ovn-nb — OVN_Northbound database schema

This database is the interface between OVN and the cloud management system (CMS), such as OpenStack, running above it. The CMS produces almost all of the contents of the database. The ovn-northd program monitors the database contents, transforms it, and stores it into the OVN_Southbound database.

We generally speak of ``the’’ CMS, but one can imagine scenarios in which multiple CMSes manage different parts of an OVN deployment.

External IDs

Each of the tables in this database contains a special column, named external_ids. This column has the same form and purpose each place it appears.

external_ids: map of string-string pairs

Key-value pairs for use by the CMS. The CMS might use certain pairs, for example, to identify entities in its own configuration that correspond to those in this database.

Table Summary

The following list summarizes the purpose of each of the tables in the OVN_Northbound database.  Each table is described in more detail on a later page.

Table

Purpose

NB_Global

Northbound configuration

Logical_Switch

L2 logical switch

Logical_Switch_Port

L2 logical switch port

Address_Set

Address Sets

Port_Group

Port Groups

Load_Balancer

load balancer

ACL

Access Control List (ACL) rule

Logical_Router

L3 logical router

QoS

QoS rule

Meter

Meter entry

Meter_Band

Band for meter entries

Logical_Router_Port

L3 logical router port

Logical_Router_Static_Route

Logical router static routes

Logical_Router_Policy

Logical router policies

NAT

NAT rules

DHCP_Options

DHCP options

Connection

OVSDB client connections.

DNS

Native DNS resolution

SSL

SSL configuration.

Gateway_Chassis

Gateway_Chassis configuration.

HA_Chassis_Group

HA_Chassis_Group configuration.

HA_Chassis

HA_Chassis configuration.

Table Relationships

The following diagram shows the relationship among tables in the database.  Each node represents a table.  Tables that are part of the “root set” are shown with double borders.  Each edge leads from the table that contains it and points to the table that its value represents.  Edges are labeled with their column names, followed by a constraint on the number of allowed values: ? for zero or one, * for zero or more, + for one or more.  Thick lines represent strong references; thin lines represent weak references.

linethick = 1;
linethick = 0.500000;
box at 0.301169,0.263156 wid 0.461976 height 0.210525 "NB_Global"
box at 0.301169,0.263156 wid 0.406421 height 0.154969
linethick = 1.000000;
box at 1.821631,0.421050 wid 0.461976 height 0.210525 "Connection"
linethick = 1.000000;
box at 1.821631,0.105262 wid 0.315787 height 0.210525 "SSL"
linethick = 0.500000;
box at 0.301169,2.578931 wid 0.602354 height 0.210525 "Logical_Switch"
box at 0.301169,2.578931 wid 0.546799 height 0.154969
linethick = 1.000000;
box at 1.821631,3.263138 wid 0.777764 height 0.210525 "Logical_Switch_Port"
linethick = 1.000000;
box at 1.821631,2.947350 wid 0.315787 height 0.210525 "ACL"
linethick = 1.000000;
box at 1.821631,2.315775 wid 0.315787 height 0.210525 "QoS"
linethick = 0.500000;
box at 1.821631,1.999987 wid 0.584796 height 0.210525 "Load_Balancer"
box at 1.821631,1.999987 wid 0.529241 height 0.154969
linethick = 0.500000;
box at 1.821631,2.631562 wid 0.315787 height 0.210525 "DNS"
box at 1.821631,2.631562 wid 0.260232 height 0.154969
linethick = 0.500000;
box at 3.526294,3.263138 wid 0.596502 height 0.210525 "DHCP_Options"
box at 3.526294,3.263138 wid 0.540946 height 0.154969
linethick = 0.500000;
box at 3.526294,2.532153 wid 0.736837 height 0.210525 "HA_Chassis_Group"
box at 3.526294,2.532153 wid 0.681282 height 0.154969
linethick = 0.500000;
box at 0.301169,3.520441 wid 0.497092 height 0.210525 "Address_Set"
box at 0.301169,3.520441 wid 0.441536 height 0.154969
linethick = 0.500000;
box at 0.301169,3.087686 wid 0.473681 height 0.210525 "Port_Group"
box at 0.301169,3.087686 wid 0.418126 height 0.154969
linethick = 0.500000;
box at 0.301169,3.894712 wid 0.315787 height 0.210525 "Meter"
box at 0.301169,3.894712 wid 0.260232 height 0.154969
linethick = 1.000000;
box at 1.821631,3.894712 wid 0.497092 height 0.210525 "Meter_Band"
linethick = 0.500000;
box at 0.301169,1.368413 wid 0.596502 height 0.210525 "Logical_Router"
box at 0.301169,1.368413 wid 0.540946 height 0.154969
linethick = 1.000000;
box at 1.821631,1.052625 wid 0.771911 height 0.210525 "Logical_Router_Port"
linethick = 1.000000;
box at 1.821631,0.736837 wid 1.046772 height 0.210525 "Logical_Router_Static_Route"
linethick = 1.000000;
box at 1.821631,1.684200 wid 0.836247 height 0.210525 "Logical_Router_Policy"
linethick = 1.000000;
box at 1.821631,1.368413 wid 0.315787 height 0.210525 "NAT"
linethick = 1.000000;
box at 3.526294,1.052625 wid 0.660796 height 0.210525 "Gateway_Chassis"
linethick = 1.000000;
box at 4.733865,2.532153 wid 0.497092 height 0.210525 "HA_Chassis"
linethick = 1.000000;
spline -> from 0.532881,0.286794 to 0.532881,0.286794 to 0.817342,0.316562 to 1.303192,0.367408 to 1.588369,0.397248
"connections*" at 0.950268,0.400583
linethick = 1.000000;
spline -> from 0.533260,0.223788 to 0.533260,0.223788 to 0.590059,0.214740 to 0.650985,0.205759 to 0.707617,0.198828 to 1.047783,0.157216 to 1.448959,0.128328 to 1.663021,0.114521
"ssl?" at 0.950268,0.242689
linethick = 1.000000;
spline -> from 0.405619,2.685331 to 0.405619,2.685331 to 0.465808,2.752825 to 0.542481,2.843435 to 0.602354,2.929792 to 0.656670,3.008234 to 0.628543,3.063476 to 0.707617,3.116949 to 0.767785,3.157664 to 1.136751,3.200738 to 1.432665,3.229538
"ports*" at 0.950268,3.242674
linethick = 1.000000;
spline -> from 0.603280,2.651268 to 0.603280,2.651268 to 0.921678,2.729036 to 1.415275,2.849540 to 1.663021,2.910045
"acls*" at 0.950268,2.827477
linethick = 1.000000;
spline -> from 0.603238,2.486974 to 0.603238,2.486974 to 0.638228,2.477753 to 0.673554,2.469121 to 0.707617,2.461964 to 1.044667,2.390975 to 1.447065,2.348154 to 1.662179,2.328575
"qos_rules*" at 0.950268,2.505837
linethick = 0.500000;
spline -> from 0.417513,2.472658 to 0.417513,2.472658 to 0.493513,2.405080 to 0.599828,2.320828 to 0.707617,2.268996 to 0.970773,2.142429 to 1.298560,2.072408 to 1.529127,2.035777
"load_balancer*" at 0.950268,2.312870
linethick = 0.500000;
spline -> from 0.602438,2.575815 to 0.602438,2.575815 to 0.774774,2.575268 to 0.996246,2.576742 to 1.192961,2.584784 to 1.353339,2.591310 to 1.536411,2.605921 to 1.662390,2.617120
"dns_records*" at 0.950268,2.628657
linethick = 0.500000;
spline -> from 2.211649,3.263138 to 2.211649,3.263138 to 2.519900,3.263138 to 2.946213,3.263138 to 3.227432,3.263138
"dhcpv4_options?" at 2.751435,3.307011
linethick = 0.500000;
spline -> from 2.211439,3.183685 to 2.211439,3.183685 to 2.290091,3.170507 to 2.372617,3.158886 to 2.450258,3.152022 to 2.716951,3.128444 to 2.786719,3.120907 to 3.052612,3.152022 to 3.109833,3.158717 to 3.170170,3.169875 to 3.227811,3.182633
"dhcpv6_options?" at 2.751435,3.195896
linethick = 1.000000;
spline -> from 2.213207,3.164317 to 2.213207,3.164317 to 2.258765,3.147222 to 2.303691,3.127559 to 2.344996,3.105244 to 2.398596,3.076276 to 2.398680,3.049876 to 2.450258,3.017539 to 2.700867,2.860319 to 3.010929,2.725499 to 3.232653,2.638131
"ha_chassis_group?" at 2.751435,3.061370
linethick = 1.000000;
spline -> from 3.895807,2.532153 to 3.895807,2.532153 to 4.086880,2.532153 to 4.315762,2.532153 to 4.485025,2.532153
"ha_chassis*" at 4.190037,2.576026
linethick = 0.500000;
spline -> from 0.435071,3.194254 to 0.435071,3.194254 to 0.509597,3.249159 to 0.608165,3.310548 to 0.707617,3.339179 to 0.942015,3.406631 to 1.215361,3.388863 to 1.431907,3.353621
"ports*" at 0.950268,3.423936
linethick = 1.000000;
spline -> from 0.539660,3.050886 to 0.539660,3.050886 to 0.594649,3.042970 to 0.653091,3.035223 to 0.707617,3.029202 to 1.047993,2.991855 to 1.449086,2.966929 to 1.663105,2.955182
"acls*" at 0.950268,3.073076
linethick = 1.000000;
spline -> from 0.459997,3.894712 to 0.459997,3.894712 to 0.721427,3.894712 to 1.256413,3.894712 to 1.570516,3.894712
"bands+" at 0.950268,3.938586
linethick = 0.500000;
spline -> from 0.416191,1.473886 to 0.416191,1.473886 to 0.492460,1.542432 to 0.599575,1.628958 to 0.707617,1.684200 to 0.970352,1.818515 to 1.298181,1.902893 to 1.528917,1.950261
"load_balancer*" at 0.950268,1.903483
linethick = 1.000000;
spline -> from 0.599407,1.284118 to 0.599407,1.284118 to 0.635743,1.274603 to 0.672417,1.265424 to 0.707617,1.257297 to 0.947826,1.201929 to 1.220034,1.151488 to 1.434517,1.114519
"ports*" at 0.950268,1.301171
linethick = 1.000000;
spline -> from 0.416191,1.262939 to 0.416191,1.262939 to 0.492460,1.194393 to 0.599575,1.107867 to 0.707617,1.052625 to 0.891068,0.958815 to 1.106309,0.889384 to 1.298013,0.839911
"static_routes*" at 0.950268,1.096498
linethick = 1.000000;
spline -> from 0.599407,1.452707 to 0.599407,1.452707 to 0.635743,1.462222 to 0.672417,1.471401 to 0.707617,1.479528 to 0.935405,1.532033 to 1.192035,1.580116 to 1.400875,1.616495
"policies*" at 0.950268,1.616958
linethick = 1.000000;
spline -> from 0.599702,1.368413 to 0.599702,1.368413 to 0.917636,1.368413 to 1.413339,1.368413 to 1.662221,1.368413
"nat*" at 0.950268,1.412286
linethick = 1.000000;
spline -> from 2.208576,1.142351 to 2.208576,1.142351 to 2.256365,1.161130 to 2.303101,1.183656 to 2.344996,1.210519 to 2.867224,1.545253 to 3.297158,2.174597 to 3.455305,2.425206
"ha_chassis_group?" at 2.751435,1.897630
linethick = 1.000000;
spline -> from 2.209502,1.052625 to 2.209502,1.052625 to 2.506005,1.052625 to 2.912571,1.052625 to 3.193959,1.052625
"gateway_chassis*" at 2.751435,1.096498

NB_Global TABLE

Northbound configuration for an OVN system. This table must have exactly one row.

