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:
764 <dt><code>balance-tcp</code></dt>
766 Balances flows among slaves based on L2, L3, and L4 protocol
767 information such as destination MAC address, IP address, and TCP
771 <dt><code>stable</code></dt>
773 <p>Attempts to always assign a given flow to the same slave
774 consistently. In an effort to maintain stability, no load
775 balancing is done. Uses a similar hashing strategy to
776 <code>balance-tcp</code>, always taking into account L3 and L4
777 fields even if LACP negotiations are unsuccessful. </p>
778 <p>Slave selection decisions are made based on <ref table="Interface"
779 column="other_config" key="bond-stable-id"/> if set. Otherwise,
780 OpenFlow port number is used. Decisions are consistent across all
781 <code>ovs-vswitchd</code> instances with equivalent
782 <ref table="Interface" column="other_config" key="bond-stable-id"/>
787 <p>These columns apply only to bonded ports. Their values are
788 otherwise ignored.</p>
790 <column name="bond_mode">
791 <p>The type of bonding used for a bonded port. Defaults to
792 <code>active-backup</code> if unset.
796 <column name="other_config" key="bond-hash-basis"
797 type='{"type": "integer"}'>
798 An integer hashed along with flows when choosing output slaves in load
799 balanced bonds. When changed, all flows will be assigned different
800 hash values possibly causing slave selection decisions to change. Does
801 not affect bonding modes which do not employ load balancing such as
802 <code>active-backup</code>.
805 <group title="Link Failure Detection">
807 An important part of link bonding is detecting that links are down so
808 that they may be disabled. These settings determine how Open vSwitch
809 detects link failure.
812 <column name="other_config" key="bond-detect-mode"
813 type='{"type": "string", "enum": ["set", ["carrier", "miimon"]]}'>
814 The means used to detect link failures. Defaults to
815 <code>carrier</code> which uses each interface's carrier to detect
816 failures. When set to <code>miimon</code>, will check for failures
817 by polling each interface's MII.
820 <column name="other_config" key="bond-miimon-interval"
821 type='{"type": "integer"}'>
822 The interval, in milliseconds, between successive attempts to poll
823 each interface's MII. Relevant only when <ref column="other_config"
824 key="bond-detect-mode"/> is <code>miimon</code>.
827 <column name="bond_updelay">
829 The number of milliseconds for which carrier must stay up on an
830 interface before the interface is considered to be up. Specify
831 <code>0</code> to enable the interface immediately.
835 This setting is honored only when at least one bonded interface is
836 already enabled. When no interfaces are enabled, then the first
837 bond interface to come up is enabled immediately.
841 <column name="bond_downdelay">
842 The number of milliseconds for which carrier must stay down on an
843 interface before the interface is considered to be down. Specify
844 <code>0</code> to disable the interface immediately.
848 <group title="LACP Configuration">
850 LACP, the Link Aggregation Control Protocol, is an IEEE standard that
851 allows switches to automatically detect that they are connected by
852 multiple links and aggregate across those links. These settings
853 control LACP behavior.
857 Configures LACP on this port. LACP allows directly connected
858 switches to negotiate which links may be bonded. LACP may be enabled
859 on non-bonded ports for the benefit of any switches they may be
860 connected to. <code>active</code> ports are allowed to initiate LACP
861 negotiations. <code>passive</code> ports are allowed to participate
862 in LACP negotiations initiated by a remote switch, but not allowed to
863 initiate such negotiations themselves. If LACP is enabled on a port
864 whose partner switch does not support LACP, the bond will be
865 disabled. Defaults to <code>off</code> if unset.
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": 0, "maxInteger": 10000}'>
922 For a load balanced bonded port, the number of milliseconds between
923 successive attempts to rebalance the bond, that is, to move flows
924 from one interface on the bond to another in an attempt to keep usage
925 of each interface roughly equal. If zero, load balancing is disabled
926 on the bond (carrier status changes still cause flows to move). If
927 less than 1000ms, the rebalance interval will be 1000ms.
931 <column name="bond_fake_iface">
932 For a bonded port, whether to create a fake internal interface with the
933 name of the port. Use only for compatibility with legacy software that
938 <group title="Spanning Tree Configuration">
939 <column name="other_config" key="stp-enable"
940 type='{"type": "boolean"}'>
941 If spanning tree is enabled on the bridge, member ports are
942 enabled by default (with the exception of bond, internal, and
943 mirror ports which do not work with STP). If this column's
944 value is <code>false</code> spanning tree is disabled on the
948 <column name="other_config" key="stp-port-num"
949 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1, "maxInteger": 255}'>
950 The port number used for the lower 8 bits of the port-id. By
951 default, the numbers will be assigned automatically. If any
952 port's number is manually configured on a bridge, then they
956 <column name="other_config" key="stp-port-priority"
957 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 0, "maxInteger": 255}'>
958 The port's relative priority value for determining the root
959 port (the upper 8 bits of the port-id). A port with a lower
960 port-id will be chosen as the root port. By default, the
964 <column name="other_config" key="stp-path-cost"
965 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 0, "maxInteger": 65535}'>
966 Spanning tree path cost for the port. A lower number indicates
967 a faster link. By default, the cost is based on the maximum
972 <group title="Other Features">
974 Quality of Service configuration for this port.
978 The MAC address to use for this port for the purpose of choosing the
979 bridge's MAC address. This column does not necessarily reflect the
980 port's actual MAC address, nor will setting it change the port's actual
984 <column name="fake_bridge">
985 Does this port represent a sub-bridge for its tagged VLAN within the
986 Bridge? See ovs-vsctl(8) for more information.
989 <column name="external_ids" key="fake-bridge-id-*">
990 External IDs for a fake bridge (see the <ref column="fake_bridge"/>
991 column) are defined by prefixing a <ref table="Bridge"/> <ref
992 table="Bridge" column="external_ids"/> key with
993 <code>fake-bridge-</code>,
994 e.g. <code>fake-bridge-xs-network-uuids</code>.
998 <group title="Port Status">
1000 Status information about ports attached to bridges.
1002 <column name="status">
1003 Key-value pairs that report port status.
1005 <column name="status" key="stp_port_id">
1007 The port-id (in hex) used in spanning tree advertisements for
1008 this port. Configuring the port-id is described in the
1009 <code>stp-port-num</code> and <code>stp-port-priority</code>
1010 keys of the <code>other_config</code> section earlier.
1013 <column name="status" key="stp_state"
1014 type='{"type": "string", "enum": ["set",
1015 ["disabled", "listening", "learning",
1016 "forwarding", "blocking"]]}'>
1018 STP state of the port.
1021 <column name="status" key="stp_sec_in_state"
1022 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 0}'>
1024 The amount of time (in seconds) port has been in the current
1028 <column name="status" key="stp_role"
1029 type='{"type": "string", "enum": ["set",
1030 ["root", "designated", "alternate"]]}'>
1032 STP role of the port.
1037 <group title="Port Statistics">
1039 Key-value pairs that report port statistics.
1041 <group title="Statistics: STP transmit and receive counters">
1042 <column name="statistics" key="stp_tx_count">
1043 Number of STP BPDUs sent on this port by the spanning
1046 <column name="statistics" key="stp_rx_count">
1047 Number of STP BPDUs received on this port and accepted by the
1048 spanning tree library.
1050 <column name="statistics" key="stp_error_count">
1051 Number of bad STP BPDUs received on this port. Bad BPDUs
1052 include runt packets and those with an unexpected protocol ID.
1057 <group title="Common Columns">
1058 The overall purpose of these columns is described under <code>Common
1059 Columns</code> at the beginning of this document.
1061 <column name="other_config"/>
1062 <column name="external_ids"/>
1066 <table name="Interface" title="One physical network device in a Port.">
1067 An interface within a <ref table="Port"/>.
1069 <group title="Core Features">
1070 <column name="name">
1071 Interface name. Should be alphanumeric and no more than about 8 bytes
1072 long. May be the same as the port name, for non-bonded ports. Must
1073 otherwise be unique among the names of ports, interfaces, and bridges
1078 <p>Ethernet address to set for this interface. If unset then the
1079 default MAC address is used:</p>
1081 <li>For the local interface, the default is the lowest-numbered MAC
1082 address among the other bridge ports, either the value of the
1083 <ref table="Port" column="mac"/> in its <ref table="Port"/> record,
1084 if set, or its actual MAC (for bonded ports, the MAC of its slave
1085 whose name is first in alphabetical order). Internal ports and
1086 bridge ports that are used as port mirroring destinations (see the
1087 <ref table="Mirror"/> table) are ignored.</li>
1088 <li>For other internal interfaces, the default MAC is randomly
1090 <li>External interfaces typically have a MAC address associated with
1091 their hardware.</li>
1093 <p>Some interfaces may not have a software-controllable MAC
1097 <column name="ofport">
1098 <p>OpenFlow port number for this interface. Unlike most columns, this
1099 column's value should be set only by Open vSwitch itself. Other
1100 clients should set this column to an empty set (the default) when
1101 creating an <ref table="Interface"/>.</p>
1102 <p>Open vSwitch populates this column when the port number becomes
1103 known. If the interface is successfully added,
1104 <ref column="ofport"/> will be set to a number between 1 and 65535
1105 (generally either in the range 1 to 65279, inclusive, or 65534, the
1106 port number for the OpenFlow ``local port''). If the interface
1107 cannot be added then Open vSwitch sets this column
1112 <group title="System-Specific Details">
1113 <column name="type">
1115 The interface type, one of:
1119 <dt><code>system</code></dt>
1120 <dd>An ordinary network device, e.g. <code>eth0</code> on Linux.
