NAME¶
ovs-ofctl - administer OpenFlow switches
SYNOPSIS¶
ovs-ofctl [
options]
command [
switch]
[
args...]
DESCRIPTION¶
The
ovs-ofctl program is a command line tool for monitoring and
administering OpenFlow switches. It can also show the current state of an
OpenFlow switch, including features, configuration, and table entries.
OpenFlow Switch Management Commands¶
These commands allow
ovs-ofctl to monitor and administer an OpenFlow
switch. It is able to show the current state of a switch, including features,
configuration, and table entries.
Most of these commands take an argument that specifies the method for connecting
to an OpenFlow switch. The following connection methods are supported:
- ssl:ip[:port]
- The specified SSL port (default: 6633) on the host
at the given ip, which must be expressed as an IP address (not a
DNS name). The --private-key, --certificate, and
--ca-cert options are mandatory when this form is used.
- tcp:ip[:port]
- The specified TCP port (default: 6633) on the host
at the given ip, which must be expressed as an IP address (not a
DNS name).
- unix:file
- The Unix domain server socket named file.
- file
- This is short for unix:file, as long as
file does not contain a colon.
- bridge
- This is short for
unix:/var/run/openvswitch/bridge .mgmt, as long as
bridge does not contain a colon.
- [type@]dp
- Attempts to look up the bridge associated with dp
and open as above. If type is given, it specifies the datapath
provider of dp, otherwise the default provider system is
assumed.
- show switch
- Prints to the console information on switch,
including information on its flow tables and ports.
- dump-tables switch
- Prints to the console statistics for each of the flow
tables used by switch.
- dump-ports switch [netdev]
- Prints to the console statistics for network devices
associated with switch. If netdev is specified, only the
statistics associated with that device will be printed. netdev can
be an OpenFlow assigned port number or device name, e.g. eth0.
- mod-port switch netdev
action
- Modify characteristics of an interface monitored by
switch. netdev can be referred to by its OpenFlow assigned
port number or the device name, e.g. eth0. The action may be
any one of the following:
- up
- Enables the interface. This is equivalent to ``ifconfig
up'' on a Unix system.
- down
- Disables the interface. This is equivalent to ``ifconfig
down'' on a Unix system.
- forward
- Allows forwarding of traffic on this interface. This is the
default posture for all ports.
- noforward
- Disallows forwarding of traffic on this interface.
- flood
- When a flood action is specified, traffic will be
sent out this interface. This is the default posture for monitored
ports.
- noflood
- When a flood action is specified, traffic will not
be sent out this interface. This is primarily useful to prevent loops when
a spanning tree protocol is not in use.
- get-frags switch
- Prints switch's fragment handling mode. See
set-frags, below, for a description of each fragment handling
mode.
- The show command also prints the fragment handling
mode among its other output.
- set-frags switch frag_mode
- Configures switch's treatment of IPv4 and IPv6
fragments. The choices for frag_mode are:
- normal
- Fragments pass through the flow table like non-fragmented
packets. The TCP ports, UDP ports, and ICMP type and code fields are
always set to 0, even for fragments where that information would otherwise
be available (fragments with offset 0). This is the default fragment
handling mode for an OpenFlow switch.
- drop
- Fragments are dropped without passing through the flow
table.
- reassemble
- The switch reassembles fragments into full IP packets
before passing them through the flow table. Open vSwitch does not
implement this fragment handling mode.
- nx-match
- Fragments pass through the flow table like non-fragmented
packets. The TCP ports, UDP ports, and ICMP type and code fields are
available for matching for fragments with offset 0, and set to 0 in
fragments with nonzero offset. This mode is a Nicira extension.
- See the description of ip_frag, below, for a way to
match on whether a packet is a fragment and on its fragment offset.
- dump-flows switch [flows]
- Prints to the console all flow entries in switch's
tables that match flows. If flows is omitted, all flows in
the switch are retrieved. See Flow Syntax, below, for the syntax of
flows. The output format is described in Table Entry
Output.
- dump-aggregate switch [flows]
- Prints to the console aggregate statistics for flows in
switch's tables that match flows. If flows is
omitted, the statistics are aggregated across all flows in the switch's
flow tables. See Flow Syntax, below, for the syntax of
flows. The output format is descrbed in Table Entry
Output.
- queue-stats switch [port
[queue]]
- Prints to the console statistics for the specified
queue on port within switch. Either of port or
queue or both may be omitted (or equivalently specified as
ALL). If both are omitted, statistics are printed for all queues on
all ports. If only queue is omitted, then statistics are printed
for all queues on port; if only port is omitted, then
statistics are printed for queue on every port where it
exists.