Summary

Status:
nb_cfg

integer

sb_cfg

integer

hv_cfg

integer

Common Columns:
external_ids

map of string-string pairs

Common options:
options

map of string-string pairs

Options for configuring BFD:
options : bfd-min-rx

optional string

options : bfd-decay-min-rx

optional string

options : bfd-min-tx

optional string

options : bfd-mult

optional string

options : mac_prefix

optional string

options : controller_event

optional string, either true or false

Connection Options:
connections

set of Connections

ssl

optional SSL

Security Configurations:
ipsec

boolean

Details

Status:

These columns allow a client to track the overall configuration state of the system.

nb_cfg: integer

Sequence number for client to increment. When a client modifies any part of the northbound database configuration and wishes to wait for ovn-northd and possibly all of the hypervisors to finish applying the changes, it may increment this sequence number.

sb_cfg: integer

Sequence number that ovn-northd sets to the value of nb_cfg after it finishes applying the corresponding configuration changes to the OVN_Southbound database.

hv_cfg: integer

Sequence number that ovn-northd sets to the smallest sequence number of all the chassis in the system, as reported in the Chassis table in the southbound database. Thus, hv_cfg equals nb_cfg if all chassis are caught up with the northbound configuration (which may never happen, if any chassis is down). This value can regress, if a chassis was removed from the system and rejoins before catching up.

Common Columns:

external_ids: map of string-string pairs

See External IDs at the beginning of this document.

Common options:

options: map of string-string pairs

This column provides general key/value settings. The supported options are described individually below.

Options for configuring BFD:

These options apply when ovn-controller configures BFD on tunnels interfaces.

options : bfd-min-rx: optional string

BFD option min-rx value to use when configuring BFD on tunnel interfaces.

options : bfd-decay-min-rx: optional string

BFD option decay-min-rx value to use when configuring BFD on tunnel interfaces.

options : bfd-min-tx: optional string

BFD option min-tx value to use when configuring BFD on tunnel interfaces.

options : bfd-mult: optional string

BFD option mult value to use when configuring BFD on tunnel interfaces.

options : mac_prefix: optional string

Configure a given OUI to be used as prefix when L2 address is dynamically assigned, e.g. 00:11:22

options : controller_event: optional string, either true or false

Value set by the CMS to enable/disable ovn-controller event reporting. Traffic into OVS can raise a ’controller’ event that results in a Controller_Event being written to the Controller_Event table in SBDB. When the CMS has seen the event and taken appropriate action, it can remove the correponding row in Controller_Event table. The intention is for a CMS to see the events and take some sort of action. Please see the Controller_Event table in SBDB. It is possible to associate a meter to each controller event type in order to not overload the pinctrl thread under heavy load. Each event type relies on a meter with a defined name:

  • empty_lb_backends: event-elb

Connection Options:

connections: set of Connections

Database clients to which the Open vSwitch database server should connect or on which it should listen, along with options for how these connections should be configured. See the Connection table for more information.

ssl: optional SSL

Global SSL configuration.

Security Configurations:

ipsec: boolean

Tunnel encryption configuration. If this column is set to be true, all OVN tunnels will be encrypted with IPsec.

Logical_Switch TABLE

Each row represents one L2 logical switch.

There are two kinds of logical switches, that is, ones that fully virtualize the network (overlay logical switches) and ones that provide simple connectivity to a physical network (bridged logical switches). They work in the same way when providing connectivity between logical ports on same chasis, but differently when connecting remote logical ports. Overlay logical switches connect remote logical ports by tunnels, while bridged logical switches provide connectivity to remote ports by bridging the packets to directly connected physical L2 segment with the help of localnet ports. Each bridged logical switch has one and only one localnet port, which has only one special address unknown.

Summary

ports

set of Logical_Switch_Ports

load_balancer

set of weak reference to Load_Balancers

acls

set of ACLs

qos_rules

set of QoSs

dns_records

set of weak reference to DNSs

Naming:
name

string

external_ids : neutron:network_name

optional string

IP Address Assignment:
other_config : subnet

optional string

other_config : exclude_ips

optional string

other_config : ipv6_prefix

optional string

other_config : mac_only

optional string, either true or false

IP Multicast Snooping Options:
other_config : mcast_snoop

optional string, either true or false

other_config : mcast_querier

optional string, either true or false

other_config : mcast_flood_unregistered

optional string, either true or false

other_config : mcast_table_size

optional string, containing an integer, in range 1 to 32,766

other_config : mcast_idle_timeout

optional string, containing an integer, in range 15 to 3,600

other_config : mcast_query_interval

optional string, containing an integer, in range 1 to 3,600

other_config : mcast_query_max_response

optional string, containing an integer, in range 1 to 10

other_config : mcast_eth_src

optional string

other_config : mcast_ip4_src

optional string

Common Columns:
external_ids

map of string-string pairs

Details

ports: set of Logical_Switch_Ports

The logical ports connected to the logical switch.

It is an error for multiple logical switches to include the same logical port.

load_balancer: set of weak reference to Load_Balancers

Load balance a virtual ip address to a set of logical port endpoint ip addresses.

acls: set of ACLs

Access control rules that apply to packets within the logical switch.

qos_rules: set of QoSs

QoS marking and metering rules that apply to packets within the logical switch.

dns_records: set of weak reference to DNSs

This column defines the DNS records to be used for resolving internal DNS queries within the logical switch by the native DNS resolver. Please see the DNS table.

Naming:

These columns provide names for the logical switch. From OVN’s perspective, these names have no special meaning or purpose other than to provide convenience for human interaction with the database. There is no requirement for the name to be unique. (For a unique identifier for a logical switch, use its row UUID.)

(Originally, name was intended to serve the purpose of a human-friendly name, but the Neutron integration used it to uniquely identify its own switch object, in the format neutron-uuid. Later on, Neutron started propagating the friendly name of a switch as external_ids:neutron:network_name. Perhaps this can be cleaned up someday.)

name: string

A name for the logical switch.

external_ids : neutron:network_name: optional string

Another name for the logical switch.

IP Address Assignment:

These options control automatic IP address management (IPAM) for ports attached to the logical switch. To enable IPAM for IPv4, set other_config:subnet and optionally other_config:exclude_ips. To enable IPAM for IPv6, set other_config:ipv6_prefix. IPv4 and IPv6 may be enabled together or separately.

To request dynamic address assignment for a particular port, use the dynamic keyword in the addresses column of the port’s Logical_Switch_Port row. This requests both an IPv4 and an IPv6 address, if IPAM for IPv4 and IPv6 are both enabled.

other_config : subnet: optional string

Set this to an IPv4 subnet, e.g. 192.168.0.0/24, to enable ovn-northd to automatically assign IP addresses within that subnet.

other_config : exclude_ips: optional string

To exclude some addresses from automatic IP address management, set this to a list of the IPv4 addresses or ..-delimited ranges to exclude. The addresses or ranges should be a subset of those in other_config:subnet.

Whether listed or not, ovn-northd will never allocate the first or last address in a subnet, such as 192.168.0.0 or 192.168.0.255 in 192.168.0.0/24.

Examples:

  • 192.168.0.2 192.168.0.10
  • 192.168.0.4 192.168.0.30..192.168.0.60 192.168.0.110..192.168.0.120
  • 192.168.0.110..192.168.0.120 192.168.0.25..192.168.0.30 192.168.0.144
other_config : ipv6_prefix: optional string

Set this to an IPv6 prefix to enable ovn-northd to automatically assign IPv6 addresses using this prefix. The assigned IPv6 address will be generated using the IPv6 prefix and the MAC address (converted to an IEEE EUI64 identifier) of the port. The IPv6 prefix defined here should be a valid IPv6 address ending with ::.

Examples:

  • aef0::
  • bef0:1234:a890:5678::
  • 8230:5678::
other_config : mac_only: optional string, either true or false

Value used to request to assign L2 address only if neither subnet nor ipv6_prefix are specified

IP Multicast Snooping Options:

These options control IP Multicast Snooping configuration of the logical switch. To enable IP Multicast Snooping set other_config:mcast_snoop to true. To enable IP Multicast Querier set other_config:mcast_snoop to true. If IP Multicast Querier is enabled other_config:mcast_eth_src and other_config:mcast_ip4_src must be set.

other_config : mcast_snoop: optional string, either true or false

Enables/disables IP Multicast Snooping on the logical switch.

other_config : mcast_querier: optional string, either true or false

Enables/disables IP Multicast Querier on the logical switch.

other_config : mcast_flood_unregistered: optional string, either true or false

Determines whether unregistered multicast traffic should be flooded or not. Only applicable if other_config:mcast_snoop is enabled.

other_config : mcast_table_size: optional string, containing an integer, in range 1 to 32,766

Number of multicast groups to be stored. Default: 2048.

other_config : mcast_idle_timeout: optional string, containing an integer, in range 15 to 3,600

Configures the IP Multicast Snooping group idle timeout (in seconds). Default: 300 seconds.

other_config : mcast_query_interval: optional string, containing an integer, in range 1 to 3,600

Configures the IP Multicast Querier interval between queries (in seconds). Default: other_config:mcast_idle_timeout / 2.

other_config : mcast_query_max_response: optional string, containing an integer, in range 1 to 10

Configures the value of the "max-response" field in the multicast queries originated by the logical switch. Default: 1 second.

other_config : mcast_eth_src: optional string

Configures the source Ethernet address for queries originated by the logical switch.

other_config : mcast_ip4_src: optional string

Configures the source IPv4 address for queries originated by the logical switch.

