Provided by: ovn-common_23.03.0-1_amd64 
NAME
ovn-ic-nbctl - Open Virtual Network interconnection northbound db management utility
SYNOPSIS
ovn-ic-nbctl [options] command [arg...]
DESCRIPTION
This utility can be used to manage the OVN interconnection northbound database.
GENERAL COMMANDS
init Initializes the database, if it is empty. If the database has already been
initialized, this command has no effect.
show Prints a brief overview of the database contents.
TRANSIT SWITCH COMMANDS
[--may-exist] ts-add switch
Creates a new transit switch named switch.
Transit switch names must be unique. Adding a duplicated name results in error.
With --may-exist, adding a duplicate name succeeds but does not create a new
transit switch.
[--if-exists] ts-del switch
Deletes switch. It is an error if switch does not exist, unless --if-exists is
specified.
ts-list
Lists all existing switches on standard output, one per line.
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
ovn-ic-nbctl 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, which may be abbreviated to its first 4
(or more) hex digits, as long as that is unique. 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 ovn-ic-nb(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. t or
transit is sufficient to identify the Transit_Switch 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.
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.
The following operators are available only in Open vSwitch 2.16 and later:
{in} Selects records in which every element in column[:key] is also in
value. (This is the same as {<=}.)
{not-in}
Selects records in which every element in column[:key] is not in
value.
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|uuid)] 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 \*(PN invocation in contexts where a UUID is
expected. Such references may precede or follow the create command.
If a valid uuid is specified, then it is used as the UUID of the new row.
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. This command supports the same operators and semantics described for
the find command above.
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.
REMOTE CONNECTIVITY COMMANDS
get-connection
Prints the configured connection(s).
del-connection
Deletes the configured connection(s).
[--inactivity-probe=msecs] set-connection target...
Sets the configured manager target or targets. Use --inactivity-probe=msecs to
override the default idle connection inactivity probe time. Use 0 to disable
inactivity probes.
SSL CONFIGURATION COMMANDS
get-ssl
Prints the SSL configuration.
del-ssl
Deletes the current SSL configuration.
[--bootstrap] set-ssl private-key certificate ca-cert [ssl-protocol-list [ssl-cipher-
list]]
Sets the SSL configuration.
OPTIONS
--db database
The OVSDB database remote to contact. If the OVN_IC_NB_DB environment variable is
set, its value is used as the default. Otherwise, the default is
unix:/ovn_ic_nb_db.sock, but this default is unlikely to be useful outside of
single-machine OVN test environments.
--leader-only
--no-leader-only
By default, or with --leader-only, when the database server is a clustered database,
ovn-ic-nbctl will avoid servers other than the cluster leader. This ensures that any
data that ovn-ic-nbctl reads and reports is up-to-date. With --no-leader-only,
ovn-ic-nbctl will use any server in the cluster, which means that for read-only
transactions it can report and act on stale data (transactions that modify the
database are always serialized even with --no-leader-only). Refer to Understanding
Cluster Consistency in ovsdb(7) for more information.
LOGGING OPTIONS
-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,
the daemon 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/ovn/program.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 as how syslog messages should be sent to syslog daemon. The following
forms are supported:
• libc, to use the libc syslog() function. Downside of using this options is
that libc adds fixed prefix to every message before it is actually sent to the
syslog daemon over /dev/log UNIX domain socket.
• unix:file, to use a 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, to use a UDP socket. With this method it is possible to use
arbitrary message format also with older rsyslogd. When sending syslog
messages over UDP socket extra precaution needs to be taken into account, for
example, syslog daemon needs to be configured to listen on the specified UDP
port, accidental iptables rules could be interfering with local syslog traffic
and there are some security considerations that apply to UDP sockets, but do
not apply to UNIX domain sockets.
• null, to discard all messages logged to syslog.
The default is taken from the OVS_SYSLOG_METHOD environment variable; if it is unset,
the default is libc.
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 of
ovs-vsctl(8).
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.
PKI Options
PKI configuration is required to use SSL for the connection to the database.
-p privkey.pem
--private-key=privkey.pem
Specifies a PEM file containing the private key used as 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 for verifying certificates
presented to this program 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 the executable 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.
Other Options
-h
--help
Prints a brief help message to the console.
-V
--version
Prints version information to the console.