1 <database title="Open vSwitch Configuration Database">
2 <p>A database with this schema holds the configuration for one Open
3 vSwitch daemon. The root of the configuration for the daemon is
4 the <ref table="Open_vSwitch"/> table, which must have exactly one
5 record. Records in other tables are significant only when they
6 can be reached directly or indirectly from the
7 <ref table="Open_vSwitch"/> table.</p>
9 <table name="Open_vSwitch" title="Open vSwitch configuration.">
10 Configuration for an Open vSwitch daemon. There must be exactly one record
11 in the <ref table="Open_vSwitch"/> table.
13 <group title="Configuration">
14 <column name="bridges">
15 Set of bridges managed by the daemon.
18 <column name="managers">
19 Remote database clients to which the Open vSwitch's database server
20 should connect or to which it should listen.
24 SSL used globally by the daemon.
27 <column name="external_ids">
28 Key-value pairs that identify this Open vSwitch's role in
29 external systems. The currently defined key-value pairs are:
31 <dt><code>system-uuid</code></dt>
32 <dd>A universally unique identifier for the Open vSwitch's
33 physical host. The form of the identifier depends on the
34 type of the host. On a Citrix XenServer, this is the host
35 UUID displayed by, e.g., <code>xe host-list</code>.</dd>
40 <group title="Status">
41 <column name="next_cfg">
42 Sequence number for client to increment. When a client modifies
43 any part of the database configuration and wishes to wait for
44 Open vSwitch to finish applying the changes, it may increment
48 <column name="cur_cfg">
49 Sequence number that Open vSwitch sets to the current value of
50 <ref column="next_cfg"/> after it finishes applying a set of
51 configuration changes.
54 <column name="capabilities">
55 Describes functionality supported by the hardware and software platform
56 on which this Open vSwitch is based. Clients should not modify this
57 column. See the <ref table="Capability"/> description for defined
58 capability categories and the meaning of associated
59 <ref table="Capability"/> records.
62 <column name="statistics">
64 Key-value pairs that report statistics about a running Open_vSwitch
65 daemon. The current implementation updates these counters
66 periodically. In the future, we plan to, instead, update them only
67 when they are queried (e.g. using an OVSDB <code>select</code>
68 operation) and perhaps at other times, but not on any regular
71 The currently defined key-value pairs are listed below. Some Open
72 vSwitch implementations may not support some statistics, in which
73 case those key-value pairs are omitted.</p>
75 <dt><code>load-average</code></dt>
77 System load average multiplied by 100 and rounded to the nearest
86 Configuration for a bridge within an
87 <ref table="Open_vSwitch"/>.
90 A <ref table="Bridge"/> record represents an Ethernet switch with one or
91 more ``ports,'' which are the <ref table="Port"/> records pointed to by
92 the <ref table="Bridge"/>'s <ref column="ports"/> column.
95 <group title="Core Features">
97 Bridge identifier. Should be alphanumeric and no more than about 8
98 bytes long. Must be unique among the names of ports, interfaces, and
102 <column name="ports">
103 Ports included in the bridge.
106 <column name="mirrors">
107 Port mirroring configuration.
110 <column name="netflow">
111 NetFlow configuration.
114 <column name="sflow">
118 <column name="flood_vlans">
119 VLAN IDs of VLANs on which MAC address learning should be disabled, so
120 that packets are flooded instead of being sent to specific ports that
121 are believed to contain packets' destination MACs. This should
122 ordinarily be used to disable MAC learning on VLANs used for mirroring
123 (RSPAN VLANs). It may also be useful for debugging.
127 <group title="OpenFlow Configuration">
128 <column name="controller">
129 OpenFlow controller set. If unset, then no OpenFlow controllers
133 <column name="fail_mode">
134 <p>When a controller is configured, it is, ordinarily, responsible
135 for setting up all flows on the switch. Thus, if the connection to
136 the controller fails, no new network connections can be set up.
137 If the connection to the controller stays down long enough,
138 no packets can pass through the switch at all. This setting
139 determines the switch's response to such a situation. It may be set
140 to one of the following:
142 <dt><code>standalone</code></dt>
143 <dd>If no message is received from the controller for three
144 times the inactivity probe interval
145 (see <ref column="inactivity_probe"/>), then Open vSwitch
146 will take over responsibility for setting up flows. In
147 this mode, Open vSwitch causes the bridge to act like an
148 ordinary MAC-learning switch. Open vSwitch will continue
149 to retry connecting to the controller in the background
150 and, when the connection succeeds, it will discontinue its
151 standalone behavior.</dd>
152 <dt><code>secure</code></dt>
153 <dd>Open vSwitch will not set up flows on its own when the
154 controller connection fails. It will continue retry
155 connecting to the controller forever.</dd>
158 <p>If this value is unset, the default is implementation-specific.</p>
159 <p>When more than one controller is configured,
160 <ref column="fail_mode"/> is considered only when none of the
161 configured controllers can be contacted.</p>
164 <column name="datapath_id">
165 Reports the OpenFlow datapath ID in use. Exactly 16 hex
166 digits. (Setting this column will have no useful effect. Set
167 <ref column="other_config"/>:<code>other-config</code>
172 <group title="Other Features">
173 <column name="datapath_type">
174 Name of datapath provider. The kernel datapath has
175 type <code>system</code>. The userspace datapath has
176 type <code>netdev</code>.