Common Columns:

external_ids: map of string-string pairs

See External IDs at the beginning of this document.

Logical_Switch_Port TABLE

A port within an L2 logical switch.

Summary

Core Features:
name

string (must be unique within table)

type

string

Options:
options

map of string-string pairs

Options for router ports:
options : router-port

optional string

options : nat-addresses

optional string

Options for localnet ports:
options : network_name

optional string

Options for l2gateway ports:
options : network_name

optional string

options : l2gateway-chassis

optional string

Options for vtep ports:
options : vtep-physical-switch

optional string

options : vtep-logical-switch

optional string

VMI (or VIF) Options:
options : requested-chassis

optional string

options : qos_max_rate

optional string

options : qos_burst

optional string

Virtual port Options:
options : virtual-ip

optional string

options : virtual-parents

optional string

IP Multicast Snooping Options:
options : mcast_flood

optional string, either true or false

options : mcast_flood_reports

optional string, either true or false

Containers:
parent_name

optional string

tag_request

optional integer, in range 0 to 4,095

tag

optional integer, in range 1 to 4,095

Port State:
up

optional boolean

enabled

optional boolean

Addressing:
addresses

set of strings

dynamic_addresses

optional string

port_security

set of strings

DHCP:
dhcpv4_options

optional weak reference to DHCP_Options

dhcpv6_options

optional weak reference to DHCP_Options

ha_chassis_group

optional HA_Chassis_Group

Naming:
external_ids : neutron:port_name

optional string

Common Columns:
external_ids

map of string-string pairs

Details

Core Features:

name: string (must be unique within table)

The logical port name.

For entities (VMs or containers) that are spawned in the hypervisor, the name used here must match those used in the external_ids:iface-id in the Open_vSwitch database’s Interface table, because hypervisors use external_ids:iface-id as a lookup key to identify the network interface of that entity.

For containers that share a VIF within a VM, the name can be any unique identifier. See Containers, below, for more information.

type: string

Specify a type for this logical port. Logical ports can be used to model other types of connectivity into an OVN logical switch. The following types are defined:

(empty string)

A VM (or VIF) interface.

router

A connection to a logical router.

localnet

A connection to a locally accessible network from each ovn-controller instance. A logical switch can only have a single localnet port attached. This is used to model direct connectivity to an existing network.

localport

A connection to a local VIF. Traffic that arrives on a localport is never forwarded over a tunnel to another chassis. These ports are present on every chassis and have the same address in all of them. This is used to model connectivity to local services that run on every hypervisor.

l2gateway

A connection to a physical network.

vtep

A port to a logical switch on a VTEP gateway.

external

Represents a logical port which is external and not having an OVS port in the integration bridge. OVN will never receive any traffic from this port or send any traffic to this port. OVN can support native services like DHCPv4/DHCPv6/DNS for this port. If ha_chassis_group is defined, ovn-controller running in the master chassis of the HA chassis group will bind this port to provide these native services. It is expected that this port belong to a bridged logical switch (with a localnet port).

It is recommended to use the same HA chassis group for all the external ports of a logical switch. Otherwise, the physical switch might see MAC flap issue when different chassis provide the native services. For example when supporting native DHCPv4 service, DHCPv4 server mac (configured in options:server_mac column in table DHCP_Options) originating from different ports can cause MAC flap issue. The MAC of the logical router IP(s) can also flap if the same HA chassis group is not set for all the external ports of a logical switch.

Below are some of the use cases where external ports can be used.

  • VMs connected to SR-IOV nics - Traffic from these VMs by passes the kernel stack and local ovn-controller do not bind these ports and cannot serve the native services.
  • When CMS supports provisioning baremetal servers.
virtual

Represents a logical port which does not have an OVS port in the integration bridge and has a virtual ip configured in the options:virtual-ip column. This virtual ip can move around between the logical ports configured in the options:virtual-parents column.

One of the use case where virtual ports can be used is.

  • The virtual ip represents a load balancer vip and the virtual parents provide load balancer service in an active-standby setup with the active virtual parent owning the virtual ip.

Options:

options: map of string-string pairs

This column provides key/value settings specific to the logical port type. The type-specific options are described individually below.

Options for router ports:

These options apply when type is router.

options : router-port: optional string

Required. The name of the Logical_Router_Port to which this logical switch port is connected.

options : nat-addresses: optional string

This is used to send gratuitous ARPs for SNAT and DNAT IP addresses via the localnet port that is attached to the same logical switch as this type router port. This option is specified on a logical switch port that is connected to a gateway router, or a logical switch port that is connected to a distributed gateway port on a logical router.

This must take one of the following forms:

router

Gratuitous ARPs will be sent for all SNAT and DNAT external IP addresses and for all load balancer IP addresses defined on the options:router-port’s logical router, using the options:router-port’s MAC address.

This form of options:nat-addresses is valid for logical switch ports where options:router-port is the name of a port on a gateway router, or the name of a distributed gateway port.

Supported only in OVN 2.8 and later. Earlier versions required NAT addresses to be manually synchronized.

Ethernet address followed by one or more IPv4 addresses

Example: 80:fa:5b:06:72:b7 158.36.44.22 158.36.44.24. This would result in generation of gratuitous ARPs for IP addresses 158.36.44.22 and 158.36.44.24 with a MAC address of 80:fa:5b:06:72:b7.

This form of options:nat-addresses is only valid for logical switch ports where options:router-port is the name of a port on a gateway router.

Options for localnet ports:

These options apply when type is localnet.

options : network_name: optional string

Required. The name of the network to which the localnet port is connected. Each hypervisor, via ovn-controller, uses its local configuration to determine exactly how to connect to this locally accessible network.

Options for l2gateway ports:

These options apply when type is l2gateway.

options : network_name: optional string

Required. The name of the network to which the l2gateway port is connected. The L2 gateway, via ovn-controller, uses its local configuration to determine exactly how to connect to this network.

options : l2gateway-chassis: optional string

Required. The chassis on which the l2gateway logical port should be bound to. ovn-controller running on the defined chassis will connect this logical port to the physical network.

Options for vtep ports:

These options apply when type is vtep.

options : vtep-physical-switch: optional string

Required. The name of the VTEP gateway.

options : vtep-logical-switch: optional string

Required. A logical switch name connected by the VTEP gateway.

VMI (or VIF) Options:

These options apply to logical ports with type having (empty string)

options : requested-chassis: optional string

If set, identifies a specific chassis (by name or hostname) that is allowed to bind this port. Using this option will prevent thrashing between two chassis trying to bind the same port during a live migration. It can also prevent similar thrashing due to a mis-configuration, if a port is accidentally created on more than one chassis.

options : qos_max_rate: optional string

If set, indicates the maximum rate for data sent from this interface, in bit/s. The traffic will be shaped according to this limit.

options : qos_burst: optional string

If set, indicates the maximum burst size for data sent from this interface, in bits.

Virtual port Options:

These options apply when type is virtual.

options : virtual-ip: optional string

This option represents the virtual IPv4 address.

options : virtual-parents: optional string

This options represents a set of logical port names (with in the same logical switch) which can own the virtual ip configured in the options:virtual-ip. All these virtual parents should add the virtual ip in the port_security if port security addressed are enabled.

IP Multicast Snooping Options:

These options apply when the port is part of a logical switch which has other_config :mcast_snoop set to true.

options : mcast_flood: optional string, either true or false

If set to true, multicast packets (except reports) are unconditionally forwarded to the specific port.

options : mcast_flood_reports: optional string, either true or false

If set to true, multicast reports are unconditionally forwarded to the specific port.

Containers:

When a large number of containers are nested within a VM, it may be too expensive to dedicate a VIF to each container. OVN can use VLAN tags to support such cases. Each container is assigned a VLAN ID and each packet that passes between the hypervisor and the VM is tagged with the appropriate ID for the container. Such VLAN IDs never appear on a physical wire, even inside a tunnel, so they need not be unique except relative to a single VM on a hypervisor.

These columns are used for VIFs that represent nested containers using shared VIFs. For VMs and for containers that have dedicated VIFs, they are empty.

parent_name: optional string

The VM interface through which the nested container sends its network traffic. This must match the name column for some other Logical_Switch_Port.

tag_request: optional integer, in range 0 to 4,095

The VLAN tag in the network traffic associated with a container’s network interface. The client can request ovn-northd to allocate a tag that is unique within the scope of a specific parent (specified in parent_name) by setting a value of 0 in this column. The allocated value is written by ovn-northd in the tag column. (Note that these tags are allocated and managed locally in ovn-northd, so they cannot be reconstructed in the event that the database is lost.) The client can also request a specific non-zero tag and ovn-northd will honor it and copy that value to the tag column.

When type is set to localnet or l2gateway, this can be set to indicate that the port represents a connection to a specific VLAN on a locally accessible network. The VLAN ID is used to match incoming traffic and is also added to outgoing traffic.

tag: optional integer, in range 1 to 4,095

The VLAN tag allocated by ovn-northd based on the contents of the tag_request column.

Port State:

up: optional boolean

This column is populated by ovn-northd, rather than by the CMS plugin as is most of this database. When a logical port is bound to a physical location in the OVN Southbound database Binding table, ovn-northd sets this column to true; otherwise, or if the port becomes unbound later, it sets it to false. If this column is empty, the port is not considered up. This allows the CMS to wait for a VM’s (or container’s) networking to become active before it allows the VM (or container) to start.

Logical ports of router type are an exception to this rule. They are considered to be always up, that is this column is always set to true.

enabled: optional boolean

This column is used to administratively set port state. If this column is empty or is set to true, the port is enabled. If this column is set to false, the port is disabled. A disabled port has all ingress and egress traffic dropped.

Addressing:

addresses: set of strings

Addresses owned by the logical port.

Each element in the set must take one of the following forms:

Ethernet address followed by zero or more IPv4 or IPv6 addresses (or both)

An Ethernet address defined is owned by the logical port. Like a physical Ethernet NIC, a logical port ordinarily has a single fixed Ethernet address.

When a OVN logical switch processes a unicast Ethernet frame whose destination MAC address is in a logical port’s addresses column, it delivers it only to that port, as if a MAC learning process had learned that MAC address on the port.

