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).