179 <column name="external_ids">
180 Key-value pairs that identify this bridge's role in external systems.
181 The currently defined key-value pairs are:
183 <dt><code>network-uuids</code></dt>
184 <dd>Semicolon-delimited set of universally unique identifier(s) for
185 the network with which this bridge is associated. The form of the
186 identifier(s) depends on the type of the host. On a Citrix
187 XenServer host, the network identifiers are RFC 4122 UUIDs as
188 displayed by, e.g., <code>xe network-list</code>.</dd>
192 <column name="other_config">
193 Key-value pairs for configuring rarely used bridge
194 features. The currently defined key-value pairs are:
196 <dt><code>datapath-id</code></dt>
198 digits to set the OpenFlow datapath ID to a specific
200 <dt><code>hwaddr</code></dt>
201 <dd>An Ethernet address in the form
202 <var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>
203 to set the hardware address of the local port and influence the
210 <table name="Port" table="Port or bond configuration.">
211 <p>A port within a <ref table="Bridge"/>.</p>
212 <p>Most commonly, a port has exactly one ``interface,'' pointed to by its
213 <ref column="interfaces"/> column. Such a port logically
214 corresponds to a port on a physical Ethernet switch. A port
215 with more than one interface is a ``bonded port'' (see
216 <ref group="Bonding Configuration"/>).</p>
217 <p>Some properties that one might think as belonging to a port are actually
218 part of the port's <ref table="Interface"/> members.</p>
221 Port name. Should be alphanumeric and no more than about 8
222 bytes long. May be the same as the interface name, for
223 non-bonded ports. Must otherwise be unique among the names of
224 ports, interfaces, and bridges on a host.
227 <column name="interfaces">
228 The port's interfaces. If there is more than one, this is a
232 <group title="VLAN Configuration">
233 <p>A bridge port must be configured for VLANs in one of two
234 mutually exclusive ways:
236 <li>A ``trunk port'' has an empty value for <ref
237 column="tag"/>. Its <ref column="trunks"/> value may be
238 empty or non-empty.</li>
239 <li>An ``implicitly tagged VLAN port'' or ``access port''
240 has an nonempty value for <ref column="tag"/>. Its
241 <ref column="trunks"/> value must be empty.</li>
243 If <ref column="trunks"/> and <ref column="tag"/> are both
244 nonempty, the configuration is ill-formed.
249 If this is an access port (see above), the port's implicitly
250 tagged VLAN. Must be empty if this is a trunk port.
253 Frames arriving on trunk ports will be forwarded to this
254 port only if they are tagged with the given VLAN (or, if
255 <ref column="tag"/> is 0, then if they lack a VLAN header).
256 Frames arriving on other access ports will be forwarded to
257 this port only if they have the same <ref column="tag"/>
258 value. Frames forwarded to this port will not have an
262 When a frame with a 802.1Q header that indicates a nonzero
263 VLAN is received on an access port, it is discarded.
267 <column name="trunks">
269 If this is a trunk port (see above), the 802.1Q VLAN(s) that
270 this port trunks; if it is empty, then the port trunks all
271 VLANs. Must be empty if this is an access port.
274 Frames arriving on trunk ports are dropped if they are not
275 in one of the specified VLANs. For this purpose, packets
276 that have no VLAN header are treated as part of VLAN 0.
281 <group title="Bonding Configuration">
282 <p>A port that has more than one interface is a ``bonded port.''
283 Bonding allows for load balancing and fail-over. Open vSwitch
284 supports ``source load balancing'' (SLB) bonding, which
285 assigns flows to slaves based on source MAC address, with
286 periodic rebalancing as traffic patterns change. This form of
287 bonding does not require 802.3ad or other special support from
288 the upstream switch to which the slave devices are
291 <p>These columns apply only to bonded ports. Their values are
292 otherwise ignored.</p>
294 <column name="bond_updelay">
295 <p>For a bonded port, the number of milliseconds for which carrier must
296 stay up on an interface before the interface is considered to be up.
297 Specify <code>0</code> to enable the interface immediately.</p>
298 <p>This setting is honored only when at least one bonded interface is
299 already enabled. When no interfaces are enabled, then the first bond
300 interface to come up is enabled immediately.</p>
303 <column name="bond_downdelay">
304 For a bonded port, the number of milliseconds for which carrier must
305 stay down on an interface before the interface is considered to be
306 down. Specify <code>0</code> to disable the interface immediately.
309 <column name="bond_fake_iface">
310 For a bonded port, whether to create a fake internal interface with the
311 name of the port. Use only for compatibility with legacy software that
316 <group title="Other Features">
318 Quality of Service configuration for this port.
322 The MAC address to use for this port for the purpose of choosing the
323 bridge's MAC address. This column does not necessarily reflect the
324 port's actual MAC address, nor will setting it change the port's actual
328 <column name="fake_bridge">
329 Does this port represent a sub-bridge for its tagged VLAN within the
330 Bridge? See ovs-vsctl(8) for more information.
333 <column name="external_ids">
334 Key-value pairs that identify this port's role in external systems. No
335 key-value pairs native to <ref table="Port"/> are currently defined.