If IPv4 or IPv6 address(es) (or both) are defined, it indicates that the logical port owns the given IP addresses.

If IPv4 address(es) are defined, the OVN logical switch uses this information to synthesize responses to ARP requests without traversing the physical network. The OVN logical router connected to the logical switch, if any, uses this information to avoid issuing ARP requests for logical switch ports.

Note that the order here is important. The Ethernet address must be listed before the IP address(es) if defined.

Examples:

80:fa:5b:06:72:b7

This indicates that the logical port owns the above mac address.

80:fa:5b:06:72:b7 10.0.0.4 20.0.0.4

This indicates that the logical port owns the mac address and two IPv4 addresses.

80:fa:5b:06:72:b7 fdaa:15f2:72cf:0:f816:3eff:fe20:3f41

This indicates that the logical port owns the mac address and 1 IPv6 address.

80:fa:5b:06:72:b7 10.0.0.4 fdaa:15f2:72cf:0:f816:3eff:fe20:3f41

This indicates that the logical port owns the mac address and 1 IPv4 address and 1 IPv6 address.

unknown

This indicates that the logical port has an unknown set of Ethernet addresses. When an OVN logical switch processes a unicast Ethernet frame whose destination MAC address is not in any logical port’s addresses column, it delivers it to the port (or ports) whose addresses columns include unknown.

dynamic

Use this keyword to make ovn-northd generate a globally unique MAC address and choose an unused IPv4 address with the logical port’s subnet and store them in the port’s dynamic_addresses column. ovn-northd will use the subnet specified in other_config:subnet in the port’s Logical_Switch.

Ethernet address followed by keyword "dynamic"

The keyword dynamic after the MAC address indicates that ovn-northd should choose an unused IPv4 address from the logical port’s subnet and store it with the specified MAC in the port’s dynamic_addresses column. ovn-northd will use the subnet specified in other_config:subnet in the port’s Logical_Switch table.

Examples:

80:fa:5b:06:72:b7 dynamic

This indicates that the logical port owns the specified MAC address and ovn-northd should allocate an unused IPv4 address for the logical port from the corresponding logical switch subnet.

Keyword "dynamic" followed by an IPv4/IPv6 address

The keyword dynamic followed by an IPv4/IPv6 address indicates that ovn-northd should choose a dynamic ethernet address and use the provided IPv4/IPv6 address as network address.

Examples:

dynamic 192.168.0.1 2001::1

This indicates that ovn-northd should allocate a unique MAC address and use the provided IPv4/IPv6 address for the related port

router

Accepted only when type is router. This indicates that the Ethernet, IPv4, and IPv6 addresses for this logical switch port should be obtained from the connected logical router port, as specified by router-port in options.

The resulting addresses are used to populate the logical switch’s destination lookup, and also for the logical switch to generate ARP and ND replies.

If the connected logical router port has a redirect-chassis specified and the logical router has rules specified in nat with external_mac, then those addresses are also used to populate the switch’s destination lookup.

Supported only in OVN 2.7 and later. Earlier versions required router addresses to be manually synchronized.

dynamic_addresses: optional string

Addresses assigned to the logical port by ovn-northd, if dynamic is specified in addresses. Addresses will be of the same format as those that populate the addresses column. Note that dynamically assigned addresses are constructed and managed locally in ovn-northd, so they cannot be reconstructed in the event that the database is lost.

port_security: set of strings

This column controls the addresses from which the host attached to the logical port (``the host’’) is allowed to send packets and to which it is allowed to receive packets. If this column is empty, all addresses are permitted.

Each element in the set must begin with one Ethernet address. This would restrict the host to sending packets from and receiving packets to the ethernet addresses defined in the logical port’s port_security column. It also restricts the inner source MAC addresses that the host may send in ARP and IPv6 Neighbor Discovery packets. The host is always allowed to receive packets to multicast and broadcast Ethernet addresses.

Each element in the set may additionally contain one or more IPv4 or IPv6 addresses (or both), with optional masks. If a mask is given, it must be a CIDR mask. In addition to the restrictions described for Ethernet addresses above, such an element restricts the IPv4 or IPv6 addresses from which the host may send and to which it may receive packets to the specified addresses. A masked address, if the host part is zero, indicates that the host is allowed to use any address in the subnet; if the host part is nonzero, the mask simply indicates the size of the subnet. In addition:

  • If any IPv4 address is given, the host is also allowed to receive packets to the IPv4 local broadcast address 255.255.255.255 and to IPv4 multicast addresses (224.0.0.0/4). If an IPv4 address with a mask is given, the host is also allowed to receive packets to the broadcast address in that specified subnet.

    If any IPv4 address is given, the host is additionally restricted to sending ARP packets with the specified source IPv4 address. (RARP is not restricted.)

  • If any IPv6 address is given, the host is also allowed to receive packets to IPv6 multicast addresses (ff00::/8).

    If any IPv6 address is given, the host is additionally restricted to sending IPv6 Neighbor Discovery Solicitation or Advertisement packets with the specified source address or, for solicitations, the unspecified address.

If an element includes an IPv4 address, but no IPv6 addresses, then IPv6 traffic is not allowed. If an element includes an IPv6 address, but no IPv4 address, then IPv4 and ARP traffic is not allowed.

This column uses the same lexical syntax as the match column in the OVN Southbound database’s Pipeline table. Multiple addresses within an element may be space or comma separated.

This column is provided as a convenience to cloud management systems, but all of the features that it implements can be implemented as ACLs using the ACL table.

Examples:

80:fa:5b:06:72:b7

The host may send traffic from and receive traffic to the specified MAC address, and to receive traffic to Ethernet multicast and broadcast addresses, but not otherwise. The host may not send ARP or IPv6 Neighbor Discovery packets with inner source Ethernet addresses other than the one specified.

80:fa:5b:06:72:b7 192.168.1.10/24

This adds further restrictions to the first example. The host may send IPv4 packets from or receive IPv4 packets to only 192.168.1.10, except that it may also receive IPv4 packets to 192.168.1.255 (based on the subnet mask), 255.255.255.255, and any address in 224.0.0.0/4. The host may not send ARPs with a source Ethernet address other than 80:fa:5b:06:72:b7 or source IPv4 address other than 192.168.1.10. The host may not send or receive any IPv6 (including IPv6 Neighbor Discovery) traffic.

"80:fa:5b:12:42:ba", "80:fa:5b:06:72:b7 192.168.1.10/24"

The host may send traffic from and receive traffic to the specified MAC addresses, and to receive traffic to Ethernet multicast and broadcast addresses, but not otherwise. With MAC 80:fa:5b:12:42:ba, the host may send traffic from and receive traffic to any L3 address. With MAC 80:fa:5b:06:72:b7, the host may send IPv4 packets from or receive IPv4 packets to only 192.168.1.10, except that it may also receive IPv4 packets to 192.168.1.255 (based on the subnet mask), 255.255.255.255, and any address in 224.0.0.0/4. The host may not send or receive any IPv6 (including IPv6 Neighbor Discovery) traffic.

DHCP:

dhcpv4_options: optional weak reference to DHCP_Options

This column defines the DHCPv4 Options to be included by the ovn-controller when it replies to the DHCPv4 requests. Please see the DHCP_Options table.

dhcpv6_options: optional weak reference to DHCP_Options

This column defines the DHCPv6 Options to be included by the ovn-controller when it replies to the DHCPv6 requests. Please see the DHCP_Options table.

ha_chassis_group: optional HA_Chassis_Group

References a row in the OVN Northbound database’s HA_Chassis_Group table. It indicates the HA chassis group to use if the type is set to external. If type is not external, this column is ignored.

Naming:

external_ids : neutron:port_name: optional string

This column gives an optional human-friendly name for the port. This name has no special meaning or purpose other than to provide convenience for human interaction with the northbound database.

Neutron copies this from its own port object’s name. (Neutron ports do are not assigned human-friendly names by default, so it will often be empty.)

Common Columns:

external_ids: map of string-string pairs

See External IDs at the beginning of this document.

The ovn-northd program copies all these pairs into the external_ids column of the Port_Binding table in OVN_Southbound database.

Address_Set TABLE

Each row in this table represents a named set of addresses. An address set may contain Ethernet, IPv4, or IPv6 addresses with optional bitwise or CIDR masks. Address set may ultimately be used in ACLs to compare against fields such as ip4.src or ip6.src. A single address set must contain addresses of the same type. As an example, the following would create an address set with three IP addresses:

      ovn-nbctl create Address_Set name=set1 addresses=’10.0.0.1 10.0.0.2 10.0.0.3’

Address sets may be used in the match column of the ACL table. For syntax information, see the details of the expression language used for the match column in the Logical_Flow table of the OVN_Southbound database.

Summary

name

string (must be unique within table)

addresses

set of strings

Common Columns:
external_ids

map of string-string pairs

Details

name: string (must be unique within table)

A name for the address set. Names are ASCII and must match [a-zA-Z_.][a-zA-Z_.0-9]*.

addresses: set of strings

The set of addresses in string form.

Common Columns:

external_ids: map of string-string pairs

See External IDs at the beginning of this document.

Port_Group TABLE

Each row in this table represents a named group of logical switch ports.

Port groups may be used in the match column of the ACL table. For syntax information, see the details of the expression language used for the match column in the Logical_Flow table of the OVN_Southbound database.

For each port group, there are two address sets generated to the Address_Set table of the OVN_Southbound database, containing the IP addresses of the group of ports, one for IPv4, and the other for IPv6, with name being the name of the Port_Group followed by a suffix _ip4 for IPv4 and _ip6 for IPv6. The generated address sets can be used in the same way as regular address sets in the match column of the ACL table. For syntax information, see the details of the expression language used for the match column in the Logical_Flow table of the OVN_Southbound database.

Summary

name

string (must be unique within table)

ports

set of weak reference to Logical_Switch_Ports

acls

set of ACLs

Common Columns:
external_ids

map of string-string pairs

Details

name: string (must be unique within table)

A name for the port group. Names are ASCII and must match [a-zA-Z_.][a-zA-Z_.0-9]*.

ports: set of weak reference to Logical_Switch_Ports

The logical switch ports belonging to the group in uuids.

acls: set of ACLs

Access control rules that apply to the port group. Applying an ACL to a port group has the same effect as applying the ACL to all logical lswitches that the ports of the port group belong to.

Common Columns:

external_ids: map of string-string pairs

See External IDs at the beginning of this document.

Load_Balancer TABLE

Each row represents one load balancer.