1121 Sometimes referred to as ``external interfaces'' since they are
1122 generally connected to hardware external to that on which the Open
1123 vSwitch is running. The empty string is a synonym for
1124 <code>system</code>.</dd>
1126 <dt><code>internal</code></dt>
1127 <dd>A simulated network device that sends and receives traffic. An
1128 internal interface whose <ref column="name"/> is the same as its
1129 bridge's <ref table="Open_vSwitch" column="name"/> is called the
1130 ``local interface.'' It does not make sense to bond an internal
1131 interface, so the terms ``port'' and ``interface'' are often used
1132 imprecisely for internal interfaces.</dd>
1134 <dt><code>tap</code></dt>
1135 <dd>A TUN/TAP device managed by Open vSwitch.</dd>
1137 <dt><code>gre</code></dt>
1139 An Ethernet over RFC 2890 Generic Routing Encapsulation over IPv4
1140 tunnel. See <ref group="Tunnel Options"/> for information on
1141 configuring GRE tunnels.
1144 <dt><code>ipsec_gre</code></dt>
1146 An Ethernet over RFC 2890 Generic Routing Encapsulation over IPv4
1150 <dt><code>capwap</code></dt>
1152 An Ethernet tunnel over the UDP transport portion of CAPWAP (RFC
1153 5415). This allows interoperability with certain switches that do
1154 not support GRE. Only the tunneling component of the protocol is
1155 implemented. UDP ports 58881 and 58882 are used as the source and
1156 destination ports respectively. CAPWAP is currently supported only
1157 with the Linux kernel datapath with kernel version 2.6.26 or later.
1160 <dt><code>patch</code></dt>
1162 A pair of virtual devices that act as a patch cable.
1165 <dt><code>null</code></dt>
1166 <dd>An ignored interface.</dd>
1171 <group title="Tunnel Options">
1173 These options apply to interfaces with <ref column="type"/> of
1174 <code>gre</code>, <code>ipsec_gre</code>, and <code>capwap</code>.
1178 Each tunnel must be uniquely identified by the combination of <ref
1179 column="type"/>, <ref column="options" key="remote_ip"/>, <ref
1180 column="options" key="local_ip"/>, and <ref column="options"
1181 key="in_key"/>. If two ports are defined that are the same except one
1182 has an optional identifier and the other does not, the more specific
1183 one is matched first. <ref column="options" key="in_key"/> is
1184 considered more specific than <ref column="options" key="local_ip"/> if
1185 a port defines one and another port defines the other.
1188 <column name="options" key="remote_ip">
1190 Required. The tunnel endpoint. Unicast and multicast endpoints are
1195 When a multicast endpoint is specified, a routing table lookup occurs
1196 only when the tunnel is created. Following a routing change, delete
1197 and then re-create the tunnel to force a new routing table lookup.
1201 <column name="options" key="local_ip">
1202 Optional. The destination IP that received packets must match.
1203 Default is to match all addresses. Must be omitted when <ref
1204 column="options" key="remote_ip"/> is a multicast address.
1207 <column name="options" key="in_key">
1208 <p>Optional. The key that received packets must contain, one of:</p>
1212 <code>0</code>. The tunnel receives packets with no key or with a
1213 key of 0. This is equivalent to specifying no <ref column="options"
1214 key="in_key"/> at all.
1217 A positive 32-bit (for GRE) or 64-bit (for CAPWAP) number. The
1218 tunnel receives only packets with the specified key.
1221 The word <code>flow</code>. The tunnel accepts packets with any
1222 key. The key will be placed in the <code>tun_id</code> field for
1223 matching in the flow table. The <code>ovs-ofctl</code> manual page
1224 contains additional information about matching fields in OpenFlow
1233 <column name="options" key="out_key">
1234 <p>Optional. The key to be set on outgoing packets, one of:</p>
1238 <code>0</code>. Packets sent through the tunnel will have no key.
1239 This is equivalent to specifying no <ref column="options"
1240 key="out_key"/> at all.
1243 A positive 32-bit (for GRE) or 64-bit (for CAPWAP) number. Packets
1244 sent through the tunnel will have the specified key.
1247 The word <code>flow</code>. Packets sent through the tunnel will
1248 have the key set using the <code>set_tunnel</code> Nicira OpenFlow
1249 vendor extension (0 is used in the absence of an action). The
1250 <code>ovs-ofctl</code> manual page contains additional information
1251 about the Nicira OpenFlow vendor extensions.
1256 <column name="options" key="key">
1257 Optional. Shorthand to set <code>in_key</code> and
1258 <code>out_key</code> at the same time.
1261 <column name="options" key="tos">
1262 Optional. The value of the ToS bits to be set on the encapsulating
1263 packet. It may also be the word <code>inherit</code>, in which case
1264 the ToS will be copied from the inner packet if it is IPv4 or IPv6
1265 (otherwise it will be 0). The ECN fields are always inherited.
1269 <column name="options" key="ttl">
1270 Optional. The TTL to be set on the encapsulating packet. It may also
1271 be the word <code>inherit</code>, in which case the TTL will be copied
1272 from the inner packet if it is IPv4 or IPv6 (otherwise it will be the
1273 system default, typically 64). Default is the system default TTL.
1276 <column name="options" key="df_inherit" type='{"type": "boolean"}'>
1277 Optional. If enabled, the Don't Fragment bit will be copied from the
1278 inner IP headers (those of the encapsulated traffic) to the outer
1279 (tunnel) headers. Default is disabled; set to <code>true</code> to
1283 <column name="options" key="df_default"
1284 type='{"type": "boolean"}'>
1285 Optional. If enabled, the Don't Fragment bit will be set by default on
1286 tunnel headers if the <code>df_inherit</code> option is not set, or if
1287 the encapsulated packet is not IP. Default is enabled; set to
1288 <code>false</code> to disable.
1291 <column name="options" key="pmtud" type='{"type": "boolean"}'>
1292 Optional. Enable tunnel path MTU discovery. If enabled ``ICMP
1293 Destination Unreachable - Fragmentation Needed'' messages will be
1294 generated for IPv4 packets with the DF bit set and IPv6 packets above
1295 the minimum MTU if the packet size exceeds the path MTU minus the size
1296 of the tunnel headers. Note that this option causes behavior that is
1297 typically reserved for routers and therefore is not entirely in
1298 compliance with the IEEE 802.1D specification for bridges. Default is
1299 enabled; set to <code>false</code> to disable.
1302 <group title="Tunnel Options: gre only">
1304 Only <code>gre</code> interfaces support these options.
1307 <column name="options" key="header_cache" type='{"type": "boolean"}'>
1308 Enable caching of tunnel headers and the output path. This can lead
1309 to a significant performance increase without changing behavior. In
1310 general it should not be necessary to adjust this setting. However,
1311 the caching can bypass certain components of the IP stack (such as
1312 <code>iptables</code>) and it may be useful to disable it if these
1313 features are required or as a debugging measure. Default is enabled,
1314 set to <code>false</code> to disable.
1318 <group title="Tunnel Options: gre and ipsec_gre only">
1320 Only <code>gre</code> and <code>ipsec_gre</code> interfaces support
1324 <column name="options" key="csum" type='{"type": "boolean"}'>
1326 Optional. Compute GRE checksums on outgoing packets. Default is
1327 disabled, set to <code>true</code> to enable. Checksums present on
1328 incoming packets will be validated regardless of this setting.
1332 GRE checksums impose a significant performance penalty because they
1333 cover the entire packet. The encapsulated L3, L4, and L7 packet
1334 contents typically have their own checksums, so this additional
1335 checksum only adds value for the GRE and encapsulated L2 headers.