OpenFlow Switch Flow Table Commands¶
These commands manage the flow table in an OpenFlow switch. In each case,
flow specifies a flow entry in the format described in
Flow
Syntax, below, and
file is a text file that contains zero or more
flows in the same syntax, one per line.
- add-flow switch flow
-
- add-flow switch - <
file
-
- add-flows switch file
- Add each flow entry to switch's tables.
- [--strict] mod-flows switch flow
-
- [--strict] mod-flows switch - <
file
- Modify the actions in entries from switch's tables
that match the specified flows. With --strict, wildcards are not
treated as active for matching purposes.
- del-flows switch
-
- [--strict] del-flows switch
[flow]
-
- [--strict] del-flows switch - <
file
- Deletes entries from switch's flow table. With only
a switch argument, deletes all flows. Otherwise, deletes flow
entries that match the specified flows. With --strict, wildcards
are not treated as active for matching purposes.
- [--readd] replace-flows switch
file
- Reads flow entries from file (or stdin if
file is -) and queries the flow table from switch.
Then it fixes up any differences, adding flows from flow that are
missing on switch, deleting flows from switch that are not
in file, and updating flows in switch whose actions, cookie,
or timeouts differ in file.
- With --readd, ovs-ofctl adds all the flows
from file, even those that exist with the same actions, cookie, and
timeout in switch. This resets all the flow packet and byte
counters to 0, which can be useful for debugging.
- diff-flows source1 source2
- Reads flow entries from source1 and source2
and prints the differences. A flow that is in source1 but not in
source2 is printed preceded by a -, and a flow that is in
source2 but not in source1 is printed preceded by a
+. If a flow exists in both source1 and source2 with
different actions, cookie, or timeouts, then both versions are printed
preceded by - and +, respectively.
- source1 and source2 may each name a file or a
switch. If a name begins with / or ., then it is considered
to be a file name. A name that contains : is considered to be a
switch. Otherwise, it is a file if a file by that name exists, a switch if
not.
- For this command, an exit status of 0 means that no
differences were found, 1 means that an error occurred, and 2 means that
some differences were found.
OpenFlow Switch Monitoring Commands¶
- snoop switch
- Connects to switch and prints to the console all
OpenFlow messages received. Unlike other ovs-ofctl commands, if
switch is the name of a bridge, then the snoop command
connects to a Unix domain socket named
/var/run/openvswitch/bridge .snoop.
ovs-vswitchd listens on such a socket for each bridge and sends to
it all of the OpenFlow messages sent to or received from its configured
OpenFlow controller. Thus, this command can be used to view OpenFlow
protocol activity between a switch and its controller.
- When a switch has more than one controller configured, only
the traffic to and from a single controller is output. If none of the
controllers is configured as a master or a slave (using a Nicira extension
to OpenFlow), then a controller is chosen arbitrarily among them. If there
is a master controller, it is chosen; otherwise, if there are any
controllers that are not masters or slaves, one is chosen arbitrarily;
otherwise, a slave controller is chosen arbitrarily. This choice is made
once at connection time and does not change as controllers reconfigure
their roles.
- If a switch has no controller configured, or if the
configured controller is disconnected, no traffic is sent, so monitoring
will not show any traffic.
- monitor switch [miss-len]
- Connects to switch and prints to the console all
OpenFlow messages received. Usually, switch should specify the name
of a bridge in the ovs-vswitchd database.
- If miss-len is provided, ovs-ofctl sends an
OpenFlow ``set configuration'' message at connection setup time that
requests miss-len bytes of each packet that misses the flow table.
Open vSwitch does not send these and other asynchronous messages to an
ovs-ofctl monitor client connection unless a nonzero value is
specified on this argument. (Thus, if miss-len is not specified,
very little traffic will ordinarily be printed.)
- This command may be useful for debugging switch or
controller implementations.
OpenFlow Switch and Controller Commands¶
The following commands, like those in the previous section, may be applied to
OpenFlow switches, using any of the connection methods described in that
section. Unlike those commands, these may also be applied to OpenFlow
controllers.
- probe target
- Sends a single OpenFlow echo-request message to
target and waits for the response. With the -t or
--timeout option, this command can test whether an OpenFlow switch
or controller is up and running.
- ping target [n]
- Sends a series of 10 echo request packets to target
and times each reply. The echo request packets consist of an OpenFlow
header plus n bytes (default: 64) of randomly generated payload.
This measures the latency of individual requests.
- benchmark target n count
- Sends count echo request packets that each consist
of an OpenFlow header plus n bytes of payload and waits for each
response. Reports the total time required. This is a measure of the
maximum bandwidth to target for round-trips of n-byte
messages.
Flow Syntax¶
Some
ovs-ofctl commands accept an argument that describes a flow or
flows. Such flow descriptions comprise a series
field=value assignments, separated by commas or white
space. (Embedding spaces into a flow description normally requires quoting to
prevent the shell from breaking the description into multiple arguments.)
