1ovs-vsctl(8) Open vSwitch Manual ovs-vsctl(8)
2
6 ovs-vsctl - utility for querying and configuring ovs-vswitchd
7
9 ovs-vsctl [options] -- [options] command [args] [-- [options] command
10 [args]]...
11
13 The ovs-vsctl program configures ovs-vswitchd(8) by providing a
14 high-level interface to its configuration database. See
15 ovs-vswitchd.conf.db(5) for comprehensive documentation of the database
16 schema.
17 ovs-vsctl connects to an ovsdb-server process that maintains an Open
19 vSwitch configuration database. Using this connection, it queries and
20 possibly applies changes to the database, depending on the supplied
21 commands. Then, if it applied any changes, by default it waits until
22 ovs-vswitchd has finished reconfiguring itself before it exits. (If
23 you use ovs-vsctl when ovs-vswitchd is not running, use --no-wait.)
24 ovs-vsctl can perform any number of commands in a single run, imple‐
26 mented as a single atomic transaction against the database.
27 The ovs-vsctl command line begins with global options (see OPTIONS
29 below for details). The global options are followed by one or more
30 commands. Each command should begin with -- by itself as a command-
31 line argument, to separate it from the following commands. (The --
32 before the first command is optional.) The command itself starts with
33 command-specific options, if any, followed by the command name and any
34 arguments. See EXAMPLES below for syntax examples.
35 Linux VLAN Bridging Compatibility
37 The ovs-vsctl program supports the model of a bridge implemented by
38 Open vSwitch, in which a single bridge supports ports on multiple
39 VLANs. In this model, each port on a bridge is either a trunk port
40 that potentially passes packets tagged with 802.1Q headers that desig‐
41 nate VLANs or it is assigned a single implicit VLAN that is never
42 tagged with an 802.1Q header.
43 For compatibility with software designed for the Linux bridge,
45 ovs-vsctl also supports a model in which traffic associated with a
46 given 802.1Q VLAN is segregated into a separate bridge. A special form
47 of the add-br command (see below) creates a ``fake bridge'' within an
48 Open vSwitch bridge to simulate this behavior. When such a ``fake
49 bridge'' is active, ovs-vsctl will treat it much like a bridge separate
50 from its ``parent bridge,'' but the actual implementation in Open
51 vSwitch uses only a single bridge, with ports on the fake bridge
52 assigned the implicit VLAN of the fake bridge of which they are mem‐
53 bers. (A fake bridge for VLAN 0 receives packets that have no 802.1Q
54 tag or a tag with VLAN 0.)
55
57 The following options affect the behavior ovs-vsctl as a whole. Some
58 individual commands also accept their own options, which are given just
59 before the command name. If the first command on the command line has
60 options, then those options must be separated from the global options
61 by --.
62 --db=server
64 Sets server as the database server that ovs-vsctl contacts to
65 query or modify configuration. The default is
66 unix:/var/run/openvswitch/db.sock. server must take one of the
67 following forms:
68 ssl:ip:port
70 The specified SSL port on the host at the given ip, which
71 must be expressed as an IP address (not a DNS name). The
72 --private-key, --certificate, and --ca-cert options are
73 mandatory when this form is used.
74 tcp:ip:port
76 Connect to the given TCP port on ip.
77 unix:file
79 Connect to the Unix domain server socket named file.
80 pssl:port[:ip]
82 Listen on the given SSL port for a connection. By
83 default, connections are not bound to a particular local
84 IP address, but specifying ip limits connections to those
85 from the given ip. The --private-key, --certificate, and
86 --ca-cert options are mandatory when this form is used.
87 ptcp:port[:ip]
89 Listen on the given TCP port for a connection. By
90 default, connections are not bound to a particular local
91 IP address, but ip may be specified to listen only for
92 connections to the given ip.
93 punix:file
95 Listen on the Unix domain server socket named file for a
96 connection.
97 --no-wait
99 Prevents ovs-vsctl from waiting for ovs-vswitchd to reconfigure
100 itself according to the the modified database. This option
101 should be used if ovs-vswitchd is not running; otherwise,
102 ovs-vsctl will not exit until ovs-vswitchd starts.
103 This option has no effect if the commands specified do not
105 change the database.
106 --no-syslog
108 By default, ovs-vsctl logs its arguments and the details of any
109 changes that it makes to the system log. This option disables
110 this logging.
111 This option is equivalent to --verbose=vsctl:syslog:warn.
113 --oneline
115 Modifies the output format so that the output for each command
116 is printed on a single line. New-line characters that would
117 otherwise separate lines are printed as \n, and any instances of
118 \ that would otherwise appear in the output are doubled. Prints
119 a blank line for each command that has no output. This option
120 does not affect the formatting of output from the list or find
121 commands; see Table Formatting Options below.
122 --dry-run
124 Prevents ovs-vsctl from actually modifying the database.
125 -t secs
127 --timeout=secs
128 By default, or with a secs of 0, ovs-vsctl waits forever for a
129 response from the database. This option limits runtime to
130 approximately secs seconds. If the timeout expires, ovs-vsctl
131 will exit with a SIGALRM signal. (A timeout would normally hap‐
132 pen only if the database cannot be contacted, or if the system
133 is overloaded.)
134 --retry
136 Without this option, if ovs-vsctl connects outward to the data‐
137 base server (the default) then ovs-vsctl will try to connect
138 once and exit with an error if the connection fails (which usu‐
139 ally means that ovsdb-server is not running).
140 With this option, or if --db specifies that ovs-vsctl should
142 listen for an incoming connection from the database server, then
143 ovs-vsctl will wait for a connection to the database forever.