1339 This option is supported for <code>ipsec_gre</code>, but not useful
1340 because GRE checksums are weaker than, and redundant with, IPsec
1341 payload authentication.
1346 <group title="Tunnel Options: ipsec_gre only">
1348 Only <code>ipsec_gre</code> interfaces support these options.
1351 <column name="options" key="peer_cert">
1352 Required for certificate authentication. A string containing the
1353 peer's certificate in PEM format. Additionally the host's
1354 certificate must be specified with the <code>certificate</code>
1358 <column name="options" key="certificate">
1359 Required for certificate authentication. The name of a PEM file
1360 containing a certificate that will be presented to the peer during
1364 <column name="options" key="private_key">
1365 Optional for certificate authentication. The name of a PEM file
1366 containing the private key associated with <code>certificate</code>.
1367 If <code>certificate</code> contains the private key, this option may
1371 <column name="options" key="psk">
1372 Required for pre-shared key authentication. Specifies a pre-shared
1373 key for authentication that must be identical on both sides of the
1379 <group title="Patch Options">
1381 Only <code>patch</code> interfaces support these options.
1384 <column name="options" key="peer">
1385 The <ref column="name"/> of the <ref table="Interface"/> for the other
1386 side of the patch. The named <ref table="Interface"/>'s own
1387 <code>peer</code> option must specify this <ref table="Interface"/>'s
1388 name. That is, the two patch interfaces must have reversed <ref
1389 column="name"/> and <code>peer</code> values.
1393 <group title="Interface Status">
1395 Status information about interfaces attached to bridges, updated every
1396 5 seconds. Not all interfaces have all of these properties; virtual
1397 interfaces don't have a link speed, for example. Non-applicable
1398 columns will have empty values.
1400 <column name="admin_state">
1402 The administrative state of the physical network link.
1406 <column name="link_state">
1408 The observed state of the physical network link. This is ordinarily
1409 the link's carrier status. If the interface's <ref table="Port"/> is
1410 a bond configured for miimon monitoring, it is instead the network
1411 link's miimon status.
1415 <column name="link_resets">
1417 The number of times Open vSwitch has observed the
1418 <ref column="link_state"/> of this <ref table="Interface"/> change.
1422 <column name="link_speed">
1424 The negotiated speed of the physical network link.
1425 Valid values are positive integers greater than 0.
1429 <column name="duplex">
1431 The duplex mode of the physical network link.
1437 The MTU (maximum transmission unit); i.e. the largest
1438 amount of data that can fit into a single Ethernet frame.
1439 The standard Ethernet MTU is 1500 bytes. Some physical media
1440 and many kinds of virtual interfaces can be configured with
1444 This column will be empty for an interface that does not
1445 have an MTU as, for example, some kinds of tunnels do not.
1449 <column name="lacp_current">
1450 Boolean value indicating LACP status for this interface. If true, this
1451 interface has current LACP information about its LACP partner. This
1452 information may be used to monitor the health of interfaces in a LACP
1453 enabled port. This column will be empty if LACP is not enabled.
1456 <column name="status">
1457 Key-value pairs that report port status. Supported status values are
1458 <ref column="type"/>-dependent; some interfaces may not have a valid
1459 <ref column="status" key="driver_name"/>, for example.
1462 <column name="status" key="driver_name">
1463 The name of the device driver controlling the network adapter.
1466 <column name="status" key="driver_version">
1467 The version string of the device driver controlling the network
1471 <column name="status" key="firmware_version">
1472 The version string of the network adapter's firmware, if available.
1475 <column name="status" key="source_ip">
1476 The source IP address used for an IPv4 tunnel end-point, such as
1477 <code>gre</code> or <code>capwap</code>.
1480 <column name="status" key="tunnel_egress_iface">
1481 Egress interface for tunnels. Currently only relevant for GRE and
1482 CAPWAP tunnels. On Linux systems, this column will show the name of
1483 the interface which is responsible for routing traffic destined for the
1484 configured <ref column="options" key="remote_ip"/>. This could be an
1485 internal interface such as a bridge port.
1488 <column name="status" key="tunnel_egress_iface_carrier"
1489 type='{"type": "string", "enum": ["set", ["down", "up"]]}'>
1490 Whether carrier is detected on <ref column="status"
1491 key="tunnel_egress_iface"/>.
1495 <group title="Statistics">
1497 Key-value pairs that report interface statistics. The current
1498 implementation updates these counters periodically. Future
1499 implementations may update them when an interface is created, when they
1500 are queried (e.g. using an OVSDB <code>select</code> operation), and
1501 just before an interface is deleted due to virtual interface hot-unplug
1502 or VM shutdown, and perhaps at other times, but not on any regular
1506 These are the same statistics reported by OpenFlow in its <code>struct
1507 ofp_port_stats</code> structure. If an interface does not support a
1508 given statistic, then that pair is omitted.
1510 <group title="Statistics: Successful transmit and receive counters">
1511 <column name="statistics" key="rx_packets">
1512 Number of received packets.
1514 <column name="statistics" key="rx_bytes">
1515 Number of received bytes.
1517 <column name="statistics" key="tx_packets">
1518 Number of transmitted packets.
1520 <column name="statistics" key="tx_bytes">
1521 Number of transmitted bytes.
1524 <group title="Statistics: Receive errors">
1525 <column name="statistics" key="rx_dropped">
1526 Number of packets dropped by RX.
1528 <column name="statistics" key="rx_frame_err">
1529 Number of frame alignment errors.
1531 <column name="statistics" key="rx_over_err">
1532 Number of packets with RX overrun.
1534 <column name="statistics" key="rx_crc_err">
1535 Number of CRC errors.
1537 <column name="statistics" key="rx_errors">
1538 Total number of receive errors, greater than or equal to the sum of
1542 <group title="Statistics: Transmit errors">
1543 <column name="statistics" key="tx_dropped">
1544 Number of packets dropped by TX.
1546 <column name="statistics" key="collisions">
1547 Number of collisions.
1549 <column name="statistics" key="tx_errors">
1550 Total number of transmit errors, greater than or equal to the sum of
1556 <group title="Ingress Policing">
1558 These settings control ingress policing for packets received on this
1559 interface. On a physical interface, this limits the rate at which
1560 traffic is allowed into the system from the outside; on a virtual
1561 interface (one connected to a virtual machine), this limits the rate at
1562 which the VM is able to transmit.
1565 Policing is a simple form of quality-of-service that simply drops
1566 packets received in excess of the configured rate. Due to its
1567 simplicity, policing is usually less accurate and less effective than
1568 egress QoS (which is configured using the <ref table="QoS"/> and <ref
1569 table="Queue"/> tables).
1572 Policing is currently implemented only on Linux. The Linux
1573 implementation uses a simple ``token bucket'' approach:
1577 The size of the bucket corresponds to <ref
1578 column="ingress_policing_burst"/>. Initially the bucket is full.
1581 Whenever a packet is received, its size (converted to tokens) is
1582 compared to the number of tokens currently in the bucket. If the
1583 required number of tokens are available, they are removed and the
1584 packet is forwarded. Otherwise, the packet is dropped.
1587 Whenever it is not full, the bucket is refilled with tokens at the
1588 rate specified by <ref column="ingress_policing_rate"/>.
1592 Policing interacts badly with some network protocols, and especially
1593 with fragmented IP packets. Suppose that there is enough network
1594 activity to keep the bucket nearly empty all the time. Then this token
1595 bucket algorithm will forward a single packet every so often, with the
1596 period depending on packet size and on the configured rate. All of the
1597 fragments of an IP packets are normally transmitted back-to-back, as a
1598 group. In such a situation, therefore, only one of these fragments
1599 will be forwarded and the rest will be dropped. IP does not provide
1600 any way for the intended recipient to ask for only the remaining
1601 fragments. In such a case there are two likely possibilities for what
1602 will happen next: either all of the fragments will eventually be
1603 retransmitted (as TCP will do), in which case the same problem will
1604 recur, or the sender will not realize that its packet has been dropped
1605 and data will simply be lost (as some UDP-based protocols will do).
1606 Either way, it is possible that no forward progress will ever occur.
1608 <column name="ingress_policing_rate">
1610 Maximum rate for data received on this interface, in kbps. Data
1611 received faster than this rate is dropped. Set to <code>0</code>
1612 (the default) to disable policing.
