A database with this schema holds the configuration for one Open
vSwitch daemon. The root of the configuration for the daemon is
@@ -15,11 +16,6 @@
Set of bridges managed by the daemon.
-
- Remote database clients to which the Open vSwitch's database server
- should connect or to which it should listen.
-
-
SSL used globally by the daemon.
@@ -32,11 +28,20 @@
choose key names that are likely to be unique. The currently
defined common key-value pairs are:
-
system-uuid
-
A universally unique identifier for the Open vSwitch's
- physical host. The form of the identifier depends on the
- type of the host. On a Citrix XenServer, this is the host
- UUID displayed by, e.g., xe host-list.
+
system-type
+
An identifier for the switch type, such as
+ XenServer or KVM.
+
system-version
+
The version of the switch software, such as
+ 5.6.0 on XenServer.
+
system-id
+
A unique identifier for the Open vSwitch's physical host.
+ The form of the identifier depends on the type of the host.
+ On a Citrix XenServer, this will likely be the same as
+ xs-system-uuid.
+
xs-system-uuid
+
The Citrix XenServer universally unique identifier for the
+ physical host as displayed by xe host-list.
@@ -65,24 +70,172 @@
- Key-value pairs that report statistics about a running Open_vSwitch
- daemon. The current implementation updates these counters
- periodically. In the future, we plan to, instead, update them only
- when they are queried (e.g. using an OVSDB select
- operation) and perhaps at other times, but not on any regular
- periodic basis.
-
- The currently defined key-value pairs are listed below. Some Open
- vSwitch implementations may not support some statistics, in which
- case those key-value pairs are omitted.
+ Key-value pairs that report statistics about a system running an Open
+ vSwitch. These are updated periodically (currently, every 5
+ seconds). Key-value pairs that cannot be determined or that do not
+ apply to a platform are omitted.
+
+
-
load-average
+
cpu
- System load average multiplied by 100 and rounded to the nearest
- integer.
+
+ Number of CPU processors, threads, or cores currently online and
+ available to the operating system on which Open vSwitch is
+ running, as an integer. This may be less than the number
+ installed, if some are not online or if they are not available to
+ the operating system.
+
+
+ Open vSwitch userspace processes are not multithreaded, but the
+ Linux kernel-based datapath is.
+
+
+
+
load_average
+
+
+ A comma-separated list of three floating-point numbers,
+ representing the system load average over the last 1, 5, and 15
+ minutes, respectively.
+
+
+
+
memory
+
+
+ A comma-separated list of integers, each of which represents a
+ quantity of memory in kilobytes that describes the operating
+ system on which Open vSwitch is running. In respective order,
+ these values are:
+
+
+
+
Total amount of RAM allocated to the OS.
+
RAM allocated to the OS that is in use.
+
RAM that can be flushed out to disk or otherwise discarded
+ if that space is needed for another purpose. This number is
+ necessarily less than or equal to the previous value.
+
Total disk space allocated for swap.
+
Swap space currently in use.
+
+
+
+ On Linux, all five values can be determined and are included. On
+ other operating systems, only the first two values can be
+ determined, so the list will only have two values.
+
+
+
+
process_name
+
+
+ One such key-value pair will exist for each running Open vSwitch
+ daemon process, with name replaced by the daemon's
+ name (e.g. process_ovs-vswitchd). The value is a
+ comma-separated list of integers. The integers represent the
+ following, with memory measured in kilobytes and durations in
+ milliseconds:
+
+
+
+
The process's virtual memory size.
+
The process's resident set size.
+
The amount of user and system CPU time consumed by the
+ process.
+
The number of times that the process has crashed and been
+ automatically restarted by the monitor.
+
The duration since the process was started.
+
The duration for which the process has been running.
+
+
+
+ The interpretation of some of these values depends on whether the
+ process was started with the . If it
+ was not, then the crash count will always be 0 and the two
+ durations will always be the same. If
+ was given, then the crash count may be positive; if it is, the
+ latter duration is the amount of time since the most recent crash
+ and restart.
+
+
+
+ There will be one key-value pair for each file in Open vSwitch's
+ ``run directory'' (usually /var/run/openvswitch)
+ whose name ends in .pid, whose contents are a
+ process ID, and which is locked by a running process. The
+ name is taken from the pidfile's name.
+
+
+
+ Currently Open vSwitch is only able to obtain all of the above
+ detail on Linux systems. On other systems, the same key-value
+ pairs will be present but the values will always be the empty
+ string.
+
+
+
+
file_systems
+
+
+ A space-separated list of information on local, writable file
+ systems. Each item in the list describes one file system and
+ consists in turn of a comma-separated list of the following:
+
+
+
+
Mount point, e.g. / or /var/log.