144 Regardless of this setting, --timeout always limits how long
146 ovs-vsctl will wait.
147 Table Formatting Options
149 These options control the format of output from the list and find com‐
150 mands.
151 -f format
153 --format=format
154 Sets the type of table formatting. The following types of for‐
155 mat are available:
156 table 2-D text tables with aligned columns.
158 list (default)
160 A list with one column per line and rows separated by a
161 blank line.
162 html HTML tables.
164 csv Comma-separated values as defined in RFC 4180.
166 json JSON format as defined in RFC 4627. The output is a
168 sequence of JSON objects, each of which corresponds to
169 one table. Each JSON object has the following members
170 with the noted values:
171 caption
173 The table's caption. This member is omitted if
174 the table has no caption.
175 headings
177 An array with one element per table column. Each
178 array element is a string giving the corresponding
179 column's heading.
180 data An array with one element per table row. Each
182 element is also an array with one element per ta‐
183 ble column. The elements of this second-level
184 array are the cells that constitute the table.
185 Cells that represent OVSDB data or data types are
186 expressed in the format described in the OVSDB
187 specification; other cells are simply expressed as
188 text strings.
189 -d format
191 --data=format
192 Sets the formatting for cells within output tables. The follow‐
193 ing types of format are available:
194 string (default)
196 The simple format described in the Database Values sec‐
197 tion below.
198 bare The simple format with punctuation stripped off: [] and
200 {} are omitted around sets, maps, and empty columns,
201 items within sets and maps are space-separated, and
202 strings are never quoted. This format may be easier for
203 scripts to parse.
204 json JSON.
206 The json output format always outputs cells in JSON format,
208 ignoring this option.
209 --no-heading
211 This option suppresses the heading row that otherwise appears in
212 the first row of table output.
213 --pretty
215 By default, JSON in output is printed as compactly as possible.
216 This option causes JSON in output to be printed in a more read‐
217 able fashion. Members of objects and elements of arrays are
218 printed one per line, with indentation.
219 This option does not affect JSON in tables, which is always
221 printed compactly.
222 --bare Equivalent to --format=list --data=bare --no-headings.
224 Public Key Infrastructure Options
226 -p privkey.pem
227 --private-key=privkey.pem
228 Specifies a PEM file containing the private key used as
229 ovs-vsctl's identity for outgoing SSL connections.
230 -c cert.pem
232 --certificate=cert.pem
233 Specifies a PEM file containing a certificate that certifies the
234 private key specified on -p or --private-key to be trustworthy.
235 The certificate must be signed by the certificate authority (CA)
236 that the peer in SSL connections will use to verify it.
237 -C cacert.pem
239 --ca-cert=cacert.pem
240 Specifies a PEM file containing the CA certificate that
241 ovs-vsctl should use to verify certificates presented to it by
242 SSL peers. (This may be the same certificate that SSL peers use
243 to verify the certificate specified on -c or --certificate, or
244 it may be a different one, depending on the PKI design in use.)
245 -C none
247 --ca-cert=none
248 Disables verification of certificates presented by SSL peers.
249 This introduces a security risk, because it means that certifi‐
250 cates cannot be verified to be those of known trusted hosts.
251 --bootstrap-ca-cert=cacert.pem
253 When cacert.pem exists, this option has the same effect as -C or
254 --ca-cert. If it does not exist, then ovs-vsctl will attempt to
255 obtain the CA certificate from the SSL peer on its first SSL
256 connection and save it to the named PEM file. If it is success‐
257 ful, it will immediately drop the connection and reconnect, and
258 from then on all SSL connections must be authenticated by a cer‐
259 tificate signed by the CA certificate thus obtained.
260 This option exposes the SSL connection to a man-in-the-middle
262 attack obtaining the initial CA certificate, but it may be use‐
263 ful for bootstrapping.
264 This option is only useful if the SSL peer sends its CA certifi‐
266 cate as part of the SSL certificate chain. The SSL protocol
267 does not require the server to send the CA certificate, but
268 ovsdb-server(8) can be configured to do so with the
269 --peer-ca-cert option.
270 This option is mutually exclusive with -C and --ca-cert.
272 --peer-ca-cert=peer-cacert.pem
274 Specifies a PEM file that contains one or more additional cer‐
275 tificates to send to SSL peers. peer-cacert.pem should be the
276 CA certificate used to sign ovs-vsctl's own certificate, that
277 is, the certificate specified on -c or --certificate. If
278 ovs-vsctl's certificate is self-signed, then --certificate and
279 --peer-ca-cert should specify the same file.
280 This option is not useful in normal operation, because the SSL
282 peer must already have the CA certificate for the peer to have
283 any confidence in ovs-vsctl's identity. However, this offers a
284 way for a new installation to bootstrap the CA certificate on
285 its first SSL connection.
286 -v[spec]
288 --verbose=[spec]
289 Sets logging levels. Without any spec, sets the log level for
290 every module and facility to dbg. Otherwise, spec is a list of
291 words separated by spaces or commas or colons, up to one from
292 each category below:
293 · A valid module name, as displayed by the vlog/list com‐
295 mand on ovs-appctl(8), limits the log level change to the
296 specified module.
297 · syslog, console, or file, to limit the log level change
299 to only to the system log, to the console, or to a file,
300 respectively.
301 · off, emer, err, warn, info, or dbg, to control the log
303 level. Messages of the given severity or higher will be
304 logged, and messages of lower severity will be filtered
305 out. off filters out all messages. See ovs-appctl(8)
306 for a definition of each log level.
307 Case is not significant within spec.
309 Regardless of the log levels set for file, logging to a file
311 will not take place unless --log-file is also specified (see
312 below).
