ovs\-vsctl
Section: Open vSwitch Manual (8)
Updated: 2.13.0
Page Index
NAME
ovs-vsctl - utility for querying and configuring
ovs-vswitchd
SYNOPSIS
ovs-vsctl [
options]
-- [
options]
command
[
args] [
-- [
options]
command [
args]]...
DESCRIPTION
The
ovs-vsctl program configures
ovs-vswitchd(8) by
providing a high-level interface to its configuration database.
See
ovs-vswitchd.conf.db(5) for comprehensive documentation of
the database schema.
ovs-vsctl connects to an ovsdb-server process that
maintains an Open vSwitch configuration database. Using this
connection, it queries and possibly applies changes to the database,
depending on the supplied commands. Then, if it applied any changes,
by default it waits until ovs-vswitchd has finished
reconfiguring itself before it exits. (If you use ovs-vsctl
when ovs-vswitchd is not running, use --no-wait.)
ovs-vsctl can perform any number of commands in a single run,
implemented as a single atomic transaction against the database.
The ovs-vsctl command line begins with global options (see
OPTIONS below for details). The global options are followed by
one or more commands. Each command should begin with -- by
itself as a command-line argument, to separate it from the following
commands. (The -- before the first command is optional.) The
command
itself starts with command-specific options, if any, followed by the
command name and any arguments. See EXAMPLES below for syntax
examples.
Linux VLAN Bridging Compatibility
The
ovs-vsctl program supports the model of a bridge
implemented by Open vSwitch, in which a single bridge supports ports
on multiple VLANs. In this model, each port on a bridge is either a
trunk port that potentially passes packets tagged with 802.1Q headers
that designate VLANs or it is assigned a single implicit VLAN that is
never tagged with an 802.1Q header.
For compatibility with software designed for the Linux bridge,
ovs-vsctl also supports a model in which traffic associated
with a given 802.1Q VLAN is segregated into a separate bridge. A
special form of the add-br command (see below) creates a ``fake
bridge'' within an Open vSwitch bridge to simulate this behavior.
When such a ``fake bridge'' is active, ovs-vsctl will treat it
much like a bridge separate from its ``parent bridge,'' but the actual
implementation in Open vSwitch uses only a single bridge, with ports on
the fake bridge assigned the implicit VLAN of the fake bridge of which
they are members. (A fake bridge for VLAN 0 receives packets that
have no 802.1Q tag or a tag with VLAN 0.)
OPTIONS
The following options affect the behavior
ovs-vsctl as a whole.
Some individual commands also accept their own options, which are
given just before the command name. If the first command on the
command line has options, then those options must be separated from
the global options by
--.
- --db=server
-
Sets server as the database server that ovs-vsctl
contacts to query or modify configuration. server may be an
OVSDB active or passive connection method, as described in
ovsdb(7). The default is unix:/var/run/openvswitch/db.sock.
- --no-wait
-
Prevents ovs-vsctl from waiting for ovs-vswitchd to
reconfigure itself according to the modified database. This
option should be used if ovs-vswitchd is not running;
otherwise, ovs-vsctl will not exit until ovs-vswitchd
starts.
-
This option has no effect if the commands specified do not change the
database.
- --no-syslog
-
By default, ovs-vsctl logs its arguments and the details of any
changes that it makes to the system log. This option disables this
logging.
-
This option is equivalent to --verbose=vsctl:syslog:warn.
- --oneline
-
Modifies the output format so that the output for each command is printed
on a single line. New-line characters that would otherwise separate
lines are printed as \n, and any instances of \ that
would otherwise appear in the output are doubled.
Prints a blank line for each command that has no output.
This option does not affect the formatting of output from the
list or find commands; see Table Formatting Options
below.
- --dry-run
-
Prevents ovs-vsctl from actually modifying the database.
- -t secs
-
- --timeout=secs
-
By default, or with a secs of 0, ovs-vsctl waits
forever for a response from the database. This option limits runtime
to approximately secs seconds. If the timeout expires,
ovs-vsctl will exit with a SIGALRM signal. (A timeout
would normally happen only if the database cannot be contacted, or if
the system is overloaded.)
- --retry
-
Without this option, if ovs-vsctl connects outward to the
database server (the default) then ovs-vsctl will try to
connect once and exit with an error if the connection fails (which
usually means that ovsdb-server is not running).
-
With this option, or if --db specifies that ovs-vsctl
should listen for an incoming connection from the database server,
then ovs-vsctl will wait for a connection to the database
forever.
-
Regardless of this setting, --timeout always limits how long
ovs-vsctl will wait.
Table Formatting Options
These options control the format of output from the
list and
find commands.
- -f format
-
- --format=format
-
Sets the type of table formatting. The following types of
format are available:
-
- table
-
2-D text tables with aligned columns.
- list (default)
-
A list with one column per line and rows separated by a blank line.
- html
-
HTML tables.
- csv
-
Comma-separated values as defined in RFC 4180.
- json
-
JSON format as defined in RFC 4627. The output is a sequence of JSON
objects, each of which corresponds to one table. Each JSON object has
the following members with the noted values:
-
- caption
-
The table's caption. This member is omitted if the table has no
caption.
- headings
-
An array with one element per table column. Each array element is a
string giving the corresponding column's heading.
- data
-
An array with one element per table row. Each element is also an
array with one element per table column. The elements of this
second-level array are the cells that constitute the table. Cells
that represent OVSDB data or data types are expressed in the format
described in the OVSDB specification; other cells are simply expressed
as text strings.
- -d format
-
- --data=format
-
Sets the formatting for cells within output tables unless the table
format is set to json, in which case json formatting is
always used when formatting cells. The following types of format
are available:
-
- string (default)
-
The simple format described in the Database Values
section below.
- bare
-
The simple format with punctuation stripped off: [] and {}
are omitted around sets, maps, and empty columns, items within sets
and maps are space-separated, and strings are never quoted. This
format may be easier for scripts to parse.
- json
-
The RFC 4627 JSON format as described above.
-
- --no-headings
-
This option suppresses the heading row that otherwise appears in the
first row of table output.
- --pretty
-
By default, JSON in output is printed as compactly as possible. This
option causes JSON in output to be printed in a more readable
fashion. Members of objects and elements of arrays are printed one
per line, with indentation.