Flow descriptions should be in
normal form. This means that a flow may
only specify a value for an L3 field if it also specifies a particular L2
protocol, and that a flow may only specify an L4 field if it also specifies
particular L2 and L3 protocol types. For example, if the L2 protocol type
dl_type is wildcarded, then L3 fields
nw_src,
nw_dst, and
nw_proto must also be wildcarded. Similarly, if
dl_type or
nw_proto (the L3 protocol type) is wildcarded, so must be
tp_dst
and
tp_src, which are L4 fields.
ovs-ofctl will warn about flows
not in normal form.
The following field assignments describe how a flow matches a packet. If any of
these assignments is omitted from the flow syntax, the field is treated as a
wildcard; thus, if all of them are omitted, the resulting flow matches all
packets. The string
* or
ANY may be specified to explicitly mark
any of these fields as a wildcard. (
* should be quoted to protect it
from shell expansion.)
- in_port=port_no
- Matches OpenFlow port port_no. Ports are numbered as
displayed by ovs-ofctl show.
- (The resubmit action can search OpenFlow flow tables
with arbitrary in_port values, so flows that match port numbers
that do not exist from an OpenFlow perspective can still potentially be
matched.)
- dl_vlan=vlan
- Matches IEEE 802.1q Virtual LAN tag vlan. Specify
0xffff as vlan to match packets that are not tagged with a
Virtual LAN; otherwise, specify a number between 0 and 4095, inclusive, as
the 12-bit VLAN ID to match.
- dl_vlan_pcp=priority
- Matches IEEE 802.1q Priority Code Point (PCP)
priority, which is specified as a value between 0 and 7, inclusive.
A higher value indicates a higher frame priority level.
- dl_src=xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx
-
- dl_dst=xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx
- Matches an Ethernet source (or destination) address
specified as 6 pairs of hexadecimal digits delimited by colons (e.g.
00:0A:E4:25:6B:B0).
- dl_dst=xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx/xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx
- Matches an Ethernet destination address specified as 6
pairs of hexadecimal digits delimited by colons (e.g.
00:0A:E4:25:6B:B0), with a wildcard mask following the slash. Only
the following masks are allowed:
- 01:00:00:00:00:00
- Match only the multicast bit. Thus,
dl_dst=01:00:00:00:00:00/01:00:00:00:00:00 matches all multicast
(including broadcast) Ethernet packets, and
dl_dst=00:00:00:00:00:00/01:00:00:00:00:00 matches all unicast
Ethernet packets.
- fe:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
- Match all bits except the multicast bit. This is probably
not useful.
- ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
- Exact match (equivalent to omitting the mask).
- 00:00:00:00:00:00
- Wildcard all bits (equivalent to dl_dst=*.)
- dl_type=ethertype
- Matches Ethernet protocol type ethertype, which is
specified as an integer between 0 and 65535, inclusive, either in decimal
or as a hexadecimal number prefixed by 0x (e.g. 0x0806 to
match ARP packets).
- nw_src=ip[/netmask]
-
- nw_dst=ip[/netmask]
- When dl_type is 0x0800 (possibly via shorthand, e.g.
ip or tcp), matches IPv4 source (or destination) address
ip, which may be specified as an IP address or host name (e.g.
192.168.1.1 or www.example.com). The optional netmask
allows restricting a match to an IPv4 address prefix. The netmask may be
specified as a dotted quad (e.g. 192.168.1.0/255.255.255.0) or as a
CIDR block (e.g. 192.168.1.0/24).
- When dl_type=0x0806 or arp is specified,
matches the ar_spa or ar_tpa field, respectively, in ARP
packets for IPv4 and Ethernet.
- When dl_type is wildcarded or set to a value other
than 0x0800 or 0x0806, the values of nw_src and nw_dst are
ignored (see Flow Syntax above).
- nw_proto=proto
- When ip or dl_type=0x0800 is specified,
matches IP protocol type proto, which is specified as a decimal
number between 0 and 255, inclusive (e.g. 1 to match ICMP packets or 6 to
match TCP packets).
- When ipv6 or dl_type=0x86dd is specified,
matches IPv6 header type proto, which is specified as a decimal
number between 0 and 255, inclusive (e.g. 58 to match ICMPv6 packets or 6
to match TCP). The header type is the terminal header as described in the
DESIGN document.
- When arp or dl_type=0x0806 is specified,
matches the lower 8 bits of the ARP opcode. ARP opcodes greater than 255
are treated as 0.
- When dl_type is wildcarded or set to a value other
than 0x0800, 0x0806, or 0x86dd, the value of nw_proto is ignored
(see Flow Syntax above).