Summary

name

string

vips

map of string-string pairs

protocol

optional string, either tcp or udp

Common Columns:
external_ids

map of string-string pairs

Details

name: string

A name for the load balancer. This name has no special meaning or purpose other than to provide convenience for human interaction with the ovn-nb database.

vips: map of string-string pairs

A map of virtual IP addresses (and an optional port number with : as a separator) associated with this load balancer and their corresponding endpoint IP addresses (and optional port numbers with : as separators) separated by commas. If the destination IP address (and port number) of a packet leaving a container or a VM matches the virtual IP address (and port number) provided here as a key, then OVN will statefully replace the destination IP address by one of the provided IP address (and port number) in this map as a value. IPv4 and IPv6 addresses are supported for load balancing; however a VIP of one address family may not be mapped to a destination IP address of a different family. If specifying an IPv6 address with a port, the address portion must be enclosed in square brackets. Examples for keys are "192.168.1.4" and "[fd0f::1]:8800". Examples for value are "10.0.0.1, 10.0.0.2" and "20.0.0.10:8800, 20.0.0.11:8800".

When the Load_Balancer is added to the logical_switch, the VIP has to be in a different subnet than the one used for the logical_switch. Since VIP is in a different subnet, you should connect your logical switch to either a OVN logical router or a real router (this is because the client can now send a packet with VIP as the destination IP address and router’s mac address as the destination MAC address).

protocol: optional string, either tcp or udp

Valid protocols are tcp or udp. This column is useful when a port number is provided as part of the vips column. If this column is empty and a port number is provided as part of vips column, OVN assumes the protocol to be tcp.

Common Columns:

external_ids: map of string-string pairs

See External IDs at the beginning of this document.

Acl Table

Each row in this table represents one ACL rule for a logical switch or a port group that points to it through its acls column. The action column for the highest-priority matching row in this table determines a packet’s treatment. If no row matches, packets are allowed by default. (Default-deny treatment is possible: add a rule with priority 0, 1 as match, and deny as action.)

Summary

priority

integer, in range 0 to 32,767

direction

string, either from-lport or to-lport

match

string

action

string, one of allow-related, allow, drop, or reject

Logging:
log

boolean

name

optional string, at most 63 characters long

severity

optional string, one of alert, debug, info, notice, or warning

meter

optional string

Common Columns:
external_ids

map of string-string pairs

Details

priority: integer, in range 0 to 32,767

The ACL rule’s priority. Rules with numerically higher priority take precedence over those with lower. If two ACL rules with the same priority both match, then the one actually applied to a packet is undefined.

Return traffic from an allow-related flow is always allowed and cannot be changed through an ACL.

direction: string, either from-lport or to-lport

Direction of the traffic to which this rule should apply:

  • from-lport: Used to implement filters on traffic arriving from a logical port. These rules are applied to the logical switch’s ingress pipeline.
  • to-lport: Used to implement filters on traffic forwarded to a logical port. These rules are applied to the logical switch’s egress pipeline.
match: string

The packets that the ACL should match, in the same expression language used for the match column in the OVN Southbound database’s Logical_Flow table. The outport logical port is only available in the to-lport direction (the inport is available in both directions).

By default all traffic is allowed. When writing a more restrictive policy, it is important to remember to allow flows such as ARP and IPv6 neighbor discovery packets.

Note that you can not create an ACL matching on a port with type=router or type=localnet.

action: string, one of allow-related, allow, drop, or reject

The action to take when the ACL rule matches:

  • allow: Forward the packet.
  • allow-related: Forward the packet and related traffic (e.g. inbound replies to an outbound connection).
  • drop: Silently drop the packet.
  • reject: Drop the packet, replying with a RST for TCP or ICMPv4/ICMPv6 unreachable message for other IPv4/IPv6-based protocols.

Logging:

These columns control whether and how OVN logs packets that match an ACL.

log: boolean

If set to true, packets that match the ACL will trigger a log message on the transport node or nodes that perform ACL processing. Logging may be combined with any action.

If set to false, the remaining columns in this group have no significance.

name: optional string, at most 63 characters long

This name, if it is provided, is included in log records. It provides the administrator and the cloud management system a way to associate a log record with a particular ACL.

severity: optional string, one of alert, debug, info, notice, or warning

The severity of the ACL. The severity levels match those of syslog, in decreasing level of severity: alert, warning, notice, info, or debug. When the column is empty, the default is info.

meter: optional string

The name of a meter to rate-limit log messages for the ACL. The string must match the name column of a row in the Meter table. By default, log messages are not rate-limited.

Common Columns:

external_ids: map of string-string pairs

See External IDs at the beginning of this document.

Logical_Router TABLE

Each row represents one L3 logical router.

Summary

ports

set of Logical_Router_Ports

static_routes

set of Logical_Router_Static_Routes

policies

set of Logical_Router_Policys

enabled

optional boolean

nat

set of NATs

load_balancer

set of weak reference to Load_Balancers

Naming:
name

string

external_ids : neutron:router_name

optional string

Options:
options : chassis

optional string

options : dnat_force_snat_ip

optional string

options : lb_force_snat_ip

optional string

options : mcast_relay

optional string, either true or false

Common Columns:
external_ids

map of string-string pairs

Details

ports: set of Logical_Router_Ports

The router’s ports.

static_routes: set of Logical_Router_Static_Routes

Zero or more static routes for the router.

policies: set of Logical_Router_Policys

Zero or more routing policies for the router.

enabled: optional boolean

This column is used to administratively set router state. If this column is empty or is set to true, the router is enabled. If this column is set to false, the router is disabled. A disabled router has all ingress and egress traffic dropped.

nat: set of NATs

One or more NAT rules for the router. NAT rules only work on Gateway routers, and on distributed routers with one logical router port with a redirect-chassis specified.

load_balancer: set of weak reference to Load_Balancers

Load balance a virtual ip address to a set of logical port ip addresses. Load balancer rules only work on the Gateway routers.

Naming:

These columns provide names for the logical router. From OVN’s perspective, these names have no special meaning or purpose other than to provide convenience for human interaction with the northbound database. There is no requirement for the name to be unique. (For a unique identifier for a logical router, use its row UUID.)

(Originally, name was intended to serve the purpose of a human-friendly name, but the Neutron integration used it to uniquely identify its own router object, in the format neutron-uuid. Later on, Neutron started propagating the friendly name of a router as external_ids:neutron:router_name. Perhaps this can be cleaned up someday.)

name: string

A name for the logical router.

external_ids : neutron:router_name: optional string

Another name for the logical router.

Options:

Additional options for the logical router.

options : chassis: optional string

If set, indicates that the logical router in question is a Gateway router (which is centralized) and resides in the set chassis. The same value is also used by ovn-controller to uniquely identify the chassis in the OVN deployment and comes from external_ids:system-id in the Open_vSwitch table of Open_vSwitch database.

The Gateway router can only be connected to a distributed router via a switch if SNAT and DNAT are to be configured in the Gateway router.

options : dnat_force_snat_ip: optional string

If set, indicates the IP address to use to force SNAT a packet that has already been DNATed in the gateway router. When multiple gateway routers are configured, a packet can potentially enter any of the gateway router, get DNATted and eventually reach the logical switch port. For the return traffic to go back to the same gateway router (for unDNATing), the packet needs a SNAT in the first place. This can be achieved by setting the above option with a gateway specific IP address.

options : lb_force_snat_ip: optional string

If set, indicates the IP address to use to force SNAT a packet that has already been load-balanced in the gateway router. When multiple gateway routers are configured, a packet can potentially enter any of the gateway routers, get DNATted as part of the load- balancing and eventually reach the logical switch port. For the return traffic to go back to the same gateway router (for unDNATing), the packet needs a SNAT in the first place. This can be achieved by setting the above option with a gateway specific IP address.

options : mcast_relay: optional string, either true or false

Enables/disables IP multicast relay between logical switches connected to the logical router. Default: False.

Common Columns:

external_ids: map of string-string pairs

See External IDs at the beginning of this document.

QoS TABLE

Each row in this table represents one QoS rule for a logical switch that points to it through its qos_rules column. Two types of QoS are supported: DSCP marking and metering. A match with the highest-priority will have QoS applied to it. If the action column is specified, then matching packets will have DSCP marking applied. If the bandwdith column is specified, then matching packets will have metering applied. action and bandwdith are not exclusive, so both marking and metering by defined for the same QoS entry. If no row matches, packets will not have any QoS applied.

Summary

priority

integer, in range 0 to 32,767

direction

string, either from-lport or to-lport

match

string

action

map of string-integer pairs, key must be dscp, value in range 0 to 63

bandwidth

map of string-integer pairs, key either burst or rate, value in range 1 to 4,294,967,295

external_ids

map of string-string pairs

Details

priority: integer, in range 0 to 32,767

The QoS rule’s priority. Rules with numerically higher priority take precedence over those with lower. If two QoS rules with the same priority both match, then the one actually applied to a packet is undefined.

direction: string, either from-lport or to-lport

The value of this field is similar to ACL column in the OVN Northbound database’s ACL table.

match: string

The packets that the QoS rules should match, in the same expression language used for the match column in the OVN Southbound database’s Logical_Flow table. The outport logical port is only available in the to-lport direction (the inport is available in both directions).

action: map of string-integer pairs, key must be dscp, value in range 0 to 63

When specified, matching flows will have DSCP marking applied.

  • dscp: The value of this action should be in the range of 0 to 63 (inclusive).
bandwidth: map of string-integer pairs, key either burst or rate, value in range 1 to 4,294,967,295

When specified, matching packets will have bandwidth metering applied. Traffic over the limit will be dropped.

  • rate: The value of rate limit in kbps.
  • burst: The value of burst rate limit in kilobits. This is optional and needs to specify the rate.
external_ids: map of string-string pairs

See External IDs at the beginning of this document.

Meter TABLE

Each row in this table represents a meter that can be used for QoS or rate-limiting.

Summary

name

string (must be unique within table)

unit

string, either kbps or pktps

bands

set of 1 or more Meter_Bands

external_ids

map of string-string pairs

Details

name: string (must be unique within table)

A name for this meter.

Names that begin with "__" (two underscores) are reserved for OVN internal use and should not be added manually.

unit: string, either kbps or pktps

The unit for rate and burst_rate parameters in the bands entry. kbps specifies kilobits per second, and pktps specifies packets per second.

bands: set of 1 or more Meter_Bands

The bands associated with this meter. Each band specifies a rate above which the band is to take the action action. If multiple bands’ rates are exceeded, then the band with the highest rate among the exceeded bands is selected.

external_ids: map of string-string pairs

See External IDs at the beginning of this document.