-
This option does not affect JSON in tables, which is always printed
compactly.
- --bare
-
Equivalent to --format=list --data=bare --no-headings.
- --max-column-width=n
-
For table output only, limits the width of any column in the output to
n columns. Longer cell data is truncated to fit, as necessary.
Columns are always wide enough to display the column names, if the
heading row is printed.
Public Key Infrastructure Options
- -p privkey.pem
-
- --private-key=privkey.pem
-
Specifies a PEM file containing the private key used as ovs-vsctl's
identity for outgoing SSL connections.
- -c cert.pem
-
- --certificate=cert.pem
-
Specifies a PEM file containing a certificate that certifies the
private key specified on -p or --private-key to be
trustworthy. The certificate must be signed by the certificate
authority (CA) that the peer in SSL connections will use to verify it.
- -C cacert.pem
-
- --ca-cert=cacert.pem
-
Specifies a PEM file containing the CA certificate that ovs-vsctl
should use to verify certificates presented to it by SSL peers. (This
may be the same certificate that SSL peers use to verify the
certificate specified on -c or --certificate, or it may
be a different one, depending on the PKI design in use.)
- -C none
-
- --ca-cert=none
-
Disables verification of certificates presented by SSL peers. This
introduces a security risk, because it means that certificates cannot
be verified to be those of known trusted hosts.
- --bootstrap-ca-cert=cacert.pem
-
When cacert.pem exists, this option has the same effect as
-C or --ca-cert. If it does not exist, then
ovs-vsctl will attempt to obtain the CA certificate from the
SSL peer on its first SSL connection and save it to the named PEM
file. If it is successful, it will immediately drop the connection
and reconnect, and from then on all SSL connections must be
authenticated by a certificate signed by the CA certificate thus
obtained.
-
This option exposes the SSL connection to a man-in-the-middle
attack obtaining the initial CA certificate, but it may be useful
for bootstrapping.
-
This option is only useful if the SSL peer sends its CA certificate as
part of the SSL certificate chain. The SSL protocol does not require
the server to send the CA certificate.
-
This option is mutually exclusive with -C and
--ca-cert.
- --peer-ca-cert=peer-cacert.pem
-
Specifies a PEM file that contains one or more additional certificates
to send to SSL peers. peer-cacert.pem should be the CA
certificate used to sign ovs-vsctl's own certificate, that is, the
certificate specified on -c or --certificate. If
ovs-vsctl's certificate is self-signed, then --certificate
and --peer-ca-cert should specify the same file.
-
This option is not useful in normal operation, because the SSL peer
must already have the CA certificate for the peer to have any
confidence in ovs-vsctl's identity. However, this offers a way for
a new installation to bootstrap the CA certificate on its first SSL
connection.
- -v[spec]
-
- --verbose=[spec]
-
Sets logging levels. Without any spec, sets the log level for
every module and destination to dbg. Otherwise, spec is a
list of words separated by spaces or commas or colons, up to one from
each category below:
-
- •
-
A valid module name, as displayed by the vlog/list command on
ovs-appctl(8), limits the log level change to the specified
module.
- •
-
syslog, console, or file, to limit the log level
change to only to the system log, to the console, or to a file,
respectively. (If --detach is specified, ovs-vsctl closes
its standard file descriptors, so logging to the console will have no
effect.)
-
On Windows platform, syslog is accepted as a word and is only
useful along with the --syslog-target option (the word has no
effect otherwise).
- •
-
off, emer, err, warn, info, or
dbg, to control the log level. Messages of the given severity
or higher will be logged, and messages of lower severity will be
filtered out. off filters out all messages. See
ovs-appctl(8) for a definition of each log level.
-
Case is not significant within spec.
-
Regardless of the log levels set for file, logging to a file
will not take place unless --log-file is also specified (see
below).
-
For compatibility with older versions of OVS, any is accepted as
a word but has no effect.
- -v
-
- --verbose
-
Sets the maximum logging verbosity level, equivalent to
--verbose=dbg.
- -vPATTERN:destination:pattern
-
- --verbose=PATTERN:destination:pattern
-
Sets the log pattern for destination to pattern. Refer to
ovs-appctl(8) for a description of the valid syntax for pattern.
- -vFACILITY:facility
-
- --verbose=FACILITY:facility
-
Sets the RFC5424 facility of the log message. facility can be one of
kern, user, mail, daemon, auth, syslog,
lpr, news, uucp, clock, ftp, ntp,
audit, alert, clock2, local0, local1,
local2, local3, local4, local5, local6 or
local7. If this option is not specified, daemon is used as
the default for the local system syslog and local0 is used while sending
a message to the target provided via the --syslog-target option.
- --log-file[=file]
-
Enables logging to a file. If file is specified, then it is
used as the exact name for the log file. The default log file name
used if file is omitted is /var/log/openvswitch/ovs-vsctl.log.
- --syslog-target=host:port
-
Send syslog messages to UDP port on host, in addition to
the system syslog. The host must be a numerical IP address, not
a hostname.
- --syslog-method=method
-
Specify method how syslog messages should be sent to syslog daemon.
Following forms are supported:
-
- •
-
libc, use libc syslog() function.
Downside of using this options is that libc adds fixed prefix to every
message before it is actually sent to the syslog daemon over /dev/log
UNIX domain socket.
- •
-
unix:file, use UNIX domain socket directly. It is possible to
specify arbitrary message format with this option. However,
rsyslogd 8.9 and older versions use hard coded parser function anyway
that limits UNIX domain socket use. If you want to use arbitrary message
format with older rsyslogd versions, then use UDP socket to localhost
IP address instead.
- •
-
udp:ip:port, use UDP socket. With this method it is
possible to use arbitrary message format also with older rsyslogd.
When sending syslog messages over UDP socket extra precaution needs to
be taken into account, for example, syslog daemon needs to be configured
to listen on the specified UDP port, accidental iptables rules could be
interfering with local syslog traffic and there are some security
considerations that apply to UDP sockets, but do not apply to UNIX domain
sockets.
- •
-
null, discards all messages logged to syslog.
-
The default is taken from the OVS_SYSLOG_METHOD environment
variable; if it is unset, the default is libc.
- -h
-
- --help
-
Prints a brief help message to the console.
