <code>stp-port-priority</code>
1008 keys of the <code>other_config</code> section earlier.
1011 <column name="status" key="stp_state"
1012 type='{"type": "string", "enum": ["set",
1013 ["disabled", "listening", "learning",
1014 "forwarding", "blocking"]]}'>
1016 STP state of the port.
1019 <column name="status" key="stp_sec_in_state"
1020 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 0}'>
1022 The amount of time (in seconds) port has been in the current
1026 <column name="status" key="stp_role"
1027 type='{"type": "string", "enum": ["set",
1028 ["root", "designated", "alternate"]]}'>
1030 STP role of the port.
1035 <group title="Port Statistics">
1037 Key-value pairs that report port statistics.
1039 <group title="Statistics: STP transmit and receive counters">
1040 <column name="statistics" key="stp_tx_count">
1041 Number of STP BPDUs sent on this port by the spanning
1044 <column name="statistics" key="stp_rx_count">
1045 Number of STP BPDUs received on this port and accepted by the
1046 spanning tree library.
1048 <column name="statistics" key="stp_error_count">
1049 Number of bad STP BPDUs received on this port. Bad BPDUs
1050 include runt packets and those with an unexpected protocol ID.
1055 <group title="Common Columns">
1056 The overall purpose of these columns is described under <code>Common
1057 Columns</code> at the beginning of this document.
1059 <column name="other_config"/>
1060 <column name="external_ids"/>
1064 <table name="Interface" title="One physical network device in a Port.">
1065 An interface within a <ref table="Port"/>.
1067 <group title="Core Features">
1068 <column name="name">
1069 Interface name. Should be alphanumeric and no more than about 8 bytes
1070 long. May be the same as the port name, for non-bonded ports. Must
1071 otherwise be unique among the names of ports, interfaces, and bridges
1076 <p>Ethernet address to set for this interface. If unset then the
1077 default MAC address is used:</p>
1079 <li>For the local interface, the default is the lowest-numbered MAC
1080 address among the other bridge ports, either the value of the
1081 <ref table="Port" column="mac"/> in its <ref table="Port"/> record,
1082 if set, or its actual MAC (for bonded ports, the MAC of its slave
1083 whose name is first in alphabetical order). Internal ports and
1084 bridge ports that are used as port mirroring destinations (see the
1085 <ref table="Mirror"/> table) are ignored.</li>
1086 <li>For other internal interfaces, the default MAC is randomly
1088 <li>External interfaces typically have a MAC address associated with
1089 their hardware.</li>
1091 <p>Some interfaces may not have a software-controllable MAC
1095 <column name="ofport">
1096 <p>OpenFlow port number for this interface. Unlike most columns, this
1097 column's value should be set only by Open vSwitch itself. Other
1098 clients should set this column to an empty set (the default) when
1099 creating an <ref table="Interface"/>.</p>
1100 <p>Open vSwitch populates this column when the port number becomes
1101 known. If the interface is successfully added,
1102 <ref column="ofport"/> will be set to a number between 1 and 65535
1103 (generally either in the range 1 to 65279, inclusive, or 65534, the
1104 port number for the OpenFlow ``local port''). If the interface
1105 cannot be added then Open vSwitch sets this column
1110 <group title="System-Specific Details">
1111 <column name="type">
1113 The interface type, one of:
1117 <dt><code>system</code></dt>
1118 <dd>An ordinary network device, e.g. <code>eth0</code> on Linux.
1119 Sometimes referred to as ``external interfaces'' since they are
1120 generally connected to hardware external to that on which the Open
1121 vSwitch is running. The empty string is a synonym for
1122 <code>system</code>.</dd>
1124 <dt><code>internal</code></dt>
1125 <dd>A simulated network device that sends and receives traffic. An
1126 internal interface whose <ref column="name"/> is the same as its
1127 bridge's <ref table="Open_vSwitch" column="name"/> is called the
1128 ``local interface.'' It does not make sense to bond an internal
1129 interface, so the terms ``port'' and ``interface'' are often used
1130 imprecisely for internal interfaces.</dd>
1132 <dt><code>tap</code></dt>
1133 <dd>A TUN/TAP device managed by Open vSwitch.</dd>
1135 <dt><code>gre</code></dt>
1137 An Ethernet over RFC 2890 Generic Routing Encapsulation over IPv4
1138 tunnel. See <ref group="Tunnel Options"/> for information on
1139 configuring GRE tunnels.
1142 <dt><code>ipsec_gre</code></dt>
1144 An Ethernet over RFC 2890 Generic Routing Encapsulation over IPv4
1148 <dt><code>capwap</code></dt>
1150 An Ethernet tunnel over the UDP transport portion of CAPWAP (RFC
1151 5415). This allows interoperability with certain switches that do
1152 not support GRE. Only the tunneling component of the protocol is
1153 implemented. UDP ports 58881 and 58882 are used as the source and
1154 destination ports respectively. CAPWAP is currently supported only
1155 with the Linux kernel datapath with kernel version 2.6.26 or later.
1158 <dt><code>patch</code></dt>
1160 A pair of virtual devices that act as a patch cable.
1163 <dt><code>null</code></dt>
1164 <dd>An ignored interface.</dd>
1169 <group title="Tunnel Options">
1171 These options apply to interfaces with <ref column="type"/> of
1172 <code>gre</code>, <code>ipsec_gre</code>, and <code>capwap</code>.
1176 Each tunnel must be uniquely identified by the combination of <ref
1177 column="type"/>, <ref column="options" key="remote_ip"/>, <ref
1178 column="options" key="local_ip"/>, and <ref column="options"
1179 key="in_key"/>. If two ports are defined that are the same except one
1180 has an optional identifier and the other does not, the more specific
1181 one is matched first. <ref column="options" key="in_key"/> is
1182 considered more specific than <ref column="options" key="local_ip"/> if
1183 a port defines one and another port defines the other.
1186 <column name="options" key="remote_ip">
1188 Required. The tunnel endpoint. Unicast and multicast endpoints are
1193 When a multicast endpoint is specified, a routing table lookup occurs
1194 only when the tunnel is created. Following a routing change, delete
1195 and then re-create the tunnel to force a new routing table lookup.
1199 <column name="options" key="local_ip">
1200 Optional. The destination IP that received packets must match.
1201 Default is to match all addresses. Must be omitted when <ref
1202 column="options" key="remote_ip"/> is a multicast address.
1205 <column name="options" key="in_key">
1206 <p>Optional. The key that received packets must contain, one of:</p>
1210 <code>0</code>. The tunnel receives packets with no key or with a
1211 key of 0. This is equivalent to specifying no <ref column="options"
1212 key="in_key"/> at all.
1215 A positive 32-bit (for GRE) or 64-bit (for CAPWAP) number. The
1216 tunnel receives only packets with the specified key.
1219 The word <code>flow</code>. The tunnel accepts packets with any
1220 key. The key will be placed in the <code>tun_id</code> field for
1221 matching in the flow table. The <code>ovs-ofctl</code> manual page
1222 contains additional information about matching fields in OpenFlow
1231 <column name="options" key="out_key">
1232 <p>Optional. The key to be set on outgoing packets, one of:</p>
1236 <code>0</code>. Packets sent through the tunnel will have no key.
1237 This is equivalent to specifying no <ref column="options"
1238 key="out_key"/> at all.
1241 A positive 32-bit (for GRE) or 64-bit (for CAPWAP) number. Packets
1242 sent through the tunnel will have the specified key.
1245 The word <code>flow</code>. Packets sent through the tunnel will
1246 have the key set using the <code>set_tunnel</code> Nicira OpenFlow
1247 vendor extension (0 is used in the absence of an action). The
1248 <code>ovs-ofctl</code> manual page contains additional information
1249 about the Nicira OpenFlow vendor extensions.
1254 <column name="options" key="key">
1255 Optional. Shorthand to set <code>in_key</code> and
1256 <code>out_key</code> at the same time.