- nw_tos=tos
- Matches IP ToS/DSCP or IPv6 traffic class field tos,
which is specified as a decimal number between 0 and 255, inclusive. Note
that the two lower reserved bits are ignored for matching purposes.
- When dl_type is wildcarded or set to a value other
than 0x0800 or 0x86dd, the value of nw_tos is ignored (see Flow
Syntax above).
- nw_ecn=ecn
- Matches ecn bits in IP ToS or IPv6 traffic class
fields, which is specified as a decimal number between 0 and 3,
inclusive.
- When dl_type is wildcarded or set to a value other
than 0x0800 or 0x86dd, the value of nw_ecn is ignored (see Flow
Syntax above).
- nw_ttl=ttl
- Matches IP TTL or IPv6 hop limit value ttl, which is
specified as a decimal number between 0 and 255, inclusive.
- When dl_type is wildcarded or set to a value other
than 0x0800 or 0x86dd, the value of nw_ttl is ignored (see Flow
Syntax above).
- tp_src=port
-
- tp_dst=port
- When dl_type and nw_proto specify TCP or UDP,
tp_src and tp_dst match the UDP or TCP source or destination
port port, respectively. which is specified as a decimal number
between 0 and 65535, inclusive (e.g. 80 to match packets originating from
a HTTP server).
- When dl_type and nw_proto take other values,
the values of these settings are ignored (see Flow Syntax
above).
- icmp_type=type
-
- icmp_code=code
- When dl_type and nw_proto specify ICMP or
ICMPv6, type matches the ICMP type and code matches the ICMP
code. Each is specified as a decimal number between 0 and 255,
inclusive.
- When dl_type and nw_proto take other values,
the values of these settings are ignored (see Flow Syntax
above).
- table=number
- If specified, limits the flow manipulation and flow dump
commands to only apply to the table with the given number between 0
and 254. Behavior varies if table is not specified (equivalent to
specifying 255 as number). For flow table modification commands
without --strict, the switch will choose the table for these
commands to operate on. For flow table modification commands with
--strict, the command will operate on any single matching flow in
any table; it will do nothing if there are matches in more than one table.
The dump-flows and dump-aggregate commands will gather
statistics about flows from all tables.
- When this field is specified in add-flow,
add-flows, mod-flows and del-flows commands, it
activates a Nicira extension to OpenFlow, which as of this writing is only
known to be implemented by Open vSwitch.
The following shorthand notations are also available:
- ip
- Same as dl_type=0x0800.
- icmp
- Same as dl_type=0x0800,nw_proto=1.
- tcp
- Same as dl_type=0x0800,nw_proto=6.
- udp
- Same as dl_type=0x0800,nw_proto=17.
- arp
- Same as dl_type=0x0806.
The following field assignments require support for the NXM (Nicira Extended
Match) extension to OpenFlow. When one of these is specified,
ovs-ofctl
will automatically attempt to negotiate use of this extension. If the switch
does not support NXM, then
ovs-ofctl will report a fatal error.
- vlan_tci=tci[/mask]
- Matches modified VLAN TCI tci. If mask is
omitted, tci is the exact VLAN TCI to match; if mask is
specified, then a 1-bit in mask indicates that the corresponding
bit in tci must match exactly, and a 0-bit wildcards that bit. Both
tci and mask are 16-bit values that are decimal by default;
use a 0x prefix to specify them in hexadecimal.
- The value that vlan_tci matches against is 0 for a
packet that has no 802.1Q header. Otherwise, it is the TCI value from the
802.1Q header with the CFI bit (with value 0x1000) forced to
1.
- Examples:
- vlan_tci=0
- Match only packets without an 802.1Q header.
- vlan_tci=0xf123
- Match packets tagged with priority 7 in VLAN 0x123.
- vlan_tci=0x1123/0x1fff
- Match packets tagged with VLAN 0x123 (and any
priority).
- vlan_tci=0x5000/0xf000
- Match packets tagged with priority 2 (in any VLAN).
- vlan_tci=0/0xfff
- Match packets with no 802.1Q header or tagged with VLAN 0
(and any priority).
- vlan_tci=0x5000/0xe000
- Match packets with no 802.1Q header or tagged with priority
2 (in any VLAN).
- vlan_tci=0/0xefff
- Match packets with no 802.1Q header or tagged with VLAN 0
and priority 0.
- Some of these matching possibilities can also be achieved
with dl_vlan and dl_vlan_pcp.
- ip_frag=frag_type
- When dl_type specifies IP or IPv6, frag_type
specifies what kind of IP fragments or non-fragments to match. The
following values of frag_type are supported:
- no
- Matches only non-fragmented packets.
- yes
- Matches all fragments.
- first
- Matches only fragments with offset 0.
- later
- Matches only fragments with nonzero offset.