336 For fake bridges (see the <ref column="fake_bridge"/> column), external
337 IDs for the fake bridge are defined here by prefixing a
338 <ref table="Bridge"/> <ref table="Bridge" column="external_ids"/> key
339 with <code>fake-bridge-</code>,
340 e.g. <code>fake-bridge-network-uuids</code>.
343 <column name="other_config">
344 Key-value pairs for configuring rarely used port features. The
345 currently defined key-value pairs are:
347 <dt><code>hwaddr</code></dt>
348 <dd>An Ethernet address in the form
349 <code><var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var></code>.</dd>
350 <dt><code>bond-rebalance-interval</code></dt>
351 <dd>For a bonded port, the number of milliseconds between
352 successive attempts to rebalance the bond, that is, to
353 move source MACs and their flows from one interface on
354 the bond to another in an attempt to keep usage of each
355 interface roughly equal. The default is 10000 (10
356 seconds), and the minimum is 1000 (1 second).</dd>
362 <table name="Interface" title="One physical network device in a Port.">
363 An interface within a <ref table="Port"/>.
365 <group title="Core Features">
367 Interface name. Should be alphanumeric and no more than about 8 bytes
368 long. May be the same as the port name, for non-bonded ports. Must
369 otherwise be unique among the names of ports, interfaces, and bridges
374 <p>Ethernet address to set for this interface. If unset then the
375 default MAC address is used:</p>
377 <li>For the local interface, the default is the lowest-numbered MAC
378 address among the other bridge ports, either the value of the
379 <ref table="Port" column="mac"/> in its <ref table="Port"/> record,
380 if set, or its actual MAC (for bonded ports, the MAC of its slave
381 whose name is first in alphabetical order). Internal ports and
382 bridge ports that are used as port mirroring destinations (see the
383 <ref table="Mirror"/> table) are ignored.</li>
384 <li>For other internal interfaces, the default MAC is randomly
386 <li>External interfaces typically have a MAC address associated with
389 <p>Some interfaces may not have a software-controllable MAC
393 <column name="ofport">
394 <p>OpenFlow port number for this interface. Unlike most columns, this
395 column's value should be set only by Open vSwitch itself. Other
396 clients should set this column to an empty set (the default) when
397 creating an <ref table="Interface"/>.</p>
398 <p>Open vSwitch populates this column when the port number becomes
399 known. If the interface is successfully added,
400 <ref column="ofport"/> will be set to a number between 1 and 65535
401 (generally either in the range 1 to 65280, exclusive, or 65534, the
402 port number for the OpenFlow ``local port''). If the interface
403 cannot be added then Open vSwitch sets this column
408 <group title="System-Specific Details">
410 The interface type, one of:
412 <dt><code>system</code></dt>
413 <dd>An ordinary network device, e.g. <code>eth0</code> on Linux.
414 Sometimes referred to as ``external interfaces'' since they are
415 generally connected to hardware external to that on which the Open
416 vSwitch is running. The empty string is a synonym for
417 <code>system</code>.</dd>
418 <dt><code>internal</code></dt>
419 <dd>A simulated network device that sends and receives traffic. An
420 internal interface whose <ref column="name"/> is the same as its
421 bridge's <ref table="Open_vSwitch" column="name"/> is called the
422 ``local interface.'' It does not make sense to bond an internal
423 interface, so the terms ``port'' and ``interface'' are often used
424 imprecisely for internal interfaces.</dd>
425 <dt><code>tap</code></dt>
426 <dd>A TUN/TAP device managed by Open vSwitch.</dd>
427 <dt><code>gre</code></dt>
428 <dd>An Ethernet over RFC 1702 Generic Routing Encapsulation over IPv4
429 tunnel. Each tunnel must be uniquely identified by the
430 combination of <code>remote_ip</code>, <code>local_ip</code>, and
431 <code>in_key</code>. Note that if two ports are defined that are
432 the same except one has an optional identifier and the other does
433 not, the more specific one is matched first. <code>in_key</code>
434 is considered more specific than <code>local_ip</code> if a port
435 defines one and another port defines the other. The arguments
438 <dt><code>remote_ip</code></dt>
439 <dd>Required. The tunnel endpoint.</dd>
442 <dt><code>local_ip</code></dt>
443 <dd>Optional. The destination IP that received packets must
444 match. Default is to match all addresses.</dd>
447 <dt><code>in_key</code></dt>
448 <dd>Optional. The GRE key that received packets must contain.
