vtep(5): hardware_vtep database schema

vtep — hardware_vtep database schema

This schema specifies relations that a VTEP can use to integrate physical ports into logical switches maintained by a network virtualization controller such as NSX.

Glossary:

VTEP: VXLAN Tunnel End Point, an entity which originates and/or terminates VXLAN tunnels.
HSC: Hardware Switch Controller.
NVC: Network Virtualization Controller, e.g. NSX.
VRF: Virtual Routing and Forwarding instance.

Common Column

Some tables contain a column, named other_config. This column has the same form and purpose each place that it appears, so we describe it here to save space later.

other_config: map of string-string pairs

Key-value pairs for configuring rarely used or proprietary features.

Some tables do not have other_config column because no key-value pairs have yet been defined for them.

Table Summary

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

Table: Purpose
Global: Top-level configuration.
Manager: OVSDB management connection.
Physical_Switch: A physical switch.
Tunnel: A tunnel created by a physical switch.
Physical_Port: A port within a physical switch.
Logical_Binding_Stats: Statistics for a VLAN on a physical port bound to a logical network.
Logical_Switch: A layer-2 domain.
Ucast_Macs_Local: Unicast MACs (local)
Ucast_Macs_Remote: Unicast MACs (remote)
Mcast_Macs_Local: Multicast MACs (local)
Mcast_Macs_Remote: Multicast MACs (remote)
Logical_Router: A logical L3 router.
Arp_Sources_Local: ARP source addresses for logical routers
Arp_Sources_Remote: ARP source addresses for logical routers
Physical_Locator_Set: Physical_Locator_Set configuration.
Physical_Locator: Physical_Locator configuration.
ACL_entry: ACL_entry configuration.
ACL: ACL 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 0.174802,3.159404 wid 0.349605 height 0.233070 "Global"
box at 0.174802,3.159404 wid 0.294049 height 0.177514
linethick = 1.000000;
box at 1.414595,3.334206 wid 0.420822 height 0.233070 "Manager"
linethick = 1.000000;
box at 1.414595,2.984601 wid 0.692731 height 0.233070 "Physical_Switch"
linethick = 1.000000;
box at 2.923071,3.405432 wid 0.595634 height 0.233070 "Physical_Port"
linethick = 1.000000;
box at 2.923071,1.204179 wid 0.349605 height 0.233070 "Tunnel"
linethick = 0.500000;
box at 4.862306,2.479585 wid 0.666860 height 0.233070 "Logical_Switch"
box at 4.862306,2.479585 wid 0.611304 height 0.177514
linethick = 0.500000;
box at 4.862306,3.230630 wid 0.349605 height 0.233070 "ACL"
box at 4.862306,3.230630 wid 0.294049 height 0.177514
linethick = 1.000000;
box at 4.862306,3.774429 wid 0.919321 height 0.233070 "Logical_Binding_Stats"
linethick = 1.000000;
box at 4.862306,0.958197 wid 0.725127 height 0.233070 "Physical_Locator"
linethick = 0.500000;
box at 2.923071,1.935786 wid 0.789828 height 0.233070 "Ucast_Macs_Local"
box at 2.923071,1.935786 wid 0.734272 height 0.177514
linethick = 0.500000;
box at 2.923071,1.566743 wid 0.867533 height 0.233070 "Ucast_Macs_Remote"
box at 2.923071,1.566743 wid 0.811978 height 0.177514
linethick = 0.500000;
box at 1.414595,2.563770 wid 0.809266 height 0.233070 "Mcast_Macs_Local"
box at 1.414595,2.563770 wid 0.753710 height 0.177514
linethick = 1.000000;
box at 2.923071,0.116535 wid 0.880492 height 0.233070 "Physical_Locator_Set"
linethick = 0.500000;
box at 1.414595,2.071713 wid 0.886971 height 0.233070 "Mcast_Macs_Remote"
box at 1.414595,2.071713 wid 0.831416 height 0.177514
linethick = 0.500000;
box at 2.923071,2.971643 wid 0.660381 height 0.233070 "Logical_Router"
box at 2.923071,2.971643 wid 0.604825 height 0.177514
linethick = 0.500000;
box at 2.923071,0.466140 wid 0.815745 height 0.233070 "Arp_Sources_Local"
box at 2.923071,0.466140 wid 0.760189 height 0.177514
linethick = 0.500000;
box at 2.923071,0.815745 wid 0.886971 height 0.233070 "Arp_Sources_Remote"
box at 2.923071,0.815745 wid 0.831416 height 0.177514
linethick = 0.500000;
box at 6.247674,3.230630 wid 0.504969 height 0.233070 "ACL_entry"
box at 6.247674,3.230630 wid 0.449414 height 0.177514
linethick = 1.000000;
spline -> from 0.349805,3.184062 to 0.349805,3.184062 to 0.574098,3.215667 to 0.962579,3.270485 to 1.203154,3.304373
"managers*" at 0.660381,3.305072
linethick = 1.000000;
spline -> from 0.352514,3.107196 to 0.352514,3.107196 to 0.389805,3.097640 to 0.429068,3.088504 to 0.466140,3.081698 to 0.663970,3.045432 to 0.887624,3.021706 to 1.068113,3.006789
"switches*" at 0.660381,3.130270
linethick = 1.000000;
spline -> from 1.762569,3.081652 to 1.762569,3.081652 to 2.023607,3.154463 to 2.377174,3.253098 to 2.625207,3.322320
"ports*" at 2.168856,3.298593
linethick = 1.000000;
spline -> from 1.685376,2.866994 to 1.685376,2.866994 to 1.747046,2.831800 to 1.808810,2.788916 to 1.858081,2.738573 to 2.194820,2.394561 to 2.180836,2.225958 to 2.363050,1.780375 to 2.431293,1.613544 to 2.359274,1.526142 to 2.479585,1.391941 to 2.548807,1.314748 to 2.655040,1.268274 to 2.746171,1.240911