Meter_Band TABLE

Each row in this table represents a meter band which specifies the rate above which the configured action should be applied. These bands are referenced by the bands column in the Meter table.

Summary

action

string, must be drop

rate

integer, in range 1 to 4,294,967,295

burst_size

integer, in range 0 to 4,294,967,295

external_ids

map of string-string pairs

Details

action: string, must be drop

The action to execute when this band matches. The only supported action is drop.

rate: integer, in range 1 to 4,294,967,295

The rate limit for this band, in kilobits per second or bits per second, depending on whether the parent Meter entry’s unit column specified kbps or pktps.

burst_size: integer, in range 0 to 4,294,967,295

The maximum burst allowed for the band in kilobits or packets, depending on whether kbps or pktps was selected in the parent Meter entry’s unit column. If the size is zero, the switch is free to select some reasonable value depending on its configuration.

external_ids: map of string-string pairs

See External IDs at the beginning of this document.

Logical_Router_Port TABLE

A port within an L3 logical router.

Exactly one Logical_Router row must reference a given logical router port.

Summary

name

string (must be unique within table)

gateway_chassis

set of Gateway_Chassiss

ha_chassis_group

optional HA_Chassis_Group

networks

set of 1 or more strings

mac

string

enabled

optional boolean

ipv6_ra_configs:
ipv6_ra_configs : address_mode

optional string

ipv6_ra_configs : mtu

optional string

ipv6_ra_configs : send_periodic

optional string

ipv6_ra_configs : max_interval

optional string

ipv6_ra_configs : min_interval

optional string

ipv6_ra_configs : rdnss

optional string

Options:
options : redirect-chassis

optional string

options : reside-on-redirect-chassis

optional string

options : redirect-type

optional string

options : mcast_flood

optional string, either true or false

Attachment:
peer

optional string

Common Columns:
external_ids

map of string-string pairs

Details

name: string (must be unique within table)

A name for the logical router port.

In addition to provide convenience for human interaction with the northbound database, this column is used as reference by its patch port in Logical_Switch_Port or another logical router port in Logical_Router_Port.

gateway_chassis: set of Gateway_Chassiss

This column is ignored if the column ha_chassis_group. is set.

If set, this indicates that this logical router port represents a distributed gateway port that connects this router to a logical switch with a localnet port. There may be at most one such logical router port on each logical router.

Several Gateway_Chassis can be referenced for a given logical router port. A single Gateway_Chassis is functionally equivalent to setting options:redirect-chassis. Refer to the description of options:redirect-chassis for additional details on gateway handling.

Defining more than one Gateway_Chassis will enable gateway high availability. Only one gateway will be active at a time. OVN chassis will use BFD to monitor connectivity to a gateway. If connectivity to the active gateway is interrupted, another gateway will become active. The priority column specifies the order that gateways will be chosen by OVN.

ha_chassis_group: optional HA_Chassis_Group

If set, this indicates that this logical router port represents a distributed gateway port that connects this router to a logical switch with a localnet port. There may be at most one such logical router port on each logical router. The HA chassis which are part of the HA chassis group will provide the gateway high availability. Please see the HA_Chassis_Group for more details.

When this column is set, the column gateway_chassis will be ignored.

networks: set of 1 or more strings

The IP addresses and netmasks of the router. For example, 192.168.0.1/24 indicates that the router’s IP address is 192.168.0.1 and that packets destined to 192.168.0.x should be routed to this port.

A logical router port always adds a link-local IPv6 address (fe80::/64) automatically generated from the interface’s MAC address using the modified EUI-64 format.

mac: string

The Ethernet address that belongs to this router port.

enabled: optional boolean

This column is used to administratively set port state. If this column is empty or is set to true, the port is enabled. If this column is set to false, the port is disabled. A disabled port has all ingress and egress traffic dropped.

ipv6_ra_configs:

This column defines the IPv6 ND RA address mode and ND MTU Option to be included by ovn-controller when it replies to the IPv6 Router solicitation requests.

ipv6_ra_configs : address_mode: optional string

The address mode to be used for IPv6 address configuration. The supported values are:

  • slaac: Address configuration using Router Advertisement (RA) packet. The IPv6 prefixes defined in the Logical_Router_Port table’s networks column will be included in the RA’s ICMPv6 option - Prefix information.
  • dhcpv6_stateful: Address configuration using DHCPv6.
  • dhcpv6_stateless: Address configuration using Router Advertisement (RA) packet. Other IPv6 options are provided by DHCPv6.
ipv6_ra_configs : mtu: optional string

The recommended MTU for the link. Default is 0, which means no MTU Option will be included in RA packet replied by ovn-controller. Per RFC 2460, the mtu value is recommended no less than 1280, so any mtu value less than 1280 will be considered as no MTU Option.

ipv6_ra_configs : send_periodic: optional string

If set to true, then this router interface will send router advertisements periodically. The default is false.

ipv6_ra_configs : max_interval: optional string

The maximum number of seconds to wait between sending periodic router advertisements. This option has no effect if ipv6_ra_configs:send_periodic is false. The default is 600.

ipv6_ra_configs : min_interval: optional string

The minimum number of seconds to wait between sending periodic router advertisements. This option has no effect if ipv6_ra_configs:send_periodic is false. The default is one-third of ipv6_ra_configs:max_interval, i.e. 200 seconds if that key is unset.

ipv6_ra_configs : rdnss: optional string

IPv6 address of RDNSS server announced in RA packets. At the moment OVN supports just one RDNSS server.

Options:

Additional options for the logical router port.

options : redirect-chassis: optional string

If set, this indicates that this logical router port represents a distributed gateway port that connects this router to a logical switch with a localnet port. There may be at most one such logical router port on each logical router.

Even when a redirect-chassis is specified, the logical router port still effectively resides on each chassis. However, due to the implications of the use of L2 learning in the physical network, as well as the need to support advanced features such as one-to-many NAT (aka IP masquerading), a subset of the logical router processing is handled in a centralized manner on the specified redirect-chassis.

When this option is specified, the peer logical switch port’s addresses must be set to router. With this setting, the external_macs specified in NAT rules are automatically programmed in the peer logical switch’s destination lookup on the chassis where the logical_port resides. In addition, the logical router’s MAC address is automatically programmed in the peer logical switch’s destination lookup flow on the redirect-chassis.

When this option is specified and it is desired to generate gratuitous ARPs for NAT addresses, then the peer logical switch port’s options:nat-addresses should be set to router.

While options:redirect-chassis is still supported for backwards compatibility, it is now preferred to specify one or more gateway_chassis instead. It is functionally equivalent, but allows you to specify multiple chassis to enable high availability.

options : reside-on-redirect-chassis: optional string

Generally routing is distributed in OVN. The packet from a logical port which needs to be routed hits the router pipeline in the source chassis. For the East-West traffic, the packet is sent directly to the destination chassis. For the outside traffic the packet is sent to the gateway chassis.

When this option is set, OVN considers this only if

  • The logical router to which this logical router port belongs to has a distributed gateway port.
  • The peer’s logical switch has a localnet port (representing a VLAN tagged network)

When this option is set to true, then the packet which needs to be routed hits the router pipeline in the chassis hosting the distributed gateway router port. The source chassis pushes out this traffic via the localnet port. With this the East-West traffic is no more distributed and will always go through the gateway chassis.

Without this option set, for any traffic destined to outside from a logical port which belongs to a logical switch with localnet port, the source chassis will send the traffic to the gateway chassis via the tunnel port instead of the localnet port and this could cause MTU issues.

options : redirect-type: optional string

This options dictates if a packet redirected to gateway chassis will be overlay encapsulated or go as a regular packet via the localnet port.

Option takes following values

  • OVERLAY
  • BRIDGED

OVERLAY option will ensure that redirected packet goes out as encapsulation via the tunnel port.

BRIDGED option will ensure that redirected packet goes out via the localnet port tagged with vlan (if configured).

OVERLAY is the default redirection type.

Option is applicable only to gateway chassis attached logical router ports.

options : mcast_flood: optional string, either true or false

If set to true, multicast traffic (including reports) are unconditionally forwarded to the specific port.

This option applies when the port is part of a logical router which has options:mcast_relay set to true.

Attachment:

A given router port serves one of two purposes:

  • To attach a logical switch to a logical router. A logical router port of this type is referenced by exactly one Logical_Switch_Port of type router. The value of name is set as router-port in column options of Logical_Switch_Port. In this case peer column is empty.
  • To connect one logical router to another. This requires a pair of logical router ports, each connected to a different router. Each router port in the pair specifies the other in its peer column. No Logical_Switch refers to the router port.
peer: optional string

For a router port used to connect two logical routers, this identifies the other router port in the pair by name.

For a router port attached to a logical switch, this column is empty.

Common Columns:

external_ids: map of string-string pairs

See External IDs at the beginning of this document.

Logical_Router_Static_Route TABLE

Each record represents a static route.

When multiple routes match a packet, the longest-prefix match is chosen. For a given prefix length, a dst-ip route is preferred over a src-ip route.

Summary

ip_prefix

string

policy

optional string, either dst-ip or src-ip

nexthop

string

output_port

optional string

Common Columns:
external_ids

map of string-string pairs

Details

ip_prefix: string

IP prefix of this route (e.g. 192.168.100.0/24).

policy: optional string, either dst-ip or src-ip

If it is specified, this setting describes the policy used to make routing decisions. This setting must be one of the following strings:

  • src-ip: This policy sends the packet to the nexthop when the packet’s source IP address matches ip_prefix.
  • dst-ip: This policy sends the packet to the nexthop when the packet’s destination IP address matches ip_prefix.

If not specified, the default is dst-ip.

nexthop: string

Nexthop IP address for this route. Nexthop IP address should be the IP address of a connected router port or the IP address of a logical port.

output_port: optional string

The name of the Logical_Router_Port via which the packet needs to be sent out. This is optional and when not specified, OVN will automatically figure this out based on the nexthop. When this is specified and there are multiple IP addresses on the router port and none of them are in the same subnet of nexthop, OVN chooses the first IP address as the one via which the nexthop is reachable.

Common Columns:

external_ids: map of string-string pairs

See External IDs at the beginning of this document.

Logical_Router_Policy TABLE

Each row in this table represents one routing policy for a logical router that points to it through its policies column. The action column for the highest-priority matching row in this table determines a packet’s treatment. If no row matches, packets are allowed by default. (Default-deny treatment is possible: add a rule with priority 0, 1 as match, and drop as action.)