449 It may either be a 32-bit number (no key and a key of 0 are
450 treated as equivalent) or the word <code>flow</code>. If
451 <code>flow</code> is specified then any key will be accepted
452 and the key will be placed in the <code>tun_id</code> field
453 for matching in the flow table. The ovs-ofctl manual page
454 contains additional information about matching fields in
455 OpenFlow flows. Default is no key.</dd>
458 <dt><code>out_key</code></dt>
459 <dd>Optional. The GRE key to be set on outgoing packets. It may
460 either be a 32-bit number or the word <code>flow</code>. If
461 <code>flow</code> is specified then the key may be set using
462 the <code>set_tunnel</code> Nicira OpenFlow vendor extension (0
463 is used in the absense of an action). The ovs-ofctl manual
464 page contains additional information about the Nicira OpenFlow
465 vendor extensions. Default is no key.</dd>
468 <dt><code>key</code></dt>
469 <dd>Optional. Shorthand to set <code>in_key</code> and
470 <code>out_key</code> at the same time.</dd>
473 <dt><code>tos</code></dt>
474 <dd>Optional. The value of the ToS bits to be set on the
475 encapsulating packet. It may also be the word
476 <code>inherit</code>, in which case the ToS will be copied from
477 the inner packet if it is IPv4 or IPv6 (otherwise it will be
478 0). Note that the ECN fields are always inherited. Default is
482 <dt><code>ttl</code></dt>
483 <dd>Optional. The TTL to be set on the encapsulating packet.
484 It may also be the word <code>inherit</code>, in which case the
485 TTL will be copied from the inner packet if it is IPv4 or IPv6
486 (otherwise it will be the system default, typically 64).
487 Default is the system default TTL.</dd>
490 <dt><code>csum</code></dt>
491 <dd>Optional. Compute GRE checksums for outgoing packets and
492 require checksums for incoming packets. Default is enabled,
493 set to <code>false</code> to disable.</dd>
496 <dt><code>pmtud</code></dt>
497 <dd>Optional. Enable tunnel path MTU discovery. If enabled
498 ``ICMP destination unreachable - fragmentation'' needed
499 messages will be generated for IPv4 packets with the DF bit set
500 and IPv6 packets above the minimum MTU if the packet size
501 exceeds the path MTU minus the size of the tunnel headers. It
502 also forces the encapsulating packet DF bit to be set (it is
503 always set if the inner packet implies path MTU discovery).
504 Note that this option causes behavior that is typically
505 reserved for routers and therefore is not entirely in
506 compliance with the IEEE 802.1D specification for bridges.
507 Default is enabled, set to <code>false</code> to disable.</dd>
510 <dt><code>patch</code></dt>
511 <dd>A pair of virtual devices that act as a patch cable. A
512 <code>peer</code> argument is required that indicates the name
513 of the other side of the patch. Since a patch must work in
514 pairs, a second patch interface must be declared with the
515 <code>name</code> and <code>peer</code> arguments reversed.</dd>
519 <column name="options">
520 Configuration options whose interpretation varies based on
521 <ref column="type"/>.
525 <group title="Ingress Policing">
526 <column name="ingress_policing_burst">
527 <p>Maximum burst size for data received on this interface, in kb. The
528 default burst size if set to <code>0</code> is 1000 kb. This value
529 has no effect if <ref column="ingress_policing_rate"/>
530 is <code>0</code>.</p>
531 <p>The burst size should be at least the size of the interface's
535 <column name="ingress_policing_rate">
536 <p>Maximum rate for data received on this interface, in kbps. Data
537 received faster than this rate is dropped. Set to <code>0</code> to
538 disable policing.</p>
539 <p>The meaning of ``ingress'' is from Open vSwitch's perspective. If
540 configured on a physical interface, then it limits the rate at which
541 traffic is allowed into the system from the outside. If configured
542 on a virtual interface that is connected to a virtual machine, then
543 it limits the rate at which the guest is able to transmit.</p>
547 <group title="Other Features">
548 <column name="external_ids">
549 <p>Key-value pairs that identify this interface's role in external
550 systems. All of the currently defined key-value pairs specifically
551 apply to an interface that represents a virtual Ethernet interface
552 connected to a virtual machine. These key-value pairs should not be
553 present for other types of interfaces. Keys whose names end
554 in <code>-uuid</code> have values that uniquely identify the entity
555 in question. For a Citrix XenServer hypervisor, these values are
556 UUIDs in RFC 4122 format. Other hypervisors may use other
558 <p>The currently defined key-value pairs are:</p>
560 <dt><code>vif-uuid</code></dt>
561 <dd>The virtual interface associated with this interface.</dd>
562 <dt><code>network-uuid</code></dt>
563 <dd>The virtual network to which this interface is attached.</dd>
564 <dt><code>vm-uuid</code></dt>
565 <dd>The VM to which this interface belongs.</dd>
566 <dt><code>vif-mac</code></dt>
567 <dd>The MAC address programmed into the "virtual hardware" for this
569 form <var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>.