- -V
-
- --version
-
Prints version information to the console.
COMMANDS
The commands implemented by
ovs-vsctl are described in the
sections below.
Open vSwitch Commands
These commands work with an Open vSwitch as a whole.
- init
-
Initializes the Open vSwitch database, if it is empty. If the
database has already been initialized, this command has no effect.
-
Any successful ovs-vsctl command automatically initializes the
Open vSwitch database if it is empty. This command is provided to
initialize the database without executing any other command.
- show
-
Prints a brief overview of the database contents.
- emer-reset
-
Reset the configuration into a clean state. It deconfigures OpenFlow
controllers, OVSDB servers, and SSL, and deletes port mirroring,
fail_mode, NetFlow, sFlow, and IPFIX configuration. This
command also removes all other-config keys from all database
records, except that other-config:hwaddr is preserved if it is
present in a Bridge record. Other networking configuration is left
as-is.
Bridge Commands
These commands examine and manipulate Open vSwitch bridges.
- [--may-exist] add-br bridge
-
Creates a new bridge named bridge. Initially the bridge will
have no ports (other than bridge itself).
-
Without --may-exist, attempting to create a bridge that
exists is an error. With --may-exist, this command does
nothing if bridge already exists as a real bridge.
- [--may-exist] add-br bridge parent vlan
-
Creates a ``fake bridge'' named bridge within the existing Open
vSwitch bridge parent, which must already exist and must not
itself be a fake bridge. The new fake bridge will be on 802.1Q VLAN
vlan, which must be an integer between 0 and 4095. The parent
bridge must not already have a fake bridge for vlan. Initially
bridge will have no ports (other than bridge itself).
-
Without --may-exist, attempting to create a bridge that
exists is an error. With --may-exist, this command does
nothing if bridge already exists as a VLAN bridge under
parent for vlan.
- [--if-exists] del-br bridge
-
Deletes bridge and all of its ports. If bridge is a real
bridge, this command also deletes any fake bridges that were created
with bridge as parent, including all of their ports.
-
Without --if-exists, attempting to delete a bridge that does
not exist is an error. With --if-exists, attempting to
delete a bridge that does not exist has no effect.
- [--real|--fake] list-br
-
Lists all existing real and fake bridges on standard output, one per
line. With --real or --fake, only bridges of that type
are returned.
- br-exists bridge
-
Tests whether bridge exists as a real or fake bridge. If so,
ovs-vsctl exits successfully with exit code 0. If not,
ovs-vsctl exits unsuccessfully with exit code 2.
- br-to-vlan bridge
-
If bridge is a fake bridge, prints the bridge's 802.1Q VLAN as a
decimal integer. If bridge is a real bridge, prints 0.
- br-to-parent bridge
-
If bridge is a fake bridge, prints the name of its parent
bridge. If bridge is a real bridge, print bridge.
- br-set-external-id bridge key [value]
-
Sets or clears an ``external ID'' value on bridge. These values
are intended to identify entities external to Open vSwitch with which
bridge is associated, e.g. the bridge's identifier in a
virtualization management platform. The Open vSwitch database schema
specifies well-known key values, but key and value
are otherwise arbitrary strings.
-
If value is specified, then key is set to value for
bridge, overwriting any previous value. If value is
omitted, then key is removed from bridge's set of external
IDs (if it was present).
-
For real bridges, the effect of this command is similar to that of a
set or remove command in the external-ids column of
the Bridge table. For fake bridges, it actually modifies keys
with names prefixed by fake-bridge- in the Port table.
- br-get-external-id bridge [key]
-
Queries the external IDs on bridge. If key is specified,
the output is the value for that key or the empty string if
key is unset. If key is omitted, the output is
key=value, one per line, for each key-value pair.
-
For real bridges, the effect of this command is similar to that of a
get command in the external-ids column of the
Bridge table. For fake bridges, it queries keys with names
prefixed by fake-bridge- in the Port table.
Port Commands
These commands examine and manipulate Open vSwitch ports. These
commands treat a bonded port as a single entity.
- list-ports bridge
-
Lists all of the ports within bridge on standard output, one per
line. The local port bridge is not included in the list.
- [--may-exist] add-port bridge port [column[:key]=value]...
-
Creates on bridge a new port named port from the network
device of the same name.
-
Optional arguments set values of column in the Port record created by
the command. For example, tag=9 would make the port an access
port for VLAN 9. The syntax is the same as that for the set
command (see Database Commands below).
-
Without --may-exist, attempting to create a port that exists
is an error. With --may-exist, this command does nothing if
port already exists on bridge and is not a bonded port.
- [--if-exists] del-port [bridge] port
-
Deletes port. If bridge is omitted, port is removed
from whatever bridge contains it; if bridge is specified, it
must be the real or fake bridge that contains port.
-
Without --if-exists, attempting to delete a port that does
not exist is an error. With --if-exists, attempting to
delete a port that does not exist has no effect.
- [--if-exists] --with-iface del-port [bridge] iface
-
Deletes the port named iface or that has an interface named
iface. If bridge is omitted, the port is removed from
whatever bridge contains it; if bridge is specified, it must be
the real or fake bridge that contains the port.
-
Without --if-exists, attempting to delete the port for an
interface that does not exist is an error. With --if-exists,
attempting to delete the port for an interface that does not exist has
no effect.
- port-to-br port
-
Prints the name of the bridge that contains port on standard
output.
Bond Commands
These commands work with ports that have more than one interface,
which Open vSwitch calls ``bonds.''
- [--fake-iface] add-bond bridge port iface... [column[:key]=value]...
-
Creates on bridge a new port named port that bonds
together the network devices given as each iface. At least two
interfaces must be named. If the interfaces are DPDK enabled then
the transaction will need to include operations to explicitly set the
interface type to 'dpdk'.
-
Optional arguments set values of column in the Port record created by
the command. The syntax is the same as that for the set command
(see Database Commands below).
-
With --fake-iface, a fake interface with the name port is
created. This should only be used for compatibility with legacy
software that requires it.
-
Without --may-exist, attempting to create a port that exists
is an error. With --may-exist, this command does nothing if
port already exists on bridge and bonds together exactly
the specified interfaces.
- [--may-exist] add-bond-iface bond iface
-
Adds iface as a new bond interface to the existing port
bond. If bond previously had only one port, this
transforms it into a bond.