"tunnels*" at 2.168856,2.657651
linethick = 1.000000;
spline -> from 3.221214,3.323858 to 3.221214,3.323858 to 3.305492,3.302369 to 3.397555,3.280367 to 3.483091,3.262980 to 3.836845,3.191055 to 3.969602,3.313882 to 4.285878,3.139966 to 4.407214,3.073261 to 4.647276,2.767613 to 4.776070,2.596540
"vlan_bindings value*" at 3.884484,3.311552
linethick = 1.000000;
spline -> from 3.222472,3.422446 to 3.222472,3.422446 to 3.499686,3.433168 to 3.922661,3.436757 to 4.285878,3.385994 to 4.422363,3.366929 to 4.572554,3.325722 to 4.685173,3.290529
"acl_bindings value*" at 3.884484,3.473396
linethick = 1.000000;
spline -> from 3.221307,3.486354 to 3.221307,3.486354 to 3.305632,3.507843 to 3.397648,3.529985 to 3.483091,3.547838 to 3.787108,3.611373 to 4.131818,3.668009 to 4.400595,3.708796
"vlan_stats value*" at 3.884484,3.732336
linethick = 1.000000;
spline -> from 3.100017,1.189916 to 3.100017,1.189916 to 3.360403,1.167914 to 3.861970,1.121952 to 4.285878,1.061774 to 4.354307,1.052031 to 4.427071,1.040191 to 4.496992,1.028025
"local" at 3.884484,1.200963
linethick = 1.000000;
spline -> from 3.098852,1.119762 to 3.098852,1.119762 to 3.259158,1.042942 to 3.472650,0.941090 to 3.483091,0.938759 to 3.820623,0.862825 to 4.216469,0.878767 to 4.497272,0.907108
"remote" at 3.884484,0.987331
linethick = 1.000000;
spline -> from 5.037575,3.230630 to 5.037575,3.230630 to 5.279502,3.230630 to 5.716275,3.230630 to 5.993628,3.230630
"acl_entries+" at 5.658473,3.279155
linethick = 1.000000;
spline -> from 3.320688,2.014471 to 3.320688,2.014471 to 3.375227,2.025099 to 3.430557,2.035820 to 3.483091,2.045842 to 3.839549,2.113898 to 3.941587,2.080150 to 4.285878,2.194727 to 4.415092,2.237752 to 4.551997,2.304456 to 4.659955,2.362491
"logical_switch" at 3.884484,2.243299
linethick = 1.000000;
spline -> from 3.318031,1.913318 to 3.318031,1.913318 to 3.690570,1.889405 to 4.203930,1.848385 to 4.285878,1.799813 to 4.569244,1.631910 to 4.744839,1.263706 to 4.819888,1.074872
"locator" at 3.884484,1.951961
linethick = 1.000000;
spline -> from 3.357560,1.572337 to 3.357560,1.572337 to 3.695418,1.583571 to 4.131818,1.615315 to 4.285878,1.702716 to 4.551717,1.853512 to 4.730855,2.182561 to 4.811963,2.360207
"logical_switch" at 3.884484,1.751241
linethick = 1.000000;
spline -> from 3.358166,1.480367 to 3.358166,1.480367 to 3.723200,1.406764 to 4.198616,1.307942 to 4.285878,1.275406 to 4.424974,1.223524 to 4.571388,1.142556 to 4.681910,1.075385
"locator" at 3.884484,1.498780
linethick = 1.000000;
spline -> from 1.820230,2.553888 to 1.820230,2.553888 to 2.508159,2.537060 to 3.890871,2.503312 to 4.527385,2.487789
"logical_switch" at 2.923071,2.586424
linethick = 1.000000;
spline -> from 1.629299,2.446070 to 1.629299,2.446070 to 1.709615,2.393582 to 1.796270,2.325572 to 1.858081,2.246515 to 2.233510,1.766204 to 2.198456,1.558166 to 2.363050,0.971109 to 2.445837,0.675996 to 2.286230,0.529209 to 2.479585,0.291338 to 2.497345,0.269504 to 2.518228,0.250387 to 2.541022,0.233648
"locator_set" at 2.168856,2.133243
linethick = 1.000000;
spline -> from 3.364039,0.109594 to 3.364039,0.109594 to 3.643117,0.122511 to 4.003257,0.172169 to 4.285878,0.323706 to 4.512748,0.445350 to 4.696360,0.692311 to 4.790987,0.839705
"locators+" at 3.884484,0.372264
linethick = 1.000000;
spline -> from 1.859992,2.174543 to 1.859992,2.174543 to 1.898635,2.181955 to 1.937278,2.188807 to 1.974616,2.194727 to 2.892539,2.340302 to 3.987175,2.424021 to 4.527012,2.459401
"logical_switch" at 2.923071,2.411622
linethick = 1.000000;
spline -> from 1.454217,1.954059 to 1.454217,1.954059 to 1.565671,1.640067 to 1.911081,0.773699 to 2.479585,0.291338 to 2.504850,0.269923 to 2.533051,0.250928 to 2.562605,0.234128
"locator_set" at 2.168856,0.896667
linethick = 1.000000;
spline -> from 3.254729,2.897853 to 3.254729,2.897853 to 3.531430,2.835063 to 3.935620,2.740624 to 4.285878,2.647955 to 4.364469,2.627118 to 4.448654,2.603392 to 4.527758,2.580411
"switch_binding value*" at 3.884484,2.890721
linethick = 1.000000;
spline -> from 3.253611,2.964790 to 3.253611,2.964790 to 3.531383,2.964744 to 3.937671,2.978168 to 4.285878,3.042869 to 4.423482,3.068413 to 4.573626,3.118104 to 4.686105,3.159916
"acl_binding value*" at 3.884484,3.091394
linethick = 1.000000;
spline -> from 3.333880,0.440129 to 3.333880,0.440129 to 3.610394,0.435832 to 3.979111,0.456109 to 4.285878,0.563237 to 4.456485,0.622810 to 4.623689,0.746850 to 4.733652,0.840078
"locator" at 3.884484,0.611809
linethick = 1.000000;
spline -> from 3.368747,0.724475 to 3.368747,0.724475 to 3.636778,0.684247 to 3.983493,0.658283 to 4.285878,0.718648 to 4.407027,0.742794 to 4.534517,0.792951 to 4.638699,0.841150
"locator" at 3.884484,0.767173

Global TABLE

Top-level configuration for a hardware VTEP. There must be exactly one record in the Global table.