1616 <column name="ingress_policing_burst">
1617 <p>Maximum burst size for data received on this interface, in kb. The
1618 default burst size if set to <code>0</code> is 1000 kb. This value
1619 has no effect if <ref column="ingress_policing_rate"/>
1620 is <code>0</code>.</p>
1622 Specifying a larger burst size lets the algorithm be more forgiving,
1623 which is important for protocols like TCP that react severely to
1624 dropped packets. The burst size should be at least the size of the
1625 interface's MTU. Specifying a value that is numerically at least as
1626 large as 10% of <ref column="ingress_policing_rate"/> helps TCP come
1627 closer to achieving the full rate.
1632 <group title="Connectivity Fault Management">
1634 802.1ag Connectivity Fault Management (CFM) allows a group of
1635 Maintenance Points (MPs) called a Maintenance Association (MA) to
1636 detect connectivity problems with each other. MPs within a MA should
1637 have complete and exclusive interconnectivity. This is verified by
1638 occasionally broadcasting Continuity Check Messages (CCMs) at a
1639 configurable transmission interval.
1643 According to the 802.1ag specification, each Maintenance Point should
1644 be configured out-of-band with a list of Remote Maintenance Points it
1645 should have connectivity to. Open vSwitch differs from the
1646 specification in this area. It simply assumes the link is faulted if
1647 no Remote Maintenance Points are reachable, and considers it not
1651 <column name="cfm_mpid">
1652 A Maintenance Point ID (MPID) uniquely identifies each endpoint within
1653 a Maintenance Association. The MPID is used to identify this endpoint
1654 to other Maintenance Points in the MA. Each end of a link being
1655 monitored should have a different MPID. Must be configured to enable
1656 CFM on this <ref table="Interface"/>.
1659 <column name="cfm_fault">
1661 Indicates a connectivity fault triggered by an inability to receive
1662 heartbeats from any remote endpoint. When a fault is triggered on
1663 <ref table="Interface"/>s participating in bonds, they will be
1667 Faults can be triggered for several reasons. Most importantly they
1668 are triggered when no CCMs are received for a period of 3.5 times the
1669 transmission interval. Faults are also triggered when any CCMs
1670 indicate that a Remote Maintenance Point is not receiving CCMs but
1671 able to send them. Finally, a fault is triggered if a CCM is
1672 received which indicates unexpected configuration. Notably, this
1673 case arises when a CCM is received which advertises the local MPID.
1677 <column name="cfm_remote_mpids">
1678 When CFM is properly configured, Open vSwitch will occasionally
1679 receive CCM broadcasts. These broadcasts contain the MPID of the
1680 sending Maintenance Point. The list of MPIDs from which this
1681 <ref table="Interface"/> is receiving broadcasts from is regularly
1682 collected and written to this column.
1685 <column name="other_config" key="cfm_interval"
1686 type='{"type": "integer"}'>
1687 The interval, in milliseconds, between transmissions of CFM heartbeats.
1688 Three missed heartbeat receptions indicate a connectivity fault.
1692 <column name="other_config" key="cfm_extended"
1693 type='{"type": "boolean"}'>
1694 When <code>true</code>, the CFM module operates in extended mode. This
1695 causes it to use a nonstandard destination address to avoid conflicting
1696 with compliant implementations which may be running concurrently on the
1697 network. Furthermore, extended mode increases the accuracy of the
1698 <code>cfm_interval</code> configuration parameter by breaking wire
1699 compatibility with 802.1ag compliant implementations. Defaults to
1702 <column name="other_config" key="cfm_opstate"
1703 type='{"type": "string", "enum": ["set", ["down", "up"]]}'>
1704 When <code>down</code>, the CFM module marks all CCMs it generates as
1705 operationally down without triggering a fault. This allows remote
1706 maintenance points to choose not to forward traffic to the
1707 <ref table="Interface"/> on which this CFM module is running.
1708 Currently, in Open vSwitch, the opdown bit of CCMs affects
1709 <ref table="Interface"/>s participating in bonds, and the bundle
1710 OpenFlow action. This setting is ignored when CFM is not in extended
1711 mode. Defaults to <code>up</code>.
1714 <column name="other_config" key="cfm_ccm_vlan"
1715 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1, "maxInteger": 4095}'>
1716 When set, the CFM module will apply a VLAN tag to all CCMs it generates
1717 with the given value.
1722 <group title="Bonding Configuration">
1723 <column name="other_config" key="bond-stable-id"
1724 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1}'>
1725 Used in <code>stable</code> bond mode to make slave
1726 selection decisions. Allocating <ref column="other_config"
1727 key="bond-stable-id"/> values consistently across interfaces
1728 participating in a bond will guarantee consistent slave selection
1729 decisions across <code>ovs-vswitchd</code> instances when using
1730 <code>stable</code> bonding mode.
1733 <column name="other_config" key="lacp-port-id"
1734 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1, "maxInteger": 65535}'>
1735 The LACP port ID of this <ref table="Interface"/>. Port IDs are
1736 used in LACP negotiations to identify individual ports
1737 participating in a bond.
1740 <column name="other_config" key="lacp-port-priority"
1741 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1, "maxInteger": 65535}'>
1742 The LACP port priority of this <ref table="Interface"/>. In LACP
1743 negotiations <ref table="Interface"/>s with numerically lower
1744 priorities are preferred for aggregation.
1747 <column name="other_config" key="lacp-aggregation-key"
1748 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1, "maxInteger": 65535}'>
1749 The LACP aggregation key of this <ref table="Interface"/>. <ref
1750 table="Interface"/>s with different aggregation keys may not be active
1751 within a given <ref table="Port"/> at the same time.
1755 <group title="Virtual Machine Identifiers">
1757 These key-value pairs specifically apply to an interface that
1758 represents a virtual Ethernet interface connected to a virtual
1759 machine. These key-value pairs should not be present for other types
1760 of interfaces. Keys whose names end in <code>-uuid</code> have
1761 values that uniquely identify the entity in question. For a Citrix
1762 XenServer hypervisor, these values are UUIDs in RFC 4122 format.
1763 Other hypervisors may use other formats.
1766 <column name="external_ids" key="attached-mac">
1767 The MAC address programmed into the ``virtual hardware'' for this
1768 interface, in the form
1769 <var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>:<var>xx</var>.
1770 For Citrix XenServer, this is the value of the <code>MAC</code> field
1771 in the VIF record for this interface.
1774 <column name="external_ids" key="iface-id">
1775 A system-unique identifier for the interface. On XenServer, this will
1776 commonly be the same as <ref column="external_ids" key="xs-vif-uuid"/>.
1779 <column name="external_ids" key="xs-vif-uuid">
1780 The virtual interface associated with this interface.
1783 <column name="external_ids" key="xs-network-uuid">
1784 The virtual network to which this interface is attached.
1787 <column name="external_ids" key="xs-vm-uuid">
1788 The VM to which this interface belongs.
1792 <group title="VLAN Splinters">
1794 The ``VLAN splinters'' feature increases Open vSwitch compatibility
1795 with buggy network drivers in old versions of Linux that do not
1796 properly support VLANs when VLAN devices are not used, at some cost
1797 in memory and performance.
1801 When VLAN splinters are enabled on a particular interface, Open vSwitch
1802 creates a VLAN device for each in-use VLAN. For sending traffic tagged
1803 with a VLAN on the interface, it substitutes the VLAN device. Traffic
1804 received on the VLAN device is treated as if it had been received on
1805 the interface on the particular VLAN.
1809 VLAN splinters consider a VLAN to be in use if:
1814 The VLAN is the <ref table="Port" column="tag"/> value in any <ref
1815 table="Port"/> record.
1819 The VLAN is listed within the <ref table="Port" column="trunks"/>
1820 column of the <ref table="Port"/> record of an interface on which
1821 VLAN splinters are enabled.
1823 An empty <ref table="Port" column="trunks"/> does not influence the
1824 in-use VLANs: creating 4,096 VLAN devices is impractical because it
1825 will exceed the current 1,024 port per datapath limit.
1829 An OpenFlow flow within any bridge matches the VLAN.
1834 The same set of in-use VLANs applies to every interface on which VLAN
1835 splinters are enabled. That is, the set is not chosen separately for
1836 each interface but selected once as the union of all in-use VLANs based
1841 It does not make sense to enable VLAN splinters on an interface for an
1842 access port, or on an interface that is not a physical port.
1846 VLAN splinters are deprecated. When broken device drivers are no
1847 longer in widespread use, we will delete this feature.
1850 <column name="other_config" key="enable-vlan-splinters"
1851 type='{"type": "boolean"}'>
1853 Set to <code>true</code> to enable VLAN splinters on this interface.
1854 Defaults to <code>false</code>.
1858 VLAN splinters increase kernel and userspace memory overhead, so do
1859 not use them unless they are needed.