Summary

priority

integer, in range 0 to 32,767

match

string

action

string, one of allow, drop, or reroute

nexthop

optional string

Details

priority: integer, in range 0 to 32,767

The routing policy’s priority. Rules with numerically higher priority take precedence over those with lower. A rule is uniquely identified by the priority and match string.

match: string

The packets that the routing policy should match, in the same expression language used for the match column in the OVN Southbound database’s Logical_Flow table.

By default all traffic is allowed. When writing a more restrictive policy, it is important to remember to allow flows such as ARP and IPv6 neighbor discovery packets.

action: string, one of allow, drop, or reroute

The action to take when the routing policy matches:

  • allow: Forward the packet.
  • drop: Silently drop the packet.
  • reroute: Reroute packet to nexthop.
nexthop: optional string

Next-hop IP address for this route, which should be the IP address of a connected router port or the IP address of a logical port.

Nat Table

Each record represents a NAT rule.

Summary

type

string, one of dnat, dnat_and_snat, or snat

external_ip

string

external_mac

optional string

logical_ip

string

logical_port

optional string

Common Columns:
external_ids

map of string-string pairs

Details

type: string, one of dnat, dnat_and_snat, or snat

Type of the NAT rule.

  • When type is dnat, the externally visible IP address external_ip is DNATted to the IP address logical_ip in the logical space.
  • When type is snat, IP packets with their source IP address that either matches the IP address in logical_ip or is in the network provided by logical_ip is SNATed into the IP address in external_ip.
  • When type is dnat_and_snat, the externally visible IP address external_ip is DNATted to the IP address logical_ip in the logical space. In addition, IP packets with the source IP address that matches logical_ip is SNATed into the IP address in external_ip.
external_ip: string

An IPv4 address.

external_mac: optional string

A MAC address.

This is only used on the gateway port on distributed routers. This must be specified in order for the NAT rule to be processed in a distributed manner on all chassis. If this is not specified for a NAT rule on a distributed router, then this NAT rule will be processed in a centralized manner on the gateway port instance on the redirect-chassis.

This MAC address must be unique on the logical switch that the gateway port is attached to. If the MAC address used on the logical_port is globally unique, then that MAC address can be specified as this external_mac.

logical_ip: string

An IPv4 network (e.g 192.168.1.0/24) or an IPv4 address.

logical_port: optional string

The name of the logical port where the logical_ip resides.

This is only used on distributed routers. This must be specified in order for the NAT rule to be processed in a distributed manner on all chassis. If this is not specified for a NAT rule on a distributed router, then this NAT rule will be processed in a centralized manner on the gateway port instance on the redirect-chassis.

Common Columns:

external_ids: map of string-string pairs

See External IDs at the beginning of this document.

DHCP_Options TABLE

OVN implements native DHCPv4 support which caters to the common use case of providing an IPv4 address to a booting instance by providing stateless replies to DHCPv4 requests based on statically configured address mappings. To do this it allows a short list of DHCPv4 options to be configured and applied at each compute host running ovn-controller.

OVN also implements native DHCPv6 support which provides stateless replies to DHCPv6 requests.

Summary

cidr

string

DHCPv4 options:
Mandatory DHCPv4 options:
options : server_id

optional string

options : server_mac

optional string

options : lease_time

optional string, containing an integer, in range 0 to 4,294,967,295

IPv4 DHCP Options:
options : router

optional string

options : netmask

optional string

options : dns_server

optional string

options : log_server

optional string

options : lpr_server

optional string

options : swap_server

optional string

options : policy_filter

optional string

options : router_solicitation

optional string

options : nis_server

optional string

options : ntp_server

optional string

options : tftp_server

optional string

options : classless_static_route

optional string

options : ms_classless_static_route

optional string

Boolean DHCP Options:
options : ip_forward_enable

optional string, either 0 or 1

options : router_discovery

optional string, either 0 or 1

options : ethernet_encap

optional string, either 0 or 1

Integer DHCP Options:
options : default_ttl

optional string, containing an integer, in range 0 to 255

options : tcp_ttl

optional string, containing an integer, in range 0 to 255

options : mtu

optional string, containing an integer, in range 68 to 65,535

options : T1

optional string, containing an integer, in range 68 to 4,294,967,295

options : T2

optional string, containing an integer, in range 68 to 4,294,967,295

String DHCP Options:
options : wpad

optional string

options : bootfile_name

optional string

options : path_prefix

optional string

options : tftp_server_address

optional string

options : domain_name

optional string

DHCPv6 options:
Mandatory DHCPv6 options:
options : server_id

optional string

IPv6 DHCPv6 options:
options : dns_server

optional string

String DHCPv6 options:
options : domain_search

optional string

options : dhcpv6_stateless

optional string

Common Columns:
external_ids

map of string-string pairs

Details

cidr: string

The DHCPv4/DHCPv6 options will be included if the logical port has its IP address in this cidr.

DHCPv4 options:

The CMS should define the set of DHCPv4 options as key/value pairs in the options column of this table. For ovn-controller to include these DHCPv4 options, the dhcpv4_options of Logical_Switch_Port should refer to an entry in this table.

Mandatory DHCPv4 options:

The following options must be defined.

options : server_id: optional string

The IP address for the DHCP server to use. This should be in the subnet of the offered IP. This is also included in the DHCP offer as option 54, ``server identifier.’’

options : server_mac: optional string

The Ethernet address for the DHCP server to use.

options : lease_time: optional string, containing an integer, in range 0 to 4,294,967,295

The offered lease time in seconds,

The DHCPv4 option code for this option is 51.

IPv4 DHCP Options:

Below are the supported DHCPv4 options whose values are an IPv4 address, e.g. 192.168.1.1. Some options accept multiple IPv4 addresses enclosed within curly braces, e.g. {192.168.1.2, 192.168.1.3}. Please refer to RFC 2132 for more details on DHCPv4 options and their codes.

options : router: optional string

The IP address of a gateway for the client to use. This should be in the subnet of the offered IP. The DHCPv4 option code for this option is 3.

options : netmask: optional string

The DHCPv4 option code for this option is 1.

options : dns_server: optional string

The DHCPv4 option code for this option is 6.

options : log_server: optional string

The DHCPv4 option code for this option is 7.

options : lpr_server: optional string

The DHCPv4 option code for this option is 9.

options : swap_server: optional string

The DHCPv4 option code for this option is 16.

options : policy_filter: optional string

The DHCPv4 option code for this option is 21.

options : router_solicitation: optional string

The DHCPv4 option code for this option is 32.

options : nis_server: optional string

The DHCPv4 option code for this option is 41.

options : ntp_server: optional string

The DHCPv4 option code for this option is 42.

options : tftp_server: optional string

The DHCPv4 option code for this option is 66.

options : classless_static_route: optional string

The DHCPv4 option code for this option is 121.

This option can contain one or more static routes, each of which consists of a destination descriptor and the IP address of the router that should be used to reach that destination. Please see RFC 3442 for more details.

Example: {30.0.0.0/24,10.0.0.10, 0.0.0.0/0,10.0.0.1}

options : ms_classless_static_route: optional string

The DHCPv4 option code for this option is 249. This option is similar to classless_static_route supported by Microsoft Windows DHCPv4 clients.

Boolean DHCP Options:

These options accept a Boolean value, expressed as 0 for false or 1 for true.

options : ip_forward_enable: optional string, either 0 or 1

The DHCPv4 option code for this option is 19.

options : router_discovery: optional string, either 0 or 1

The DHCPv4 option code for this option is 31.

options : ethernet_encap: optional string, either 0 or 1

The DHCPv4 option code for this option is 36.

Integer DHCP Options:

These options accept a nonnegative integer value.

options : default_ttl: optional string, containing an integer, in range 0 to 255

The DHCPv4 option code for this option is 23.

options : tcp_ttl: optional string, containing an integer, in range 0 to 255

The DHCPv4 option code for this option is 37.

options : mtu: optional string, containing an integer, in range 68 to 65,535

The DHCPv4 option code for this option is 26.

options : T1: optional string, containing an integer, in range 68 to 4,294,967,295

This specifies the time interval from address assignment until the client begins trying to renew its address. The DHCPv4 option code for this option is 58.

options : T2: optional string, containing an integer, in range 68 to 4,294,967,295

This specifies the time interval from address assignment until the client begins trying to rebind its address. The DHCPv4 option code for this option is 59.

String DHCP Options:

These options accept a string value.

options : wpad: optional string

The DHCPv4 option code for this option is 252. This option is used as part of web proxy auto discovery to provide a URL for a web proxy.

options : bootfile_name: optional string

The DHCPv4 option code for this option is 67. This option is used to identify a bootfile.

options : path_prefix: optional string

The DHCPv4 option code for this option is 210. In PXELINUX’ case this option is used to set a common path prefix, instead of deriving it from the bootfile name.

options : tftp_server_address: optional string

The DHCPv4 option code for this option is 150. The option contains one or more IPv4 addresses that the client MAY use. This option is Cisco proprietary, the IEEE standard that matches with this requirement is option 66 (tftp_server).

options : domain_name: optional string

The DHCPv4 option code for this option is 15. This option specifies the domain name that client should use when resolving hostnames via the Domain Name System.

DHCPv6 options:

OVN also implements native DHCPv6 support. The CMS should define the set of DHCPv6 options as key/value pairs. The define DHCPv6 options will be included in the DHCPv6 response to the DHCPv6 Solicit/Request/Confirm packet from the logical ports having the IPv6 addresses in the cidr.

Mandatory DHCPv6 options:

The following options must be defined.

options : server_id: optional string

The Ethernet address for the DHCP server to use. This is also included in the DHCPv6 reply as option 2, ``Server Identifier’’ to carry a DUID identifying a server between a client and a server. ovn-controller defines DUID based on Link-layer Address [DUID-LL].

IPv6 DHCPv6 options:

Below are the supported DHCPv6 options whose values are an IPv6 address, e.g. aef0::4. Some options accept multiple IPv6 addresses enclosed within curly braces, e.g. {aef0::4, aef0::5}. Please refer to RFC 3315 for more details on DHCPv6 options and their codes.

options : dns_server: optional string

The DHCPv6 option code for this option is 23. This option specifies the DNS servers that the VM should use.

String DHCPv6 options:

These options accept string values.

options : domain_search: optional string

The DHCPv6 option code for this option is 24. This option specifies the domain search list the client should use to resolve hostnames with DNS.