1259 <column name="options" key="tos">
1260 Optional. The value of the ToS bits to be set on the encapsulating
1261 packet. It may also be the word <code>inherit</code>, in which case
1262 the ToS will be copied from the inner packet if it is IPv4 or IPv6
1263 (otherwise it will be 0). The ECN fields are always inherited.
1267 <column name="options" key="ttl">
1268 Optional. The TTL to be set on the encapsulating packet. It may also
1269 be the word <code>inherit</code>, in which case the TTL will be copied
1270 from the inner packet if it is IPv4 or IPv6 (otherwise it will be the
1271 system default, typically 64). Default is the system default TTL.
1274 <column name="options" key="df_inherit" type='{"type": "boolean"}'>
1275 Optional. If enabled, the Don't Fragment bit will be copied from the
1276 inner IP headers (those of the encapsulated traffic) to the outer
1277 (tunnel) headers. Default is disabled; set to <code>true</code> to
1281 <column name="options" key="df_default"
1282 type='{"type": "boolean"}'>
1283 Optional. If enabled, the Don't Fragment bit will be set by default on
1284 tunnel headers if the <code>df_inherit</code> option is not set, or if
1285 the encapsulated packet is not IP. Default is enabled; set to
1286 <code>false</code> to disable.
1289 <column name="options" key="pmtud" type='{"type": "boolean"}'>
1290 Optional. Enable tunnel path MTU discovery. If enabled ``ICMP
1291 Destination Unreachable - Fragmentation Needed'' messages will be
1292 generated for IPv4 packets with the DF bit set and IPv6 packets above
1293 the minimum MTU if the packet size exceeds the path MTU minus the size
1294 of the tunnel headers. Note that this option causes behavior that is
1295 typically reserved for routers and therefore is not entirely in
1296 compliance with the IEEE 802.1D specification for bridges. Default is
1297 enabled; set to <code>false</code> to disable.
1300 <group title="Tunnel Options: gre only">
1302 Only <code>gre</code> interfaces support these options.
1305 <column name="options" key="header_cache" type='{"type": "boolean"}'>
1306 Enable caching of tunnel headers and the output path. This can lead
1307 to a significant performance increase without changing behavior. In
1308 general it should not be necessary to adjust this setting. However,
1309 the caching can bypass certain components of the IP stack (such as
1310 <code>iptables</code>) and it may be useful to disable it if these
1311 features are required or as a debugging measure. Default is enabled,
1312 set to <code>false</code> to disable.
1316 <group title="Tunnel Options: gre and ipsec_gre only">
1318 Only <code>gre</code> and <code>ipsec_gre</code> interfaces support
1322 <column name="options" key="csum" type='{"type": "boolean"}'>
1324 Optional. Compute GRE checksums on outgoing packets. Default is
1325 disabled, set to <code>true</code> to enable. Checksums present on
1326 incoming packets will be validated regardless of this setting.
1330 GRE checksums impose a significant performance penalty because they
1331 cover the entire packet. The encapsulated L3, L4, and L7 packet
1332 contents typically have their own checksums, so this additional
1333 checksum only adds value for the GRE and encapsulated L2 headers.
1337 This option is supported for <code>ipsec_gre</code>, but not useful
1338 because GRE checksums are weaker than, and redundant with, IPsec
1339 payload authentication.
1344 <group title="Tunnel Options: ipsec_gre only">
1346 Only <code>ipsec_gre</code> interfaces support these options.
1349 <column name="options" key="peer_cert">
1350 Required for certificate authentication. A string containing the
1351 peer's certificate in PEM format. Additionally the host's
1352 certificate must be specified with the <code>certificate</code>
1356 <column name="options" key="certificate">
1357 Required for certificate authentication. The name of a PEM file
1358 containing a certificate that will be presented to the peer during
1362 <column name="options" key="private_key">
1363 Optional for certificate authentication. The name of a PEM file
1364 containing the private key associated with <code>certificate</code>.
1365 If <code>certificate</code> contains the private key, this option may
1369 <column name="options" key="psk">
1370 Required for pre-shared key authentication. Specifies a pre-shared
1371 key for authentication that must be identical on both sides of the
1377 <group title="Patch Options">
1379 Only <code>patch</code> interfaces support these options.
1382 <column name="options" key="peer">
1383 The <ref column="name"/> of the <ref table="Interface"/> for the other
1384 side of the patch. The named <ref table="Interface"/>'s own
1385 <code>peer</code> option must specify this <ref table="Interface"/>'s
1386 name. That is, the two patch interfaces must have reversed <ref
1387 column="name"/> and <code>peer</code> values.
1391 <group title="Interface Status">
1393 Status information about interfaces attached to bridges, updated every
1394 5 seconds. Not all interfaces have all of these properties; virtual
1395 interfaces don't have a link speed, for example. Non-applicable
1396 columns will have empty values.
1398 <column name="admin_state">
1400 The administrative state of the physical network link.
1404 <column name="link_state">
1406 The observed state of the physical network link. This is ordinarily
1407 the link's carrier status. If the interface's <ref table="Port"/> is
1408 a bond configured for miimon monitoring, it is instead the network
1409 link's miimon status.
1413 <column name="link_resets">
1415 The number of times Open vSwitch has observed the
1416 <ref column="link_state"/> of this <ref table="Interface"/> change.
1420 <column name="link_speed">
1422 The negotiated speed of the physical network link.
1423 Valid values are positive integers greater than 0.
1427 <column name="duplex">
1429 The duplex mode of the physical network link.
1435 The MTU (maximum transmission unit); i.e. the largest
1436 amount of data that can fit into a single Ethernet frame.
1437 The standard Ethernet MTU is 1500 bytes. Some physical media
1438 and many kinds of virtual interfaces can be configured with
1442 This column will be empty for an interface that does not
1443 have an MTU as, for example, some kinds of tunnels do not.
1447 <column name="lacp_current">
1448 Boolean value indicating LACP status for this interface. If true, this
1449 interface has current LACP information about its LACP partner. This
1450 information may be used to monitor the health of interfaces in a LACP
1451 enabled port. This column will be empty if LACP is not enabled.
1454 <column name="status">
1455 Key-value pairs that report port status. Supported status values are
1456 <ref column="type"/>-dependent; some interfaces may not have a valid
1457 <ref column="status" key="driver_name"/>, for example.
1460 <column name="status" key="driver_name">
1461 The name of the device driver controlling the network adapter.
1464 <column name="status" key="driver_version">
1465 The version string of the device driver controlling the network
1469 <column name="status" key="firmware_version">
1470 The version string of the network adapter's firmware, if available.
1473 <column name="status" key="source_ip">
1474 The source IP address used for an IPv4 tunnel end-point, such as
1475 <code>gre</code> or <code>capwap</code>.
1478 <column name="status" key="tunnel_egress_iface">
1479 Egress interface for tunnels. Currently only relevant for GRE and
1480 CAPWAP tunnels. On Linux systems, this column will show the name of
1481 the interface which is responsible for routing traffic destined for the
1482 configured <ref column="options" key="remote_ip"/>. This could be an
1483 internal interface such as a bridge port.
1486 <column name="status" key="tunnel_egress_iface_carrier"
1487 type='{"type": "string", "enum": ["set", ["down", "up"]]}'>
1488 Whether carrier is detected on <ref column="status"
1489 key="tunnel_egress_iface"/>.
1493 <group title="Statistics">
1495 Key-value pairs that report interface statistics. The current
1496 implementation updates these counters periodically. Future
1497 implementations may update them when an interface is created, when they
1498 are queried (e.g. using an OVSDB <code>select</code> operation), and
1499 just before an interface is deleted due to virtual interface hot-unplug
1500 or VM shutdown, and perhaps at other times, but not on any regular
1504 These are the same statistics reported by OpenFlow in its <code>struct
1505 ofp_port_stats</code> structure. If an interface does not support a
1506 given statistic, then that pair is omitted.