1864 <group title="Common Columns">
1865 The overall purpose of these columns is described under <code>Common
1866 Columns</code> at the beginning of this document.
1868 <column name="other_config"/>
1869 <column name="external_ids"/>
1873 <table name="QoS" title="Quality of Service configuration">
1874 <p>Quality of Service (QoS) configuration for each Port that
1877 <column name="type">
1878 <p>The type of QoS to implement. The <ref table="Open_vSwitch"
1879 column="capabilities"/> column in the <ref table="Open_vSwitch"/> table
1880 identifies the types that a switch actually supports. The currently
1881 defined types are listed below:</p>
1883 <dt><code>linux-htb</code></dt>
1885 Linux ``hierarchy token bucket'' classifier. See tc-htb(8) (also at
1886 <code>http://linux.die.net/man/8/tc-htb</code>) and the HTB manual
1887 (<code>http://luxik.cdi.cz/~devik/qos/htb/manual/userg.htm</code>)
1888 for information on how this classifier works and how to configure it.
1892 <dt><code>linux-hfsc</code></dt>
1894 Linux "Hierarchical Fair Service Curve" classifier.
1895 See <code>http://linux-ip.net/articles/hfsc.en/</code> for
1896 information on how this classifier works.
1901 <column name="queues">
1902 <p>A map from queue numbers to <ref table="Queue"/> records. The
1903 supported range of queue numbers depend on <ref column="type"/>. The
1904 queue numbers are the same as the <code>queue_id</code> used in
1905 OpenFlow in <code>struct ofp_action_enqueue</code> and other
1906 structures. Queue 0 is used by OpenFlow output actions that do not
1907 specify a specific queue.</p>
1910 <group title="Configuration for linux-htb and linux-hfsc">
1912 The <code>linux-htb</code> and <code>linux-hfsc</code> classes support
1913 the following key-value pair:
1916 <column name="other_config" key="max-rate" type='{"type": "integer"}'>
1917 Maximum rate shared by all queued traffic, in bit/s. Optional. If not
1918 specified, for physical interfaces, the default is the link rate. For
1919 other interfaces or if the link rate cannot be determined, the default
1920 is currently 100 Mbps.
1924 <group title="Common Columns">
1925 The overall purpose of these columns is described under <code>Common
1926 Columns</code> at the beginning of this document.
1928 <column name="other_config"/>
1929 <column name="external_ids"/>
1933 <table name="Queue" title="QoS output queue.">
1934 <p>A configuration for a port output queue, used in configuring Quality of
1935 Service (QoS) features. May be referenced by <ref column="queues"
1936 table="QoS"/> column in <ref table="QoS"/> table.</p>
1938 <column name="dscp">
1939 If set, Open vSwitch will mark all traffic egressing this
1940 <ref table="Queue"/> with the given DSCP bits. Traffic egressing the
1941 default <ref table="Queue"/> is only marked if it was explicitly selected
1942 as the <ref table="Queue"/> at the time the packet was output. If unset,
1943 the DSCP bits of traffic egressing this <ref table="Queue"/> will remain
1947 <group title="Configuration for linux-htb QoS">
1949 <ref table="QoS"/> <ref table="QoS" column="type"/>
1950 <code>linux-htb</code> may use <code>queue_id</code>s less than 61440.
1951 It has the following key-value pairs defined.
1954 <column name="other_config" key="min-rate"
1955 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1}'>
1956 Minimum guaranteed bandwidth, in bit/s.
1959 <column name="other_config" key="max-rate"
1960 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1}'>
1961 Maximum allowed bandwidth, in bit/s. Optional. If specified, the
1962 queue's rate will not be allowed to exceed the specified value, even
1963 if excess bandwidth is available. If unspecified, defaults to no
1967 <column name="other_config" key="burst"
1968 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1}'>
1969 Burst size, in bits. This is the maximum amount of ``credits'' that a
1970 queue can accumulate while it is idle. Optional. Details of the
1971 <code>linux-htb</code> implementation require a minimum burst size, so
1972 a too-small <code>burst</code> will be silently ignored.
1975 <column name="other_config" key="priority"
1976 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 0, "maxInteger": 4294967295}'>
1977 A queue with a smaller <code>priority</code> will receive all the
1978 excess bandwidth that it can use before a queue with a larger value
1979 receives any. Specific priority values are unimportant; only relative
1980 ordering matters. Defaults to 0 if unspecified.
1984 <group title="Configuration for linux-hfsc QoS">
1986 <ref table="QoS"/> <ref table="QoS" column="type"/>
1987 <code>linux-hfsc</code> may use <code>queue_id</code>s less than 61440.
1988 It has the following key-value pairs defined.
1991 <column name="other_config" key="min-rate"
1992 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1}'>
1993 Minimum guaranteed bandwidth, in bit/s.
1996 <column name="other_config" key="max-rate"
1997 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1}'>
1998 Maximum allowed bandwidth, in bit/s. Optional. If specified, the
1999 queue's rate will not be allowed to exceed the specified value, even if
2000 excess bandwidth is available. If unspecified, defaults to no
2005 <group title="Common Columns">
2006 The overall purpose of these columns is described under <code>Common
2007 Columns</code> at the beginning of this document.
2009 <column name="other_config"/>
2010 <column name="external_ids"/>
2014 <table name="Mirror" title="Port mirroring.">
2015 <p>A port mirror within a <ref table="Bridge"/>.</p>
2016 <p>A port mirror configures a bridge to send selected frames to special
2017 ``mirrored'' ports, in addition to their normal destinations. Mirroring
2018 traffic may also be referred to as SPAN or RSPAN, depending on how
2019 the mirrored traffic is sent.</p>
2021 <column name="name">
2022 Arbitrary identifier for the <ref table="Mirror"/>.
2025 <group title="Selecting Packets for Mirroring">
2027 To be selected for mirroring, a given packet must enter or leave the
2028 bridge through a selected port and it must also be in one of the
2032 <column name="select_all">
2033 If true, every packet arriving or departing on any port is
2034 selected for mirroring.
2037 <column name="select_dst_port">
2038 Ports on which departing packets are selected for mirroring.
2041 <column name="select_src_port">
2042 Ports on which arriving packets are selected for mirroring.
2045 <column name="select_vlan">
2046 VLANs on which packets are selected for mirroring. An empty set
2047 selects packets on all VLANs.