+ Any spaces or commas in the mount point are replaced by
+ underscores.
+
Total size, in kilobytes, as an integer.
+
Amount of storage in use, in kilobytes, as an integer.
+
+
+
+ This key-value pair is omitted if there are no local, writable
+ file systems or if Open vSwitch cannot obtain the needed
+ information.
+
+
+
+
+
+ These columns primarily configure the Open vSwitch database
+ (ovsdb-server), not the Open vSwitch switch
+ (ovs-vswitchd). The OVSDB database also uses the settings.
+
+
+
+ The Open vSwitch switch does read the database configuration to
+ determine remote IP addresses to which in-band control should apply.
+
+
+
+ Database clients to which the Open vSwitch database server should
+ connect or to which it should listen, along with options for how these
+ connection should be configured. See the table
+ for more information.
+
+
+
+
+ Remote database clients to which the Open vSwitch's database server
+ should connect or to which it should listen. Adding an OVSDB target
+ to this set is equivalent to adding it to with all of the default options.
+
+
+
+ Use of this column is deprecated and may be removed sometime in the
+ future. New applications should use and set instead.
+
+
+
@@ -161,7 +314,7 @@
If this value is unset, the default is implementation-specific.
-
When more than one controller is configured,
+
When more than one controller is configured,
is considered only when none of the
configured controllers can be contacted.
@@ -187,13 +340,15 @@
integrators should either use the Open vSwitch development
mailing list to coordinate on common key-value definitions, or
choose key names that are likely to be unique. The currently
- defined common key-value pairs are:
+ defined key-value pairs are:
-
network-uuids
+
bridge-id
+
A unique identifier of the bridge. On Citrix XenServer this
+ will commonly be the same as xs-network-uuids.
+
xs-network-uuids
Semicolon-delimited set of universally unique identifier(s) for
- the network with which this bridge is associated. The form of the
- identifier(s) depends on the type of the host. On a Citrix
- XenServer host, the network identifiers are RFC 4122 UUIDs as
+ the network with which this bridge is associated on a Citrix
+ XenServer host. The network identifiers are RFC 4122 UUIDs as
displayed by, e.g., xe network-list.
@@ -205,12 +360,23 @@
datapath-id
Exactly 16 hex
digits to set the OpenFlow datapath ID to a specific
- value.
+ value. May not be all-zero.
+
disable-in-band
+
If set to true, disable in-band control on
+ the bridge regardless of controller and manager settings.
hwaddr
An Ethernet address in the form
xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx
to set the hardware address of the local port and influence the
datapath ID.
+
in-band-queue
+
+ A queue ID as a nonnegative integer. This sets the OpenFlow queue
+ ID that will be used by flows set up by in-band control on this
+ bridge. If unset, or if the port used by an in-band control flow
+ does not have QoS configured, or if the port does not have a queue
+ with the specified ID, the default queue is used instead.
+
@@ -291,11 +457,10 @@
A port that has more than one interface is a ``bonded port.''
Bonding allows for load balancing and fail-over. Open vSwitch
supports ``source load balancing'' (SLB) bonding, which
- assigns flows to slaves based on source MAC address, with
- periodic rebalancing as traffic patterns change. This form of
- bonding does not require 802.3ad or other special support from
- the upstream switch to which the slave devices are
- connected.
+ assigns flows to slaves based on source MAC address and output VLAN,
+ with periodic rebalancing as traffic patterns change. This form of
+ bonding does not require 802.3ad or other special support from the
+ upstream switch to which the slave devices are connected.
These columns apply only to bonded ports. Their values are
otherwise ignored.
@@ -326,7 +491,7 @@
Quality of Service configuration for this port.
-
+
The MAC address to use for this port for the purpose of choosing the
bridge's MAC address. This column does not necessarily reflect the
@@ -353,7 +518,7 @@
column), external IDs for the fake bridge are defined here by
prefixing a key with fake-bridge-,
- e.g. fake-bridge-network-uuids.
+ e.g. fake-bridge-xs-network-uuids.
@@ -415,7 +580,7 @@
Open vSwitch populates this column when the port number becomes
known. If the interface is successfully added,
will be set to a number between 1 and 65535
- (generally either in the range 1 to 65280, exclusive, or 65534, the
+ (generally either in the range 1 to 65279, inclusive, or 65534, the
port number for the OpenFlow ``local port''). If the interface
cannot be added then Open vSwitch sets this column
to -1.