570 For Citrix XenServer, this is the value of the <code>MAC</code>
571 field in the VIF record for this interface.</dd>
575 <column name="statistics">
577 Key-value pairs that report interface statistics. The current
578 implementation updates these counters periodically. In the future,
579 we plan to, instead, update them when an interface is created, when
580 they are queried (e.g. using an OVSDB <code>select</code> operation),
581 and just before an interface is deleted due to virtual interface
582 hot-unplug or VM shutdown, and perhaps at other times, but not on any
583 regular periodic basis.</p>
585 The currently defined key-value pairs are listed below. These are
586 the same statistics reported by OpenFlow in its <code>struct
587 ofp_port_stats</code> structure. If an interface does not support a
588 given statistic, then that pair is omitted.</p>
591 Successful transmit and receive counters:
593 <dt><code>rx_packets</code></dt>
594 <dd>Number of received packets.</dd>
595 <dt><code>rx_bytes</code></dt>
596 <dd>Number of received bytes.</dd>
597 <dt><code>tx_packets</code></dt>
598 <dd>Number of transmitted packets.</dd>
599 <dt><code>tx_bytes</code></dt>
600 <dd>Number of transmitted bytes.</dd>
606 <dt><code>rx_dropped</code></dt>
607 <dd>Number of packets dropped by RX.</dd>
608 <dt><code>rx_frame_err</code></dt>
609 <dd>Number of frame alignment errors.</dd>
610 <dt><code>rx_over_err</code></dt>
611 <dd>Number of packets with RX overrun.</dd>
612 <dt><code>rx_crc_err</code></dt>
613 <dd>Number of CRC errors.</dd>
614 <dt><code>rx_errors</code></dt>
616 Total number of receive errors, greater than or equal
617 to the sum of the above.
624 <dt><code>tx_dropped</code></dt>
625 <dd>Number of packets dropped by TX.</dd>
626 <dt><code>collisions</code></dt>
627 <dd>Number of collisions.</dd>
628 <dt><code>tx_errors</code></dt>
630 Total number of transmit errors, greater
631 than or equal to the sum of the above.
640 <table name="QoS" title="Quality of Service configuration">
641 <p>Quality of Service (QoS) configuration for each Port that
645 <p>The type of QoS to implement. The <ref table="Open_vSwitch"
646 column="capabilities"/> column in the <ref table="Open_vSwitch"/> table
647 identifies the types that a switch actually supports. The currently
648 defined types are listed below:</p>
650 <dt><code>linux-htb</code></dt>
651 <dd>Linux ``hierarchy token bucket'' classifier.</dd>
655 <column name="queues">
656 <p>A map from queue numbers to <ref table="Queue"/> records. The
657 supported range of queue numbers depend on <ref column="type"/>. The
658 queue numbers are the same as the <code>queue_id</code> used in
659 OpenFlow in <code>struct ofp_action_enqueue</code> and other
660 structures. Queue 0 is used by OpenFlow output actions that do not
661 specify a specific queue.</p>
664 <column name="other_config">
665 <p>Key-value pairs for configuring QoS features that depend on
666 <ref column="type"/>.</p>
667 <p>The <code>linux-htb</code> class supports the following key-value
670 <dt><code>max-rate</code></dt>
671 <dd>Maximum rate shared by all queued traffic, in bit/s.
672 Optional. If not specified, for physical interfaces, the
673 default is the link rate. For other interfaces or if the
674 link rate cannot be determined, the default is currently 100
680 <table name="Queue" title="QoS output queue.">
681 <p>A configuration for a port output queue, used in configuring Quality of
682 Service (QoS) features. May be referenced by <ref column="queues"
683 table="QoS"/> column in <ref table="QoS"/> table.</p>
685 <column name="other_config">
686 <p>Key-value pairs for configuring the output queue. The supported
687 key-value pairs and their meanings depend on the <ref column="type"/>
688 of the <ref column="QoS"/> records that reference this row.</p>
689 <p>The key-value pairs defined for <ref table="QoS"/> <ref table="QoS"
690 column="type"/> of <code>min-rate</code> are:</p>
692 <dt><code>min-rate</code></dt>
693 <dd>Minimum guaranteed bandwidth, in bit/s. Required.</dd>
695 <p>The key-value pairs defined for <ref table="QoS"/> <ref table="QoS"
696 column="type"/> of <code>linux-htb</code> are:</p>
698 <dt><code>min-rate</code></dt>
699 <dd>Minimum guaranteed bandwidth, in bit/s. Required.</dd>
700 <dt><code>max-rate</code></dt>
701 <dd>Maximum allowed bandwidth, in bit/s. Optional. If specified, the
702 queue's rate will not be allowed to exceed the specified value, even
703 if excess bandwidth is available. If unspecified, defaults to no
705 <dt><code>burst</code></dt>
706 <dd>Burst size, in bits. This is the maximum amount of ``credits''
707 that a queue can accumulate while it is idle. Optional. Details of
708 the <code>linux-htb</code> implementation require a minimum burst
709 size, so a too-small <code>burst</code> will be silently
711 <dt><code>priority</code></dt>
712 <dd>A nonnegative 32-bit integer. Defaults to 0 if
713 unspecified. A queue with a smaller <code>priority</code>
714 will receive all the excess bandwidth that it can use before
715 a queue with a larger value receives any. Specific priority
716 values are unimportant; only relative ordering matters.</dd>
721 <table name="Mirror" title="Port mirroring (SPAN/RSPAN).">
722 <p>A port mirror within a <ref table="Bridge"/>.</p>
723 <p>A port mirror configures a bridge to send selected frames to special
724 ``mirrored'' ports, in addition to their normal destinations. Mirroring
725 traffic may also be referred to as SPAN or RSPAN, depending on the
726 mechanism used for delivery.</p>
729 Arbitrary identifier for the <ref table="Mirror"/>.
732 <group title="Selecting Packets for Mirroring">
733 <column name="select_all">
734 If true, every packet arriving or departing on any port is
735 selected for mirroring.