Example: "ovn.org".

options : dhcpv6_stateless: optional string

This option specifies the OVN native DHCPv6 will work in stateless mode, which means OVN native DHCPv6 will not offer IPv6 addresses for VM/VIF ports, but only reply other configurations, such as DNS and domain search list. When setting this option with string value "true", VM/VIF will configure IPv6 addresses by stateless way. Default value for this option is false.

Common Columns:

external_ids: map of string-string pairs

See External IDs at the beginning of this document.

Connection TABLE

Configuration for a database connection to an Open vSwitch database (OVSDB) client.

This table primarily configures the Open vSwitch database server (ovsdb-server).

The Open vSwitch database server can initiate and maintain active connections to remote clients. It can also listen for database connections.

Summary

Core Features:
target

string (must be unique within table)

Client Failure Detection and Handling:
max_backoff

optional integer, at least 1,000

inactivity_probe

optional integer

Status:
is_connected

boolean

status : last_error

optional string

status : state

optional string, one of ACTIVE, BACKOFF, CONNECTING, IDLE, or VOID

status : sec_since_connect

optional string, containing an integer, at least 0

status : sec_since_disconnect

optional string, containing an integer, at least 0

status : locks_held

optional string

status : locks_waiting

optional string

status : locks_lost

optional string

status : n_connections

optional string, containing an integer, at least 2

status : bound_port

optional string, containing an integer

Common Columns:
external_ids

map of string-string pairs

other_config

map of string-string pairs

Details

Core Features:

target: string (must be unique within table)

Connection methods for clients.

The following connection methods are currently supported:

ssl:host[:port]

The specified SSL port on the host at the given host, which can either be a DNS name (if built with unbound library) or an IP address. A valid SSL configuration must be provided when this form is used, this configuration can be specified via command-line options or the SSL table.

If port is not specified, it defaults to 6640.

SSL support is an optional feature that is not always built as part of Open vSwitch.

tcp:host[:port]

The specified TCP port on the host at the given host, which can either be a DNS name (if built with unbound library) or an IP address. If host is an IPv6 address, wrap it in square brackets, e.g. tcp:[::1]:6640.

If port is not specified, it defaults to 6640.

pssl:[port][:host]

Listens for SSL connections on the specified TCP port. Specify 0 for port to have the kernel automatically choose an available port. If host, which can either be a DNS name (if built with unbound library) or an IP address, is specified, then connections are restricted to the resolved or specified local IPaddress (either IPv4 or IPv6 address). If host is an IPv6 address, wrap in square brackets, e.g. pssl:6640:[::1]. If host is not specified then it listens only on IPv4 (but not IPv6) addresses. A valid SSL configuration must be provided when this form is used, this can be specified either via command-line options or the SSL table.

If port is not specified, it defaults to 6640.

SSL support is an optional feature that is not always built as part of Open vSwitch.

ptcp:[port][:host]

Listens for connections on the specified TCP port. Specify 0 for port to have the kernel automatically choose an available port. If host, which can either be a DNS name (if built with unbound library) or an IP address, is specified, then connections are restricted to the resolved or specified local IP address (either IPv4 or IPv6 address). If host is an IPv6 address, wrap it in square brackets, e.g. ptcp:6640:[::1]. If host is not specified then it listens only on IPv4 addresses.

If port is not specified, it defaults to 6640.

When multiple clients are configured, the target values must be unique. Duplicate target values yield unspecified results.

Client Failure Detection and Handling:

max_backoff: optional integer, at least 1,000

Maximum number of milliseconds to wait between connection attempts. Default is implementation-specific.

inactivity_probe: optional integer

Maximum number of milliseconds of idle time on connection to the client before sending an inactivity probe message. If Open vSwitch does not communicate with the client for the specified number of seconds, it will send a probe. If a response is not received for the same additional amount of time, Open vSwitch assumes the connection has been broken and attempts to reconnect. Default is implementation-specific. A value of 0 disables inactivity probes.

Status:

Key-value pair of is_connected is always updated. Other key-value pairs in the status columns may be updated depends on the target type.

When target specifies a connection method that listens for inbound connections (e.g. ptcp: or punix:), both n_connections and is_connected may also be updated while the remaining key-value pairs are omitted.

On the other hand, when target specifies an outbound connection, all key-value pairs may be updated, except the above-mentioned two key-value pairs associated with inbound connection targets. They are omitted.

is_connected: boolean

true if currently connected to this client, false otherwise.

status : last_error: optional string

A human-readable description of the last error on the connection to the manager; i.e. strerror(errno). This key will exist only if an error has occurred.

status : state: optional string, one of ACTIVE, BACKOFF, CONNECTING, IDLE, or VOID

The state of the connection to the manager:

VOID

Connection is disabled.

BACKOFF

Attempting to reconnect at an increasing period.

CONNECTING

Attempting to connect.

ACTIVE

Connected, remote host responsive.

IDLE

Connection is idle. Waiting for response to keep-alive.

These values may change in the future. They are provided only for human consumption.

status : sec_since_connect: optional string, containing an integer, at least 0

The amount of time since this client last successfully connected to the database (in seconds). Value is empty if client has never successfully been connected.

status : sec_since_disconnect: optional string, containing an integer, at least 0

The amount of time since this client last disconnected from the database (in seconds). Value is empty if client has never disconnected.

status : locks_held: optional string

Space-separated list of the names of OVSDB locks that the connection holds. Omitted if the connection does not hold any locks.

status : locks_waiting: optional string

Space-separated list of the names of OVSDB locks that the connection is currently waiting to acquire. Omitted if the connection is not waiting for any locks.

status : locks_lost: optional string

Space-separated list of the names of OVSDB locks that the connection has had stolen by another OVSDB client. Omitted if no locks have been stolen from this connection.

status : n_connections: optional string, containing an integer, at least 2

When target specifies a connection method that listens for inbound connections (e.g. ptcp: or pssl:) and more than one connection is actually active, the value is the number of active connections. Otherwise, this key-value pair is omitted.

status : bound_port: optional string, containing an integer

When target is ptcp: or pssl:, this is the TCP port on which the OVSDB server is listening. (This is particularly useful when target specifies a port of 0, allowing the kernel to choose any available port.)

Common Columns:

The overall purpose of these columns is described under Common Columns at the beginning of this document.

external_ids: map of string-string pairs

other_config: map of string-string pairs

DNS Table

Each row in this table stores the DNS records. The Logical_Switch table’s dns_records references these records.

Summary

records

map of string-string pairs

external_ids

map of string-string pairs

Details

records: map of string-string pairs

Key-value pair of DNS records with DNS query name as the key and value as a string of IP address(es) separated by comma or space.

Example: "vm1.ovn.org" = "10.0.0.4 aef0::4"

external_ids: map of string-string pairs

See External IDs at the beginning of this document.

SSL Table

SSL configuration for ovn-nb database access.

Summary

private_key

string

certificate

string

ca_cert

string

bootstrap_ca_cert

boolean

ssl_protocols

string

ssl_ciphers

string

Common Columns:
external_ids

map of string-string pairs

Details

private_key: string

Name of a PEM file containing the private key used as the switch’s identity for SSL connections to the controller.

certificate: string

Name of a PEM file containing a certificate, signed by the certificate authority (CA) used by the controller and manager, that certifies the switch’s private key, identifying a trustworthy switch.

ca_cert: string

Name of a PEM file containing the CA certificate used to verify that the switch is connected to a trustworthy controller.

bootstrap_ca_cert: boolean

If set to true, then Open vSwitch 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. It may still be useful for bootstrapping.

ssl_protocols: string

List of SSL protocols to be enabled for SSL connections. The default when this option is omitted is TLSv1,TLSv1.1,TLSv1.2.

ssl_ciphers: string

List of ciphers (in OpenSSL cipher string format) to be supported for SSL connections. The default when this option is omitted is HIGH:!aNULL:!MD5.

Common Columns:

The overall purpose of these columns is described under Common Columns at the beginning of this document.

external_ids: map of string-string pairs

Gateway_Chassis TABLE

Association of one or more chassis to a logical router port. The traffic going out through an specific router port will be redirected to a chassis, or a set of them in high availability configurations. A single Gateway_Chassis is equivalent to setting options:redirect-chassis. Using Gateway_Chassis allows associating multiple prioritized chassis with a single logical router port.

Summary

name

string (must be unique within table)

chassis_name

string

priority

integer, in range 0 to 32,767

options

map of string-string pairs

Common Columns:
external_ids

map of string-string pairs

Details

name: string (must be unique within table)

Name of the Gateway_Chassis.

A suggested, but not required naming convention is ${port_name}_${chassis_name}.

chassis_name: string

Name of the chassis that we want to redirect traffic through for the associated logical router port. The value must match the name column of the Chassis table in the OVN_Southbound database.

priority: integer, in range 0 to 32,767

This is the priority of a chassis among all Gateway_Chassis belonging to the same logical router port.

options: map of string-string pairs

Reserved for future use.

Common Columns:

external_ids: map of string-string pairs

See External IDs at the beginning of this document.

HA_Chassis_Group TABLE

Table representing a group of chassis which can provide High availability services. Each chassis in the group is represented by the table HA_Chassis. The HA chassis with highest priority will be the master of this group. If the master chassis failover is detected, the HA chassis with the next higher priority takes over the responsibility of providing the HA. If a distributed gateway router port references a row in this table, then the master HA chassis in this group provides the gateway functionality.

Summary

name

string (must be unique within table)

ha_chassis

set of HA_Chassiss

Common Columns:
external_ids

map of string-string pairs

Details

name: string (must be unique within table)

Name of the HA_Chassis_Group. Name should be unique.

ha_chassis: set of HA_Chassiss

A list of HA chassis which belongs to this group.

Common Columns:

external_ids: map of string-string pairs

See External IDs at the beginning of this document.

HA_Chassis TABLE

Summary

chassis_name

string

priority

integer, in range 0 to 32,767

Common Columns:
external_ids

map of string-string pairs

Details

chassis_name: string

Name of the chassis which is part of the HA chassis group. The value must match the name column of the Chassis table in the OVN_Southbound database.

priority: integer, in range 0 to 32,767

Priority of the chassis. Chassis with highest priority will be the master.

Common Columns:

external_ids: map of string-string pairs

See External IDs at the beginning of this document.

Referenced By

ovn-architecture(7), ovn-nbctl(8), ovn-northd(8), ovsdb(7).

DB Schema 5.16.0 Open vSwitch 2.12.0 Open vSwitch Manual