-
Without --may-exist, attempting to add an iface that is
already part of bond is an error. With --may-exist,
this command does nothing if iface is already part of
bond. (It is still an error if iface is an interface of
some other port or bond.)
- [--if-exists] del-bond-iface [bond] iface
-
Removes iface from its port. If bond is omitted,
iface is removed from whatever port contains it; if bond
is specified, it must be the port that contains bond.
-
If removing iface causes its port to have only a single
interface, then that port transforms from a bond into an ordinary
port. It is an error if iface is the only interface in its
port.
-
Without --if-exists, attempting to delete an interface that
does not exist is an error. With --if-exists, attempting to
delete an interface that does not exist has no effect.
Interface Commands
These commands examine the interfaces attached to an Open vSwitch
bridge. These commands treat a bonded port as a collection of two or
more interfaces, rather than as a single port.
- list-ifaces bridge
-
Lists all of the interfaces within bridge on standard output,
one per line. The local port bridge is not included in the
list.
- iface-to-br iface
-
Prints the name of the bridge that contains iface on standard
output.
Conntrack Zone Commands
These commands query and modify datapath CT zones and Timeout Policies.
- [--may-exist] add-zone-tp datapath zone=zone_id policies
-
Creates a conntrack zone timeout policy with zone_id in
datapath. The policies consist of key=value
pairs, separated by spaces. For example, icmp_first=30
icmp_reply=60 specifies a 30-second timeout policy for the first ICMP
packet and a 60-second policy for ICMP reply packets. See the
CT_Timeout_Policy table in ovs-vswitchd.conf.db(5) for the
supported keys.
-
Without --may-exist, attempting to add a zone_id that
already exists is an error. With --may-exist,
this command does nothing if zone_id already exists.
- [--if-exists] del-zone-tp datapath zone=zone_id
-
Delete the timeout policy associated with zone_id from datapath.
-
Without --if-exists, attempting to delete a zone that
does not exist is an error. With --if-exists, attempting to
delete a zone that does not exist has no effect.
- list-zone-tp datapath
-
Prints the timeout policies of all zones in datapath.
Datapath Capabilities Command
The command query datapath capabilities.
- list-dp-cap datapath
-
Prints the datapath's capabilities.
OpenFlow Controller Connectivity
ovs-vswitchd can perform all configured bridging and switching
locally, or it can be configured to communicate with one or more
external OpenFlow controllers. The switch is typically configured to
connect to a primary controller that takes charge of the bridge's flow
table to implement a network policy. In addition, the switch can be
configured to listen to connections from service controllers. Service
controllers are typically used for occasional support and maintenance,
e.g. with
ovs-ofctl.
- get-controller bridge
-
Prints the configured controller target.
- del-controller bridge
-
Deletes the configured controller target.
- set-controller bridge target...
-
Sets the configured controller target or targets. Each target may
use any of the following forms:
-
- ssl:host[:port]
-
- tcp:host[:port]
-
The specified port on the given host, which can
be expressed either as a DNS name (if built with unbound library)
or an IP address in IPv4 or IPv6 address format. Wrap IPv6 addresses
in square brackets, e.g. tcp:[::1]:6653. On Linux, use
%device to designate a scope for IPv6 link-level addresses,
e.g. tcp:[fe80::1234%eth0]:6653. For ssl, the
--private-key, --certificate, and --ca-cert
options are mandatory.
-
If port is not specified, it defaults to 6653.
- unix:file
-
On POSIX, a Unix domain server socket named file.
-
On Windows, connect to a local named pipe that is represented by a
file created in the path file to mimic the behavior of a Unix
domain socket.
- pssl:[port][:host]
-
- ptcp:[port][:host]
-
Listens for OpenFlow connections on port. The default
port is 6653. By default, connections are allowed from any IPv4
address. Specify host as an IPv4 address or a bracketed IPv6
address (e.g. ptcp:6653:[::1]). On Linux, use %device
to designate a scope for IPv6 link-level addresses,
e.g. ptcp:6653:[fe80::1234%eth0]. DNS names can
be used if built with unbound library. For pssl, the
--private-key,--certificate, and --ca-cert
options are mandatory.
-
- punix:file
-
Listens for OpenFlow connections on the Unix domain server socket
named file.
Controller Failure Settings
When a controller is configured, it is, ordinarily, responsible for
setting up all flows on the switch. Thus, if the connection to
the controller fails, no new network connections can be set up. If
the connection to the controller stays down long enough, no packets
can pass through the switch at all.
If the value is standalone, or if neither of these settings
is set, ovs-vswitchd will take over
responsibility for setting up
flows when no message has been received from the controller for three
times the inactivity probe interval. In this mode,
ovs-vswitchd causes the datapath to act like an ordinary
MAC-learning switch. ovs-vswitchd will continue to retry connecting
to the controller in the background and, when the connection succeeds,
it discontinues its standalone behavior.
If this option is set to secure, ovs-vswitchd will not
set up flows on its own when the controller connection fails.
- get-fail-mode bridge
-
Prints the configured failure mode.
- del-fail-mode bridge
-
Deletes the configured failure mode.
- set-fail-mode bridge standalone|secure
-
Sets the configured failure mode.
Manager Connectivity
These commands manipulate the
manager_options column in the
Open_vSwitch table and rows in the
Managers table. When
ovsdb-server is configured to use the
manager_options column for
OVSDB connections (as described in the startup scripts provided with
Open vSwitch; the corresponding
ovsdb-server command option is
--remote=db:Open_vSwitch,Open_vSwitch,manager_options), this allows the
administrator to use
ovs-vsctl to configure database connections.
- get-manager
-
Prints the configured manager(s).
- del-manager
-
Deletes the configured manager(s).
- set-manager target...
-
Sets the configured manager target or targets.
Each target may be an OVSDB active or passive connection method,
e.g. pssl:6640, as described in ovsdb(7).
SSL Configuration
When
ovs-vswitchd is configured to connect over SSL for management or
controller connectivity, the following parameters are required:
- private-key
-
Specifies a PEM file containing the private key used as the virtual
switch's identity for SSL connections to the controller.
- certificate
-
Specifies a PEM file containing a certificate, signed by the
certificate authority (CA) used by the controller and manager, that
certifies the virtual switch's private key, identifying a trustworthy
switch.