Summary

switches

set of Physical_Switchs

Database Configuration:

managers: set of Managers

Common Column:

other_config: map of string-string pairs

Details

switches: set of Physical_Switchs

The physical switch or switches managed by the VTEP.

When a physical switch integrates support for this VTEP schema, which is expected to be the most common case, this column should point to one Physical_Switch record that represents the switch itself. In another possible implementation, a server or a VM presents a VTEP schema front-end interface to one or more physical switches, presumably communicating with those physical switches over a proprietary protocol. In that case, this column would point to one Physical_Switch for each physical switch, and the set might change over time as the front-end server comes to represent a differing set of switches.

Database Configuration:

These columns primarily configure the database server (ovsdb-server), not the hardware VTEP itself.

managers: set of Managers: Database clients to which the database server should connect or to which it should listen, along with options for how these connection should be configured. See the Manager table for more information.

Common Column:

The overall purpose of this column is described under Common Column at the beginning of this document.

other_config: map of string-string pairs

Manager TABLE

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

The 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

Connection Parameters:

other_config : dscp: optional string, containing an integer

Details

Core Features:

target: string (must be unique within table)

Connection method for managers.

The following connection methods are currently supported:

ssl:host[:port]

The specified SSL port (default: 6640) on the given host, which can either be a DNS name (if built with unbound library) or an IP address.

SSL key and certificate configuration happens outside the database.

tcp:host[:port]

The specified TCP port (default: 6640) on the given host, which can either be a DNS name (if built with unbound library) or an IP address.

pssl:[port][:host]

Listens for SSL connections on the specified TCP port (default: 6640). 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.

ptcp:[port][:host]

Listens for connections on the specified TCP port (default: 6640). 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.

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 the Open vSwitch database 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, the database server assumes the connection has been broken and attempts to reconnect. Default is implementation-specific. A value of 0 disables inactivity probes.

Status:

is_connected: boolean

true if currently connected to this manager, 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 manager last successfully connected to the database (in seconds). Value is empty if manager has never successfully connected.

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

The amount of time since this manager last disconnected from the database (in seconds). Value is empty if manager 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.

When multiple connections are active, status columns and key-value pairs (other than this one) report the status of one arbitrarily chosen connection.

Connection Parameters:

Additional configuration for a connection between the manager and the database server.

other_config : dscp: optional string, containing an integer: The Differentiated Service Code Point (DSCP) is specified using 6 bits in the Type of Service (TOS) field in the IP header. DSCP provides a mechanism to classify the network traffic and provide Quality of Service (QoS) on IP networks. The DSCP value specified here is used when establishing the connection between the manager and the database server. If no value is specified, a default value of 48 is chosen. Valid DSCP values must be in the range 0 to 63.

Physical_Switch TABLE

A physical switch that implements a VTEP.

Summary

ports

set of Physical_Ports

tunnels

set of Tunnels

Network Status:

management_ips: set of strings
tunnel_ips: set of strings

Identification:

name: string (must be unique within table)
description: string

Error Notification:

switch_fault_status : mac_table_exhaustion: none
switch_fault_status : tunnel_exhaustion: none
switch_fault_status : lr_switch_bindings_fault: none
switch_fault_status : lr_static_routes_fault: none
switch_fault_status : lr_creation_fault: none
switch_fault_status : lr_support_fault: none
switch_fault_status : unspecified_fault: none
switch_fault_status : unsupported_source_node_replication: none

Common Column:

other_config: map of string-string pairs

Details

ports: set of Physical_Ports: The physical ports within the switch.
tunnels: set of Tunnels: Tunnels created by this switch as instructed by the NVC.

Network Status:

management_ips: set of strings

IPv4 or IPv6 addresses at which the switch may be contacted for management purposes.

tunnel_ips: set of strings

IPv4 or IPv6 addresses on which the switch may originate or terminate tunnels.

This column is intended to allow a Manager to determine the Physical_Switch that terminates the tunnel represented by a Physical_Locator.

Identification:

name: string (must be unique within table): Symbolic name for the switch, such as its hostname.
description: string: An extended description for the switch, such as its switch login banner.

Error Notification:

An entry in this column indicates to the NVC that this switch has encountered a fault. The switch must clear this column when the fault has been cleared.