1508 <group title="Statistics: Successful transmit and receive counters">
1509 <column name="statistics" key="rx_packets">
1510 Number of received packets.
1512 <column name="statistics" key="rx_bytes">
1513 Number of received bytes.
1515 <column name="statistics" key="tx_packets">
1516 Number of transmitted packets.
1518 <column name="statistics" key="tx_bytes">
1519 Number of transmitted bytes.
1522 <group title="Statistics: Receive errors">
1523 <column name="statistics" key="rx_dropped">
1524 Number of packets dropped by RX.
1526 <column name="statistics" key="rx_frame_err">
1527 Number of frame alignment errors.
1529 <column name="statistics" key="rx_over_err">
1530 Number of packets with RX overrun.
1532 <column name="statistics" key="rx_crc_err">
1533 Number of CRC errors.
1535 <column name="statistics" key="rx_errors">
1536 Total number of receive errors, greater than or equal to the sum of
1540 <group title="Statistics: Transmit errors">
1541 <column name="statistics" key="tx_dropped">
1542 Number of packets dropped by TX.
1544 <column name="statistics" key="collisions">
1545 Number of collisions.
1547 <column name="statistics" key="tx_errors">
1548 Total number of transmit errors, greater than or equal to the sum of
1554 <group title="Ingress Policing">
1556 These settings control ingress policing for packets received on this
1557 interface. On a physical interface, this limits the rate at which
1558 traffic is allowed into the system from the outside; on a virtual
1559 interface (one connected to a virtual machine), this limits the rate at
1560 which the VM is able to transmit.
1563 Policing is a simple form of quality-of-service that simply drops
1564 packets received in excess of the configured rate. Due to its
1565 simplicity, policing is usually less accurate and less effective than
1566 egress QoS (which is configured using the <ref table="QoS"/> and <ref
1567 table="Queue"/> tables).
1570 Policing is currently implemented only on Linux. The Linux
1571 implementation uses a simple ``token bucket'' approach:
1575 The size of the bucket corresponds to <ref
1576 column="ingress_policing_burst"/>. Initially the bucket is full.
1579 Whenever a packet is received, its size (converted to tokens) is
1580 compared to the number of tokens currently in the bucket. If the
1581 required number of tokens are available, they are removed and the
1582 packet is forwarded. Otherwise, the packet is dropped.
1585 Whenever it is not full, the bucket is refilled with tokens at the
1586 rate specified by <ref column="ingress_policing_rate"/>.
1590 Policing interacts badly with some network protocols, and especially
1591 with fragmented IP packets. Suppose that there is enough network
1592 activity to keep the bucket nearly empty all the time. Then this token
1593 bucket algorithm will forward a single packet every so often, with the
1594 period depending on packet size and on the configured rate. All of the
1595 fragments of an IP packets are normally transmitted back-to-back, as a
1596 group. In such a situation, therefore, only one of these fragments
1597 will be forwarded and the rest will be dropped. IP does not provide
1598 any way for the intended recipient to ask for only the remaining
1599 fragments. In such a case there are two likely possibilities for what
1600 will happen next: either all of the fragments will eventually be
1601 retransmitted (as TCP will do), in which case the same problem will
1602 recur, or the sender will not realize that its packet has been dropped
1603 and data will simply be lost (as some UDP-based protocols will do).
1604 Either way, it is possible that no forward progress will ever occur.
1606 <column name="ingress_policing_rate">
1608 Maximum rate for data received on this interface, in kbps. Data
1609 received faster than this rate is dropped. Set to <code>0</code>
1610 (the default) to disable policing.
1614 <column name="ingress_policing_burst">
1615 <p>Maximum burst size for data received on this interface, in kb. The
1616 default burst size if set to <code>0</code> is 1000 kb. This value
1617 has no effect if <ref column="ingress_policing_rate"/>
1618 is <code>0</code>.</p>
1620 Specifying a larger burst size lets the algorithm be more forgiving,
1621 which is important for protocols like TCP that react severely to
1622 dropped packets. The burst size should be at least the size of the
1623 interface's MTU. Specifying a value that is numerically at least as
1624 large as 10% of <ref column="ingress_policing_rate"/> helps TCP come
1625 closer to achieving the full rate.
1630 <group title="Connectivity Fault Management">
1632 802.1ag Connectivity Fault Management (CFM) allows a group of
1633 Maintenance Points (MPs) called a Maintenance Association (MA) to
1634 detect connectivity problems with each other. MPs within a MA should
1635 have complete and exclusive interconnectivity. This is verified by
1636 occasionally broadcasting Continuity Check Messages (CCMs) at a
1637 configurable transmission interval.
1641 According to the 802.1ag specification, each Maintenance Point should
1642 be configured out-of-band with a list of Remote Maintenance Points it
1643 should have connectivity to. Open vSwitch differs from the
1644 specification in this area. It simply assumes the link is faulted if
1645 no Remote Maintenance Points are reachable, and considers it not
1649 <column name="cfm_mpid">
1650 A Maintenance Point ID (MPID) uniquely identifies each endpoint within
1651 a Maintenance Association. The MPID is used to identify this endpoint
1652 to other Maintenance Points in the MA. Each end of a link being
1653 monitored should have a different MPID. Must be configured to enable
1654 CFM on this <ref table="Interface"/>.
1657 <column name="cfm_fault">
1659 Indicates a connectivity fault triggered by an inability to receive
1660 heartbeats from any remote endpoint. When a fault is triggered on
1661 <ref table="Interface"/>s participating in bonds, they will be
1665 Faults can be triggered for several reasons. Most importantly they
1666 are triggered when no CCMs are received for a period of 3.5 times the
1667 transmission interval. Faults are also triggered when any CCMs
1668 indicate that a Remote Maintenance Point is not receiving CCMs but
1669 able to send them. Finally, a fault is triggered if a CCM is
1670 received which indicates unexpected configuration. Notably, this
1671 case arises when a CCM is received which advertises the local MPID.
1675 <column name="cfm_remote_mpids">
1676 When CFM is properly configured, Open vSwitch will occasionally
1677 receive CCM broadcasts. These broadcasts contain the MPID of the
1678 sending Maintenance Point. The list of MPIDs from which this
1679 <ref table="Interface"/> is receiving broadcasts from is regularly
1680 collected and written to this column.
1683 <column name="other_config" key="cfm_interval"
1684 type='{"type": "integer"}'>
1685 The interval, in milliseconds, between transmissions of CFM heartbeats.
1686 Three missed heartbeat receptions indicate a connectivity fault.
1690 <column name="other_config" key="cfm_extended"
1691 type='{"type": "boolean"}'>
1692 When <code>true</code>, the CFM module operates in extended mode. This
1693 causes it to use a nonstandard destination address to avoid conflicting
1694 with compliant implementations which may be running concurrently on the
1695 network. Furthermore, extended mode increases the accuracy of the
1696 <code>cfm_interval</code> configuration parameter by breaking wire
1697 compatibility with 802.1ag compliant implementations. Defaults to
1700 <column name="other_config" key="cfm_opstate"
1701 type='{"type": "string", "enum": ["set", ["down", "up"]]}'>
1702 When <code>down</code>, the CFM module marks all CCMs it generates as
1703 operationally down without triggering a fault. This allows remote
1704 maintenance points to choose not to forward traffic to the
1705 <ref table="Interface"/> on which this CFM module is running.
1706 Currently, in Open vSwitch, the opdown bit of CCMs affects
1707 <ref table="Interface"/>s participating in bonds, and the bundle
1708 OpenFlow action. This setting is ignored when CFM is not in extended
1709 mode. Defaults to <code>up</code>.
1712 <column name="other_config" key="cfm_ccm_vlan"
1713 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1, "maxInteger": 4095}'>
1714 When set, the CFM module will apply a VLAN tag to all CCMs it generates
1715 with the given value.