313 For compatibility with older versions of OVS, any is accepted as
315 a word but has no effect.
316 -v
318 --verbose
319 Sets the maximum logging verbosity level, equivalent to --ver‐
320 bose=dbg.
321 --log-file[=file]
323 Enables logging to a file. If file is specified, then it is
324 used as the exact name for the log file. The default log file
325 name used if file is omitted is /var/log/open‐
326 vswitch/ovs-vsctl.log.
327
329 The commands implemented by ovs-vsctl are described in the sections
330 below.
331 Open vSwitch Commands
333 These commands work with an Open vSwitch as a whole.
334 init Initializes the Open vSwitch database, if it is empty. If the
336 database has already been initialized, this command has no
337 effect.
338 Any successful ovs-vsctl command automatically initializes the
340 Open vSwitch database if it is empty. This command is provided
341 to initialize the database without executing any other command.
342 show Prints a brief overview of the database contents.
344 emer-reset
346 Reset the configuration into a clean state. It deconfigures
347 OpenFlow controllers, OVSDB servers, and SSL, and deletes port
348 mirroring, fail_mode, NetFlow, sFlow, and IPFIX configuration.
349 This command also removes all other-config keys from all data‐
350 base records, except that other-config:hwaddr is preserved if it
351 is present in a Bridge record. Other networking configuration
352 is left as-is.
353 Bridge Commands
355 These commands examine and manipulate Open vSwitch bridges.
356 [--may-exist] add-br bridge
358 Creates a new bridge named bridge. Initially the bridge will
359 have no ports (other than bridge itself).
360 Without --may-exist, attempting to create a bridge that exists
362 is an error. With --may-exist, this command does nothing if
363 bridge already exists as a real bridge.
364 [--may-exist] add-br bridge parent vlan
366 Creates a ``fake bridge'' named bridge within the existing Open
367 vSwitch bridge parent, which must already exist and must not
368 itself be a fake bridge. The new fake bridge will be on 802.1Q
369 VLAN vlan, which must be an integer between 0 and 4095. Ini‐
370 tially bridge will have no ports (other than bridge itself).
371 Without --may-exist, attempting to create a bridge that exists
373 is an error. With --may-exist, this command does nothing if
374 bridge already exists as a VLAN bridge under parent for vlan.
375 [--if-exists] del-br bridge
377 Deletes bridge and all of its ports. If bridge is a real
378 bridge, this command also deletes any fake bridges that were
379 created with bridge as parent, including all of their ports.
380 Without --if-exists, attempting to delete a bridge that does not
382 exist is an error. With --if-exists, attempting to delete a
383 bridge that does not exist has no effect.
384 [--real|--fake] list-br
386 Lists all existing real and fake bridges on standard output, one
387 per line. With --real or --fake, only bridges of that type are
388 returned.
389 br-exists bridge
391 Tests whether bridge exists as a real or fake bridge. If so,
392 ovs-vsctl exits successfully with exit code 0. If not,
393 ovs-vsctl exits unsuccessfully with exit code 2.
394 br-to-vlan bridge
396 If bridge is a fake bridge, prints the bridge's 802.1Q VLAN as a
397 decimal integer. If bridge is a real bridge, prints 0.
398 br-to-parent bridge
400 If bridge is a fake bridge, prints the name of its parent
401 bridge. If bridge is a real bridge, print bridge.
402 br-set-external-id bridge key [value]
404 Sets or clears an ``external ID'' value on bridge. These values
405 are intended to identify entities external to Open vSwitch with
406 which bridge is associated, e.g. the bridge's identifier in a
407 virtualization management platform. The Open vSwitch database
408 schema specifies well-known key values, but key and value are
409 otherwise arbitrary strings.
410 If value is specified, then key is set to value for bridge,
412 overwriting any previous value. If value is omitted, then key
413 is removed from bridge's set of external IDs (if it was
414 present).
415 For real bridges, the effect of this command is similar to that
417 of a set or remove command in the external-ids column of the
418 Bridge table. For fake bridges, it actually modifies keys with
419 names prefixed by fake-bridge- in the Port table.
420 br-get-external-id bridge [key]
422 Queries the external IDs on bridge. If key is specified, the
423 output is the value for that key or the empty string if key is
424 unset. If key is omitted, the output is key=value, one per
425 line, for each key-value pair.
426 For real bridges, the effect of this command is similar to that
428 of a get command in the external-ids column of the Bridge table.
429 For fake bridges, it queries keys with names prefixed by
430 fake-bridge- in the Port table.
431 Port Commands
433 These commands examine and manipulate Open vSwitch ports. These com‐
434 mands treat a bonded port as a single entity.
435 list-ports bridge
437 Lists all of the ports within bridge on standard output, one per
438 line. The local port bridge is not included in the list.
439 [--may-exist] add-port bridge port [column[:key]=value]...
441 Creates on bridge a new port named port from the network device
442 of the same name.
443 Optional arguments set values of column in the Port record cre‐
445 ated by the command. For example, tag=9 would make the port an
446 access port for VLAN 9. The syntax is the same as that for the
447 set command (see Database Commands below).
448 Without --may-exist, attempting to create a port that exists is
450 an error. With --may-exist, this command does nothing if port
451 already exists on bridge and is not a bonded port.
452 [--fake-iface] add-bond bridge port iface... [column[:key]=value]...
454 Creates on bridge a new port named port that bonds together the
455 network devices given as each iface. At least two interfaces
456 must be named.
457 Optional arguments set values of column in the Port record cre‐
459 ated by the command. The syntax is the same as that for the set
460 command (see Database Commands below).