@@ -442,15 +607,15 @@
tap
A TUN/TAP device managed by Open vSwitch.
gre
-
An Ethernet over RFC 1702 Generic Routing Encapsulation over IPv4
+
An Ethernet over RFC 2890 Generic Routing Encapsulation over IPv4
tunnel. Each tunnel must be uniquely identified by the
combination of remote_ip, local_ip, and
in_key. Note that if two ports are defined that are
the same except one has an optional identifier and the other does
not, the more specific one is matched first. in_key
is considered more specific than local_ip if a port
- defines one and another port defines the other. The arguments
- are:
+ defines one and another port defines the other. The following
+ options may be specified in the column:
remote_ip
Required. The tunnel endpoint.
@@ -477,7 +642,7 @@
either be a 32-bit number or the word flow. If
flow is specified then the key may be set using
the set_tunnel Nicira OpenFlow vendor extension (0
- is used in the absense of an action). The ovs-ofctl manual
+ is used in the absence of an action). The ovs-ofctl manual
page contains additional information about the Nicira OpenFlow
vendor extensions. Default is no key.
@@ -505,9 +670,82 @@
csum
-
Optional. Compute GRE checksums for outgoing packets and
- require checksums for incoming packets. Default is enabled,
- set to false to disable.
+
Optional. Compute GRE checksums on outgoing packets.
+ Checksums present on incoming packets will be validated
+ regardless of this setting. Note that GRE checksums
+ impose a significant performance penalty as they cover the
+ entire packet. As the contents of the packet is typically
+ covered by L3 and L4 checksums, this additional checksum only
+ adds value for the GRE and encapsulated Ethernet headers.
+ Default is disabled, set to true to enable.
+
+
+
pmtud
+
Optional. Enable tunnel path MTU discovery. If enabled
+ ``ICMP destination unreachable - fragmentation'' needed
+ messages will be generated for IPv4 packets with the DF bit set
+ and IPv6 packets above the minimum MTU if the packet size
+ exceeds the path MTU minus the size of the tunnel headers. It
+ also forces the encapsulating packet DF bit to be set (it is
+ always set if the inner packet implies path MTU discovery).
+ Note that this option causes behavior that is typically
+ reserved for routers and therefore is not entirely in
+ compliance with the IEEE 802.1D specification for bridges.
+ Default is enabled, set to false to disable.
+
+
+
header_cache
+
Optional. Enable caching of tunnel headers and the output
+ path. This can lead to a significant performance increase
+ without changing behavior. In general it should not be
+ necessary to adjust this setting. However, the caching can
+ bypass certain components of the IP stack (such as IP tables)
+ and it may be useful to disable it if these features are
+ required or as a debugging measure. Default is enabled, set to
+ false to disable. If IPsec is enabled through the
+ parameters, header caching will be
+ automatically disabled.
+
+
+
capwap
+
Ethernet tunneling over the UDP transport portion of CAPWAP
+ (RFC 5415). This allows interoperability with certain switches
+ where GRE is not available. Note that only the tunneling component
+ of the protocol is implemented. Due to the non-standard use of
+ CAPWAP, UDP ports 58881 and 58882 are used as the source and
+ destinations ports respectivedly. Each tunnel must be uniquely
+ identified by the combination of remote_ip and
+ local_ip. If two ports are defined that are the same
+ except one includes local_ip and the other does not,
+ the more specific one is matched first. CAPWAP support is not
+ available on all platforms. Currently it is only supported in the
+ Linux kernel module with kernel versions >= 2.6.25. The following
+ options may be specified in the column:
+
+
remote_ip
+
Required. The tunnel endpoint.
+
+
+
local_ip
+
Optional. The destination IP that received packets must
+ match. Default is to match all addresses.
+
+
+
tos
+
Optional. The value of the ToS bits to be set on the
+ encapsulating packet. It may also be the word
+ inherit, in which case the ToS will be copied from
+ the inner packet if it is IPv4 or IPv6 (otherwise it will be
+ 0). Note that the ECN fields are always inherited. Default is
+ 0.
+
+
+
ttl
+
Optional. The TTL to be set on the encapsulating packet.
+ It may also be the word inherit, in which case the
+ TTL will be copied from the inner packet if it is IPv4 or IPv6
+ (otherwise it will be the system default, typically 64).
+ Default is the system default TTL.
pmtud
@@ -523,13 +761,36 @@
compliance with the IEEE 802.1D specification for bridges.
Default is enabled, set to false to disable.
+
+
header_cache
+
Optional. Enable caching of tunnel headers and the output
+ path. This can lead to a significant performance increase
+ without changing behavior. In general it should not be
+ necessary to adjust this setting. However, the caching can
+ bypass certain components of the IP stack (such as IP tables)
+ and it may be useful to disable it if these features are
+ required or as a debugging measure. Default is enabled, set to
+ false to disable.