- not_later
- Matches non-fragmented packets and fragments with zero
offset.
- The ip_frag match type is likely to be most useful
in nx-match mode. See the description of the set-frags
command, above, for more details.
- arp_sha=xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx
-
- arp_tha=xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx
- When dl_type specifies ARP, arp_sha and
arp_tha match the source and target hardware address, respectively.
An address is specified as 6 pairs of hexadecimal digits delimited by
colons.
- ipv6_src=ipv6[/netmask]
-
- ipv6_dst=ipv6[/netmask]
- When dl_type is 0x86dd (possibly via shorthand,
e.g., ipv6 or tcp6), matches IPv6 source (or destination)
address ipv6, which may be specified as defined in RFC 2373. The
preferred format is
x:x:x:x
:x:x:x:x, where
x are the hexadecimal values of the eight 16-bit pieces of the
address. A single instance of :: may be used to indicate multiple
groups of 16-bits of zeros. The optional netmask allows restricting
a match to an IPv6 address prefix. A netmask is specified as a CIDR block
(e.g. 2001:db8:3c4d:1::/64).
- ipv6_label=label
- When dl_type is 0x86dd (possibly via shorthand,
e.g., ipv6 or tcp6), matches IPv6 flow label
label.
- nd_target=ipv6
- When dl_type, nw_proto, and icmp_type
specify IPv6 Neighbor Discovery (ICMPv6 type 135 or 136), matches the
target address ipv6. ipv6 is in the same format described
earlier for the ipv6_src and ipv6_dst fields.
- nd_sll=xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx
- When dl_type, nw_proto, and icmp_type
specify IPv6 Neighbor Solicitation (ICMPv6 type 135), matches the source
link-layer address option. An address is specified as 6 pairs of
hexadecimal digits delimited by colons.
- nd_tll=xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx
- When dl_type, nw_proto, and icmp_type
specify IPv6 Neighbor Advertisement (ICMPv6 type 136), matches the target
link-layer address option. An address is specified as 6 pairs of
hexadecimal digits delimited by colons.
- tun_id=tunnel-id[/mask]
- Matches tunnel identifier tunnel-id. Only packets
that arrive over a tunnel that carries a key (e.g. GRE with the RFC 2890
key extension) will have a nonzero tunnel ID. If mask is omitted,
tunnel-id is the exact tunnel ID to match; if mask is
specified, then a 1-bit in mask indicates that the corresponding
bit in tunnel-id must match exactly, and a 0-bit wildcards that
bit.
- In an attempt to be compatible with more switches,
ovs-ofctl will prefer to use the ``tunnel ID from cookie'' Nicira
extension to NXM. The use of this extension comes with three caveats: the
top 32 bits of the cookie (see below) are used for tunnel-id
and thus unavailable for other use, specifying tun_id on
dump-flows or dump-aggregate has no effect, and mask
is not supported. If any of these caveats apply, ovs-ofctl will use
NXM.
- regidx=value[/mask]
- Matches value either exactly or with optional
mask in register number idx. The valid range of idx
depends on the switch. value and mask are 32-bit integers,
by default in decimal (use a 0x prefix to specify hexadecimal).
Arbitrary mask values are allowed: a 1-bit in mask indicates
that the corresponding bit in value must match exactly, and a 0-bit
wildcards that bit.
- When a packet enters an OpenFlow switch, all of the
registers are set to 0. Only explicit Nicira extension actions change
register values.
Defining IPv6 flows (those with
dl_type equal to 0x86dd) requires support
for NXM. The following shorthand notations are available for IPv6-related
flows:
- ipv6
- Same as dl_type=0x86dd.
- tcp6
- Same as dl_type=0x86dd,nw_proto=6.
- udp6
- Same as dl_type=0x86dd,nw_proto=17.
- icmp6
- Same as dl_type=0x86dd,nw_proto=58.
Finally, field assignments to
duration,
n_packets, or
n_bytes are ignored to allow output from the
dump-flows command
to be used as input for other commands that parse flows.
The
add-flow,
add-flows, and
mod-flows commands require an
additional field, which must be the final field specified:
- actions=[target][,target...]
- Specifies a comma-separated list of actions to take on a
packet when the flow entry matches. If no target is specified, then
packets matching the flow are dropped. The target may be a decimal
port number designating the physical port on which to output the packet,
or one of the following keywords:
- output:port
-
- output:src[start..end]
- Outputs the packet. If port is an OpenFlow port
number, outputs directly to it. Otherwise, outputs to the OpenFlow port
number read from src which must be an NXM field as described above.
Outputting to an NXM field is an OpenFlow extension which is not supported
by standard OpenFlow switches.
- Example: output:NXM_NX_REG0[16..31] outputs to the
OpenFlow port number written in the upper half of register 0.