switch_fault_status : mac_table_exhaustion: none: Indicates that the switch has been unable to process MAC entries requested by the NVC due to lack of table resources.
switch_fault_status : tunnel_exhaustion: none: Indicates that the switch has been unable to create tunnels requested by the NVC due to lack of resources.
switch_fault_status : lr_switch_bindings_fault: none: Indicates that the switch has been unable to create the logical router interfaces requested by the NVC due to conflicting configurations or a lack of hardware resources.
switch_fault_status : lr_static_routes_fault: none: Indicates that the switch has been unable to create the static routes requested by the NVC due to conflicting configurations or a lack of hardware resources.
switch_fault_status : lr_creation_fault: none: Indicates that the switch has been unable to create the logical router requested by the NVC due to conflicting configurations or a lack of hardware resources.
switch_fault_status : lr_support_fault: none: Indicates that the switch does not support logical routing.
switch_fault_status : unspecified_fault: none: Indicates that an error has occurred in the switch but that no more specific information is available.
switch_fault_status : unsupported_source_node_replication: none: Indicates that the requested source node replication mode cannot be supported by the physical switch; this specifically means in this context that the physical switch lacks the capability to support source node replication mode. This error occurs when a controller attempts to set source node replication mode for one of the logical switches that the physical switch is keeping context for. An NVC that observes this error should take appropriate action (for example reverting the logical switch to service node replication mode). It is recommended that an NVC be proactive and test for support of source node replication by using a test logical switch on vtep physical switch nodes and then trying to change the replication mode to source node on this logical switch, checking for error. The NVC could remember this capability per vtep physical switch. Using mixed replication modes on a given logical switch is not recommended. Service node replication mode is considered a basic requirement since it only requires sending a packet to a single transport node, hence it is not expected that a switch should report that service node mode cannot be supported.

Common Column:

The overall purpose of this column is described under Common Column at the beginning of this document.

other_config: map of string-string pairs

Tunnel TABLE

A tunnel created by a Physical_Switch.

Summary

local

Physical_Locator

remote

Physical_Locator

Bidirectional Forwarding Detection (BFD):

BFD Local Configuration:

bfd_config_local : bfd_dst_mac: optional string
bfd_config_local : bfd_dst_ip: optional string

BFD Remote Configuration:

bfd_config_remote : bfd_dst_mac: optional string
bfd_config_remote : bfd_dst_ip: optional string

BFD Parameters:

bfd_params : enable: optional string, either true or false
bfd_params : min_rx: optional string, containing an integer, at least 1
bfd_params : min_tx: optional string, containing an integer, at least 1
bfd_params : decay_min_rx: optional string, containing an integer
bfd_params : forwarding_if_rx: optional string, either true or false
bfd_params : cpath_down: optional string, either true or false
bfd_params : check_tnl_key: optional string, either true or false

BFD Status:

bfd_status : enabled: optional string, either true or false
bfd_status : state: optional string, one of admin_down, down, init, or up
bfd_status : forwarding: optional string, either true or false
bfd_status : diagnostic: optional string
bfd_status : remote_state: optional string, one of admin_down, down, init, or up
bfd_status : remote_diagnostic: optional string
bfd_status : info: optional string

Details

local: Physical_Locator: Tunnel end-point local to the physical switch.
remote: Physical_Locator: Tunnel end-point remote to the physical switch.

Bidirectional Forwarding Detection (BFD):

BFD, defined in RFC 5880, allows point to point detection of connectivity failures by occasional transmission of BFD control messages. VTEPs are expected to implement BFD.

BFD operates by regularly transmitting BFD control messages at a rate negotiated independently in each direction. Each endpoint specifies the rate at which it expects to receive control messages, and the rate at which it’s willing to transmit them. An endpoint which fails to receive BFD control messages for a period of three times the expected reception rate will signal a connectivity fault. In the case of a unidirectional connectivity issue, the system not receiving BFD control messages will signal the problem to its peer in the messages it transmits.

A hardware VTEP is expected to use BFD to determine reachability of devices at the end of the tunnels with which it exchanges data. This can enable the VTEP to choose a functioning service node among a set of service nodes providing high availability. It also enables the NVC to report the health status of tunnels.

In many cases the BFD peer of a hardware VTEP will be an Open vSwitch instance. The Open vSwitch implementation of BFD aims to comply faithfully with the requirements put forth in RFC 5880. Open vSwitch does not implement the optional Authentication or ``Echo Mode’’ features.

BFD Local Configuration:

The HSC writes the key-value pairs in the bfd_config_local column to specify the local configurations to be used for BFD sessions on this tunnel.

bfd_config_local : bfd_dst_mac: optional string: Set to an Ethernet address in the form xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx to set the MAC expected as destination for received BFD packets. The default is 00:23:20:00:00:01.
bfd_config_local : bfd_dst_ip: optional string: Set to an IPv4 address to set the IP address that is expected as destination for received BFD packets. The default is 169.254.1.0.

BFD Remote Configuration:

The bfd_config_remote column is the remote counterpart of the bfd_config_local column. The NVC writes the key-value pairs in this column.

bfd_config_remote : bfd_dst_mac: optional string: Set to an Ethernet address in the form xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx to set the destination MAC to be used for transmitted BFD packets. The default is 00:23:20:00:00:01.
bfd_config_remote : bfd_dst_ip: optional string: Set to an IPv4 address to set the IP address used as destination for transmitted BFD packets. The default is 169.254.1.1.

BFD Parameters:

The NVC sets up key-value pairs in the bfd_params column to enable and configure BFD.

bfd_params : enable: optional string, either true or false: True to enable BFD on this Tunnel. If not specified, BFD will not be enabled by default.
bfd_params : min_rx: optional string, containing an integer, at least 1: The shortest interval, in milliseconds, at which this BFD session offers to receive BFD control messages. The remote endpoint may choose to send messages at a slower rate. Defaults to 1000.
bfd_params : min_tx: optional string, containing an integer, at least 1: The shortest interval, in milliseconds, at which this BFD session is willing to transmit BFD control messages. Messages will actually be transmitted at a slower rate if the remote endpoint is not willing to receive as quickly as specified. Defaults to 100.
bfd_params : decay_min_rx: optional string, containing an integer: An alternate receive interval, in milliseconds, that must be greater than or equal to bfd_params:min_rx. The implementation should switch from bfd_params:min_rx to bfd_params:decay_min_rx when there is no obvious incoming data traffic at the tunnel, to reduce the CPU and bandwidth cost of monitoring an idle tunnel. This feature may be disabled by setting a value of 0. This feature is reset whenever bfd_params:decay_min_rx or bfd_params:min_rx changes.
bfd_params : forwarding_if_rx: optional string, either true or false: When true, traffic received on the Tunnel is used to indicate the capability of packet I/O. BFD control packets are still transmitted and received. At least one BFD control packet must be received every 100 * bfd_params:min_rx amount of time. Otherwise, even if traffic is received, the bfd_params:forwarding will be false.
bfd_params : cpath_down: optional string, either true or false: Set to true to notify the remote endpoint that traffic should not be forwarded to this system for some reason other than a connectivity failure on the interface being monitored. The typical underlying reason is ``concatenated path down,’’ that is, that connectivity beyond the local system is down. Defaults to false.
bfd_params : check_tnl_key: optional string, either true or false: Set to true to make BFD accept only control messages with a tunnel key of zero. By default, BFD accepts control messages with any tunnel key.