- ca-cert
-
Specifies a PEM file containing the CA certificate used to verify that
the virtual switch is connected to a trustworthy controller.
These files are read only once, at ovs-vswitchd startup time. If
their contents change, ovs-vswitchd must be killed and restarted.
These SSL settings apply to all SSL connections made by the virtual
switch.
- get-ssl
-
Prints the SSL configuration.
- del-ssl
-
Deletes the current SSL configuration.
- [--bootstrap] set-ssl private-key certificate ca-cert
-
Sets the SSL configuration. The --bootstrap option is described
below.
CA Certificate Bootstrap
Ordinarily, all of the files named in the SSL configuration must exist
when ovs-vswitchd starts. However, if the ca-cert file
does not exist and the --bootstrap
option is given, then ovs-vswitchd will attempt to obtain the
CA certificate from the controller on its first SSL connection and
save it to the named PEM file. If it is successful, it will
immediately drop the connection and reconnect, and from then on all
SSL connections must be authenticated by a certificate signed by the
CA certificate thus obtained.
This option exposes the SSL connection to a man-in-the-middle
attack obtaining the initial CA certificate, but it may be useful
for bootstrapping.
This option is only useful if the controller sends its CA certificate
as part of the SSL certificate chain. The SSL protocol does not
require the controller to send the CA certificate.
Auto-Attach Commands
The IETF Auto-Attach SPBM draft standard describes a compact method of using
IEEE 802.1AB Link Layer Discovery Protocol (LLDP) together with a IEEE 802.1aq
Shortest Path Bridging (SPB) network to automatically attach network devices to
individual services in a SPB network. The intent here is to allow network
applications and devices using OVS to be able to easily take advantage of
features offered by industry standard SPB networks. A fundamental element of
the Auto-Attach feature is to map traditional VLANs onto SPB I_SIDs. These
commands manage the Auto-Attach I-SID/VLAN mappings.
- add-aa-mapping bridge i-sid vlan
-
Creates a new Auto-Attach mapping on bridge for i-sid
and vlan.
- del-aa-mapping bridge i-sid vlan
-
Deletes an Auto-Attach mapping on bridge for i-sid
and vlan.
- get-aa-mapping bridge
-
Lists all of the Auto-Attach mappings within bridge on standard output.
Database Commands
These commands query and modify the contents of
ovsdb tables.
They are a slight abstraction of the
ovsdb interface and as such
they operate at a lower level than other
ovs-vsctl commands.
Identifying Tables, Records, and Columns
Each of these commands has a table parameter to identify a table
within the database. Many of them also take a record parameter
that identifies a particular record within a table. The record
parameter may be the UUID for a record, and many tables offer
additional ways to identify records. Some commands also take
column parameters that identify a particular field within the
records in a table.
For a list of tables and their columns, see ovs-vswitchd.conf.db(5) or
see the table listing from the --help option.
Record names must be specified in full and with correct
capitalization, except that UUIDs may be abbreviated to their first 4
(or more) hex digits, as long as that is unique within the table.
Names of tables and columns are not case-sensitive, and - and
_ are treated interchangeably. Unique abbreviations of table
and column names are acceptable, e.g. net or n is
sufficient to identify the NetFlow table.
Database Values
Each column in the database accepts a fixed type of data. The
currently defined basic types, and their representations, are:
- integer
-
A decimal integer in the range -2**63 to 2**63-1, inclusive.
- real
-
A floating-point number.
- Boolean
-
True or false, written true or false, respectively.
- string
-
An arbitrary Unicode string, except that null bytes are not allowed.
Quotes are optional for most strings that begin with an English letter
or underscore and consist only of letters, underscores, hyphens, and
periods. However, true and false and strings that match
the syntax of UUIDs (see below) must be enclosed in double quotes to
distinguish them from other basic types. When double quotes are used,
the syntax is that of strings in JSON, e.g. backslashes may be used to
escape special characters. The empty string must be represented as a
pair of double quotes ("").
- UUID
-
Either a universally unique identifier in the style of RFC 4122,
e.g. f81d4fae-7dec-11d0-a765-00a0c91e6bf6, or an @name
defined by a get or create command within the same ovs-vsctl
invocation.
Multiple values in a single column may be separated by spaces or a
single comma. When multiple values are present, duplicates are not
allowed, and order is not important. Conversely, some database
columns can have an empty set of values, represented as [], and
square brackets may optionally enclose other non-empty sets or single
values as well. For a column accepting a set of integers, database commands
accept a range. A range is represented by two integers separated by
-. A range is inclusive. A range has a maximum size of 4096
elements. If more elements are needed, they can be specified in seperate
ranges.
A few database columns are ``maps'' of key-value pairs, where the key
and the value are each some fixed database type. These are specified
in the form key=value, where key and value
follow the syntax for the column's key type and value type,
respectively. When multiple pairs are present (separated by spaces or
a comma), duplicate keys are not allowed, and again the order is not
important. Duplicate values are allowed. An empty map is represented
as {}. Curly braces may optionally enclose non-empty maps as
well (but use quotes to prevent the shell from expanding
other-config={0=x,1=y} into other-config=0=x
other-config=1=y, which may not have the desired effect).
Database Command Syntax
- [--if-exists] [--columns=column[,column]...] list table [record]...
-
Lists the data in each specified record. If no
records are specified, lists all the records in table.
-
If --columns is specified, only the requested columns are
listed, in the specified order. Otherwise, all columns are listed, in
alphabetical order by column name.
-
Without --if-exists, it is an error if any specified
record does not exist. With --if-exists, the command
ignores any record that does not exist, without producing any
output.
- [--columns=column[,column]...] find table [column[:key]=value]...
-
Lists the data in each record in table whose column equals
value or, if key is specified, whose column contains
a key with the specified value. The following operators
may be used where = is written in the syntax summary:
-
- = != < > <= >=
-
Selects records in which column[:key] equals, does not
equal, is less than, is greater than, is less than or equal to, or is
greater than or equal to value, respectively.