1720 <group title="Bonding Configuration">
1721 <column name="other_config" key="bond-stable-id"
1722 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1}'>
1723 Used in <code>stable</code> bond mode to make slave
1724 selection decisions. Allocating <ref column="other_config"
1725 key="bond-stable-id"/> values consistently across interfaces
1726 participating in a bond will guarantee consistent slave selection
1727 decisions across <code>ovs-vswitchd</code> instances when using
1728 <code>stable</code> bonding mode.
1731 <column name="other_config" key="lacp-port-id"
1732 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1, "maxInteger": 65535}'>
1733 The LACP port ID of this <ref table="Interface"/>. Port IDs are
1734 used in LACP negotiations to identify individual ports
1735 participating in a bond.
1738 <column name="other_config" key="lacp-port-priority"
1739 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1, "maxInteger": 65535}'>
1740 The LACP port priority of this <ref table="Interface"/>. In LACP
1741 negotiations <ref table="Interface"/>s with numerically lower
1742 priorities are preferred for aggregation.
1745 <column name="other_config" key="lacp-aggregation-key"
1746 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1, "maxInteger": 65535}'>
1747 The LACP aggregation key of this <ref table="Interface"/>. <ref
1748 table="Interface"/>s with different aggregation keys may not be active
1749 within a given <ref table="Port"/> at the same time.
1753 <group title="Virtual Machine Identifiers">
1755 These key-value pairs specifically apply to an interface that
1756 represents a virtual Ethernet interface connected to a virtual
1757 machine. These key-value pairs should not be present for other types
1758 of interfaces. Keys whose names end in <code>-uuid</code> have
1759 values that uniquely identify the entity in question. For a Citrix
1760 XenServer hypervisor, these values are UUIDs in RFC 4122 format.
1761 Other hypervisors may use other formats.
1764 <column name="external_ids" key="attached-mac">
1765 The MAC address programmed into the ``virtual hardware'' for this
1766 interface, in the form
1767 <var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>.
1768 For Citrix XenServer, this is the value of the <code>MAC</code> field
1769 in the VIF record for this interface.
1772 <column name="external_ids" key="iface-id">
1773 A system-unique identifier for the interface. On XenServer, this will
1774 commonly be the same as <ref column="external_ids" key="xs-vif-uuid"/>.
1777 <column name="external_ids" key="xs-vif-uuid">
1778 The virtual interface associated with this interface.
1781 <column name="external_ids" key="xs-network-uuid">
1782 The virtual network to which this interface is attached.
1785 <column name="external_ids" key="xs-vm-uuid">
1786 The VM to which this interface belongs.
1790 <group title="VLAN Splinters">
1792 The ``VLAN splinters'' feature increases Open vSwitch compatibility
1793 with buggy network drivers in old versions of Linux that do not
1794 properly support VLANs when VLAN devices are not used, at some cost
1795 in memory and performance.
1799 When VLAN splinters are enabled on a particular interface, Open vSwitch
1800 creates a VLAN device for each in-use VLAN. For sending traffic tagged
1801 with a VLAN on the interface, it substitutes the VLAN device. Traffic
1802 received on the VLAN device is treated as if it had been received on
1803 the interface on the particular VLAN.
1807 VLAN splinters consider a VLAN to be in use if:
1812 The VLAN is the <ref table="Port" column="tag"/> value in any <ref
1813 table="Port"/> record.
1817 The VLAN is listed within the <ref table="Port" column="trunks"/>
1818 column of the <ref table="Port"/> record of an interface on which
1819 VLAN splinters are enabled.
1821 An empty <ref table="Port" column="trunks"/> does not influence the
1822 in-use VLANs: creating 4,096 VLAN devices is impractical because it
1823 will exceed the current 1,024 port per datapath limit.
1827 An OpenFlow flow within any bridge matches the VLAN.
1832 The same set of in-use VLANs applies to every interface on which VLAN
1833 splinters are enabled. That is, the set is not chosen separately for
1834 each interface but selected once as the union of all in-use VLANs based
1839 It does not make sense to enable VLAN splinters on an interface for an
1840 access port, or on an interface that is not a physical port.
1844 VLAN splinters are deprecated. When broken device drivers are no
1845 longer in widespread use, we will delete this feature.
1848 <column name="other_config" key="enable-vlan-splinters"
1849 type='{"type": "boolean"}'>
1851 Set to <code>true</code> to enable VLAN splinters on this interface.
1852 Defaults to <code>false</code>.
1856 VLAN splinters increase kernel and userspace memory overhead, so do
1857 not use them unless they are needed.
1862 <group title="Common Columns">
1863 The overall purpose of these columns is described under <code>Common
1864 Columns</code> at the beginning of this document.
1866 <column name="other_config"/>
1867 <column name="external_ids"/>
1871 <table name="QoS" title="Quality of Service configuration">
1872 <p>Quality of Service (QoS) configuration for each Port that
1875 <column name="type">
1876 <p>The type of QoS to implement. The <ref table="Open_vSwitch"
1877 column="capabilities"/> column in the <ref table="Open_vSwitch"/> table
1878 identifies the types that a switch actually supports. The currently
1879 defined types are listed below:</p>
1881 <dt><code>linux-htb</code></dt>
1883 Linux ``hierarchy token bucket'' classifier. See tc-htb(8) (also at
1884 <code>http://linux.die.net/man/8/tc-htb</code>) and the HTB manual
1885 (<code>http://luxik.cdi.cz/~devik/qos/htb/manual/userg.htm</code>)
1886 for information on how this classifier works and how to configure it.
1890 <dt><code>linux-hfsc</code></dt>
1892 Linux "Hierarchical Fair Service Curve" classifier.
1893 See <code>http://linux-ip.net/articles/hfsc.en/</code> for
1894 information on how this classifier works.
1899 <column name="queues">
1900 <p>A map from queue numbers to <ref table="Queue"/> records. The
1901 supported range of queue numbers depend on <ref column="type"/>. The
1902 queue numbers are the same as the <code>queue_id</code> used in
1903 OpenFlow in <code>struct ofp_action_enqueue</code> and other
1904 structures. Queue 0 is used by OpenFlow output actions that do not
1905 specify a specific queue.</p>
1908 <group title="Configuration for linux-htb and linux-hfsc">
1910 The <code>linux-htb</code> and <code>linux-hfsc</code> classes support
1911 the following key-value pair:
1914 <column name="other_config" key="max-rate" type='{"type": "integer"}'>
1915 Maximum rate shared by all queued traffic, in bit/s. Optional. If not
1916 specified, for physical interfaces, the default is the link rate. For
1917 other interfaces or if the link rate cannot be determined, the default
1918 is currently 100 Mbps.
1922 <group title="Common Columns">
1923 The overall purpose of these columns is described under <code>Common
1924 Columns</code> at the beginning of this document.
1926 <column name="other_config"/>
1927 <column name="external_ids"/>
1931 <table name="Queue" title="QoS output queue.">
1932 <p>A configuration for a port output queue, used in configuring Quality of
1933 Service (QoS) features. May be referenced by <ref column="queues"
1934 table="QoS"/> column in <ref table="QoS"/> table.</p>
1936 <column name="dscp">
1937 If set, Open vSwitch will mark all traffic egressing this
1938 <ref table="Queue"/> with the given DSCP bits. Traffic egressing the
1939 default <ref table="Queue"/> is only marked if it was explicitly selected
1940 as the <ref table="Queue"/> at the time the packet was output. If unset,
1941 the DSCP bits of traffic egressing this <ref table="Queue"/> will remain
1945 <group title="Configuration for min-rate QoS">
1947 These key-value pairs are defined for <ref table="QoS"/> <ref
1948 table="QoS" column="type"/> of <code>min-rate</code>.