+
patch
-
A pair of virtual devices that act as a patch cable. A
- peer argument is required that indicates the name
- of the other side of the patch. Since a patch must work in
- pairs, a second patch interface must be declared with the
- name and peer arguments reversed.
+
+
+ A pair of virtual devices that act as a patch cable. The column must have the following key-value pair:
+
+
+
peer
+
+ The of the for
+ the other side of the patch. The named 's own peer option must specify
+ this 's name. That is, the two patch
+ interfaces must have reversed and
+ peer values.
+
+
+
@@ -537,41 +798,125 @@
Configuration options whose interpretation varies based on
.
+
+
+
+ Key-value pairs that report port status. Supported status
+ values are type-dependent.
+
+
The only currently defined key-value pair is:
+
+
source_ip
+
The source IP address used for an IPv4 tunnel end-point,
+ such as gre or capwap. Not
+ supported by all implementations.
+
+
+
+ These settings control ingress policing for packets received on this
+ interface. On a physical interface, this limits the rate at which
+ traffic is allowed into the system from the outside; on a virtual
+ interface (one connected to a virtual machine), this limits the rate at
+ which the VM is able to transmit.
+
+
+ Policing is a simple form of quality-of-service that simply drops
+ packets received in excess of the configured rate. Due to its
+ simplicity, policing is usually less accurate and less effective than
+ egress QoS (which is configured using the and tables).
+
+
+ Policing is currently implemented only on Linux. The Linux
+ implementation uses a simple ``token bucket'' approach:
+
+
+
+ The size of the bucket corresponds to . Initially the bucket is full.
+
+
+ Whenever a packet is received, its size (converted to tokens) is
+ compared to the number of tokens currently in the bucket. If the
+ required number of tokens are available, they are removed and the
+ packet is forwarded. Otherwise, the packet is dropped.
+
+
+ Whenever it is not full, the bucket is refilled with tokens at the
+ rate specified by .
+
+
+
+ Policing interacts badly with some network protocols, and especially
+ with fragmented IP packets. Suppose that there is enough network
+ activity to keep the bucket nearly empty all the time. Then this token
+ bucket algorithm will forward a single packet every so often, with the
+ period depending on packet size and on the configured rate. All of the
+ fragments of an IP packets are normally transmitted back-to-back, as a
+ group. In such a situation, therefore, only one of these fragments
+ will be forwarded and the rest will be dropped. IP does not provide
+ any way for the intended recipient to ask for only the remaining
+ fragments. In such a case there are two likely possibilities for what
+ will happen next: either all of the fragments will eventually be
+ retransmitted (as TCP will do), in which case the same problem will
+ recur, or the sender will not realize that its packet has been dropped
+ and data will simply be lost (as some UDP-based protocols will do).
+ Either way, it is possible that no forward progress will ever occur.
+
+
+
+ Maximum rate for data received on this interface, in kbps. Data
+ received faster than this rate is dropped. Set to 0
+ (the default) to disable policing.
+
+
+
Maximum burst size for data received on this interface, in kb. The
default burst size if set to 0 is 1000 kb. This value
has no effect if
is 0.
-
The burst size should be at least the size of the interface's
- MTU.
-
-
-
-
Maximum rate for data received on this interface, in kbps. Data
- received faster than this rate is dropped. Set to 0 to
- disable policing.
-
The meaning of ``ingress'' is from Open vSwitch's perspective. If
- configured on a physical interface, then it limits the rate at which
- traffic is allowed into the system from the outside. If configured
- on a virtual interface that is connected to a virtual machine, then
- it limits the rate at which the guest is able to transmit.
+
+ Specifying a larger burst size lets the algorithm be more forgiving,
+ which is important for protocols like TCP that react severely to
+ dropped packets. The burst size should be at least the size of the
+ interface's MTU. Specifying a value that is numerically at least as
+ large as 10% of helps TCP come
+ closer to achieving the full rate.
+
+
+
+ Connectivity monitor configuration for this interface.
+
+
+ Key-value pairs for use by external frameworks that integrate
+ with Open vSwitch, rather than by Open vSwitch itself. System
+ integrators should either use the Open vSwitch development
+ mailing list to coordinate on common key-value definitions, or
+ choose key names that are likely to be unique. The currently
+ defined common key-value pairs are:
+
+
attached-mac
+
+ The MAC address programmed into the ``virtual hardware'' for this
+ interface, in the form
+ xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx.
+ For Citrix XenServer, this is the value of the MAC
+ field in the VIF record for this interface.
+
iface-id
+
A system-unique identifier for the interface. On XenServer,
+ this will commonly be the same as xs-vif-uuid.