- enqueue:port:queue
- Enqueues the packet on the specified queue within
port port. The number of supported queues depends on the switch;
some OpenFlow implementations do not support queuing at all.
- normal
- Subjects the packet to the device's normal L2/L3
processing. (This action is not implemented by all OpenFlow
switches.)
- flood
- Outputs the packet on all switch physical ports other than
the port on which it was received and any ports on which flooding is
disabled (typically, these would be ports disabled by the IEEE 802.1D
spanning tree protocol).
- all
- Outputs the packet on all switch physical ports other than
the port on which it was received.
- controller:max_len
- Sends the packet to the OpenFlow controller as a ``packet
in'' message. If max_len is a number, then it specifies the maximum
number of bytes that should be sent. If max_len is ALL or
omitted, then the entire packet is sent.
- local
- Outputs the packet on the ``local port,'' which corresponds
to the network device that has the same name as the bridge.
- in_port
- Outputs the packet on the port from which it was
received.
- drop
- Discards the packet, so no further processing or forwarding
takes place. If a drop action is used, no other actions may be
specified.
- mod_vlan_vid:vlan_vid
- Modifies the VLAN id on a packet. The VLAN tag is added or
modified as necessary to match the value specified. If the VLAN tag is
added, a priority of zero is used (see the mod_vlan_pcp action to
set this).
- mod_vlan_pcp:vlan_pcp
- Modifies the VLAN priority on a packet. The VLAN tag is
added or modified as necessary to match the value specified. Valid values
are between 0 (lowest) and 7 (highest). If the VLAN tag is added, a vid of
zero is used (see the mod_vlan_vid action to set this).
- strip_vlan
- Strips the VLAN tag from a packet if it is present.
- mod_dl_src:mac
- Sets the source Ethernet address to mac.
- mod_dl_dst:mac
- Sets the destination Ethernet address to mac.
- mod_nw_src:ip
- Sets the IPv4 source address to ip.
- mod_nw_dst:ip
- Sets the IPv4 destination address to ip.
- mod_tp_src:port
- Sets the TCP or UDP source port to port.
- mod_tp_dst:port
- Sets the TCP or UDP destination port to port.
- mod_nw_tos:tos
- Sets the IP ToS/DSCP field to tos. Valid values are
between 0 and 255, inclusive. Note that the two lower reserved bits are
never modified.
- The following actions are Nicira vendor extensions that, as
of this writing, are only known to be implemented by Open vSwitch:
- resubmit:port
-
- resubmit([port],[table])
- Re-searches this OpenFlow flow table (or the table whose
number is specified by table) with the in_port field
replaced by port (if port is specified) and executes the
actions found, if any, in addition to any other actions in this flow
entry.
- Recursive resubmit actions are obeyed up to an
implementation-defined maximum depth. Open vSwitch 1.0.1 and earlier did
not support recursion; Open vSwitch before 1.2.90 did not support
table.
- set_tunnel:id
-
- set_tunnel64:id
- If outputting to a port that encapsulates the packet in a
tunnel and supports an identifier (such as GRE), sets the identifier to
id. If the set_tunnel form is used and id fits in 32
bits, then this uses an action extension that is supported by Open vSwitch
1.0 and later. Otherwise, if id is a 64-bit value, it requires Open
vSwitch 1.1 or later.
- set_queue:queue
- Sets the queue that should be used to queue when
packets are output. The number of supported queues depends on the switch;
some OpenFlow implementations do not support queuing at all.
- pop_queue
- Restores the queue to the value it was before any
set_queue actions were applied.
- note:[hh]...
- Does nothing at all. Any number of bytes represented as hex
digits hh may be included. Pairs of hex digits may be separated by
periods for readability.
- move:src[start..end]->dst[start..end]
- Copies the named bits from field src to field
dst. src and dst must be NXM field names as defined
in nicira-ext.h, e.g. NXM_OF_UDP_SRC or NXM_NX_REG0.
Each start and end pair, which are inclusive, must specify
the same number of bits and must fit within its respective field.
Shorthands for [start..end] exist: use
[bit] to specify a single bit or [] to specify
an entire field.
- Examples:
move:NXM_NX_REG0[0..5]->NXM_NX_REG1[26..31] copies the six bits
numbered 0 through 5, inclusive, in register 0 into bits 26 through 31,
inclusive; move:NXM_NX_REG0[0..15]->NXM_OF_VLAN_TCI[] copies the
least significant 16 bits of register 0 into the VLAN TCI field.
- load:value->dst[start..end]
- Writes value to bits start through
end, inclusive, in field dst.
- Example: load:55->NXM_NX_REG2[0..5] loads value
55 (bit pattern 110111) into bits 0 through 5, inclusive, in
register 2.