BFD Status:

The VTEP sets key-value pairs in the bfd_status column to report the status of BFD on this tunnel. When BFD is not enabled, with bfd_params:enable, the HSC clears all key-value pairs from bfd_status.

bfd_status : enabled: optional string, either true or false: Set to true if the BFD session has been successfully enabled. Set to false if the VTEP cannot support BFD or has insufficient resources to enable BFD on this tunnel. The NVC will disable the BFD monitoring on the other side of the tunnel once this value is set to false.
bfd_status : state: optional string, one of admin_down, down, init, or up: Reports the state of the BFD session. The BFD session is fully healthy and negotiated if UP.
bfd_status : forwarding: optional string, either true or false: Reports whether the BFD session believes this Tunnel may be used to forward traffic. Typically this means the local session is signaling UP, and the remote system isn’t signaling a problem such as concatenated path down.
bfd_status : diagnostic: optional string: A diagnostic code specifying the local system’s reason for the last change in session state. The error messages are defined in section 4.1 of [RFC 5880].
bfd_status : remote_state: optional string, one of admin_down, down, init, or up: Reports the state of the remote endpoint’s BFD session.
bfd_status : remote_diagnostic: optional string: A diagnostic code specifying the remote system’s reason for the last change in session state. The error messages are defined in section 4.1 of [RFC 5880].
bfd_status : info: optional string: A short message providing further information about the BFD status (possibly including reasons why BFD could not be enabled).

Physical_Port TABLE

A port within a Physical_Switch.

Summary

vlan_bindings

map of integer-Logical_Switch pairs, key in range 0 to 4,095

acl_bindings

map of integer-ACL pairs, key in range 0 to 4,095

vlan_stats

map of integer-Logical_Binding_Stats pairs, key in range 0 to 4,095

Identification:

name: string
description: string

Error Notification:

port_fault_status : invalid_vlan_map: none
port_fault_status : invalid_ACL_binding: none
port_fault_status : unspecified_fault: none

Common Column:

other_config: map of string-string pairs

Details

vlan_bindings: map of integer-Logical_Switch pairs, key in range 0 to 4,095: Identifies how VLANs on the physical port are bound to logical switches. If, for example, the map contains a (VLAN, logical switch) pair, a packet that arrives on the port in the VLAN is considered to belong to the paired logical switch. A value of zero in the VLAN field means that untagged traffic on the physical port is mapped to the logical switch.
acl_bindings: map of integer-ACL pairs, key in range 0 to 4,095: Attach Access Control Lists (ACLs) to the physical port. The column consists of a map of VLAN tags to ACLs. If the value of the VLAN tag in the map is 0, this means that the ACL is associated with the entire physical port. Non-zero values mean that the ACL is to be applied only on packets carrying that VLAN tag value. Switches will not necessarily support matching on the VLAN tag for all ACLs, and unsupported ACL bindings will cause errors to be reported. The binding of an ACL to a specific VLAN and the binding of an ACL to the entire physical port should not be combined on a single physical port. That is, a mix of zero and non-zero keys in the map is not recommended.
vlan_stats: map of integer-Logical_Binding_Stats pairs, key in range 0 to 4,095: Statistics for VLANs bound to logical switches on the physical port. An implementation that fully supports such statistics would populate this column with a mapping for every VLAN that is bound in vlan_bindings. An implementation that does not support such statistics or only partially supports them would not populate this column or partially populate it, respectively. A value of zero in the VLAN field refers to untagged traffic on the physical port.

Identification:

name: string: Symbolic name for the port. The name ought to be unique within a given Physical_Switch, but the database is not capable of enforcing this.
description: string: An extended description for the port.

Error Notification:

An entry in this column indicates to the NVC that the physical port has encountered a fault. The switch must clear this column when the error has been cleared.

port_fault_status : invalid_vlan_map: none: Indicates that a VLAN-to-logical-switch mapping requested by the controller could not be instantiated by the switch because of a conflict with local configuration.
port_fault_status : invalid_ACL_binding: none: Indicates that an error has occurred in associating an ACL with a port.
port_fault_status : unspecified_fault: none: Indicates that an error has occurred on the port but that no more specific information is available.

Common Column:

The overall purpose of this column is described under Common Column at the beginning of this document.

other_config: map of string-string pairs

Logical_Binding_Stats TABLE

Reports statistics for the Logical_Switch with which a VLAN on a Physical_Port is associated.

Summary

Statistics:

packets_from_local: integer
bytes_from_local: integer
packets_to_local: integer
bytes_to_local: integer

Details

Statistics:

These statistics count only packets to which the binding applies.

packets_from_local: integer: Number of packets sent by the Physical_Switch.
bytes_from_local: integer: Number of bytes in packets sent by the Physical_Switch.
packets_to_local: integer: Number of packets received by the Physical_Switch.
bytes_to_local: integer: Number of bytes in packets received by the Physical_Switch.