-
Consider column[:key] and value as sets of
elements. Identical sets are considered equal. Otherwise, if the
sets have different numbers of elements, then the set with more
elements is considered to be larger. Otherwise, consider a element
from each set pairwise, in increasing order within each set. The
first pair that differs determines the result. (For a column that
contains key-value pairs, first all the keys are compared, and values
are considered only if the two sets contain identical keys.)
- {=} {!=}
-
Test for set equality or inequality, respectively.
- {<=}
-
Selects records in which column[:key] is a subset of
value. For example, flood-vlans{<=}1,2 selects records in
which the flood-vlans column is the empty set or contains 1 or 2
or both.
- {<}
-
Selects records in which column[:key] is a proper
subset of value. For example, flood-vlans{<}1,2 selects
records in which the flood-vlans column is the empty set or
contains 1 or 2 but not both.
- {>=} {>}
-
Same as {<=} and {<}, respectively, except that the
relationship is reversed. For example, flood-vlans{>=}1,2
selects records in which the flood-vlans column contains both 1
and 2.
-
For arithmetic operators (= != < > <= >=), when key is
specified but a particular record's column does not contain
key, the record is always omitted from the results. Thus, the
condition other-config:mtu!=1500 matches records that have a
mtu key whose value is not 1500, but not those that lack an
mtu key.
-
For the set operators, when key is specified but a particular
record's column does not contain key, the comparison is
done against an empty set. Thus, the condition
other-config:mtu{!=}1500 matches records that have a mtu
key whose value is not 1500 and those that lack an mtu key.
-
Don't forget to escape < or > from interpretation by the
shell.
-
If --columns is specified, only the requested columns are
listed, in the specified order. Otherwise all columns are listed, in
alphabetical order by column name.
-
The UUIDs shown for rows created in the same ovs-vsctl
invocation will be wrong.
- [--if-exists] [--id=@name] get table record [column[:key]]...
-
Prints the value of each specified column in the given
record in table. For map columns, a key may
optionally be specified, in which case the value associated with
key in the column is printed, instead of the entire map.
-
Without --if-exists, it is an error if record does not
exist or key is specified, if key does not exist in
record. With --if-exists, a missing record
yields no output and a missing key prints a blank line.
-
If @name is specified, then the UUID for record may be
referred to by that name later in the same ovs-vsctl
invocation in contexts where a UUID is expected.
-
Both --id and the column arguments are optional, but
usually at least one or the other should be specified. If both are
omitted, then get has no effect except to verify that
record exists in table.
-
--id and --if-exists cannot be used together.
- [--if-exists] set table record column[:key]=value...
-
Sets the value of each specified column in the given
record in table to value. For map columns, a
key may optionally be specified, in which case the value
associated with key in that column is changed (or added, if none
exists), instead of the entire map.
-
Without --if-exists, it is an error if record does not
exist. With --if-exists, this command does nothing if
record does not exist.
- [--if-exists] add table record column [key=]value...
-
Adds the specified value or key-value pair to column in
record in table. If column is a map, then key
is required, otherwise it is prohibited. If key already exists
in a map column, then the current value is not replaced (use the
set command to replace an existing value).
-
Without --if-exists, it is an error if record does not
exist. With --if-exists, this command does nothing if
record does not exist.
- [--if-exists] remove table record column value...
-
- [--if-exists] remove table record column key...
-
- [--if-exists] remove table record column key=value...
-
Removes the specified values or key-value pairs from column in
record in table. The first form applies to columns that
are not maps: each specified value is removed from the column.
The second and third forms apply to map columns: if only a key
is specified, then any key-value pair with the given key is
removed, regardless of its value; if a value is given then a
pair is removed only if both key and value match.
-
It is not an error if the column does not contain the specified key or
value or pair.
-
Without --if-exists, it is an error if record does not
exist. With --if-exists, this command does nothing if
record does not exist.
- [--if-exists] clear table record column...
-
Sets each column in record in table to the empty set
or empty map, as appropriate. This command applies only to columns
that are allowed to be empty.
-
Without --if-exists, it is an error if record does not
exist. With --if-exists, this command does nothing if
record does not exist.
- [--id=@name] create table column[:key]=value...
-
Creates a new record in table and sets the initial values of
each column. Columns not explicitly set will receive their
default values. Outputs the UUID of the new row.
-
If @name is specified, then the UUID for the new row may be
referred to by that name elsewhere in the same ovs-vsctl
invocation in contexts where a UUID is expected. Such references may
precede or follow the create command.
-
- Caution (ovs-vsctl as example)
-
Records in the Open vSwitch database are significant only when they
can be reached directly or indirectly from the Open_vSwitch
table. Except for records in the QoS or Queue tables,
records that are not reachable from the Open_vSwitch table are
automatically deleted from the database. This deletion happens
immediately, without waiting for additional ovs-vsctl commands
or other database activity. Thus, a create command must
generally be accompanied by additional commands within the same
ovs-vsctl invocation to add a chain of references to the
newly created record from the top-level Open_vSwitch record.
The EXAMPLES section gives some examples that show how to do
this.
- [--if-exists] destroy table record...
-
Deletes each specified record from table. Unless
--if-exists is specified, each records must exist.
- --all destroy table
-
Deletes all records from the table.
-
- Caution (ovs-vsctl as example)
-
The destroy command is only useful for records in the QoS
or Queue tables. Records in other tables are automatically
deleted from the database when they become unreachable from the
Open_vSwitch table. This means that deleting the last reference
to a record is sufficient for deleting the record itself. For records
in these tables, destroy is silently ignored. See the
EXAMPLES section below for more information.
- wait-until table record [column[:key]=value]...
-
Waits until table contains a record named record whose
column equals value or, if key is specified, whose
column contains a key with the specified value. Any
of the operators !=, <, >, <=, or >= may
be substituted for = to test for inequality, less than, greater
than, less than or equal to, or greater than or equal to,
respectively. (Don't forget to escape < or > from
interpretation by the shell.)
-
If no column[:key]=value arguments are given,
this command waits only until record exists. If more than one
such argument is given, the command waits until all of them are
satisfied.
-
- Caution (ovs-vsctl as example)
-
Usually wait-until should be placed at the beginning of a set
of ovs-vsctl commands. For example, wait-until bridge br0
-- get bridge br0 datapath_id waits until a bridge named
br0 is created, then prints its datapath_id column,
whereas get bridge br0 datapath_id -- wait-until bridge br0
will abort if no bridge named br0 exists when ovs-vsctl
initially connects to the database.