- multipath(fields, basis,
algorithm, n_links, arg,
dst [start..end])
- Hashes fields using basis as a universal hash
parameter, then the applies multipath link selection algorithm
(with parameter arg) to choose one of n_links output links
numbered 0 through n_links minus 1, and stores the link into
dst [start..end], which must be
an NXM field as described above.
- Currently, fields must be either eth_src or
symmetric_l4 and algorithm must be one of modulo_n,
hash_threshold, hrw, and iter_hash. Only the
iter_hash algorithm uses arg.
- Refer to nicira-ext.h for more details.
- autopath(id,
dst[start ..end])
- Given id, chooses an OpenFlow port and populates it
in dst[start..end], which must
be an NXM field as described above.
- Currently, id should be the OpenFlow port number of
an interface on the bridge. If it isn't then
dst[start ..end] will be
populated with the OpenFlow port "none". If id is a
member of a bond, the normal bond selection logic will be used to choose
the destination port. Otherwise, the register will be populated with
id itself.
- Refer to nicira-ext.h for more details.
- bundle(fields, basis,
algorithm, slave_type, slaves:[s1,
s2, ...])
- Hashes fields using basis as a universal hash
parameter, then applies the bundle link selection algorithm to
choose one of the listed slaves represented as slave_type.
Currently the only supported slave_type is ofport. Thus,
each s1 through sN should be an OpenFlow port number.
Outputs to the selected slave.
- Currently, fields must be either eth_src or
symmetric_l4 and algorithm must be one of hrw and
active_backup.
- Example: bundle(eth_src,0,hrw,ofport,slaves:4,8)
uses an Ethernet source hash with basis 0, to select between OpenFlow
ports 4 and 8 using the Highest Random Weight algorithm.
- Refer to nicira-ext.h for more details.
- bundle_load(fields, basis,
algorithm, slave_type,
dst[start..end],
slaves:[s1 , s2, ...])
- Has the same behavior as the bundle action, with one
exception. Instead of outputting to the selected slave, it writes its
selection to dst[start..end],
which must be an NXM field as described above.
- Example: bundle_load(eth_src, 0, hrw, ofport,
NXM_NX_REG0[], slaves:4, 8) uses an Ethernet source hash with
basis 0, to select between OpenFlow ports 4 and 8 using the Highest Random
Weight algorithm, and writes the selection to NXM_NX_REG0[].
- Refer to nicira-ext.h for more details.
- learn(argument[,argument]...)
- This action adds or modifies a flow in an OpenFlow table,
similar to ovs-ofctl --strict mod-flows. The arguments specify the
flow's match fields, actions, and other properties, as follows. At least
one match criterion and one action argument should ordinarily be
specified.
- idle_timeout=seconds
-
- hard_timeout=seconds
-
- priority=value
- These key-value pairs have the same meaning as in the usual
ovs-ofctl flow syntax.
- table=number
- The table in which the new flow should be inserted. Specify
a decimal number between 0 and 254. The default, if table is
unspecified, is table 1.
- field=value
-
- field[start..end]=src[start..end]
-
- field[start..end]
- Adds a match criterion to the new flow.
- The first form specifies that field must match the
literal value, e.g. dl_type=0x0800. All of the fields and
values for ovs-ofctl flow syntax are available with their usual
meanings.
- The second form specifies that
field[start ..end] in the new
flow must match src[start..end]
taken from the flow currently being processed.
- The third form is a shorthand for the second form. It
specifies that field[start..end]
in the new flow must match
field[start..end ] taken from
the flow currently being processed.
- load:value->dst[start..end]
-
- load:src[start..end]->dst[start..end]
- Adds a load action to the new flow.
- The first form loads the literal value into bits
start through end, inclusive, in field dst. Its
syntax is the same as the load action described earlier in this
section.
- The second form loads
src[start.. end], a value from
the flow currently being processed, into bits start through
end, inclusive, in field dst.
- output:field[start..end]
- Add an output action to the new flow's actions, that
outputs to the OpenFlow port taken from
field[start..end], which must be
an NXM field as described above.
- For best performance, segregate learned flows into a table
(using table=number) that is not used for any other flows
except possibly for a lowest-priority ``catch-all'' flow, that is, a flow
with no match criteria. (This is why the default table is 1, to
keep the learned flows separate from the primary flow table 0.)
- exit
- This action causes Open vSwitch to immediately halt
execution of further actions. Those actions which have already been
executed are unaffected. Any further actions, including those which may be
in other tables, or different levels of the resubmit call stack,
are ignored.
The
add-flow,
add-flows, and
mod-flows commands support an
additional optional field:
- cookie=value
- A cookie is an opaque identifier that can be associated
with the flow. value can be any 64-bit number and need not be
unique among flows. If this field is omitted, these commands set a default
cookie value of 0.