461 With --fake-iface, a fake interface with the name port is cre‐
463 ated. This should only be used for compatibility with legacy
464 software that requires it.
465 Without --may-exist, attempting to create a port that exists is
467 an error. With --may-exist, this command does nothing if port
468 already exists on bridge and bonds together exactly the speci‐
469 fied interfaces.
470 [--if-exists] del-port [bridge] port
472 Deletes port. If bridge is omitted, port is removed from what‐
473 ever bridge contains it; if bridge is specified, it must be the
474 real or fake bridge that contains port.
475 Without --if-exists, attempting to delete a port that does not
477 exist is an error. With --if-exists, attempting to delete a
478 port that does not exist has no effect.
479 [--if-exists] --with-iface del-port [bridge] iface
481 Deletes the port named iface or that has an interface named
482 iface. If bridge is omitted, the port is removed from whatever
483 bridge contains it; if bridge is specified, it must be the real
484 or fake bridge that contains the port.
485 Without --if-exists, attempting to delete the port for an inter‐
487 face that does not exist is an error. With --if-exists,
488 attempting to delete the port for an interface that does not
489 exist has no effect.
490 port-to-br port
492 Prints the name of the bridge that contains port on standard
493 output.
494 Interface Commands
496 These commands examine the interfaces attached to an Open vSwitch
497 bridge. These commands treat a bonded port as a collection of two or
498 more interfaces, rather than as a single port.
499 list-ifaces bridge
501 Lists all of the interfaces within bridge on standard output,
502 one per line. The local port bridge is not included in the
503 list.
504 iface-to-br iface
506 Prints the name of the bridge that contains iface on standard
507 output.
508 OpenFlow Controller Connectivity
510 ovs-vswitchd can perform all configured bridging and switching locally,
511 or it can be configured to communicate with one or more external Open‐
512 Flow controllers. The switch is typically configured to connect to a
513 primary controller that takes charge of the bridge's flow table to
514 implement a network policy. In addition, the switch can be configured
515 to listen to connections from service controllers. Service controllers
516 are typically used for occasional support and maintenance, e.g. with
517 ovs-ofctl.
518 get-controller bridge
520 Prints the configured controller target.
521 del-controller bridge
523 Deletes the configured controller target.
524 set-controller bridge target...
526 Sets the configured controller target or targets. Each target
527 may use any of the following forms:
528 ssl:ip[:port]
530 The specified SSL port (default: 6633) on the host at the
531 given ip, which must be expressed as an IP address (not a
532 DNS name). The --private-key, --certificate, and
533 --ca-cert options are mandatory when this form is used.
534 tcp:ip[:port]
536 The specified TCP port (default: 6633) on the host at the
537 given ip, which must be expressed as an IP address (not a
538 DNS name).
539 unix:file
541 The Unix domain server socket named file.
542 pssl:[port][:ip]
544 Listens for OpenFlow SSL connections on port (default:
545 6633). The --private-key, --certificate, and --ca-cert
546 options are mandatory when this form is used. By
547 default, connections are not bound to a particular local
548 IP address, but ip may be specified to listen only for
549 connections to the given ip.
550 ptcp:[port][:ip]
552 Listens for OpenFlow TCP connections on port (default:
553 6633). By default, connections are not bound to a par‐
554 ticular local IP address, but ip may be specified to lis‐
555 ten only for connections to the given ip.
556 punix:file
558 Listens for OpenFlow connections on the Unix domain
559 server socket named file.
560 Controller Failure Settings
562 When a controller is configured, it is, ordinarily, responsible for
564 setting up all flows on the switch. Thus, if the connection to the
565 controller fails, no new network connections can be set up. If the
566 connection to the controller stays down long enough, no packets can
567 pass through the switch at all.
568 If the value is standalone, or if neither of these settings is set,
570 ovs-vswitchd will take over responsibility for setting up flows when no
571 message has been received from the controller for three times the inac‐
572 tivity probe interval. In this mode, ovs-vswitchd causes the datapath
573 to act like an ordinary MAC-learning switch. ovs-vswitchd will con‐
574 tinue to retry connecting to the controller in the background and, when
575 the connection succeeds, it discontinues its standalone behavior.
576 If this option is set to secure, ovs-vswitchd will not set up flows on
578 its own when the controller connection fails.
579 get-fail-mode bridge
581 Prints the configured failure mode.
582 del-fail-mode bridge
584 Deletes the configured failure mode.
585 set-fail-mode bridge standalone|secure
587 Sets the configured failure mode.
588 Manager Connectivity
590 These commands manipulate the manager_options column in the
591 Open_vSwitch table and rows in the Managers table. When ovsdb-server
592 is configured to use the manager_options column for OVSDB connections
593 (as described in INSTALL.Linux and in the startup scripts provided with
594 Open vSwitch), this allows the administrator to use ovs-vsctl to con‐
595 figure database connections.
596 get-manager
598 Prints the configured manager(s).
599 del-manager
601 Deletes the configured manager(s).
602 set-manager target...
604 Sets the configured manager target or targets. Each target may
605 use any of the following forms:
606 ssl:ip:port
608 The specified SSL port on the host at the given ip, which
609 must be expressed as an IP address (not a DNS name). The
610 --private-key, --certificate, and --ca-cert options are
611 mandatory when this form is used.
612 tcp:ip:port
614 Connect to the given TCP port on ip.
615 unix:file
617 Connect to the Unix domain server socket named file.
618 pssl:port[:ip]
620 Listen on the given SSL port for a connection. By
621 default, connections are not bound to a particular local
622 IP address, but specifying ip limits connections to those
623 from the given ip. The --private-key, --certificate, and
624 --ca-cert options are mandatory when this form is used.