1951 <column name="other_config" key="min-rate"
1952 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 12000}'>
1953 Minimum guaranteed bandwidth, in bit/s. Required. The floor value is
1954 1500 bytes/s (12,000 bit/s).
1958 <group title="Configuration for linux-htb QoS">
1960 <ref table="QoS"/> <ref table="QoS" column="type"/>
1961 <code>linux-htb</code> may use <code>queue_id</code>s less than 61440.
1962 It has the following key-value pairs defined.
1965 <column name="other_config" key="min-rate"
1966 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1}'>
1967 Minimum guaranteed bandwidth, in bit/s.
1970 <column name="other_config" key="max-rate"
1971 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1}'>
1972 Maximum allowed bandwidth, in bit/s. Optional. If specified, the
1973 queue's rate will not be allowed to exceed the specified value, even
1974 if excess bandwidth is available. If unspecified, defaults to no
1978 <column name="other_config" key="burst"
1979 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1}'>
1980 Burst size, in bits. This is the maximum amount of ``credits'' that a
1981 queue can accumulate while it is idle. Optional. Details of the
1982 <code>linux-htb</code> implementation require a minimum burst size, so
1983 a too-small <code>burst</code> will be silently ignored.
1986 <column name="other_config" key="priority"
1987 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 0, "maxInteger": 4294967295}'>
1988 A queue with a smaller <code>priority</code> will receive all the
1989 excess bandwidth that it can use before a queue with a larger value
1990 receives any. Specific priority values are unimportant; only relative
1991 ordering matters. Defaults to 0 if unspecified.
1995 <group title="Configuration for linux-hfsc QoS">
1997 <ref table="QoS"/> <ref table="QoS" column="type"/>
1998 <code>linux-hfsc</code> may use <code>queue_id</code>s less than 61440.
1999 It has the following key-value pairs defined.
2002 <column name="other_config" key="min-rate"
2003 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1}'>
2004 Minimum guaranteed bandwidth, in bit/s.
2007 <column name="other_config" key="max-rate"
2008 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1}'>
2009 Maximum allowed bandwidth, in bit/s. Optional. If specified, the
2010 queue's rate will not be allowed to exceed the specified value, even if
2011 excess bandwidth is available. If unspecified, defaults to no
2016 <group title="Common Columns">
2017 The overall purpose of these columns is described under <code>Common
2018 Columns</code> at the beginning of this document.
2020 <column name="other_config"/>
2021 <column name="external_ids"/>
2025 <table name="Mirror" title="Port mirroring.">
2026 <p>A port mirror within a <ref table="Bridge"/>.</p>
2027 <p>A port mirror configures a bridge to send selected frames to special
2028 ``mirrored'' ports, in addition to their normal destinations. Mirroring
2029 traffic may also be referred to as SPAN or RSPAN, depending on how
2030 the mirrored traffic is sent.</p>
2032 <column name="name">
2033 Arbitrary identifier for the <ref table="Mirror"/>.
2036 <group title="Selecting Packets for Mirroring">
2038 To be selected for mirroring, a given packet must enter or leave the
2039 bridge through a selected port and it must also be in one of the
2043 <column name="select_all">
2044 If true, every packet arriving or departing on any port is
2045 selected for mirroring.
2048 <column name="select_dst_port">
2049 Ports on which departing packets are selected for mirroring.
2052 <column name="select_src_port">
2053 Ports on which arriving packets are selected for mirroring.
2056 <column name="select_vlan">
2057 VLANs on which packets are selected for mirroring. An empty set
2058 selects packets on all VLANs.
2062 <group title="Mirroring Destination Configuration">
2064 These columns are mutually exclusive. Exactly one of them must be
2068 <column name="output_port">
2069 <p>Output port for selected packets, if nonempty.</p>
2070 <p>Specifying a port for mirror output reserves that port exclusively
2071 for mirroring. No frames other than those selected for mirroring
2073 will be forwarded to the port, and any frames received on the port
2074 will be discarded.</p>
2076 The output port may be any kind of port supported by Open vSwitch.
2077 It may be, for example, a physical port (sometimes called SPAN) or a
2082 <column name="output_vlan">
2083 <p>Output VLAN for selected packets, if nonempty.</p>
2084 <p>The frames will be sent out all ports that trunk
2085 <ref column="output_vlan"/>, as well as any ports with implicit VLAN
2086 <ref column="output_vlan"/>. When a mirrored frame is sent out a
2087 trunk port, the frame's VLAN tag will be set to
2088 <ref column="output_vlan"/>, replacing any existing tag; when it is
2089 sent out an implicit VLAN port, the frame will not be tagged. This
2090 type of mirroring is sometimes called RSPAN.</p>
2092 The following destination MAC addresses will not be mirrored to a
2093 VLAN to avoid confusing switches that interpret the protocols that
2097 <dt><code>01:80:c2:00:00:00</code></dt>
2098 <dd>IEEE 802.1D Spanning Tree Protocol (STP).</dd>
2100 <dt><code>01:80:c2:00:00:01</code></dt>
2101 <dd>IEEE Pause frame.</dd>
2103 <dt><code>01:80:c2:00:00:0<var>x</var></code></dt>
2104 <dd>Other reserved protocols.</dd>
2106 <dt><code>01:00:0c:cc:cc:cc</code></dt>
2108 Cisco Discovery Protocol (CDP), VLAN Trunking Protocol (VTP),
2109 Dynamic Trunking Protocol (DTP), Port Aggregation Protocol (PAgP),
2113 <dt><code>01:00:0c:cc:cc:cd</code></dt>
2114 <dd>Cisco Shared Spanning Tree Protocol PVSTP+.</dd>
2116 <dt><code>01:00:0c:cd:cd:cd</code></dt>
2117 <dd>Cisco STP Uplink Fast.</dd>
2119 <dt><code>01:00:0c:00:00:00</code></dt>
2120 <dd>Cisco Inter Switch Link.</dd>
2122 <p><em>Please note:</em> Mirroring to a VLAN can disrupt a network that
2123 contains unmanaged switches. Consider an unmanaged physical switch
2124 with two ports: port 1, connected to an end host, and port 2,
2125 connected to an Open vSwitch configured to mirror received packets
2126 into VLAN 123 on port 2. Suppose that the end host sends a packet on
2127 port 1 that the physical switch forwards to port 2. The Open vSwitch
2128 forwards this packet to its destination and then reflects it back on
2129 port 2 in VLAN 123. This reflected packet causes the unmanaged
2130 physical switch to replace the MAC learning table entry, which
2131 correctly pointed to port 1, with one that incorrectly points to port
2132 2. Afterward, the physical switch will direct packets destined for
2133 the end host to the Open vSwitch on port 2, instead of to the end
2134 host on port 1, disrupting connectivity. If mirroring to a VLAN is
2135 desired in this scenario, then the physical switch must be replaced
2136 by one that learns Ethernet addresses on a per-VLAN basis. In
2137 addition, learning should be disabled on the VLAN containing mirrored
2138 traffic. If this is not done then intermediate switches will learn
2139 the MAC address of each end host from the mirrored traffic. If
2140 packets being sent to that end host are also mirrored, then they will
2141 be dropped since the switch will attempt to send them out the input
2142 port. Disabling learning for the VLAN will cause the switch to
2143 correctly send the packet out all ports configured for that VLAN. If
2144 Open vSwitch is being used as an intermediate switch, learning can be
2145 disabled by adding the mirrored VLAN to <ref column="flood_vlans"/>
2146 in the appropriate <ref table="Bridge"/> table or tables.</p>
2148 Mirroring to a GRE tunnel has fewer caveats than mirroring to a
2149 VLAN and should generally be preferred.
2154 <group title="Statistics: Mirror counters">
2156 Key-value pairs that report mirror statistics.
2158 <column name="statistics" key="tx_packets">
2159 Number of packets transmitted through this mirror.
2161 <column name="statistics" key="tx_bytes">
2162 Number of bytes transmitted through this mirror.
2166 <group title="Common Columns">
2167 The overall purpose of these columns is described under <code>Common
2168 Columns</code> at the beginning of this document.
2170 <column name="external_ids"/>
2174 <table name="Controller" title="OpenFlow controller configuration.">
2175 <p>An OpenFlow controller.</p>
2178 Open vSwitch supports two kinds of OpenFlow controllers:
2182 <dt>Primary controllers</dt>
2185 This is the kind of controller envisioned by the OpenFlow 1.0
2186 specification. Usually, a primary controller implements a network
2187 policy by taking charge of the switch's flow table.