2051 <group title="Mirroring Destination Configuration">
2053 These columns are mutually exclusive. Exactly one of them must be
2057 <column name="output_port">
2058 <p>Output port for selected packets, if nonempty.</p>
2059 <p>Specifying a port for mirror output reserves that port exclusively
2060 for mirroring. No frames other than those selected for mirroring
2062 will be forwarded to the port, and any frames received on the port
2063 will be discarded.</p>
2065 The output port may be any kind of port supported by Open vSwitch.
2066 It may be, for example, a physical port (sometimes called SPAN) or a
2071 <column name="output_vlan">
2072 <p>Output VLAN for selected packets, if nonempty.</p>
2073 <p>The frames will be sent out all ports that trunk
2074 <ref column="output_vlan"/>, as well as any ports with implicit VLAN
2075 <ref column="output_vlan"/>. When a mirrored frame is sent out a
2076 trunk port, the frame's VLAN tag will be set to
2077 <ref column="output_vlan"/>, replacing any existing tag; when it is
2078 sent out an implicit VLAN port, the frame will not be tagged. This
2079 type of mirroring is sometimes called RSPAN.</p>
2081 The following destination MAC addresses will not be mirrored to a
2082 VLAN to avoid confusing switches that interpret the protocols that
2086 <dt><code>01:80:c2:00:00:00</code></dt>
2087 <dd>IEEE 802.1D Spanning Tree Protocol (STP).</dd>
2089 <dt><code>01:80:c2:00:00:01</code></dt>
2090 <dd>IEEE Pause frame.</dd>
2092 <dt><code>01:80:c2:00:00:0<var>x</var></code></dt>
2093 <dd>Other reserved protocols.</dd>
2095 <dt><code>01:00:0c:cc:cc:cc</code></dt>
2097 Cisco Discovery Protocol (CDP), VLAN Trunking Protocol (VTP),
2098 Dynamic Trunking Protocol (DTP), Port Aggregation Protocol (PAgP),
2102 <dt><code>01:00:0c:cc:cc:cd</code></dt>
2103 <dd>Cisco Shared Spanning Tree Protocol PVSTP+.</dd>
2105 <dt><code>01:00:0c:cd:cd:cd</code></dt>
2106 <dd>Cisco STP Uplink Fast.</dd>
2108 <dt><code>01:00:0c:00:00:00</code></dt>
2109 <dd>Cisco Inter Switch Link.</dd>
2111 <p><em>Please note:</em> Mirroring to a VLAN can disrupt a network that
2112 contains unmanaged switches. Consider an unmanaged physical switch
2113 with two ports: port 1, connected to an end host, and port 2,
2114 connected to an Open vSwitch configured to mirror received packets
2115 into VLAN 123 on port 2. Suppose that the end host sends a packet on
2116 port 1 that the physical switch forwards to port 2. The Open vSwitch
2117 forwards this packet to its destination and then reflects it back on
2118 port 2 in VLAN 123. This reflected packet causes the unmanaged
2119 physical switch to replace the MAC learning table entry, which
2120 correctly pointed to port 1, with one that incorrectly points to port
2121 2. Afterward, the physical switch will direct packets destined for
2122 the end host to the Open vSwitch on port 2, instead of to the end
2123 host on port 1, disrupting connectivity. If mirroring to a VLAN is
2124 desired in this scenario, then the physical switch must be replaced
2125 by one that learns Ethernet addresses on a per-VLAN basis. In
2126 addition, learning should be disabled on the VLAN containing mirrored
2127 traffic. If this is not done then intermediate switches will learn
2128 the MAC address of each end host from the mirrored traffic. If
2129 packets being sent to that end host are also mirrored, then they will
2130 be dropped since the switch will attempt to send them out the input
2131 port. Disabling learning for the VLAN will cause the switch to
2132 correctly send the packet out all ports configured for that VLAN. If
2133 Open vSwitch is being used as an intermediate switch, learning can be
2134 disabled by adding the mirrored VLAN to <ref column="flood_vlans"/>
2135 in the appropriate <ref table="Bridge"/> table or tables.</p>
2137 Mirroring to a GRE tunnel has fewer caveats than mirroring to a
2138 VLAN and should generally be preferred.
2143 <group title="Statistics: Mirror counters">
2145 Key-value pairs that report mirror statistics.
2147 <column name="statistics" key="tx_packets">
2148 Number of packets transmitted through this mirror.
2150 <column name="statistics" key="tx_bytes">
2151 Number of bytes transmitted through this mirror.
2155 <group title="Common Columns">
2156 The overall purpose of these columns is described under <code>Common
2157 Columns</code> at the beginning of this document.
2159 <column name="external_ids"/>
2163 <table name="Controller" title="OpenFlow controller configuration.">
2164 <p>An OpenFlow controller.</p>
2167 Open vSwitch supports two kinds of OpenFlow controllers:
2171 <dt>Primary controllers</dt>
2174 This is the kind of controller envisioned by the OpenFlow 1.0
2175 specification. Usually, a primary controller implements a network
2176 policy by taking charge of the switch's flow table.
2180 Open vSwitch initiates and maintains persistent connections to
2181 primary controllers, retrying the connection each time it fails or
2182 drops. The <ref table="Bridge" column="fail_mode"/> column in the
2183 <ref table="Bridge"/> table applies to primary controllers.
2187 Open vSwitch permits a bridge to have any number of primary
2188 controllers. When multiple controllers are configured, Open
2189 vSwitch connects to all of them simultaneously. Because
2190 OpenFlow 1.0 does not specify how multiple controllers
2191 coordinate in interacting with a single switch, more than
2192 one primary controller should be specified only if the
2193 controllers are themselves designed to coordinate with each
2194 other. (The Nicira-defined <code>NXT_ROLE</code> OpenFlow
2195 vendor extension may be useful for this.)
2198 <dt>Service controllers</dt>
2201 These kinds of OpenFlow controller connections are intended for
2202 occasional support and maintenance use, e.g. with
2203 <code>ovs-ofctl</code>. Usually a service controller connects only
2204 briefly to inspect or modify some of a switch's state.
2208 Open vSwitch listens for incoming connections from service
2209 controllers. The service controllers initiate and, if necessary,
2210 maintain the connections from their end. The <ref table="Bridge"
2211 column="fail_mode"/> column in the <ref table="Bridge"/> table does
2212 not apply to service controllers.
2216 Open vSwitch supports configuring any number of service controllers.
2222 The <ref column="target"/> determines the type of controller.
2225 <group title="Core Features">
2226 <column name="target">
2227 <p>Connection method for controller.</p>
2229 The following connection methods are currently supported for primary
2233 <dt><code>ssl:<var>ip</var></code>[<code>:<var>port</var></code>]</dt>
2235 <p>The specified SSL <var>port</var> (default: 6633) on the host at
2236 the given <var>ip</var>, which must be expressed as an IP address
2237 (not a DNS name). The <ref table="Open_vSwitch" column="ssl"/>
2238 column in the <ref table="Open_vSwitch"/> table must point to a
2239 valid SSL configuration when this form is used.</p>
2240 <p>SSL support is an optional feature that is not always built as
2241 part of Open vSwitch.</p>
2243 <dt><code>tcp:<var>ip</var></code>[<code>:<var>port</var></code>]</dt>
2244 <dd>The specified TCP <var>port</var> (default: 6633) on the host at
2245 the given <var>ip</var>, which must be expressed as an IP address
2246 (not a DNS name).</dd>
2249 The following connection methods are currently supported for service
2253 <dt><code>pssl:</code>[<var>port</var>][<code>:<var>ip</var></code>]</dt>
2256 Listens for SSL connections on the specified TCP <var>port</var>
2257 (default: 6633). If <var>ip</var>, which must be expressed as an
2258 IP address (not a DNS name), is specified, then connections are
2259 restricted to the specified local IP address.
2262 The <ref table="Open_vSwitch" column="ssl"/> column in the <ref
2263 table="Open_vSwitch"/> table must point to a valid SSL
2264 configuration when this form is used.
2266 <p>SSL support is an optional feature that is not always built as
2267 part of Open vSwitch.</p>
2269 <dt><code>ptcp:</code>[<var>port</var>][<code>:<var>ip</var></code>]</dt>
2271 Listens for connections on the specified TCP <var>port</var>
2272 (default: 6633). If <var>ip</var>, which must be expressed as an
2273 IP address (not a DNS name), is specified, then connections are
2274 restricted to the specified local IP address.
2277 <p>When multiple controllers are configured for a single bridge, the
2278 <ref column="target"/> values must be unique. Duplicate
2279 <ref column="target"/> values yield unspecified results.</p>
2282 <column name="connection_mode">
2283 <p>If it is specified, this setting must be one of the following
2284 strings that describes how Open vSwitch contacts this OpenFlow
2285 controller over the network:</p>
2288 <dt><code>in-band</code></dt>
2289 <dd>In this mode, this controller's OpenFlow traffic travels over the
2290 bridge associated with the controller. With this setting, Open
2291 vSwitch allows traffic to and from the controller regardless of the
2292 contents of the OpenFlow flow table. (Otherwise, Open vSwitch
2293 would never be able to connect to the controller, because it did
2294 not have a flow to enable it.) This is the most common connection
2295 mode because it is not necessary to maintain two independent
2297 <dt><code>out-of-band</code></dt>
2298 <dd>In this mode, OpenFlow traffic uses a control network separate
2299 from the bridge associated with this controller, that is, the
2300 bridge does not use any of its own network devices to communicate
2301 with the controller. The control network must be configured
2302 separately, before or after <code>ovs-vswitchd</code> is started.
2306 <p>If not specified, the default is implementation-specific.</p>
2310 <group title="Controller Failure Detection and Handling">
2311 <column name="max_backoff">
2312 Maximum number of milliseconds to wait between connection attempts.
2313 Default is implementation-specific.
2316 <column name="inactivity_probe">
2317 Maximum number of milliseconds of idle time on connection to
2318 controller before sending an inactivity probe message. If Open
2319 vSwitch does not communicate with the controller for the specified
2320 number of seconds, it will send a probe. If a response is not
2321 received for the same additional amount of time, Open vSwitch
2322 assumes the connection has been broken and attempts to reconnect.
2323 Default is implementation-specific. A value of 0 disables
2328 <group title="OpenFlow Rate Limiting">
2329 <column name="controller_rate_limit">
2330 <p>The maximum rate at which packets in unknown flows will be
2331 forwarded to the OpenFlow controller, in packets per second. This
2332 feature prevents a single bridge from overwhelming the controller.