738 <column name="select_dst_port">
739 Ports on which departing packets are selected for mirroring.
742 <column name="select_src_port">
743 Ports on which arriving packets are selected for mirroring.
746 <column name="select_vlan">
747 VLANs on which packets are selected for mirroring. An empty set
748 selects packets on all VLANs.
752 <group title="Mirroring Destination Configuration">
753 <column name="output_port">
754 <p>Output port for selected packets, if nonempty. Mutually exclusive
755 with <ref column="output_vlan"/>.</p>
756 <p>Specifying a port for mirror output reserves that port exclusively
757 for mirroring. No frames other than those selected for mirroring
758 will be forwarded to the port, and any frames received on the port
759 will be discarded.</p>
760 <p>This type of mirroring is sometimes called SPAN.</p>
763 <column name="output_vlan">
764 <p>Output VLAN for selected packets, if nonempty. Mutually exclusive
765 with <ref column="output_port"/>.</p>
766 <p>The frames will be sent out all ports that trunk
767 <ref column="output_vlan"/>, as well as any ports with implicit VLAN
768 <ref column="output_vlan"/>. When a mirrored frame is sent out a
769 trunk port, the frame's VLAN tag will be set to
770 <ref column="output_vlan"/>, replacing any existing tag; when it is
771 sent out an implicit VLAN port, the frame will not be tagged. This
772 type of mirroring is sometimes called RSPAN.</p>
773 <p><em>Please note:</em> Mirroring to a VLAN can disrupt a network that
774 contains unmanaged switches. Consider an unmanaged physical switch
775 with two ports: port 1, connected to an end host, and port 2,
776 connected to an Open vSwitch configured to mirror received packets
777 into VLAN 123 on port 2. Suppose that the end host sends a packet on
778 port 1 that the physical switch forwards to port 2. The Open vSwitch
779 forwards this packet to its destination and then reflects it back on
780 port 2 in VLAN 123. This reflected packet causes the unmanaged
781 physical switch to replace the MAC learning table entry, which
782 correctly pointed to port 1, with one that incorrectly points to port
783 2. Afterward, the physical switch will direct packets destined for
784 the end host to the Open vSwitch on port 2, instead of to the end
785 host on port 1, disrupting connectivity. If mirroring to a VLAN is
786 desired in this scenario, then the physical switch must be replaced
787 by one that learns Ethernet addresses on a per-VLAN basis. In
788 addition, learning should be disabled on the VLAN containing mirrored
789 traffic. If this is not done then intermediate switches will learn
790 the MAC address of each end host from the mirrored traffic. If
791 packets being sent to that end host are also mirrored, then they will
792 be dropped since the switch will attempt to send them out the input
793 port. Disabling learning for the VLAN will cause the switch to
794 correctly send the packet out all ports configured for that VLAN. If
795 Open vSwitch is being used as an intermediate switch, learning can be
796 disabled by adding the mirrored VLAN to <ref column="flood_vlans"/>
797 in the appropriate <ref table="Bridge"/> table or tables.</p>
802 <table name="Controller" title="OpenFlow controller configuration.">
803 <p>An OpenFlow controller.</p>
805 <p>Open vSwitch permits a bridge to have any number of OpenFlow
806 controllers. When multiple controllers are configured, Open vSwitch
807 connects to all of them simultaneously. OpenFlow 1.0 does not specify
808 how multiple controllers coordinate in interacting with a single switch,
809 so more than one controller should be specified only if the controllers
810 are themselves designed to coordinate with each other.</p>
812 <group title="Core Features">
813 <column name="target">
814 <p>Connection method for controller.
815 The following connection methods are currently
818 <dt><code>ssl:<var>ip</var></code>[<code>:<var>port</var></code>]</dt>
820 <p>The specified SSL <var>port</var> (default: 6633) on the host at
821 the given <var>ip</var>, which must be expressed as an IP address
822 (not a DNS name). The <ref table="Open_vSwitch" column="ssl"/>
823 column in the <ref table="Open_vSwitch"/> must point to a valid
824 SSL configuration when this form is used.</p>
825 <p>SSL support is an optional feature that is not always built as
826 part of Open vSwitch.</p>
828 <dt><code>tcp:<var>ip</var></code>[<code>:<var>port</var></code>]</dt>
829 <dd>The specified TCP <var>port</var> (default: 6633) on the host at
830 the given <var>ip</var>, which must be expressed as an IP address
831 (not a DNS name).</dd>
832 <dt><code>discover</code></dt>
834 <p>Enables controller discovery.</p>
835 <p>In controller discovery mode, Open vSwitch broadcasts a DHCP
836 request with vendor class identifier <code>OpenFlow</code> across
837 all of the bridge's network devices. It will accept any valid
838 DHCP reply that has the same vendor class identifier and includes
839 a vendor-specific option with code 1 whose contents are a string
840 specifying the location of the controller in the same format as
841 <ref column="target"/>.</p>
842 <p>The DHCP reply may also, optionally, include a vendor-specific
843 option with code 2 whose contents are a string specifying the URI
844 to the base of the OpenFlow PKI
845 (e.g. <code>http://192.168.0.1/openflow/pki</code>). This URI is
846 used only for bootstrapping the OpenFlow PKI at initial switch
847 setup; <code>ovs-vswitchd</code> does not use it at all.</p>
849 <dt><code>none</code></dt>
850 <dd>Disables the controller.</dd>
852 <p>When multiple controllers are configured for a single bridge, the
853 <ref column="target"/> values must be unique. Duplicate
854 <ref column="target"/> values yield unspecified results.</p>
857 <column name="connection_mode">
858 <p>If it is specified, this setting must be one of the following
859 strings that describes how Open vSwitch contacts this OpenFlow
860 controller over the network:</p>
863 <dt><code>in-band</code></dt>
864 <dd>In this mode, this controller's OpenFlow traffic travels over the
865 bridge associated with the controller. With this setting, Open
866 vSwitch allows traffic to and from the controller regardless of the
867 contents of the OpenFlow flow table. (Otherwise, Open vSwitch
868 would never be able to connect to the controller, because it did
869 not have a flow to enable it.) This is the most common connection
870 mode because it is not necessary to maintain two independent
872 <dt><code>out-of-band</code></dt>
873 <dd>In this mode, OpenFlow traffic uses a control network separate
874 from the bridge associated with this controller, that is, the
875 bridge does not use any of its own network devices to communicate
876 with the controller. The control network must be configured
877 separately, before or after <code>ovs-vswitchd</code> is started.
