vtep(5)

NAME
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.

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.

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.

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:

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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:

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:

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

description: string
    An extended description for the logical router.

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.

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.

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

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".

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.

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.