2333 If not specified, the default is implementation-specific.</p>
2334 <p>In addition, when a high rate triggers rate-limiting, Open
2335 vSwitch queues controller packets for each port and transmits
2336 them to the controller at the configured rate. The number of
2337 queued packets is limited by
2338 the <ref column="controller_burst_limit"/> value. The packet
2339 queue is shared fairly among the ports on a bridge.</p><p>Open
2340 vSwitch maintains two such packet rate-limiters per bridge.
2341 One of these applies to packets sent up to the controller
2342 because they do not correspond to any flow. The other applies
2343 to packets sent up to the controller by request through flow
2344 actions. When both rate-limiters are filled with packets, the
2345 actual rate that packets are sent to the controller is up to
2346 twice the specified rate.</p>
2349 <column name="controller_burst_limit">
2350 In conjunction with <ref column="controller_rate_limit"/>,
2351 the maximum number of unused packet credits that the bridge will
2352 allow to accumulate, in packets. If not specified, the default
2353 is implementation-specific.
2357 <group title="Additional In-Band Configuration">
2358 <p>These values are considered only in in-band control mode (see
2359 <ref column="connection_mode"/>).</p>
2361 <p>When multiple controllers are configured on a single bridge, there
2362 should be only one set of unique values in these columns. If different
2363 values are set for these columns in different controllers, the effect
2366 <column name="local_ip">
2367 The IP address to configure on the local port,
2368 e.g. <code>192.168.0.123</code>. If this value is unset, then
2369 <ref column="local_netmask"/> and <ref column="local_gateway"/> are
2373 <column name="local_netmask">
2374 The IP netmask to configure on the local port,
2375 e.g. <code>255.255.255.0</code>. If <ref column="local_ip"/> is set
2376 but this value is unset, then the default is chosen based on whether
2377 the IP address is class A, B, or C.
2380 <column name="local_gateway">
2381 The IP address of the gateway to configure on the local port, as a
2382 string, e.g. <code>192.168.0.1</code>. Leave this column unset if
2383 this network has no gateway.
2387 <group title="Controller Status">
2388 <column name="is_connected">
2389 <code>true</code> if currently connected to this controller,
2390 <code>false</code> otherwise.
2394 type='{"type": "string", "enum": ["set", ["other", "master", "slave"]]}'>
2395 <p>The level of authority this controller has on the associated
2396 bridge. Possible values are:</p>
2398 <dt><code>other</code></dt>
2399 <dd>Allows the controller access to all OpenFlow features.</dd>
2400 <dt><code>master</code></dt>
2401 <dd>Equivalent to <code>other</code>, except that there may be at
2402 most one master controller at a time. When a controller configures
2403 itself as <code>master</code>, any existing master is demoted to
2404 the <code>slave</code>role.</dd>
2405 <dt><code>slave</code></dt>
2406 <dd>Allows the controller read-only access to OpenFlow features.
2407 Attempts to modify the flow table will be rejected with an
2408 error. Slave controllers do not receive OFPT_PACKET_IN or
2409 OFPT_FLOW_REMOVED messages, but they do receive OFPT_PORT_STATUS
2414 <column name="status" key="last_error">
2415 A human-readable description of the last error on the connection
2416 to the controller; i.e. <code>strerror(errno)</code>. This key
2417 will exist only if an error has occurred.
2420 <column name="status" key="state"
2421 type='{"type": "string", "enum": ["set", ["VOID", "BACKOFF", "CONNECTING", "ACTIVE", "IDLE"]]}'>
2423 The state of the connection to the controller:
2426 <dt><code>VOID</code></dt>
2427 <dd>Connection is disabled.</dd>
2429 <dt><code>BACKOFF</code></dt>
2430 <dd>Attempting to reconnect at an increasing period.</dd>
2432 <dt><code>CONNECTING</code></dt>
2433 <dd>Attempting to connect.</dd>
2435 <dt><code>ACTIVE</code></dt>
2436 <dd>Connected, remote host responsive.</dd>
2438 <dt><code>IDLE</code></dt>
2439 <dd>Connection is idle. Waiting for response to keep-alive.</dd>
2442 These values may change in the future. They are provided only for
2447 <column name="status" key="sec_since_connect"
2448 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 0}'>
2449 The amount of time since this controller last successfully connected to
2450 the switch (in seconds). Value is empty if controller has never
2451 successfully connected.
2454 <column name="status" key="sec_since_disconnect"
2455 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 1}'>
2456 The amount of time since this controller last disconnected from
2457 the switch (in seconds). Value is empty if controller has never
2462 <group title="Common Columns">
2463 The overall purpose of these columns is described under <code>Common
2464 Columns</code> at the beginning of this document.
2466 <column name="external_ids"/>
2470 <table name="Manager" title="OVSDB management connection.">
2472 Configuration for a database connection to an Open vSwitch database
2477 This table primarily configures the Open vSwitch database
2478 (<code>ovsdb-server</code>), not the Open vSwitch switch
2479 (<code>ovs-vswitchd</code>). The switch does read the table to determine
2480 what connections should be treated as in-band.
2484 The Open vSwitch database server can initiate and maintain active
2485 connections to remote clients. It can also listen for database
2489 <group title="Core Features">
2490 <column name="target">
2491 <p>Connection method for managers.</p>
2493 The following connection methods are currently supported:
2496 <dt><code>ssl:<var>ip</var></code>[<code>:<var>port</var></code>]</dt>
2499 The specified SSL <var>port</var> (default: 6632) on the host at
2500 the given <var>ip</var>, which must be expressed as an IP address
2501 (not a DNS name). The <ref table="Open_vSwitch" column="ssl"/>
2502 column in the <ref table="Open_vSwitch"/> table must point to a
2503 valid SSL configuration when this form is used.
2506 SSL support is an optional feature that is not always built as
2507 part of Open vSwitch.
2511 <dt><code>tcp:<var>ip</var></code>[<code>:<var>port</var></code>]</dt>
2513 The specified TCP <var>port</var> (default: 6632) on the host at
2514 the given <var>ip</var>, which must be expressed as an IP address
2517 <dt><code>pssl:</code>[<var>port</var>][<code>:<var>ip</var></code>]</dt>
2520 Listens for SSL connections on the specified TCP <var>port</var>
2521 (default: 6632). If <var>ip</var>, which must be expressed as an
2522 IP address (not a DNS name), is specified, then connections are
2523 restricted to the specified local IP address.
2526 The <ref table="Open_vSwitch" column="ssl"/> column in the <ref
2527 table="Open_vSwitch"/> table must point to a valid SSL
2528 configuration when this form is used.
2531 SSL support is an optional feature that is not always built as
2532 part of Open vSwitch.
2535 <dt><code>ptcp:</code>[<var>port</var>][<code>:<var>ip</var></code>]</dt>
2537 Listens for connections on the specified TCP <var>port</var>
2538 (default: 6632). If <var>ip</var>, which must be expressed as an
2539 IP address (not a DNS name), is specified, then connections are
2540 restricted to the specified local IP address.
2543 <p>When multiple managers are configured, the <ref column="target"/>
2544 values must be unique. Duplicate <ref column="target"/> values yield
2545 unspecified results.</p>
2548 <column name="connection_mode">
2550 If it is specified, this setting must be one of the following strings
2551 that describes how Open vSwitch contacts this OVSDB client over the
2556 <dt><code>in-band</code></dt>
2558 In this mode, this connection's traffic travels over a bridge
2559 managed by Open vSwitch. With this setting, Open vSwitch allows
2560 traffic to and from the client regardless of the contents of the
2561 OpenFlow flow table. (Otherwise, Open vSwitch would never be able
2562 to connect to the client, because it did not have a flow to enable
2563 it.) This is the most common connection mode because it is not
2564 necessary to maintain two independent networks.
2566 <dt><code>out-of-band</code></dt>
2568 In this mode, the client's traffic uses a control network separate
2569 from that managed by Open vSwitch, that is, Open vSwitch does not
2570 use any of its own network devices to communicate with the client.
2571 The control network must be configured separately, before or after
2572 <code>ovs-vswitchd</code> is started.
2577 If not specified, the default is implementation-specific.
2582 <group title="Client Failure Detection and Handling">
2583 <column name="max_backoff">
2584 Maximum number of milliseconds to wait between connection attempts.
2585 Default is implementation-specific.
2588 <column name="inactivity_probe">
2589 Maximum number of milliseconds of idle time on connection to the client
2590 before sending an inactivity probe message. If Open vSwitch does not
2591 communicate with the client for the specified number of seconds, it
2592 will send a probe. If a response is not received for the same
2593 additional amount of time, Open vSwitch assumes the connection has been
2594 broken and attempts to reconnect. Default is implementation-specific.