2191 Open vSwitch initiates and maintains persistent connections to
2192 primary controllers, retrying the connection each time it fails or
2193 drops. The <ref table="Bridge" column="fail_mode"/> column in the
2194 <ref table="Bridge"/> table applies to primary controllers.
2198 Open vSwitch permits a bridge to have any number of primary
2199 controllers. When multiple controllers are configured, Open
2200 vSwitch connects to all of them simultaneously. Because
2201 OpenFlow 1.0 does not specify how multiple controllers
2202 coordinate in interacting with a single switch, more than
2203 one primary controller should be specified only if the
2204 controllers are themselves designed to coordinate with each
2205 other. (The Nicira-defined <code>NXT_ROLE</code> OpenFlow
2206 vendor extension may be useful for this.)
2209 <dt>Service controllers</dt>
2212 These kinds of OpenFlow controller connections are intended for
2213 occasional support and maintenance use, e.g. with
2214 <code>ovs-ofctl</code>. Usually a service controller connects only
2215 briefly to inspect or modify some of a switch's state.
2219 Open vSwitch listens for incoming connections from service
2220 controllers. The service controllers initiate and, if necessary,
2221 maintain the connections from their end. The <ref table="Bridge"
2222 column="fail_mode"/> column in the <ref table="Bridge"/> table does
2223 not apply to service controllers.
2227 Open vSwitch supports configuring any number of service controllers.
2233 The <ref column="target"/> determines the type of controller.
2236 <group title="Core Features">
2237 <column name="target">
2238 <p>Connection method for controller.</p>
2240 The following connection methods are currently supported for primary
2244 <dt><code>ssl:<var>ip</var></code>[<code>:<var>port</var></code>]</dt>
2246 <p>The specified SSL <var>port</var> (default: 6633) on the host at
2247 the given <var>ip</var>, which must be expressed as an IP address
2248 (not a DNS name). The <ref table="Open_vSwitch" column="ssl"/>
2249 column in the <ref table="Open_vSwitch"/> table must point to a
2250 valid SSL configuration when this form is used.</p>
2251 <p>SSL support is an optional feature that is not always built as
2252 part of Open vSwitch.</p>
2254 <dt><code>tcp:<var>ip</var></code>[<code>:<var>port</var></code>]</dt>
2255 <dd>The specified TCP <var>port</var> (default: 6633) on the host at
2256 the given <var>ip</var>, which must be expressed as an IP address
2257 (not a DNS name).</dd>
2260 The following connection methods are currently supported for service
2264 <dt><code>pssl:</code>[<var>port</var>][<code>:<var>ip</var></code>]</dt>
2267 Listens for SSL connections on the specified TCP <var>port</var>
2268 (default: 6633). If <var>ip</var>, which must be expressed as an
2269 IP address (not a DNS name), is specified, then connections are
2270 restricted to the specified local IP address.
2273 The <ref table="Open_vSwitch" column="ssl"/> column in the <ref
2274 table="Open_vSwitch"/> table must point to a valid SSL
2275 configuration when this form is used.
2277 <p>SSL support is an optional feature that is not always built as
2278 part of Open vSwitch.</p>
2280 <dt><code>ptcp:</code>[<var>port</var>][<code>:<var>ip</var></code>]</dt>
2282 Listens for connections on the specified TCP <var>port</var>
2283 (default: 6633). If <var>ip</var>, which must be expressed as an
2284 IP address (not a DNS name), is specified, then connections are
2285 restricted to the specified local IP address.
2288 <p>When multiple controllers are configured for a single bridge, the
2289 <ref column="target"/> values must be unique. Duplicate
2290 <ref column="target"/> values yield unspecified results.</p>
2293 <column name="connection_mode">
2294 <p>If it is specified, this setting must be one of the following
2295 strings that describes how Open vSwitch contacts this OpenFlow
2296 controller over the network:</p>
2299 <dt><code>in-band</code></dt>
2300 <dd>In this mode, this controller's OpenFlow traffic travels over the
2301 bridge associated with the controller. With this setting, Open
2302 vSwitch allows traffic to and from the controller regardless of the
2303 contents of the OpenFlow flow table. (Otherwise, Open vSwitch
2304 would never be able to connect to the controller, because it did
2305 not have a flow to enable it.) This is the most common connection
2306 mode because it is not necessary to maintain two independent
2308 <dt><code>out-of-band</code></dt>
2309 <dd>In this mode, OpenFlow traffic uses a control network separate
2310 from the bridge associated with this controller, that is, the
2311 bridge does not use any of its own network devices to communicate
2312 with the controller. The control network must be configured
2313 separately, before or after <code>ovs-vswitchd</code> is started.
2317 <p>If not specified, the default is implementation-specific.</p>
2321 <group title="Controller Failure Detection and Handling">
2322 <column name="max_backoff">
2323 Maximum number of milliseconds to wait between connection attempts.
2324 Default is implementation-specific.
2327 <column name="inactivity_probe">
2328 Maximum number of milliseconds of idle time on connection to
2329 controller before sending an inactivity probe message. If Open
2330 vSwitch does not communicate with the controller for the specified
2331 number of seconds, it will send a probe. If a response is not
2332 received for the same additional amount of time, Open vSwitch
2333 assumes the connection has been broken and attempts to reconnect.
2334 Default is implementation-specific. A value of 0 disables
2339 <group title="OpenFlow Rate Limiting">
2340 <column name="controller_rate_limit">
2341 <p>The maximum rate at which packets in unknown flows will be
2342 forwarded to the OpenFlow controller, in packets per second. This
2343 feature prevents a single bridge from overwhelming the controller.
2344 If not specified, the default is implementation-specific.</p>
2345 <p>In addition, when a high rate triggers rate-limiting, Open
2346 vSwitch queues controller packets for each port and transmits
2347 them to the controller at the configured rate. The number of
2348 queued packets is limited by
2349 the <ref column="controller_burst_limit"/> value. The packet
2350 queue is shared fairly among the ports on a bridge.</p><p>Open
2351 vSwitch maintains two such packet rate-limiters per bridge.
2352 One of these applies to packets sent up to the controller
2353 because they do not correspond to any flow. The other applies
2354 to packets sent up to the controller by request through flow
2355 actions. When both rate-limiters are filled with packets, the
2356 actual rate that packets are sent to the controller is up to
2357 twice the specified rate.</p>
2360 <column name="controller_burst_limit">
2361 In conjunction with <ref column="controller_rate_limit"/>,
2362 the maximum number of unused packet credits that the bridge will
2363 allow to accumulate, in packets. If not specified, the default
2364 is implementation-specific.
2368 <group title="Additional In-Band Configuration">
2369 <p>These values are considered only in in-band control mode (see
2370 <ref column="connection_mode"/>).</p>
2372 <p>When multiple controllers are configured on a single bridge, there
2373 should be only one set of unique values in these columns. If different
2374 values are set for these columns in different controllers, the effect
2377 <column name="local_ip">
2378 The IP address to configure on the local port,
2379 e.g. <code>192.168.0.123</code>. If this value is unset, then
2380 <ref column="local_netmask"/> and <ref column="local_gateway"/> are
2384 <column name="local_netmask">
2385 The IP netmask to configure on the local port,
2386 e.g. <code>255.255.255.0</code>. If <ref column="local_ip"/> is set
2387 but this value is unset, then the default is chosen based on whether
2388 the IP address is class A, B, or C.