625 ptcp:port[:ip]
627 Listen on the given TCP port for a connection. By
628 default, connections are not bound to a particular local
629 IP address, but ip may be specified to listen only for
630 connections to the given ip.
631 punix:file
633 Listen on the Unix domain server socket named file for a
634 connection.
635 SSL Configuration
637 When ovs-vswitchd is configured to connect over SSL for management or
638 controller connectivity, the following parameters are required:
639 private-key
641 Specifies a PEM file containing the private key used as the vir‐
642 tual switch's identity for SSL connections to the controller.
643 certificate
645 Specifies a PEM file containing a certificate, signed by the
646 certificate authority (CA) used by the controller and manager,
647 that certifies the virtual switch's private key, identifying a
648 trustworthy switch.
649 ca-cert
651 Specifies a PEM file containing the CA certificate used to ver‐
652 ify that the virtual switch is connected to a trustworthy con‐
653 troller.
654 These files are read only once, at ovs-vswitchd startup time. If their
656 contents change, ovs-vswitchd must be killed and restarted.
657 These SSL settings apply to all SSL connections made by the virtual
659 switch.
660 get-ssl
662 Prints the SSL configuration.
663 del-ssl
665 Deletes the current SSL configuration.
666 [--bootstrap] set-ssl private-key certificate ca-cert
668 Sets the SSL configuration. The --bootstrap option is described
669 below.
670 CA Certificate Bootstrap
672 Ordinarily, all of the files named in the SSL configuration must exist
674 when ovs-vswitchd starts. However, if the ca-cert file does not exist
675 and the --bootstrap option is given, then ovs-vswitchd will attempt to
676 obtain the CA certificate from the controller on its first SSL connec‐
677 tion and save it to the named PEM file. If it is successful, it will
678 immediately drop the connection and reconnect, and from then on all SSL
679 connections must be authenticated by a certificate signed by the CA
680 certificate thus obtained.
681 This option exposes the SSL connection to a man-in-the-middle attack
683 obtaining the initial CA certificate, but it may be useful for boot‐
684 strapping.
685 This option is only useful if the controller sends its CA certificate
687 as part of the SSL certificate chain. The SSL protocol does not
688 require the controller to send the CA certificate, but ovs-con‐
689 troller(8) can be configured to do so with the --peer-ca-cert option.
690 Database Commands
692 These commands query and modify the contents of ovsdb tables. They are
693 a slight abstraction of the ovsdb interface and as such they operate at
694 a lower level than other ovs-vsctl commands.
695 Identifying Tables, Records, and Columns
697 Each of these commands has a table parameter to identify a table within
699 the database. Many of them also take a record parameter that identi‐
700 fies a particular record within a table. The record parameter may be
701 the UUID for a record, and many tables offer additional ways to iden‐
702 tify records. Some commands also take column parameters that identify
703 a particular field within the records in a table.
704 The following tables are currently defined:
706 Open_vSwitch
708 Global configuration for an ovs-vswitchd. This table contains
709 exactly one record, identified by specifying . as the record
710 name.
711 Bridge Configuration for a bridge within an Open vSwitch. Records may
713 be identified by bridge name.
714 Port A bridge port. Records may be identified by port name.
716 Interface
718 A network device attached to a port. Records may be identified
719 by name.
720 Flow_Table
722 Configuration for a particular OpenFlow flow table. Records may
723 be identified by name.
724 QoS Quality-of-service configuration for a Port. Records may be
726 identified by port name.
727 Queue Configuration for one queue within a QoS configuration. Records
729 may only be identified by UUID.
730 Mirror A port mirroring configuration attached to a bridge. Records
732 may be identified by mirror name.
733 Controller
735 Configuration for an OpenFlow controller. A controller attached
736 to a particular bridge may be identified by the bridge's name.
737 Manager
739 Configuration for an OVSDB connection. Records may be identi‐
740 fied by target (e.g. tcp:1.2.3.4).
741 NetFlow
743 A NetFlow configuration attached to a bridge. Records may be
744 identified by bridge name.
745 SSL The global SSL configuration for ovs-vswitchd. The record
747 attached to the Open_vSwitch table may be identified by specify‐
748 ing . as the record name.
749 sFlow An sFlow exporter configuration attached to a bridge. Records
751 may be identified by bridge name.
752 IPFIX An IPFIX exporter configuration attached to a bridge. Records
754 may be identified by bridge name.
755 Flow_Sample_Collector_Set
757 An IPFIX exporter configuration attached to a bridge for sam‐
758 pling packets on a per-flow basis using OpenFlow sample actions.
759 Record names must be specified in full and with correct capitalization.
761 Names of tables and columns are not case-sensitive, and -- and _ are
762 treated interchangeably. Unique abbreviations are acceptable, e.g. net
763 or n is sufficient to identify the NetFlow table.
764 Database Values
766 Each column in the database accepts a fixed type of data. The cur‐
768 rently defined basic types, and their representations, are:
769 integer
771 A decimal integer in the range -2**63 to 2**63-1, inclusive.
772 real A floating-point number.
774 Boolean
776 True or false, written true or false, respectively.
777 string An arbitrary Unicode string, except that null bytes are not
779 allowed. Quotes are optional for most strings that begin with
780 an English letter or underscore and consist only of letters,
781 underscores, hyphens, and periods. However, true and false and
782 strings that match the syntax of UUIDs (see below) must be
783 enclosed in double quotes to distinguish them from other basic
784 types. When double quotes are used, the syntax is that of
785 strings in JSON, e.g. backslashes may be used to escape special
786 characters. The empty string must be represented as a pair of
787 double quotes ("").