881 <p>If not specified, the default is implementation-specific. If
882 <ref column="target"/> is <code>discover</code>, the connection mode
883 is always treated as <code>in-band</code> regardless of the actual
888 <group title="Controller Failure Detection and Handling">
889 <column name="max_backoff">
890 Maximum number of milliseconds to wait between connection attempts.
891 Default is implementation-specific.
894 <column name="inactivity_probe">
895 Maximum number of milliseconds of idle time on connection to
896 controller before sending an inactivity probe message. If Open
897 vSwitch does not communicate with the controller for the specified
898 number of seconds, it will send a probe. If a response is not
899 received for the same additional amount of time, Open vSwitch
900 assumes the connection has been broken and attempts to reconnect.
901 Default is implementation-specific.
905 <group title="OpenFlow Rate Limiting">
906 <column name="controller_rate_limit">
907 <p>The maximum rate at which packets in unknown flows will be
908 forwarded to the OpenFlow controller, in packets per second. This
909 feature prevents a single bridge from overwhelming the controller.
910 If not specified, the default is implementation-specific.</p>
911 <p>In addition, when a high rate triggers rate-limiting, Open
912 vSwitch queues controller packets for each port and transmits
913 them to the controller at the configured rate. The number of
914 queued packets is limited by
915 the <ref column="controller_burst_limit"/> value. The packet
916 queue is shared fairly among the ports on a bridge.</p><p>Open
917 vSwitch maintains two such packet rate-limiters per bridge.
918 One of these applies to packets sent up to the controller
919 because they do not correspond to any flow. The other applies
920 to packets sent up to the controller by request through flow
921 actions. When both rate-limiters are filled with packets, the
922 actual rate that packets are sent to the controller is up to
923 twice the specified rate.</p>
926 <column name="controller_burst_limit">
927 In conjunction with <ref column="controller_rate_limit"/>,
928 the maximum number of unused packet credits that the bridge will
929 allow to accumulate, in packets. If not specified, the default
930 is implementation-specific.
934 <group title="Additional Discovery Configuration">
935 <p>These values are considered only when <ref column="target"/>
936 is <code>discover</code>.</p>
938 <column name="discover_accept_regex">
940 extended regular expression against which the discovered controller
941 location is validated. The regular expression is implicitly
942 anchored at the beginning of the controller location string, as
943 if it begins with <code>^</code>. If not specified, the default
944 is implementation-specific.
947 <column name="discover_update_resolv_conf">
948 Whether to update <code>/etc/resolv.conf</code> when the
949 controller is discovered. If not specified, the default
950 is implementation-specific. Open vSwitch will only modify
951 <code>/etc/resolv.conf</code> if the DHCP response that it receives
952 specifies one or more DNS servers.
956 <group title="Additional In-Band Configuration">
957 <p>These values are considered only in in-band control mode (see
958 <ref column="connection_mode"/>) and only when <ref column="target"/>
959 is not <code>discover</code>. (For controller discovery, the network
960 configuration obtained via DHCP is used instead.)</p>
962 <p>When multiple controllers are configured on a single bridge, there
963 should be only one set of unique values in these columns. If different
964 values are set for these columns in different controllers, the effect
967 <column name="local_ip">
968 The IP address to configure on the local port,
969 e.g. <code>192.168.0.123</code>. If this value is unset, then
970 <ref column="local_netmask"/> and <ref column="local_gateway"/> are
974 <column name="local_netmask">
975 The IP netmask to configure on the local port,
976 e.g. <code>255.255.255.0</code>. If <ref column="local_ip"/> is set
977 but this value is unset, then the default is chosen based on whether
978 the IP address is class A, B, or C.
981 <column name="local_gateway">
982 The IP address of the gateway to configure on the local port, as a
983 string, e.g. <code>192.168.0.1</code>. Leave this column unset if
984 this network has no gateway.