Logical_Switch TABLE

A logical Ethernet switch, whose implementation may span physical and virtual media, possibly crossing L3 domains via tunnels; a logical layer-2 domain; an Ethernet broadcast domain.

Summary

Per Logical-Switch Tunnel Key:

tunnel_key: optional integer

Replication Mode:

replication_mode: optional string, either service_node or source_node

Identification:

name: string (must be unique within table)
description: string

Common Column:

other_config: map of string-string pairs

Details

Per Logical-Switch Tunnel Key:

Tunnel protocols tend to have a field that allows the tunnel to be partitioned into sub-tunnels: VXLAN has a VNI, GRE and STT have a key, CAPWAP has a WSI, and so on. We call these generically ``tunnel keys.’’ Given that one needs to use a tunnel key at all, there are at least two reasonable ways to assign their values:

Per Logical_Switch+Physical_Locator pair. That is, each logical switch may be assigned a different tunnel key on every Physical_Locator. This model is especially flexible.

In this model, Physical_Locator carries the tunnel key. Therefore, one Physical_Locator record will exist for each logical switch carried at a given IP destination.
Per Logical_Switch. That is, every tunnel associated with a particular logical switch carries the same tunnel key, regardless of the Physical_Locator to which the tunnel is addressed. This model may ease switch implementation because it imposes fewer requirements on the hardware datapath.

In this model, Logical_Switch carries the tunnel key. Therefore, one Physical_Locator record will exist for each IP destination.

tunnel_key: optional integer

This column is used only in the tunnel key per Logical_Switch model (see above), because only in that model is there a tunnel key associated with a logical switch.

For vxlan_over_ipv4 encapsulation, when the tunnel key per Logical_Switch model is in use, this column is the VXLAN VNI that identifies a logical switch. It must be in the range 0 to 16,777,215.

Replication Mode:

For handling L2 broadcast, multicast and unknown unicast traffic, packets can be sent to all members of a logical switch referenced by a physical switch. There are different modes to replicate the packets. The default mode of replication is to send the traffic to a service node, which can be a hypervisor, server or appliance, and let the service node handle replication to other transport nodes (hypervisors or other VTEP physical switches). This mode is called service node replication. An alternate mode of replication, called source node replication involves the source node sending to all other transport nodes. Hypervisors are always responsible for doing their own replication for locally attached VMs in both modes. Service node replication mode is the default and considered a basic requirement because it only requires sending the packet to a single transport node.

replication_mode: optional string, either service_node or source_node: This optional column defines the replication mode per Logical_Switch. There are 2 valid values, service_node and source_node. If the column is not set, the replication mode defaults to service_node.

Identification:

name: string (must be unique within table): Symbolic name for the logical switch.
description: string: An extended description for the logical switch, such as its switch login banner.

Common Column:

The overall purpose of this column is described under Common Column at the beginning of this document.

other_config: map of string-string pairs

Ucast_Macs_Local TABLE

Mapping of unicast MAC addresses to tunnels (physical locators). This table is written by the HSC, so it contains the MAC addresses that have been learned on physical ports by a VTEP.

Summary

MAC: string
logical_switch: Logical_Switch
locator: Physical_Locator
ipaddr: string

Details

MAC: string: A MAC address that has been learned by the VTEP.
logical_switch: Logical_Switch: The Logical switch to which this mapping applies.
locator: Physical_Locator: The physical locator to be used to reach this MAC address. In this table, the physical locator will be one of the tunnel IP addresses of the appropriate VTEP.
ipaddr: string: The IP address to which this MAC corresponds. Optional field for the purpose of ARP supression.

Ucast_Macs_Remote TABLE

Mapping of unicast MAC addresses to tunnels (physical locators). This table is written by the NVC, so it contains the MAC addresses that the NVC has learned. These include VM MAC addresses, in which case the physical locators will be hypervisor IP addresses. The NVC will also report MACs that it has learned from other HSCs in the network, in which case the physical locators will be tunnel IP addresses of the corresponding VTEPs.

Summary

MAC: string
logical_switch: Logical_Switch
locator: Physical_Locator
ipaddr: string

Details

MAC: string: A MAC address that has been learned by the NVC.
logical_switch: Logical_Switch: The Logical switch to which this mapping applies.
locator: Physical_Locator: The physical locator to be used to reach this MAC address. In this table, the physical locator will be either a hypervisor IP address or a tunnel IP addresses of another VTEP.
ipaddr: string: The IP address to which this MAC corresponds. Optional field for the purpose of ARP supression.

Mcast_Macs_Local TABLE

Mapping of multicast MAC addresses to tunnels (physical locators). This table is written by the HSC, so it contains the MAC addresses that have been learned on physical ports by a VTEP. These may be learned by IGMP snooping, for example. This table also specifies how to handle unknown unicast and broadcast packets.

Summary

MAC: string
logical_switch: Logical_Switch
locator_set: Physical_Locator_Set
ipaddr: string

Details

MAC: string

A MAC address that has been learned by the VTEP.

The keyword unknown-dst is used as a special ``Ethernet address’’ that indicates the locations to which packets in a logical switch whose destination addresses do not otherwise appear in Ucast_Macs_Local (for unicast addresses) or Mcast_Macs_Local (for multicast addresses) should be sent.

logical_switch: Logical_Switch

The Logical switch to which this mapping applies.

locator_set: Physical_Locator_Set

The physical locator set to be used to reach this MAC address. In this table, the physical locator set will be contain one or more tunnel IP addresses of the appropriate VTEP(s).

ipaddr: string

The IP address to which this MAC corresponds. Optional field for the purpose of ARP supression.

Mcast_Macs_Remote TABLE

Mapping of multicast MAC addresses to tunnels (physical locators). This table is written by the NVC, so it contains the MAC addresses that the NVC has learned. This table also specifies how to handle unknown unicast and broadcast packets.