788 UUID Either a universally unique identifier in the style of RFC 4122,
790 e.g. f81d4fae-7dec-11d0-a765-00a0c91e6bf6, or an @name defined
791 by a get or create command within the same ovs-vsctl invocation.
792 Multiple values in a single column may be separated by spaces or a sin‐
794 gle comma. When multiple values are present, duplicates are not
795 allowed, and order is not important. Conversely, some database columns
796 can have an empty set of values, represented as [], and square brackets
797 may optionally enclose other non-empty sets or single values as well.
798 A few database columns are ``maps'' of key-value pairs, where the key
800 and the value are each some fixed database type. These are specified
801 in the form key=value, where key and value follow the syntax for the
802 column's key type and value type, respectively. When multiple pairs
803 are present (separated by spaces or a comma), duplicate keys are not
804 allowed, and again the order is not important. Duplicate values are
805 allowed. An empty map is represented as {}. Curly braces may option‐
806 ally enclose non-empty maps as well (but use quotes to prevent the
807 shell from expanding other-config={0=x,1=y} into other-config=0=x
808 other-config=1=y, which may not have the desired effect).
809 Database Command Syntax
811 [--if-exists] [--columns=column[,column]...] list table [record]...
813 Lists the data in each specified record. If no records are
814 specified, lists all the records in table.
815 If --columns is specified, only the requested columns are
817 listed, in the specified order. Otherwise, all columns are
818 listed, in alphabetical order by column name.
819 Without --if-exists, it is an error if any specified record does
821 not exist. With --if-exists, the command ignores any record
822 that does not exist, without producing any output.
823 [--columns=column[,column]...] find table [column[:key]=value]...
825 Lists the data in each record in table whose column equals value
826 or, if key is specified, whose column contains a key with the
827 specified value. The following operators may be used where = is
828 written in the syntax summary:
829 = != < > <= >=
831 Selects records in which column[:key] equals, does not
832 equal, is less than, is greater than, is less than or
833 equal to, or is greater than or equal to value, respec‐
834 tively.
835 Consider column[:key] and value as sets of elements.
837 Identical sets are considered equal. Otherwise, if the
838 sets have different numbers of elements, then the set
839 with more elements is considered to be larger. Other‐
840 wise, consider a element from each set pairwise, in
841 increasing order within each set. The first pair that
842 differs determines the result. (For a column that con‐
843 tains key-value pairs, first all the keys are compared,
844 and values are considered only if the two sets contain
845 identical keys.)
846 {=} {!=}
848 Test for set equality or inequality, respectively.
849 {<=} Selects records in which column[:key] is a subset of
851 value. For example, flood-vlans{<=}1,2 selects records
852 in which the flood-vlans column is the empty set or con‐
853 tains 1 or 2 or both.
854 {<} Selects records in which column[:key] is a proper subset
856 of value. For example, flood-vlans{<}1,2 selects records
857 in which the flood-vlans column is the empty set or con‐
858 tains 1 or 2 but not both.
859 {>=} {>}
861 Same as {<=} and {<}, respectively, except that the rela‐
862 tionship is reversed. For example, flood-vlans{>=}1,2
863 selects records in which the flood-vlans column contains
864 both 1 and 2.
865 For arithmetic operators (= != < > <= >=), when key is specified
867 but a particular record's column does not contain key, the
868 record is always omitted from the results. Thus, the condition
869 other-config:mtu!=1500 matches records that have a mtu key whose
870 value is not 1500, but not those that lack an mtu key.
871 For the set operators, when key is specified but a particular
873 record's column does not contain key, the comparison is done
874 against an empty set. Thus, the condition other-con‐
875 fig:mtu{!=}1500 matches records that have a mtu key whose value
876 is not 1500 and those that lack an mtu key.
877 Don't forget to escape < or > from interpretation by the shell.
879 If --columns is specified, only the requested columns are
881 listed, in the specified order. Otherwise all columns are
882 listed, in alphabetical order by column name.
883 The UUIDs shown for rows created in the same ovs-vsctl invoca‐
885 tion will be wrong.
886 [--if-exists] [--id=@name] get table record [column[:key]]...
888 Prints the value of each specified column in the given record in
889 table. For map columns, a key may optionally be specified, in
890 which case the value associated with key in the column is
891 printed, instead of the entire map.
892 Without --if-exists, it is an error if record does not exist or
894 key is specified, if key does not exist in record. With
895 --if-exists, a missing record yields no output and a missing key
896 prints a blank line.
897 If @name is specified, then the UUID for record may be referred
899 to by that name later in the same ovs-vsctl invocation in con‐
900 texts where a UUID is expected.
901 Both --id and the column arguments are optional, but usually at
903 least one or the other should be specified. If both are omit‐
904 ted, then get has no effect except to verify that record exists
905 in table.
906 --id and --if-exists cannot be used together.
908 [--if-exists] set table record column[:key]=value...
910 Sets the value of each specified column in the given record in
911 table to value. For map columns, a key may optionally be speci‐
912 fied, in which case the value associated with key in that column
913 is changed (or added, if none exists), instead of the entire
914 map.
915 Without --if-exists, it is an error if record does not exist.
917 With --if-exists, this command does nothing if record does not
918 exist.
919 [--if-exists] add table record column [key=]value...
921 Adds the specified value or key-value pair to column in record
922 in table. If column is a map, then key is required, otherwise
923 it is prohibited. If key already exists in a map column, then
924 the current value is not replaced (use the set command to
925 replace an existing value).
926 Without --if-exists, it is an error if record does not exist.
928 With --if-exists, this command does nothing if record does not
929 exist.