-
Consider specifying --timeout=0 along with
--wait-until, to prevent ovs-vsctl from terminating
after waiting only at most 5 seconds.
- comment [arg]...
-
This command has no effect on behavior, but any database log record
created by the command will include the command and its arguments.
EXAMPLES
Create a new bridge named br0 and add port eth0 to it:
-
ovs-vsctl add-br br0
ovs-vsctl add-port br0 eth0
Alternatively, perform both operations in a single atomic transaction:
-
ovs-vsctl add-br br0 -- add-port br0 eth0
Delete bridge br0, reporting an error if it does not exist:
-
ovs-vsctl del-br br0
Delete bridge br0 if it exists:
-
ovs-vsctl --if-exists del-br br0
Set the qos column of the Port record for eth0 to
point to a new QoS record, which in turn points with its queue 0
to a new Queue record:
-
ovs-vsctl -- set port eth0 qos=@newqos -- --id=@newqos create qos type=linux-htb other-config:max-rate=1000000 queues:0=@newqueue -- --id=@newqueue create queue other-config:min-rate=1000000 other-config:max-rate=1000000
CONFIGURATION COOKBOOK
Port Configuration
Add an ``internal port'' vlan10 to bridge br0 as a VLAN
access port for VLAN 10, and configure it with an IP address:
-
ovs-vsctl add-port br0 vlan10 tag=10 -- set Interface vlan10 type=internal
-
ip addr add 192.168.0.123/24 dev vlan10
Add a GRE tunnel port gre0 to remote IP address 1.2.3.4 to
bridge br0:
-
ovs-vsctl add-port br0 gre0 -- set Interface gre0 type=gre options:remote_ip=1.2.3.4
Port Mirroring
Mirror all packets received or sent on eth0 or eth1 onto
eth2, assuming that all of those ports exist on bridge br0
(as a side-effect this causes any packets received on eth2 to be
ignored):
-
ovs-vsctl -- set Bridge br0 mirrors=@m \
-
-- --id=@eth0 get Port eth0 \
-
-- --id=@eth1 get Port eth1 \
-
-- --id=@eth2 get Port eth2 \
-
-- --id=@m create Mirror name=mymirror select-dst-port=@eth0,@eth1 select-src-port=@eth0,@eth1 output-port=@eth2
Remove the mirror created above from br0, which also destroys
the Mirror record (since it is now unreferenced):
-
ovs-vsctl -- --id=@rec get Mirror mymirror \
-
-- remove Bridge br0 mirrors @rec
The following simpler command also works:
-
ovs-vsctl clear Bridge br0 mirrors
Quality of Service (QoS)
Create a linux-htb QoS record that points to a few queues and
use it on eth0 and eth1:
-
ovs-vsctl -- set Port eth0 qos=@newqos \
-
-- set Port eth1 qos=@newqos \
-
-- --id=@newqos create QoS type=linux-htb other-config:max-rate=1000000000 queues=0=@q0,1=@q1 \
-
-- --id=@q0 create Queue other-config:min-rate=100000000 other-config:max-rate=100000000 \
-
-- --id=@q1 create Queue other-config:min-rate=500000000
Deconfigure the QoS record above from eth1 only:
-
ovs-vsctl clear Port eth1 qos
To deconfigure the QoS record from both eth0 and eth1 and
then delete the QoS record (which must be done explicitly because
unreferenced QoS records are not automatically destroyed):
-
ovs-vsctl -- destroy QoS eth0 -- clear Port eth0 qos -- clear Port eth1 qos
(This command will leave two unreferenced Queue records in the
database. To delete them, use "ovs-vsctl list Queue" to find
their UUIDs, then "ovs-vsctl destroy Queue uuid1
uuid2" to destroy each of them or use
"ovs-vsctl -- --all destroy Queue" to delete all records.)
Connectivity Monitoring
Monitor connectivity to a remote maintenance point on eth0.
-
ovs-vsctl set Interface eth0 cfm_mpid=1
Deconfigure connectivity monitoring from above:
-
ovs-vsctl clear Interface eth0 cfm_mpid
NetFlow
Configure bridge br0 to send NetFlow records to UDP port 5566 on
host 192.168.0.34, with an active timeout of 30 seconds:
-
ovs-vsctl -- set Bridge br0 netflow=@nf \
-
-- --id=@nf create NetFlow targets=\"192.168.0.34:5566\" active-timeout=30
Update the NetFlow configuration created by the previous command to
instead use an active timeout of 60 seconds:
-
ovs-vsctl set NetFlow br0 active_timeout=60
Deconfigure the NetFlow settings from br0, which also destroys
the NetFlow record (since it is now unreferenced):
-
ovs-vsctl clear Bridge br0 netflow
sFlow
Configure bridge br0 to send sFlow records to a collector on
10.0.0.1 at port 6343, using eth1's IP address as the source,
with specific sampling parameters:
-
ovs-vsctl -- --id=@s create sFlow agent=eth1 target=\"10.0.0.1:6343\" header=128 sampling=64 polling=10 \
-
-- set Bridge br0 sflow=@s
Deconfigure sFlow from br0, which also destroys the sFlow record
(since it is now unreferenced):
-
ovs-vsctl -- clear Bridge br0 sflow
IPFIX
Configure bridge br0 to send one IPFIX flow record per packet
sample to UDP port 4739 on host 192.168.0.34, with Observation Domain
ID 123 and Observation Point ID 456, a flow cache active timeout of 1
minute (60 seconds), maximum flow cache size of 13 flows, and flows
sampled on output port with tunnel info(sampling on input and output
port is enabled by default if not disabled) :
-
ovs-vsctl -- set Bridge br0 ipfix=@i \
-
-- --id=@i create IPFIX targets=\"192.168.0.34:4739\" obs_domain_id=123 obs_point_id=456 cache_active_timeout=60 cache_max_flows=13 \
-
other_config:enable-input-sampling=false other_config:enable-tunnel-sampling=true
Deconfigure the IPFIX settings from br0, which also destroys the
IPFIX record (since it is now unreferenced):
-
ovs-vsctl clear Bridge br0 ipfix
802.1D Spanning Tree Protocol (STP)
Configure bridge br0 to participate in an 802.1D spanning tree:
-
ovs-vsctl set Bridge br0 stp_enable=true
Set the bridge priority of br0 to 0x7800:
-
ovs-vsctl set Bridge br0 other_config:stp-priority=0x7800
Set the path cost of port eth0 to 10:
-
ovs-vsctl set Port eth0 other_config:stp-path-cost=10
Deconfigure STP from above:
-
ovs-vsctl set Bridge br0 stp_enable=false
Multicast Snooping
Configure bridge br0 to enable multicast snooping:
-
ovs-vsctl set Bridge br0 mcast_snooping_enable=true
Set the multicast snooping aging time br0 to 300 seconds:
-
ovs-vsctl set Bridge br0 other_config:mcast-snooping-aging-time=300
Set the multicast snooping table size br0 to 2048 entries:
-
ovs-vsctl set Bridge br0 other_config:mcast-snooping-table-size=2048
Disable flooding of unregistered multicast packets to all ports. When
set to true, the switch will send unregistered multicast packets only
to ports connected to multicast routers. When it is set to false, the
switch will send them to all ports. This command disables the flood of
unregistered packets on bridge br0.