2391 <column name="local_gateway">
2392 The IP address of the gateway to configure on the local port, as a
2393 string, e.g. <code>192.168.0.1</code>. Leave this column unset if
2394 this network has no gateway.
2398 <group title="Controller Status">
2399 <column name="is_connected">
2400 <code>true</code> if currently connected to this controller,
2401 <code>false</code> otherwise.
2405 type='{"type": "string", "enum": ["set", ["other", "master", "slave"]]}'>
2406 <p>The level of authority this controller has on the associated
2407 bridge. Possible values are:</p>
2409 <dt><code>other</code></dt>
2410 <dd>Allows the controller access to all OpenFlow features.</dd>
2411 <dt><code>master</code></dt>
2412 <dd>Equivalent to <code>other</code>, except that there may be at
2413 most one master controller at a time. When a controller configures
2414 itself as <code>master</code>, any existing master is demoted to
2415 the <code>slave</code>role.</dd>
2416 <dt><code>slave</code></dt>
2417 <dd>Allows the controller read-only access to OpenFlow features.
2418 Attempts to modify the flow table will be rejected with an
2419 error. Slave controllers do not receive OFPT_PACKET_IN or
2420 OFPT_FLOW_REMOVED messages, but they do receive OFPT_PORT_STATUS
2425 <column name="status" key="last_error">
2426 A human-readable description of the last error on the connection
2427 to the controller; i.e. <code>strerror(errno)</code>. This key
2428 will exist only if an error has occurred.
2431 <column name="status" key="state"
2432 type='{"type": "string", "enum": ["set", ["VOID", "BACKOFF", "CONNECTING", "ACTIVE", "IDLE"]]}'>
2434 The state of the connection to the controller:
2437 <dt><code>VOID</code></dt>
2438 <dd>Connection is disabled.</dd>
2440 <dt><code>BACKOFF</code></dt>
2441 <dd>Attempting to reconnect at an increasing period.</dd>
2443 <dt><code>CONNECTING</code></dt>
2444 <dd>Attempting to connect.</dd>
2446 <dt><code>ACTIVE</code></dt>
2447 <dd>Connected, remote host responsive.</dd>
2449 <dt><code>IDLE</code></dt>
2450 <dd>Connection is idle. Waiting for response to keep-alive.</dd>
2453 These values may change in the future. They are provided only for
2458 <column name="status" key="sec_since_connect"
2459 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 0}'>
2460 The amount of time since this controller last successfully connected to
2461 the switch (in seconds). Value is empty if controller has never
2462 successfully connected.
2465 <column name="status" key="sec_since_disconnect"
2466 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1}'>
2467 The amount of time since this controller last disconnected from
2468 the switch (in seconds). Value is empty if controller has never
2473 <group title="Common Columns">
2474 The overall purpose of these columns is described under <code>Common
2475 Columns</code> at the beginning of this document.
2477 <column name="external_ids"/>
2481 <table name="Manager" title="OVSDB management connection.">
2483 Configuration for a database connection to an Open vSwitch database
2488 This table primarily configures the Open vSwitch database
2489 (<code>ovsdb-server</code>), not the Open vSwitch switch
2490 (<code>ovs-vswitchd</code>). The switch does read the table to determine
2491 what connections should be treated as in-band.
2495 The Open vSwitch database server can initiate and maintain active
2496 connections to remote clients. It can also listen for database
2500 <group title="Core Features">
2501 <column name="target">
2502 <p>Connection method for managers.</p>
2504 The following connection methods are currently supported:
2507 <dt><code>ssl:<var>ip</var></code>[<code>:<var>port</var></code>]</dt>
2510 The specified SSL <var>port</var> (default: 6632) on the host at
2511 the given <var>ip</var>, which must be expressed as an IP address
2512 (not a DNS name). The <ref table="Open_vSwitch" column="ssl"/>
2513 column in the <ref table="Open_vSwitch"/> table must point to a
2514 valid SSL configuration when this form is used.
2517 SSL support is an optional feature that is not always built as
2518 part of Open vSwitch.
2522 <dt><code>tcp:<var>ip</var></code>[<code>:<var>port</var></code>]</dt>
2524 The specified TCP <var>port</var> (default: 6632) on the host at
2525 the given <var>ip</var>, which must be expressed as an IP address
2528 <dt><code>pssl:</code>[<var>port</var>][<code>:<var>ip</var></code>]</dt>
2531 Listens for SSL connections on the specified TCP <var>port</var>
2532 (default: 6632). If <var>ip</var>, which must be expressed as an
2533 IP address (not a DNS name), is specified, then connections are
2534 restricted to the specified local IP address.
2537 The <ref table="Open_vSwitch" column="ssl"/> column in the <ref
2538 table="Open_vSwitch"/> table must point to a valid SSL
2539 configuration when this form is used.
2542 SSL support is an optional feature that is not always built as
2543 part of Open vSwitch.
2546 <dt><code>ptcp:</code>[<var>port</var>][<code>:<var>ip</var></code>]</dt>
2548 Listens for connections on the specified TCP <var>port</var>
2549 (default: 6632). If <var>ip</var>, which must be expressed as an
2550 IP address (not a DNS name), is specified, then connections are
2551 restricted to the specified local IP address.
2554 <p>When multiple managers are configured, the <ref column="target"/>
2555 values must be unique. Duplicate <ref column="target"/> values yield
2556 unspecified results.</p>
2559 <column name="connection_mode">
2561 If it is specified, this setting must be one of the following strings
2562 that describes how Open vSwitch contacts this OVSDB client over the
2567 <dt><code>in-band</code></dt>
2569 In this mode, this connection's traffic travels over a bridge
2570 managed by Open vSwitch. With this setting, Open vSwitch allows
2571 traffic to and from the client regardless of the contents of the
2572 OpenFlow flow table. (Otherwise, Open vSwitch would never be able
2573 to connect to the client, because it did not have a flow to enable
2574 it.) This is the most common connection mode because it is not
2575 necessary to maintain two independent networks.
2577 <dt><code>out-of-band</code></dt>
2579 In this mode, the client's traffic uses a control network separate
2580 from that managed by Open vSwitch, that is, Open vSwitch does not
2581 use any of its own network devices to communicate with the client.
2582 The control network must be configured separately, before or after
2583 <code>ovs-vswitchd</code> is started.
2588 If not specified, the default is implementation-specific.
2593 <group title="Client Failure Detection and Handling">
2594 <column name="max_backoff">
2595 Maximum number of milliseconds to wait between connection attempts.
2596 Default is implementation-specific.
2599 <column name="inactivity_probe">
2600 Maximum number of milliseconds of idle time on connection to the client
2601 before sending an inactivity probe message. If Open vSwitch does not
2602 communicate with the client for the specified number of seconds, it
2603 will send a probe. If a response is not received for the same
2604 additional amount of time, Open vSwitch assumes the connection has been
2605 broken and attempts to reconnect. Default is implementation-specific.
2606 A value of 0 disables inactivity probes.
2610 <group title="Status">
2611 <column name="is_connected">
2612 <code>true</code> if currently connected to this manager,
2613 <code>false</code> otherwise.
2616 <column name="status" key="last_error">
2617 A human-readable description of the last error on the connection
2618 to the manager; i.e. <code>strerror(errno)</code>. This key
2619 will exist only if an error has occurred.