The following additional field sets the priority for flows added by the
add-flow and
add-flows commands. For
mod-flows and
del-flows when
--strict is specified, priority must match along
with the rest of the flow specification. Other commands do not allow priority
to be specified.
- priority=value
- The priority at which a wildcarded entry will match in
comparison to others. value is a number between 0 and 65535,
inclusive. A higher value will match before a lower one. An
exact-match entry will always have priority over an entry containing
wildcards, so it has an implicit priority value of 65535. When adding a
flow, if the field is not specified, the flow's priority will default to
32768.
The
add-flow and
add-flows commands support additional optional
fields:
- idle_timeout=seconds
- Causes the flow to expire after the given number of seconds
of inactivity. A value of 0 (the default) prevents a flow from expiring
due to inactivity.
- hard_timeout=seconds
- Causes the flow to expire after the given number of
seconds, regardless of activity. A value of 0 (the default) gives the flow
no hard expiration deadline.
The
dump-flows,
dump-aggregate,
del-flow and
del-flows commands support one additional optional field:
- out_port=port
- If set, a matching flow must include an output action to
port.
Table Entry Output¶
The
dump-tables and
dump-aggregate commands print information
about the entries in a datapath's tables. Each line of output is a unique flow
entry, which begins with some common information:
- duration
- The number of seconds the entry has been in the table.
- table_id
- The table that contains the flow. When a packet arrives,
the switch begins searching for an entry at the lowest numbered table.
Tables are numbered as shown by the dump-tables command.
- priority
- The priority of the entry in relation to other entries
within the same table. A higher value will match before a lower one.
- n_packets
- The number of packets that have matched the entry.
- n_bytes
- The total number of bytes from packets that have matched
the entry.
The rest of the line consists of a description of the flow entry as described in
Flow Syntax, above.
OPTIONS¶
- --strict
- Uses strict matching when running flow modification
commands.
- -F format
-
- --flow-format=format
- ovs-ofctl supports the following flow formats, in
order of increasing capability:
- openflow10
- This is the standard OpenFlow 1.0 flow format. It should be
supported by all OpenFlow switches.
- nxm (Nicira Extended Match)
- This Nicira extension to OpenFlow is flexible and
extensible. It supports all of the Nicira flow extensions, such as
tun_id and registers.
- Usually, ovs-ofctl picks the correct format
automatically. For commands that modify the flow table, ovs-ofctl
by default uses the most widely supported flow format that supports the
flows being added. For commands that query the flow table,
ovs-ofctl by default queries and uses the most advanced format
supported by the switch.
- This option, where format is one of the formats
listed in the above table, overrides ovs-ofctl's default choice of
flow format. If a command cannot work as requested using the requested
flow format, ovs-ofctl will report a fatal error.
- -m
-
- --more
- Increases the verbosity of OpenFlow messages printed and
logged by ovs-ofctl commands. Specify this option more than once to
increase verbosity further.
Public Key Infrastructure Options¶
- -p privkey.pem
-
- --private-key=privkey.pem
- Specifies a PEM file containing the private key used as
ovs-ofctl'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-ofctl 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.
- -vmodule[:facility[:level]],
--verbose=module[:facility[:level]]
- Sets the logging level for module in facility
to level:
- •
- module may be any valid module name (as displayed by
the --list action on ovs-appctl(8)), or the special name
ANY to set the logging levels for all modules.
- •
- facility may be syslog, console, or
file to set the levels for logging to the system log, the console,
or a file respectively, or ANY to set the logging levels for both
facilities. If it is omitted, facility defaults to ANY.
- Regardless of the log levels set for file, logging
to a file will not take place unless --log-file is also specified
(see below).
- •
- level must be one of off, emer,
err, warn, info, or dbg, designating the
minimum severity of a message for it to be logged. If it is omitted,
level defaults to dbg. See ovs-appctl(8) for a
definition of each log level.
- -v, --verbose
- Sets the maximum logging verbosity level, equivalent to
--verbose=ANY:ANY:dbg.
- -vPATTERN:facility:pattern,
--verbose=PATTERN: facility:pattern
- Sets the log pattern for facility to pattern.
Refer to ovs-appctl(8) for a description of the valid syntax for
pattern.
- --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-ofctl.log.
- -h, --help
- Prints a brief help message to the console.
- -V, --version
- Prints version information to the console.
EXAMPLES¶
The following examples assume that
ovs-vswitchd has a bridge named
br0 configured.
- ovs-ofctl dump-tables br0
- Prints out the switch's table stats. (This is more
interesting after some traffic has passed through.)
- ovs-ofctl dump-flows br0
- Prints the flow entries in the switch.
SEE ALSO¶
ovs-appctl(8),
ovs-controller(8),
ovs-vswitchd(8)