930 [--if-exists] remove table record column value...
932 [--if-exists] remove table record column key...
933 [--if-exists] remove table record column key=value...
934 Removes the specified values or key-value pairs from column in
935 record in table. The first form applies to columns that are not
936 maps: each specified value is removed from the column. The sec‐
937 ond and third forms apply to map columns: if only a key is spec‐
938 ified, then any key-value pair with the given key is removed,
939 regardless of its value; if a value is given then a pair is
940 removed only if both key and value match.
941 It is not an error if the column does not contain the specified
943 key or value or pair.
944 Without --if-exists, it is an error if record does not exist.
946 With --if-exists, this command does nothing if record does not
947 exist.
948 [--if-exists] clear table record column...
950 Sets each column in record in table to the empty set or empty
951 map, as appropriate. This command applies only to columns that
952 are allowed to be empty.
953 Without --if-exists, it is an error if record does not exist.
955 With --if-exists, this command does nothing if record does not
956 exist.
957 [--id=@name] create table column[:key]=value...
959 Creates a new record in table and sets the initial values of
960 each column. Columns not explicitly set will receive their
961 default values. Outputs the UUID of the new row.
962 If @name is specified, then the UUID for the new row may be
964 referred to by that name elsewhere in the same ovs-vsctl invoca‐
965 tion in contexts where a UUID is expected. Such references may
966 precede or follow the create command.
967 Records in the Open vSwitch database are significant only when
969 they can be reached directly or indirectly from the Open_vSwitch
970 table. Except for records in the QoS or Queue tables, records
971 that are not reachable from the Open_vSwitch table are automati‐
972 cally deleted from the database. This deletion happens immedi‐
973 ately, without waiting for additional ovs-vsctl commands or
974 other database activity. Thus, a create command must generally
975 be accompanied by additional commands within the same ovs-vsctl
976 invocation to add a chain of references to the newly created
977 record from the top-level Open_vSwitch record. The EXAMPLES
978 section gives some examples that show how to do this.
979 [--if-exists] destroy table record...
981 Deletes each specified record from table. Unless --if-exists is
982 specified, each records must exist.
983 --all destroy table
985 Deletes all records from the table.
986 The destroy command is only useful for records in the QoS or
988 Queue tables. Records in other tables are automatically deleted
989 from the database when they become unreachable from the
990 Open_vSwitch table. This means that deleting the last reference
991 to a record is sufficient for deleting the record itself. For
992 records in these tables, destroy is silently ignored. See the
993 EXAMPLES section below for more information.
994 wait-until table record [column[:key]=value]...
996 Waits until table contains a record named record whose column
997 equals value or, if key is specified, whose column contains a
998 key with the specified value. Any of the operators !=, <, >,
999 <=, or >= may be substituted for = to test for inequality, less
1000 than, greater than, less than or equal to, or greater than or
1001 equal to, respectively. (Don't forget to escape < or > from
1002 interpretation by the shell.)
1003 If no column[:key]=value arguments are given, this command waits
1005 only until record exists. If more than one such argument is
1006 given, the command waits until all of them are satisfied.
1007 Usually wait-until should be placed at the beginning of a set of
1009 ovs-vsctl commands. For example, wait-until bridge br0 -- get
1010 bridge br0 datapath_id waits until a bridge named br0 is cre‐
1011 ated, then prints its datapath_id column, whereas get bridge br0
1012 datapath_id -- wait-until bridge br0 will abort if no bridge
1013 named br0 exists when ovs-vsctl initially connects to the data‐
1014 base.
1015 Consider specifying --timeout=0 along with --wait-until, to pre‐
1017 vent ovs-vsctl from terminating after waiting only at most 5
1018 seconds.
1019 comment [arg]...
1021 This command has no effect on behavior, but any database log
1022 record created by the command will include the command and its
1023 arguments.
1024
1026 Create a new bridge named br0 and add port eth0 to it:
1027 ovs-vsctl add-br br0
1029 ovs-vsctl add-port br0 eth0
1030 Alternatively, perform both operations in a single atomic transaction:
1032 ovs-vsctl add-br br0 -- add-port br0 eth0
1034 Delete bridge br0, reporting an error if it does not exist:
1036 ovs-vsctl del-br br0
1038 Delete bridge br0 if it exists:
1040 ovs-vsctl --if-exists del-br br0
1042 Set the qos column of the Port record for eth0 to point to a new QoS
1044 record, which in turn points with its queue 0 to a new Queue record:
1045 ovs-vsctl -- set port eth0 qos=@newqos -- --id=@newqos create
1047 qos type=linux-htb other-config:max-rate=1000000
1048 queues:0=@newqueue -- --id=@newqueue create queue other-con‐
1049 fig:min-rate=1000000 other-config:max-rate=1000000