Multicast packet replication may be handled by a service node, in which case the physical locators will be IP addresses of service nodes. If the VTEP supports replication onto multiple tunnels, using source node replication, then this may be used to replicate directly onto VTEP-hypervisor or VTEP-VTEP tunnels.

Summary

MAC: string
logical_switch: Logical_Switch
locator_set: Physical_Locator_Set
ipaddr: string

Details

MAC: string

A MAC address that has been learned by the NVC.

The keyword unknown-dst is used as a special ``Ethernet address’’ that indicates the locations to which packets in a logical switch whose destination addresses do not otherwise appear in Ucast_Macs_Remote (for unicast addresses) or Mcast_Macs_Remote (for multicast addresses) should be sent.

logical_switch: Logical_Switch

The Logical switch to which this mapping applies.

locator_set: Physical_Locator_Set

The physical locator set to be used to reach this MAC address. In this table, the physical locator set will be either a set of service nodes when service node replication is used or the set of transport nodes (defined as hypervisors or VTEPs) participating in the associated logical switch, when source node replication is used. When service node replication is used, the VTEP should send packets to one member of the locator set that is known to be healthy and reachable, which could be determined by BFD. When source node replication is used, the VTEP should send packets to all members of the locator set.

ipaddr: string

The IP address to which this MAC corresponds. Optional field for the purpose of ARP supression.

Logical_Router TABLE

A logical router, or VRF. A logical router may be connected to one or more logical switches. Subnet addresses and interface addresses may be configured on the interfaces.

Summary

switch_binding

map of string-Logical_Switch pairs

static_routes

map of string-string pairs

acl_binding

map of string-ACL pairs

Identification:

name: string (must be unique within table)
description: string

Error Notification:

LR_fault_status : invalid_ACL_binding: none
LR_fault_status : unspecified_fault: none

Common Column:

other_config: map of string-string pairs

Details

switch_binding: map of string-Logical_Switch pairs: Maps from an IPv4 or IPv6 address prefix in CIDR notation to a logical switch. Multiple prefixes may map to the same switch. By writing a 32-bit (or 128-bit for v6) address with a /N prefix length, both the router’s interface address and the subnet prefix can be configured. For example, 192.68.1.1/24 creates a /24 subnet for the logical switch attached to the interface and assigns the address 192.68.1.1 to the router interface.
static_routes: map of string-string pairs: One or more static routes, mapping IP prefixes to next hop IP addresses.
acl_binding: map of string-ACL pairs: Maps ACLs to logical router interfaces. The router interfaces are indicated using IP address notation, and must be the same interfaces created in the switch_binding column. For example, an ACL could be associated with the logical router interface with an address of 192.68.1.1 as defined in the example above.

Identification:

name: string (must be unique within table): Symbolic name for the logical router.
description: string: An extended description for the logical router.

Error Notification:

An entry in this column indicates to the NVC that the HSC has encountered a fault in configuring state related to the logical router.

LR_fault_status : invalid_ACL_binding: none: Indicates that an error has occurred in associating an ACL with a logical router port.
LR_fault_status : unspecified_fault: none: Indicates that an error has occurred in configuring the logical router but that no more specific information is available.

Common Column:

The overall purpose of this column is described under Common Column at the beginning of this document.

other_config: map of string-string pairs

Arp_Sources_Local TABLE

MAC address to be used when a VTEP issues ARP requests on behalf of a logical router.

A distributed logical router is implemented by a set of VTEPs (both hardware VTEPs and vswitches). In order for a given VTEP to populate the local ARP cache for a logical router, it issues ARP requests with a source MAC address that is unique to the VTEP. A single per-VTEP MAC can be re-used across all logical networks. This table contains the MACs that are used by the VTEPs of a given HSC. The table provides the mapping from MAC to physical locator for each VTEP so that replies to the ARP requests can be sent back to the correct VTEP using the appropriate physical locator.

Summary

src_mac: string
locator: Physical_Locator

Details

src_mac: string: The source MAC to be used by a given VTEP.
locator: Physical_Locator: The Physical_Locator to use for replies to ARP requests from this MAC address.

Arp_Sources_Remote TABLE

MAC address to be used when a remote VTEP issues ARP requests on behalf of a logical router.

This table is the remote counterpart of Arp_sources_local. The NVC writes this table to notify the HSC of the MACs that will be used by remote VTEPs when they issue ARP requests on behalf of a distributed logical router.

Summary

src_mac: string
locator: Physical_Locator

Details

src_mac: string: The source MAC to be used by a given VTEP.
locator: Physical_Locator: The Physical_Locator to use for replies to ARP requests from this MAC address.

Physical_Locator_Set TABLE

A set of one or more Physical_Locators.

This table exists only because OVSDB does not have a way to express the type ``map from string to one or more Physical_Locator records.’’

Summary

locators: immutable set of 1 or more Physical_Locators

Details

locators: immutable set of 1 or more Physical_Locators

Physical_Locator TABLE

Identifies an endpoint to which logical switch traffic may be encapsulated and forwarded.

The vxlan_over_ipv4 encapsulation, the only encapsulation defined so far, can use either tunnel key model described in the ``Per Logical-Switch Tunnel Key’’ section in the Logical_Switch table. When the tunnel key per Logical_Switch model is in use, the tunnel_key column in the Logical_Switch table is filled with a VNI and the tunnel_key column in this table is empty; in the key-per-tunnel model, the opposite is true. The former model is older, and thus likely to be more widely supported. See the ``Per Logical-Switch Tunnel Key’’ section in the Logical_Switch table for further discussion of the model.

Summary

encapsulation_type: immutable string, must be vxlan_over_ipv4
dst_ip: immutable string
tunnel_key: optional integer

Details

encapsulation_type: immutable string, must be vxlan_over_ipv4

The type of tunneling encapsulation.

dst_ip: immutable string

For vxlan_over_ipv4 encapsulation, the IPv4 address of the VXLAN tunnel endpoint.