+
- Key-value pairs for use by external frameworks that integrate
- with Open vSwitch, rather than by Open vSwitch itself. System
- integrators should either use the Open vSwitch development
- mailing list to coordinate on common key-value definitions, or
- choose key names that are likely to be unique.
-
-
- All of the currently defined key-value pairs specifically
+ Additionally the following key-value pairs specifically
apply to an interface that represents a virtual Ethernet interface
connected to a virtual machine. These key-value pairs should not be
present for other types of interfaces. Keys whose names end
@@ -580,20 +925,35 @@
UUIDs in RFC 4122 format. Other hypervisors may use other
formats.
-
The currently defined key-value pairs are:
+
The currently defined key-value pairs for XenServer are:
-
vif-uuid
+
xs-vif-uuid
The virtual interface associated with this interface.
-
network-uuid
+
xs-network-uuid
The virtual network to which this interface is attached.
-
vm-uuid
+
xs-vm-uuid
The VM to which this interface belongs.
-
vif-mac
-
The MAC address programmed into the "virtual hardware" for this
- interface, in the
- form xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx.
- For Citrix XenServer, this is the value of the MAC
- field in the VIF record for this interface.
+
+
+
+
+ Key-value pairs for rarely used interface features. Currently,
+ the only keys are for configuring GRE-over-IPsec, which is only
+ available through the openvswitch-ipsec package for
+ Debian. The currently defined key-value pairs are:
+
+
ipsec_local_ip
+
Required key for GRE-over-IPsec interfaces. Additionally,
+ the must be gre and the
+ ipsec_psk key must
+ be set. The in_key, out_key, and
+ key must not be
+ set.
+
ipsec_psk
+
Required key for GRE-over-IPsec interfaces. Specifies a
+ pre-shared key for authentication that must be identical on
+ both sides of the tunnel. Additionally, the
+ ipsec_local_ip key must also be set.
@@ -673,7 +1033,20 @@
defined types are listed below:
linux-htb
-
Linux ``hierarchy token bucket'' classifier.
+
+ Linux ``hierarchy token bucket'' classifier. See tc-htb(8) (also at
+ http://linux.die.net/man/8/tc-htb) and the HTB manual
+ (http://luxik.cdi.cz/~devik/qos/htb/manual/userg.htm)
+ for information on how this classifier works and how to configure it.
+
+
+
+
linux-hfsc
+
+ Linux "Hierarchical Fair Service Curve" classifier.
+ See http://linux-ip.net/articles/hfsc.en/ for
+ information on how this classifier works.
+
@@ -689,8 +1062,8 @@
Key-value pairs for configuring QoS features that depend on
.
-
The linux-htb class supports the following key-value
- pairs:
+
The linux-htb and linux-hfsc classes support
+ the following key-value pairs:
max-rate
Maximum rate shared by all queued traffic, in bit/s.
@@ -700,6 +1073,14 @@
Mbps.
+
+
+ Key-value pairs for use by external frameworks that integrate with Open
+ vSwitch, rather than by Open vSwitch itself. System integrators should
+ either use the Open vSwitch development mailing list to coordinate on
+ common key-value definitions, or choose key names that are likely to be
+ unique. No common key-value pairs are currently defined.
+
@@ -715,7 +1096,8 @@
column="type"/> of min-rate are:
min-rate
-
Minimum guaranteed bandwidth, in bit/s. Required.
+
Minimum guaranteed bandwidth, in bit/s. Required. The
+ floor value is 1500 bytes/s (12,000 bit/s).
The key-value pairs defined for of linux-htb are:
@@ -740,7 +1122,118 @@
a queue with a larger value receives any. Specific priority
values are unimportant; only relative ordering matters.
+
The key-value pairs defined for of linux-hfsc are:
+
+
min-rate
+
Minimum guaranteed bandwidth, in bit/s. Required.
+
max-rate
+
Maximum allowed bandwidth, in bit/s. Optional. If specified, the
+ queue's rate will not be allowed to exceed the specified value, even
+ if excess bandwidth is available. If unspecified, defaults to no
+ limit.
+
+
+
+ Key-value pairs for use by external frameworks that integrate with Open
+ vSwitch, rather than by Open vSwitch itself. System integrators should
+ either use the Open vSwitch development mailing list to coordinate on
+ common key-value definitions, or choose key names that are likely to be
+ unique. No common key-value pairs are currently defined.