2595 A value of 0 disables inactivity probes.
2599 <group title="Status">
2600 <column name="is_connected">
2601 <code>true</code> if currently connected to this manager,
2602 <code>false</code> otherwise.
2605 <column name="status" key="last_error">
2606 A human-readable description of the last error on the connection
2607 to the manager; i.e. <code>strerror(errno)</code>. This key
2608 will exist only if an error has occurred.
2611 <column name="status" key="state"
2612 type='{"type": "string", "enum": ["set", ["VOID", "BACKOFF", "CONNECTING", "ACTIVE", "IDLE"]]}'>
2614 The state of the connection to the manager:
2617 <dt><code>VOID</code></dt>
2618 <dd>Connection is disabled.</dd>
2620 <dt><code>BACKOFF</code></dt>
2621 <dd>Attempting to reconnect at an increasing period.</dd>
2623 <dt><code>CONNECTING</code></dt>
2624 <dd>Attempting to connect.</dd>
2626 <dt><code>ACTIVE</code></dt>
2627 <dd>Connected, remote host responsive.</dd>
2629 <dt><code>IDLE</code></dt>
2630 <dd>Connection is idle. Waiting for response to keep-alive.</dd>
2633 These values may change in the future. They are provided only for
2638 <column name="status" key="sec_since_connect"
2639 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 0}'>
2640 The amount of time since this manager last successfully connected
2641 to the database (in seconds). Value is empty if manager has never
2642 successfully connected.
2645 <column name="status" key="sec_since_disconnect"
2646 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 0}'>
2647 The amount of time since this manager last disconnected from the
2648 database (in seconds). Value is empty if manager has never
2652 <column name="status" key="locks_held">
2653 Space-separated list of the names of OVSDB locks that the connection
2654 holds. Omitted if the connection does not hold any locks.
2657 <column name="status" key="locks_waiting">
2658 Space-separated list of the names of OVSDB locks that the connection is
2659 currently waiting to acquire. Omitted if the connection is not waiting
2663 <column name="status" key="locks_lost">
2664 Space-separated list of the names of OVSDB locks that the connection
2665 has had stolen by another OVSDB client. Omitted if no locks have been
2666 stolen from this connection.
2669 <column name="status" key="n_connections"
2670 type='{"type": "integer", "minInteger": 2}'>
2672 When <ref column="target"/> specifies a connection method that
2673 listens for inbound connections (e.g. <code>ptcp:</code> or
2674 <code>pssl:</code>) and more than one connection is actually active,
2675 the value is the number of active connections. Otherwise, this
2676 key-value pair is omitted.
2679 When multiple connections are active, status columns and key-value
2680 pairs (other than this one) report the status of one arbitrarily
2686 <group title="Common Columns">
2687 The overall purpose of these columns is described under <code>Common
2688 Columns</code> at the beginning of this document.
2690 <column name="external_ids"/>
2694 <table name="NetFlow">
2695 A NetFlow target. NetFlow is a protocol that exports a number of
2696 details about terminating IP flows, such as the principals involved
2699 <column name="targets">
2700 NetFlow targets in the form
2701 <code><var>ip</var>:<var>port</var></code>. The <var>ip</var>
2702 must be specified numerically, not as a DNS name.
2705 <column name="engine_id">
2706 Engine ID to use in NetFlow messages. Defaults to datapath index
2710 <column name="engine_type">
2711 Engine type to use in NetFlow messages. Defaults to datapath
2712 index if not specified.
2715 <column name="active_timeout">
2716 The interval at which NetFlow records are sent for flows that are
2717 still active, in seconds. A value of <code>0</code> requests the
2718 default timeout (currently 600 seconds); a value of <code>-1</code>
2719 disables active timeouts.
2722 <column name="add_id_to_interface">
2723 <p>If this column's value is <code>false</code>, the ingress and egress
2724 interface fields of NetFlow flow records are derived from OpenFlow port
2725 numbers. When it is <code>true</code>, the 7 most significant bits of
2726 these fields will be replaced by the least significant 7 bits of the
2727 engine id. This is useful because many NetFlow collectors do not
2728 expect multiple switches to be sending messages from the same host, so
2729 they do not store the engine information which could be used to
2730 disambiguate the traffic.</p>
2731 <p>When this option is enabled, a maximum of 508 ports are supported.</p>
2734 <group title="Common Columns">
2735 The overall purpose of these columns is described under <code>Common
2736 Columns</code> at the beginning of this document.
2738 <column name="external_ids"/>
2743 SSL configuration for an Open_vSwitch.
2745 <column name="private_key">
2746 Name of a PEM file containing the private key used as the switch's
2747 identity for SSL connections to the controller.
2750 <column name="certificate">
2751 Name of a PEM file containing a certificate, signed by the
2752 certificate authority (CA) used by the controller and manager,
2753 that certifies the switch's private key, identifying a trustworthy
2757 <column name="ca_cert">
2758 Name of a PEM file containing the CA certificate used to verify
2759 that the switch is connected to a trustworthy controller.
2762 <column name="bootstrap_ca_cert">
2763 If set to <code>true</code>, then Open vSwitch will attempt to
2764 obtain the CA certificate from the controller on its first SSL
2765 connection and save it to the named PEM file. If it is successful,
2766 it will immediately drop the connection and reconnect, and from then
2767 on all SSL connections must be authenticated by a certificate signed
2768 by the CA certificate thus obtained. <em>This option exposes the
2769 SSL connection to a man-in-the-middle attack obtaining the initial
2770 CA certificate.</em> It may still be useful for bootstrapping.
2773 <group title="Common Columns">
2774 The overall purpose of these columns is described under <code>Common
2775 Columns</code> at the beginning of this document.
2777 <column name="external_ids"/>
2781 <table name="sFlow">
2782 <p>An sFlow(R) target. sFlow is a protocol for remote monitoring
2785 <column name="agent">
2786 Name of the network device whose IP address should be reported as the
2787 ``agent address'' to collectors. If not specified, the agent device is
2788 figured from the first target address and the routing table. If the
2789 routing table does not contain a route to the target, the IP address
2790 defaults to the <ref table="Controller" column="local_ip"/> in the
2791 collector's <ref table="Controller"/>. If an agent IP address cannot be
2792 determined any of these ways, sFlow is disabled.
2795 <column name="header">
2796 Number of bytes of a sampled packet to send to the collector.
2797 If not specified, the default is 128 bytes.
2800 <column name="polling">
2801 Polling rate in seconds to send port statistics to the collector.
2802 If not specified, defaults to 30 seconds.
2805 <column name="sampling">
2806 Rate at which packets should be sampled and sent to the collector.
2807 If not specified, defaults to 400, which means one out of 400
2808 packets, on average, will be sent to the collector.
2811 <column name="targets">
2812 sFlow targets in the form
2813 <code><var>ip</var>:<var>port</var></code>.
2816 <group title="Common Columns">
2817 The overall purpose of these columns is described under <code>Common
2818 Columns</code> at the beginning of this document.
2820 <column name="external_ids"/>
2824 <table name="Capability">
2825 <p>Records in this table describe functionality supported by the hardware
2826 and software platform on which this Open vSwitch is based. Clients
2827 should not modify this table.</p>
2829 <p>A record in this table is meaningful only if it is referenced by the
2830 <ref table="Open_vSwitch" column="capabilities"/> column in the
2831 <ref table="Open_vSwitch"/> table. The key used to reference it, called
2832 the record's ``category,'' determines the meanings of the
2833 <ref column="details"/> column. The following general forms of
2834 categories are currently defined:</p>
2837 <dt><code>qos-<var>type</var></code></dt>
2838 <dd><var>type</var> is supported as the value for
2839 <ref column="type" table="QoS"/> in the <ref table="QoS"/> table.
2843 <column name="details">
2844 <p>Key-value pairs that describe capabilities. The meaning of the pairs
2845 depends on the category key that the <ref table="Open_vSwitch"
2846 column="capabilities"/> column in the <ref table="Open_vSwitch"/> table
2847 uses to reference this record, as described above.</p>
2849 <p>The presence of a record for category <code>qos-<var>type</var></code>
2850 indicates that the switch supports <var>type</var> as the value of
2851 the <ref table="QoS" column="type"/> column in the <ref table="QoS"/>
2852 table. The following key-value pairs are defined to further describe
2853 QoS capabilities:</p>
2856 <dt><code>n-queues</code></dt>
2857 <dd>Number of supported queues, as a positive integer. Keys in the
2858 <ref table="QoS" column="queues"/> column for <ref table="QoS"/>
2859 records whose <ref table="QoS" column="type"/> value
2860 equals <var>type</var> must range between 0 and this value minus one,