We expect that this column could be used for IPv4 or IPv6 addresses in encapsulations to be introduced later.

tunnel_key: optional integer

This column is used only in the tunnel key per Logical_Switch+Physical_Locator model (see above).

For vxlan_over_ipv4 encapsulation, when the Logical_Switch+Physical_Locator model is in use, this column is the VXLAN VNI. It must be in the range 0 to 16,777,215.

ACL_entry TABLE

Describes the individual entries that comprise an Access Control List.

Each entry in the table is a single rule to match on certain header fields. While there are a large number of fields that can be matched on, most hardware cannot match on arbitrary combinations of fields. It is common to match on either L2 fields (described below in the L2 group of columns) or L3/L4 fields (the L3/L4 group of columns) but not both. The hardware switch controller may log an error if an ACL entry requires it to match on an incompatible mixture of fields.

Summary

sequence

integer

L2 fields:

source_mac: optional string
dest_mac: optional string
ethertype: optional string

L3/L4 fields:

source_ip: optional string
source_mask: optional string
dest_ip: optional string
dest_mask: optional string
protocol: optional integer
source_port_min: optional integer
source_port_max: optional integer
dest_port_min: optional integer
dest_port_max: optional integer
tcp_flags: optional integer
tcp_flags_mask: optional integer
icmp_type: optional integer
icmp_code: optional integer

direction

string, either egress or ingress

action

string, either deny or permit

Error Notification:

acle_fault_status : invalid_acl_entry: none
acle_fault_status : unspecified_fault: none

Details

sequence: integer: The sequence number for the ACL entry for the purpose of ordering entries in an ACL. Lower numbered entries are matched before higher numbered entries.

L2 fields:

source_mac: optional string: Source MAC address, in the form xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx
dest_mac: optional string: Destination MAC address, in the form xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx
ethertype: optional string: Ethertype in hexadecimal, in the form 0xAAAA

L3/L4 fields:

source_ip: optional string: Source IP address, in the form xx.xx.xx.xx for IPv4 or appropriate colon-separated hexadecimal notation for IPv6.
source_mask: optional string: Mask that determines which bits of source_ip to match on, in the form xx.xx.xx.xx for IPv4 or appropriate colon-separated hexadecimal notation for IPv6.
dest_ip: optional string: Destination IP address, in the form xx.xx.xx.xx for IPv4 or appropriate colon-separated hexadecimal notation for IPv6.
dest_mask: optional string: Mask that determines which bits of dest_ip to match on, in the form xx.xx.xx.xx for IPv4 or appropriate colon-separated hexadecimal notation for IPv6.
protocol: optional integer: Protocol number in the IPv4 header, or value of the "next header" field in the IPv6 header.
source_port_min: optional integer: Lower end of the range of source port values. The value specified is included in the range.
source_port_max: optional integer: Upper end of the range of source port values. The value specified is included in the range.
dest_port_min: optional integer: Lower end of the range of destination port values. The value specified is included in the range.
dest_port_max: optional integer: Upper end of the range of destination port values. The value specified is included in the range.
tcp_flags: optional integer: Integer representing the value of TCP flags to match. For example, the SYN flag is the second least significant bit in the TCP flags. Hence a value of 2 would indicate that the "SYN" flag should be set (assuming an appropriate mask).
tcp_flags_mask: optional integer: Integer representing the mask to apply when matching TCP flags. For example, a value of 2 would imply that the "SYN" flag should be matched and all other flags ignored.
icmp_type: optional integer: ICMP type to be matched.
icmp_code: optional integer: ICMP code to be matched.
direction: string, either egress or ingress: Direction of traffic to match on the specified port, either "ingress" (toward the logical switch or router) or "egress" (leaving the logical switch or router).
action: string, either deny or permit: Action to take for this rule, either "permit" or "deny".

Error Notification:

An entry in this column indicates to the NVC that the ACL could not be configured as requested. The switch must clear this column when the error has been cleared.

acle_fault_status : invalid_acl_entry: none: Indicates that an ACL entry requested by the controller could not be instantiated by the switch, e.g. because it requires an unsupported combination of fields to be matched.
acle_fault_status : unspecified_fault: none: Indicates that an error has occurred in configuring the ACL entry but no more specific information is available.

Acl Table

Access Control List table. Each ACL is constructed as a set of entries from the ACL_entry table. Packets that are not matched by any entry in the ACL are allowed by default.

Summary

acl_entries

set of 1 or more ACL_entrys

acl_name

string (must be unique within table)

Error Notification:

acl_fault_status : invalid_acl: none
acl_fault_status : resource_shortage: none
acl_fault_status : unspecified_fault: none

Details

acl_entries: set of 1 or more ACL_entrys: A set of references to entries in the ACL_entry table.
acl_name: string (must be unique within table): A human readable name for the ACL, which may (for example) be displayed on the switch CLI.

Error Notification:

An entry in this column indicates to the NVC that the ACL could not be configured as requested. The switch must clear this column when the error has been cleared.

acl_fault_status : invalid_acl: none: Indicates that an ACL requested by the controller could not be instantiated by the switch, e.g., because it requires an unsupported combination of fields to be matched.
acl_fault_status : resource_shortage: none: Indicates that an ACL requested by the controller could not be instantiated by the switch due to a shortage of resources (e.g. TCAM space).
acl_fault_status : unspecified_fault: none: Indicates that an error has occurred in configuring the ACL but no more specific information is available.

Referenced By

ovn-architecture(7), ovn-controller-vtep(8), ovsdb(7), vtep-ctl(8).

DB Schema 1.7.0 Open vSwitch 2.12.0 Open vSwitch Manual

Manual	Command	Description