2622 <column name="status" key="state"
2623 type='{"type": "string", "enum": ["set", ["VOID", "BACKOFF", "CONNECTING", "ACTIVE", "IDLE"]]}'>
2625 The state of the connection to the manager:
2628 <dt><code>VOID</code></dt>
2629 <dd>Connection is disabled.</dd>
2631 <dt><code>BACKOFF</code></dt>
2632 <dd>Attempting to reconnect at an increasing period.</dd>
2634 <dt><code>CONNECTING</code></dt>
2635 <dd>Attempting to connect.</dd>
2637 <dt><code>ACTIVE</code></dt>
2638 <dd>Connected, remote host responsive.</dd>
2640 <dt><code>IDLE</code></dt>
2641 <dd>Connection is idle. Waiting for response to keep-alive.</dd>
2644 These values may change in the future. They are provided only for
2649 <column name="status" key="sec_since_connect"
2650 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 0}'>
2651 The amount of time since this manager last successfully connected
2652 to the database (in seconds). Value is empty if manager has never
2653 successfully connected.
2656 <column name="status" key="sec_since_disconnect"
2657 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 0}'>
2658 The amount of time since this manager last disconnected from the
2659 database (in seconds). Value is empty if manager has never
2663 <column name="status" key="locks_held">
2664 Space-separated list of the names of OVSDB locks that the connection
2665 holds. Omitted if the connection does not hold any locks.
2668 <column name="status" key="locks_waiting">
2669 Space-separated list of the names of OVSDB locks that the connection is
2670 currently waiting to acquire. Omitted if the connection is not waiting
2674 <column name="status" key="locks_lost">
2675 Space-separated list of the names of OVSDB locks that the connection
2676 has had stolen by another OVSDB client. Omitted if no locks have been
2677 stolen from this connection.
2680 <column name="status" key="n_connections"
2681 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 2}'>
2683 When <ref column="target"/> specifies a connection method that
2684 listens for inbound connections (e.g. <code>ptcp:</code> or
2685 <code>pssl:</code>) and more than one connection is actually active,
2686 the value is the number of active connections. Otherwise, this
2687 key-value pair is omitted.
2690 When multiple connections are active, status columns and key-value
2691 pairs (other than this one) report the status of one arbitrarily
2697 <group title="Common Columns">
2698 The overall purpose of these columns is described under <code>Common
2699 Columns</code> at the beginning of this document.
2701 <column name="external_ids"/>
2705 <table name="NetFlow">
2706 A NetFlow target. NetFlow is a protocol that exports a number of
2707 details about terminating IP flows, such as the principals involved
2710 <column name="targets">
2711 NetFlow targets in the form
2712 <code><var>ip</var>:<var>port</var></code>. The <var>ip</var>
2713 must be specified numerically, not as a DNS name.
2716 <column name="engine_id">
2717 Engine ID to use in NetFlow messages. Defaults to datapath index
2721 <column name="engine_type">
2722 Engine type to use in NetFlow messages. Defaults to datapath
2723 index if not specified.
2726 <column name="active_timeout">
2727 The interval at which NetFlow records are sent for flows that are
2728 still active, in seconds. A value of <code>0</code> requests the
2729 default timeout (currently 600 seconds); a value of <code>-1</code>
2730 disables active timeouts.
2733 <column name="add_id_to_interface">
2734 <p>If this column's value is <code>false</code>, the ingress and egress
2735 interface fields of NetFlow flow records are derived from OpenFlow port
2736 numbers. When it is <code>true</code>, the 7 most significant bits of
2737 these fields will be replaced by the least significant 7 bits of the
2738 engine id. This is useful because many NetFlow collectors do not
2739 expect multiple switches to be sending messages from the same host, so
2740 they do not store the engine information which could be used to
2741 disambiguate the traffic.</p>
2742 <p>When this option is enabled, a maximum of 508 ports are supported.</p>
2745 <group title="Common Columns">
2746 The overall purpose of these columns is described under <code>Common
2747 Columns</code> at the beginning of this document.
2749 <column name="external_ids"/>
2754 SSL configuration for an Open_vSwitch.
2756 <column name="private_key">
2757 Name of a PEM file containing the private key used as the switch's
2758 identity for SSL connections to the controller.
2761 <column name="certificate">
2762 Name of a PEM file containing a certificate, signed by the
2763 certificate authority (CA) used by the controller and manager,
2764 that certifies the switch's private key, identifying a trustworthy
2768 <column name="ca_cert">
2769 Name of a PEM file containing the CA certificate used to verify
2770 that the switch is connected to a trustworthy controller.
2773 <column name="bootstrap_ca_cert">
2774 If set to <code>true</code>, then Open vSwitch will attempt to
2775 obtain the CA certificate from the controller on its first SSL
2776 connection and save it to the named PEM file. If it is successful,
2777 it will immediately drop the connection and reconnect, and from then
2778 on all SSL connections must be authenticated by a certificate signed
2779 by the CA certificate thus obtained. <em>This option exposes the
2780 SSL connection to a man-in-the-middle attack obtaining the initial
2781 CA certificate.</em> It may still be useful for bootstrapping.
2784 <group title="Common Columns">
2785 The overall purpose of these columns is described under <code>Common
2786 Columns</code> at the beginning of this document.
2788 <column name="external_ids"/>
2792 <table name="sFlow">
2793 <p>An sFlow(R) target. sFlow is a protocol for remote monitoring
2796 <column name="agent">
2797 Name of the network device whose IP address should be reported as the
2798 ``agent address'' to collectors. If not specified, the agent device is
2799 figured from the first target address and the routing table. If the
2800 routing table does not contain a route to the target, the IP address
2801 defaults to the <ref table="Controller" column="local_ip"/> in the
2802 collector's <ref table="Controller"/>. If an agent IP address cannot be
2803 determined any of these ways, sFlow is disabled.
2806 <column name="header">
2807 Number of bytes of a sampled packet to send to the collector.
2808 If not specified, the default is 128 bytes.
2811 <column name="polling">
2812 Polling rate in seconds to send port statistics to the collector.
2813 If not specified, defaults to 30 seconds.
2816 <column name="sampling">
2817 Rate at which packets should be sampled and sent to the collector.
2818 If not specified, defaults to 400, which means one out of 400
2819 packets, on average, will be sent to the collector.
2822 <column name="targets">
2823 sFlow targets in the form
2824 <code><var>ip</var>:<var>port</var></code>.
2827 <group title="Common Columns">
2828 The overall purpose of these columns is described under <code>Common
2829 Columns</code> at the beginning of this document.
2831 <column name="external_ids"/>
2835 <table name="Capability">
2836 <p>Records in this table describe functionality supported by the hardware
2837 and software platform on which this Open vSwitch is based. Clients
2838 should not modify this table.</p>
2840 <p>A record in this table is meaningful only if it is referenced by the
2841 <ref table="Open_vSwitch" column="capabilities"/> column in the
2842 <ref table="Open_vSwitch"/> table. The key used to reference it, called
2843 the record's ``category,'' determines the meanings of the
2844 <ref column="details"/> column. The following general forms of
2845 categories are currently defined:</p>
2848 <dt><code>qos-<var>type</var></code></dt>
2849 <dd><var>type</var> is supported as the value for
2850 <ref column="type" table="QoS"/> in the <ref table="QoS"/> table.
2854 <column name="details">
2855 <p>Key-value pairs that describe capabilities. The meaning of the pairs
2856 depends on the category key that the <ref table="Open_vSwitch"
2857 column="capabilities"/> column in the <ref table="Open_vSwitch"/> table
2858 uses to reference this record, as described above.</p>
2860 <p>The presence of a record for category <code>qos-<var>type</var></code>
2861 indicates that the switch supports <var>type</var> as the value of
2862 the <ref table="QoS" column="type"/> column in the <ref table="QoS"/>
2863 table. The following key-value pairs are defined to further describe
2864 QoS capabilities:</p>
2867 <dt><code>n-queues</code></dt>
2868 <dd>Number of supported queues, as a positive integer. Keys in the
2869 <ref table="QoS" column="queues"/> column for <ref table="QoS"/>
2870 records whose <ref table="QoS" column="type"/> value
2871 equals <var>type</var> must range between 0 and this value minus one,