Provided by: openvswitch-switch_2.9.8-0ubuntu0.18.04.5_amd64 
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. This is the default behavior. 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.
-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.
[--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.
[--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.
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.
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:ip[:port]
tcp:ip[:port]
The specified port on the host at the given ip, which must be expressed as
an IP address (not a DNS name) 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][:ip]
ptcp:[port][:ip]
Listens for OpenFlow connections on port. The default port is 6653. By
default, connections are allowed from any IPv4 address. Specify ip 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 may not be used. 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), 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).