+
+
+
+
+
+ A attaches to an to
+ implement 802.1ag Connectivity Fault Management (CFM). CFM allows a
+ group of Maintenance Points (MPs) called a Maintenance Association (MA)
+ to detect connectivity problems with each other. MPs within a MA should
+ have complete and exclusive interconnectivity. This is verified by
+ occasionally broadcasting Continuity Check Messages (CCMs) at a
+ configurable transmission interval. A is
+ responsible for collecting data about other MPs in its MA and
+ broadcasting CCMs.
+
+
+
+
+ A Maintenance Point ID (MPID) uniquely identifies each endpoint within
+ a Maintenance Association (see ). The MPID is
+ used to identify this to other endpoints in the
+ MA.
+
+
+
+ A set of which this
+ should have connectivity to. If this
+ does not have connectivity to any MPs in this
+ set, or has connectivity to any MPs not in this set, a fault is
+ signaled.
+
+
+
+ A Maintenance Association (MA) name pairs with a Maintenance Domain
+ (MD) name to uniquely identify a MA. A MA is a group of endpoints who
+ have complete and exclusive interconnectivity. Defaults to
+ ovs if unset.
+
+
+
+ A Maintenance Domain name pairs with a Maintenance Association name to
+ uniquely identify a MA. Defaults to ovs if unset.
+
+
+
+ The transmission interval of CCMs in milliseconds. Three missed CCMs
+ indicate a connectivity fault. Defaults to 1000ms.
+
+
+
+
+
+ A set of MPIDs representing MPs to which this
+ has detected connectivity that are not in the
+ set. This should not
+ have connectivity to any MPs not listed in .
+ Thus, if this set is non-empty a fault is indicated.
+
+
+
+ A set of MAIDs representing foreign Maintenance Associations (MAs)
+ which this has detected connectivity to. A
+ should not have connectivity to a Maintenance
+ Association other than its own. Thus, if this set is non-empty a fault
+ is indicated.
+
+
+
+ Indicates a Connectivity Fault caused by a configuration error, a down
+ remote MP, or unexpected connectivity to a remote MAID or remote MP.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ A represents a MP which a
+ has or should have connectivity to.
+
+
+
+
+ A Maintenance Point ID (MPID) uniquely identifies each endpoint within
+ a Maintenance Association. All MPs within a MA should have a unique
+ MPID.
+
+
+
+
+
+ Indicates a connectivity fault.
+
+
@@ -822,31 +1315,95 @@
in the appropriate table or tables.
+
+
+
+ Key-value pairs for use by external frameworks that integrate with Open
+ vSwitch, rather than by Open vSwitch itself. System integrators should
+ either use the Open vSwitch development mailing list to coordinate on
+ common key-value definitions, or choose key names that are likely to be
+ unique. No common key-value pairs are currently defined.
+
+
An OpenFlow controller.
-
Open vSwitch permits a bridge to have any number of OpenFlow
- controllers. When multiple controllers are configured, Open vSwitch
- connects to all of them simultaneously. OpenFlow 1.0 does not specify
- how multiple controllers coordinate in interacting with a single switch,
- so more than one controller should be specified only if the controllers
- are themselves designed to coordinate with each other.
+
+ Open vSwitch supports two kinds of OpenFlow controllers:
+
+
+
+
Primary controllers
+
+
+ This is the kind of controller envisioned by the OpenFlow 1.0
+ specification. Usually, a primary controller implements a network
+ policy by taking charge of the switch's flow table.
+
+
+
+ Open vSwitch initiates and maintains persistent connections to
+ primary controllers, retrying the connection each time it fails or
+ drops. The column in the
+ table applies to primary controllers.
+
+
+
+ Open vSwitch permits a bridge to have any number of primary
+ controllers. When multiple controllers are configured, Open
+ vSwitch connects to all of them simultaneously. Because
+ OpenFlow 1.0 does not specify how multiple controllers
+ coordinate in interacting with a single switch, more than
+ one primary controller should be specified only if the
+ controllers are themselves designed to coordinate with each
+ other. (The Nicira-defined NXT_ROLE OpenFlow
+ vendor extension may be useful for this.)
+
+
+
Service controllers
+
+
+ These kinds of OpenFlow controller connections are intended for
+ occasional support and maintenance use, e.g. with
+ ovs-ofctl. Usually a service controller connects only
+ briefly to inspect or modify some of a switch's state.
+
+
+
+ Open vSwitch listens for incoming connections from service
+ controllers. The service controllers initiate and, if necessary,
+ maintain the connections from their end. The column in the table does
+ not apply to service controllers.
+
+
+
+ Open vSwitch supports configuring any number of service controllers.
+
+
+
+
+
+ The determines the type of controller.
+
-
Connection method for controller.
- The following connection methods are currently
- supported:
+
Connection method for controller.