1050
1052 Port Configuration
1053 Add an ``internal port'' vlan10 to bridge br0 as a VLAN access port for
1054 VLAN 10, and configure it with an IP address:
1055 ovs-vsctl add-port br0 vlan10 tag=10 -- set Interface vlan10
1057 type=internal
1058 ifconfig vlan10 192.168.0.123
1060 Add a GRE tunnel port gre0 to remote IP address 1.2.3.4 to bridge br0:
1062 ovs-vsctl add-port br0 gre0 -- set Interface gre0 type=gre
1064 options:remote_ip=1.2.3.4
1065 Port Mirroring
1067 Mirror all packets received or sent on eth0 or eth1 onto eth2, assuming
1068 that all of those ports exist on bridge br0 (as a side-effect this
1069 causes any packets received on eth2 to be ignored):
1070 ovs-vsctl -- set Bridge br0 mirrors=@m \
1072 -- --id=@eth0 get Port eth0 \
1074 -- --id=@eth1 get Port eth1 \
1076 -- --id=@eth2 get Port eth2 \
1078 -- --id=@m create Mirror name=mymirror select-dst-
1080 port=@eth0,@eth1 select-src-port=@eth0,@eth1 output-port=@eth2
1081 Remove the mirror created above from br0, which also destroys the Mir‐
1083 ror record (since it is now unreferenced):
1084 ovs-vsctl -- --id=@rec get Mirror mymirror \
1086 -- remove Bridge br0 mirrors @rec
1088 The following simpler command also works:
1090 ovs-vsctl clear Bridge br0 mirrors
1092 Quality of Service (QoS)
1094 Create a linux-htb QoS record that points to a few queues and use it on
1095 eth0 and eth1:
1096 ovs-vsctl -- set Port eth0 qos=@newqos \
1098 -- set Port eth1 qos=@newqos \
1100 -- --id=@newqos create QoS type=linux-htb other-con‐
1102 fig:max-rate=1000000000 queues=0=@q0,1=@q1 \
1103 -- --id=@q0 create Queue other-config:min-rate=100000000
1105 other-config:max-rate=100000000 \
1106 -- --id=@q1 create Queue other-config:min-rate=500000000
1108 Deconfigure the QoS record above from eth1 only:
1110 ovs-vsctl clear Port eth1 qos
1112 To deconfigure the QoS record from both eth0 and eth1 and then delete
1114 the QoS record (which must be done explicitly because unreferenced QoS
1115 records are not automatically destroyed):
1116 ovs-vsctl -- destroy QoS eth0 -- clear Port eth0 qos -- clear
1118 Port eth1 qos
1119 (This command will leave two unreferenced Queue records in the data‐
1121 base. To delete them, use "ovs-vsctl list Queue" to find their UUIDs,
1122 then "ovs-vsctl destroy Queue uuid1 uuid2" to destroy each of them or
1123 use "ovs-vsctl -- --all destroy Queue" to delete all records.)
1124 Connectivity Monitoring
1126 Monitor connectivity to a remote maintenance point on eth0.
1127 ovs-vsctl set Interface eth0 cfm_mpid=1
1129 Deconfigure connectivity monitoring from above:
1131 ovs-vsctl clear Interface eth0 cfm_mpid
1133 NetFlow
1135 Configure bridge br0 to send NetFlow records to UDP port 5566 on host
1136 192.168.0.34, with an active timeout of 30 seconds:
1137 ovs-vsctl -- set Bridge br0 netflow=@nf \
1139 -- --id=@nf create NetFlow targets=\"192.168.0.34:5566\"
1141 active-timeout=30
1142 Update the NetFlow configuration created by the previous command to
1144 instead use an active timeout of 60 seconds:
1145 ovs-vsctl set NetFlow br0 active_timeout=60
1147 Deconfigure the NetFlow settings from br0, which also destroys the Net‐
1149 Flow record (since it is now unreferenced):
1150 ovs-vsctl clear Bridge br0 netflow
1152 sFlow
1154 Configure bridge br0 to send sFlow records to a collector on 10.0.0.1
1155 at port 6343, using eth1´s IP address as the source, with specific sam‐
1156 pling parameters:
1157 ovs-vsctl -- --id=@s create sFlow agent=eth1 tar‐
1159 get=\"10.0.0.1:6343\" header=128 sampling=64 polling=10 \
1160 -- set Bridge br0 sflow=@s
1162 Deconfigure sFlow from br0, which also destroys the sFlow record (since
1164 it is now unreferenced):
1165 ovs-vsctl -- clear Bridge br0 sflow
1167 IPFIX
1169 Configure bridge br0 to send one IPFIX flow record per packet sample to
1170 UDP port 4739 on host 192.168.0.34, with Observation Domain ID 123 and
1171 Observation Point ID 456, a flow cache active timeout of 1 minute (60
1172 seconds), and a maximum flow cache size of 13 flows:
1173 ovs-vsctl -- set Bridge br0 ipfix=@i \
1175 -- --id=@i create IPFIX targets=\"192.168.0.34:4739\"
1177 obs_domain_id=123 obs_point_id=456 cache_active_timeout=60
1178 cache_max_flows=13
1179 Deconfigure the IPFIX settings from br0, which also destroys the IPFIX
1181 record (since it is now unreferenced):
1182 ovs-vsctl clear Bridge br0 ipfix
1184 802.1D Spanning Tree Protocol (STP)
1186 Configure bridge br0 to participate in an 802.1D spanning tree:
1187 ovs-vsctl set Bridge br0 stp_enable=true
1189 Set the bridge priority of br0 to 0x7800:
1191 ovs-vsctl set Bridge br0 other_config:stp-priority=0x7800
1193 Set the path cost of port eth0 to 10:
1195 ovs-vsctl set Port eth0 other_config:stp-path-cost=10
1197 Deconfigure STP from above:
1199 ovs-vsctl clear Bridge br0 stp_enable
1201 OpenFlow Version
1203 Configure bridge br0 to support OpenFlow versions 1.0, 1.2, and 1.3:
1204 ovs-vsctl set bridge br0 protocols=openflow10,openflow12,open‐
1206 flow13
1207
1209 0 Successful program execution.
1210 1 Usage, syntax, or configuration file error.
1212 2 The bridge argument to br-exists specified the name of a bridge
1214 that does not exist.
1215
1217 ovsdb-server(1), ovs-vswitchd(8), ovs-vswitchd.conf.db(5).
1218Open vSwitch 2.0.0 ovs-vsctl(8)