-
ovs-vsctl set Bridge br0 other_config:mcast-snooping-disable-flood-unregistered=true
Enable flooding of multicast packets (except Reports) on a specific port.
-
ovs-vsctl set Port eth1 other_config:mcast-snooping-flood=true
Enable flooding of Reports on a specific port.
-
ovs-vsctl set Port eth1 other_config:mcast-snooping-flood-reports=true
Deconfigure multicasting snooping from above:
-
ovs-vsctl set Bridge br0 mcast_snooping_enable=false
802.1D-2004 Rapid Spanning Tree Protocol (RSTP)
Configure bridge br0 to participate in an 802.1D-2004 Rapid Spanning Tree:
-
ovs-vsctl set Bridge br0 rstp_enable=true
Set the bridge address of br0 to 00:aa:aa:aa:aa:aa :
-
ovs-vsctl set Bridge br0 other_config:rstp-address=00:aa:aa:aa:aa:aa
Set the bridge priority of br0 to 0x7000. The value must be specified in
decimal notation and should be a multiple of 4096 (if not, it is rounded down to
the nearest multiple of 4096). The default priority value is 0x800 (32768).
-
ovs-vsctl set Bridge br0 other_config:rstp-priority=28672
Set the bridge ageing time of br0 to 1000 s. The ageing time value should be
between 10 s and 1000000 s. The default value is 300 s.
-
ovs-vsctl set Bridge br0 other_config:rstp-ageing-time=1000
Set the bridge force protocol version of br0 to 0. The force protocol version
has two acceptable values: 0 (STP compatibility mode) and 2 (normal operation).
-
ovs-vsctl set Bridge br0 other_config:rstp-force-protocol-version=0
Set the bridge max age of br0 to 10 s. The max age value should be between 6 s
and 40 s. The default value is 20 s.
-
ovs-vsctl set Bridge br0 other_config:rstp-max-age=10
Set the bridge forward delay of br0 to 15 s.
This value should be between 4 s and 30 s. The default value is 15 s.
-
ovs-vsctl set Bridge br0 other_config:rstp-forward-delay=15
Set the bridge transmit hold count of br0 to 7 s. This value should be between
1 s and 10 s. The default value is 6 s.
-
ovs-vsctl set Bridge br0 other_config:rstp-transmit-hold-count=7
Enable RSTP on the Port eth0:
-
ovs-vsctl set Port eth0 other_config:rstp-enable=true
Disable RSTP on the Port eth0:
-
ovs-vsctl set Port eth0 other_config:rstp-enable=false
Set the priority of port eth0 to 32. The value must be specified in
decimal notation and should be a multiple of 16 (if not, it is rounded down to the
nearest multiple of 16). The default priority value is 0x80 (128).
-
ovs-vsctl set Port eth0 other_config:rstp-port-priority=32
Set the port number of port eth0 to 3:
-
ovs-vsctl set Port eth0 other_config:rstp-port-num=3
Set the path cost of port eth0 to 150:
-
ovs-vsctl set Port eth0 other_config:rstp-path-cost=150
Set the admin edge value of port eth0:
-
ovs-vsctl set Port eth0 other_config:rstp-port-admin-edge=true
Set the auto edge value of port eth0:
-
ovs-vsctl set Port eth0 other_config:rstp-port-auto-edge=true
Set the admin point to point MAC value of port eth0. Acceptable
values are 0 (not point-to-point), 1 (point-to-point, the
default value) or 2 (automatic detection). The auto-detection
mode is not currently implemented, and the value 2 has the same
effect of 0 (not point-to-point).
-
ovs-vsctl set Port eth0 other_config:rstp-admin-p2p-mac=1
Set the admin port state value of port eth0. true is the
default value.
-
ovs-vsctl set Port eth0 other_config:rstp-admin-port-state=false
Set the mcheck value of port eth0:
-
ovs-vsctl set Port eth0 other_config:rstp-port-mcheck=true
Deconfigure RSTP from above:
-
ovs-vsctl set Bridge br0 rstp_enable=false
OpenFlow Version
Configure bridge br0 to support OpenFlow versions 1.0, 1.2, and
1.3:
-
ovs-vsctl set bridge br0 protocols=OpenFlow10,OpenFlow12,OpenFlow13
Flow Table Configuration
Make flow table 0 on bridge br0 refuse to accept more than 100 flows:
-
ovs-vsctl -- --id=@ft create Flow_Table flow_limit=100 overflow_policy=refuse -- set Bridge br0 flow_tables=0=@ft
Make flow table 0 on bridge br0 evict flows, with fairness based on
the matched ingress port, when there are more than 100:
-
ovs-vsctl -- --id=@ft create Flow_Table flow_limit=100 overflow_policy=evict groups='"NXM_OF_IN_PORT[]"' -- set Bridge br0 flow_tables:0=@ft
EXIT STATUS
- 0
-
Successful program execution.
- 1
-
Usage, syntax, or configuration file error.
- 2
-
The bridge argument to br-exists specified the name of a
bridge that does not exist.
SEE ALSO
ovsdb-server(1),
ovs-vswitchd(8),
ovs-vswitchd.conf.db(5).