+
+ The following connection methods are currently supported for primary
+ controllers:
+
ssl:ip[:port]
The specified SSL port (default: 6633) on the host at
- the given ip, which must be expressed as an IP address
- (not a DNS name). The
- column in the must point to a valid
- SSL configuration when this form is used.
+ the given ip, which must be expressed as an IP address
+ (not a DNS name). The
+ column in the table must point to a
+ valid SSL configuration when this form is used.
SSL support is an optional feature that is not always built as
part of Open vSwitch.
@@ -871,37 +1428,64 @@
used only for bootstrapping the OpenFlow PKI at initial switch
setup; ovs-vswitchd does not use it at all.
-
none
-
Disables the controller.
-
When multiple controllers are configured for a single bridge, the
- values must be unique. Duplicate
- values yield unspecified results.
+
+ The following connection methods are currently supported for service
+ controllers:
+
+
+
pssl:[port][:ip]
+
+
+ Listens for SSL connections on the specified TCP port
+ (default: 6633). If ip, which must be expressed as an
+ IP address (not a DNS name), is specified, then connections are
+ restricted to the specified local IP address.
+
+
+ The column in the table must point to a valid SSL
+ configuration when this form is used.
+
+
SSL support is an optional feature that is not always built as
+ part of Open vSwitch.
+
+
ptcp:[port][:ip]
+
+ Listens for connections on the specified TCP port
+ (default: 6633). If ip, which must be expressed as an
+ IP address (not a DNS name), is specified, then connections are
+ restricted to the specified local IP address.
+
+
+
When multiple controllers are configured for a single bridge, the
+ values must be unique. Duplicate
+ values yield unspecified results.
-
If it is specified, this setting must be one of the following
- strings that describes how Open vSwitch contacts this OpenFlow
- controller over the network:
-
-
-
in-band
-
In this mode, this controller's OpenFlow traffic travels over the
- bridge associated with the controller. With this setting, Open
- vSwitch allows traffic to and from the controller regardless of the
- contents of the OpenFlow flow table. (Otherwise, Open vSwitch
- would never be able to connect to the controller, because it did
- not have a flow to enable it.) This is the most common connection
- mode because it is not necessary to maintain two independent
- networks.
-
out-of-band
-
In this mode, OpenFlow traffic uses a control network separate
- from the bridge associated with this controller, that is, the
- bridge does not use any of its own network devices to communicate
- with the controller. The control network must be configured
- separately, before or after ovs-vswitchd is started.
-
-
+
If it is specified, this setting must be one of the following
+ strings that describes how Open vSwitch contacts this OpenFlow
+ controller over the network:
+
+
+
in-band
+
In this mode, this controller's OpenFlow traffic travels over the
+ bridge associated with the controller. With this setting, Open
+ vSwitch allows traffic to and from the controller regardless of the
+ contents of the OpenFlow flow table. (Otherwise, Open vSwitch
+ would never be able to connect to the controller, because it did
+ not have a flow to enable it.) This is the most common connection
+ mode because it is not necessary to maintain two independent
+ networks.
+
out-of-band
+
In this mode, OpenFlow traffic uses a control network separate
+ from the bridge associated with this controller, that is, the
+ bridge does not use any of its own network devices to communicate
+ with the controller. The control network must be configured
+ separately, before or after ovs-vswitchd is started.
+
+
If not specified, the default is implementation-specific. If
is discover, the connection mode
@@ -958,7 +1542,7 @@
These values are considered only when
- is discover.
+ is discover.
A POSIX
@@ -980,14 +1564,14 @@
These values are considered only in in-band control mode (see
- ) and only when
- is not discover. (For controller discovery, the network
- configuration obtained via DHCP is used instead.)
+ ) and only when
+ is not discover. (For controller discovery, the network
+ configuration obtained via DHCP is used instead.)
When multiple controllers are configured on a single bridge, there
- should be only one set of unique values in these columns. If different
- values are set for these columns in different controllers, the effect
- is unspecified.
+ should be only one set of unique values in these columns. If different
+ values are set for these columns in different controllers, the effect
+ is unspecified.
The IP address to configure on the local port,
@@ -1009,6 +1593,155 @@
this network has no gateway.
+
+
+
+ Key-value pairs for use by external frameworks that integrate with Open
+ vSwitch, rather than by Open vSwitch itself. System integrators should
+ either use the Open vSwitch development mailing list to coordinate on
+ common key-value definitions, or choose key names that are likely to be
+ unique. No common key-value pairs are currently defined.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ Configuration for a database connection to an Open vSwitch database
+ (OVSDB) client.
+
+
+
+ This table primarily configures the Open vSwitch database
+ (ovsdb-server), not the Open vSwitch switch
+ (ovs-vswitchd). The switch does read the table to determine
+ what connections should be treated as in-band.