989 <table name="NetFlow">
990 A NetFlow target. NetFlow is a protocol that exports a number of
991 details about terminating IP flows, such as the principals involved
994 <column name="targets">
995 NetFlow targets in the form
996 <code><var>ip</var>:<var>port</var></code>. The <var>ip</var>
997 must be specified numerically, not as a DNS name.
1000 <column name="engine_id">
1001 Engine ID to use in NetFlow messages. Defaults to datapath index
1005 <column name="engine_type">
1006 Engine type to use in NetFlow messages. Defaults to datapath
1007 index if not specified.
1010 <column name="active_timeout">
1011 The interval at which NetFlow records are sent for flows that are
1012 still active, in seconds. A value of <code>0</code> requests the
1013 default timeout (currently 600 seconds); a value of <code>-1</code>
1014 disables active timeouts.
1017 <column name="add_id_to_interface">
1018 <p>If this column's value is <code>false</code>, the ingress and egress
1019 interface fields of NetFlow flow records are derived from OpenFlow port
1020 numbers. When it is <code>true</code>, the 7 most significant bits of
1021 these fields will be replaced by the least significant 7 bits of the
1022 engine id. This is useful because many NetFlow collectors do not
1023 expect multiple switches to be sending messages from the same host, so
1024 they do not store the engine information which could be used to
1025 disambiguate the traffic.</p>
1026 <p>When this option is enabled, a maximum of 508 ports are supported.</p>
1031 SSL configuration for an Open_vSwitch.
1033 <column name="private_key">
1034 Name of a PEM file containing the private key used as the switch's
1035 identity for SSL connections to the controller.
1038 <column name="certificate">
1039 Name of a PEM file containing a certificate, signed by the
1040 certificate authority (CA) used by the controller and manager,
1041 that certifies the switch's private key, identifying a trustworthy
1045 <column name="ca_cert">
1046 Name of a PEM file containing the CA certificate used to verify
1047 that the switch is connected to a trustworthy controller.
1050 <column name="bootstrap_ca_cert">
1051 If set to <code>true</code>, then Open vSwitch will attempt to
1052 obtain the CA certificate from the controller on its first SSL
1053 connection and save it to the named PEM file. If it is successful,
1054 it will immediately drop the connection and reconnect, and from then
1055 on all SSL connections must be authenticated by a certificate signed
1056 by the CA certificate thus obtained. <em>This option exposes the
1057 SSL connection to a man-in-the-middle attack obtaining the initial
1058 CA certificate.</em> It may still be useful for bootstrapping.
1062 <table name="sFlow">
1063 <p>An sFlow(R) target. sFlow is a protocol for remote monitoring
1066 <column name="agent">
1067 Name of the network device whose IP address should be reported as the
1068 ``agent address'' to collectors. If not specified, the IP address
1069 defaults to the <ref table="Controller" column="local_ip"/> in the
1070 collector's <ref table="Controller"/>. If an agent IP address cannot be
1071 determined either way, sFlow is disabled.
1074 <column name="header">
1075 Number of bytes of a sampled packet to send to the collector.
1076 If not specified, the default is 128 bytes.
1079 <column name="polling">
1080 Polling rate in seconds to send port statistics to the collector.
1081 If not specified, defaults to 30 seconds.
1084 <column name="sampling">
1085 Rate at which packets should be sampled and sent to the collector.
1086 If not specified, defaults to 400, which means one out of 400
1087 packets, on average, will be sent to the collector.
1090 <column name="targets">
1091 sFlow targets in the form
1092 <code><var>ip</var>:<var>port</var></code>.
1096 <table name="Capability">
1097 <p>Records in this table describe functionality supported by the hardware
1098 and software platform on which this Open vSwitch is based. Clients
1099 should not modify this table.</p>
1101 <p>A record in this table is meaningful only if it is referenced by the
1102 <ref table="Open_vSwitch" column="capabilities"/> column in the
1103 <ref table="Open_vSwitch"/> table. The key used to reference it, called
1104 the record's ``category,'' determines the meanings of the
1105 <ref column="details"/> column. The following general forms of
1106 categories are currently defined:</p>
1109 <dt><code>qos-<var>type</var></code></dt>
1110 <dd><var>type</var> is supported as the value for
1111 <ref column="type" table="QoS"/> in the <ref table="QoS"/> table.
1115 <column name="details">
1116 <p>Key-value pairs that describe capabilities. The meaning of the pairs
1117 depends on the category key that the <ref table="Open_vSwitch"
1118 column="capabilities"/> column in the <ref table="Open_vSwitch"/> table
1119 uses to reference this record, as described above.</p>
1121 <p>The presence of a record for category <code>qos-<var>type</var></code>
1122 indicates that the switch supports <var>type</var> as the value of
1123 the <ref table="QoS" column="type"/> column in the <ref table="QoS"/>
1124 table. The following key-value pairs are defined to further describe
1125 QoS capabilities:</p>
1128 <dt><code>n-queues</code></dt>
1129 <dd>Number of supported queues, as a positive integer. Keys in the
1130 <ref table="QoS" column="queues"/> column for <ref table="QoS"/>
1131 records whose <ref table="QoS" column="type"/> value
1132 equals <var>type</var> must range between 0 and this value minus one,