+
+
+
+ The Open vSwitch database server can initiate and maintain active
+ connections to remote clients. It can also listen for database
+ connections.
+
+
+
+
+
Connection method for managers.
+
+ The following connection methods are currently supported:
+
+
+
ssl:ip[:port]
+
+
+ The specified SSL port (default: 6632) on the host at
+ the given ip, which must be expressed as an IP address
+ (not a DNS name). The
+ column in the table must point to a
+ valid SSL configuration when this form is used.
+
+
+ SSL support is an optional feature that is not always built as
+ part of Open vSwitch.
+
+
+
+
tcp:ip[:port]
+
+ The specified TCP port (default: 6632) on the host at
+ the given ip, which must be expressed as an IP address
+ (not a DNS name).
+
+
pssl:[port][:ip]
+
+
+ Listens for SSL connections on the specified TCP port
+ (default: 6632). If ip, which must be expressed as an
+ IP address (not a DNS name), is specified, then connections are
+ restricted to the specified local IP address.
+
+
+ The column in the table must point to a valid SSL
+ configuration when this form is used.
+
+
+ SSL support is an optional feature that is not always built as
+ part of Open vSwitch.
+
+
+
ptcp:[port][:ip]
+
+ Listens for connections on the specified TCP port
+ (default: 6632). If ip, which must be expressed as an
+ IP address (not a DNS name), is specified, then connections are
+ restricted to the specified local IP address.
+
+
+
When multiple managers are configured, the
+ values must be unique. Duplicate values yield
+ unspecified results.
+
+
+
+
+ If it is specified, this setting must be one of the following strings
+ that describes how Open vSwitch contacts this OVSDB client over the
+ network:
+
+
+
+
in-band
+
+ In this mode, this connection's traffic travels over a bridge
+ managed by Open vSwitch. With this setting, Open vSwitch allows
+ traffic to and from the client regardless of the contents of the
+ OpenFlow flow table. (Otherwise, Open vSwitch would never be able
+ to connect to the client, because it did not have a flow to enable
+ it.) This is the most common connection mode because it is not
+ necessary to maintain two independent networks.
+
+
out-of-band
+
+ In this mode, the client's traffic uses a control network separate
+ from that managed by Open vSwitch, that is, Open vSwitch does not
+ use any of its own network devices to communicate with the client.
+ The control network must be configured separately, before or after
+ ovs-vswitchd is started.
+
+
+
+
+ If not specified, the default is implementation-specific.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ Maximum number of milliseconds to wait between connection attempts.
+ Default is implementation-specific.
+
+
+
+ Maximum number of milliseconds of idle time on connection to the client
+ before sending an inactivity probe message. If Open vSwitch does not
+ communicate with the client for the specified number of seconds, it
+ will send a probe. If a response is not received for the same
+ additional amount of time, Open vSwitch assumes the connection has been
+ broken and attempts to reconnect. Default is implementation-specific.
+
+
+
+
+
+ Key-value pairs for use by external frameworks that integrate with Open
+ vSwitch, rather than by Open vSwitch itself. System integrators should
+ either use the Open vSwitch development mailing list to coordinate on
+ common key-value definitions, or choose key names that are likely to be
+ unique. No common key-value pairs are currently defined.
+
+
@@ -1050,6 +1783,14 @@
disambiguate the traffic.
When this option is enabled, a maximum of 508 ports are supported.
+
+
+ Key-value pairs for use by external frameworks that integrate with Open
+ vSwitch, rather than by Open vSwitch itself. System integrators should
+ either use the Open vSwitch development mailing list to coordinate on
+ common key-value definitions, or choose key names that are likely to be
+ unique. No common key-value pairs are currently defined.
+
@@ -1082,6 +1823,14 @@
SSL connection to a man-in-the-middle attack obtaining the initial
CA certificate. It may still be useful for bootstrapping.
+
+
+ Key-value pairs for use by external frameworks that integrate with Open
+ vSwitch, rather than by Open vSwitch itself. System integrators should
+ either use the Open vSwitch development mailing list to coordinate on
+ common key-value definitions, or choose key names that are likely to be
+ unique. No common key-value pairs are currently defined.
+
@@ -1116,6 +1865,14 @@
sFlow targets in the form
ip:port.
+
+
+ Key-value pairs for use by external frameworks that integrate with Open
+ vSwitch, rather than by Open vSwitch itself. System integrators should
+ either use the Open vSwitch development mailing list to coordinate on
+ common key-value definitions, or choose key names that are likely to be
+ unique. No common key-value pairs are currently defined.
+