ovn-controller(8)             Open vSwitch Manual            ovn-controller(8)



NAME
       ovn-controller - Open Virtual Network local controller

SYNOPSIS
       ovn-controller [options] [ovs-database]

DESCRIPTION
       ovn-controller is the local controller daemon for OVN, the Open Virtual
       Network.  It connects up to the OVN Southbound database (see ovn-sb(5))
       over  the  OVSDB  protocol,  and down to the Open vSwitch database (see
       ovs-vswitchd.conf.db(5)) over the OVSDB protocol and to ovs-vswitchd(8)
       via  OpenFlow.   Each hypervisor and software gateway in an OVN deploy‐
       ment runs its own independent copy of  ovn-controller;  thus,  ovn-con‐
       troller’s  downward connections are machine-local and do not run over a
       physical network.

CONFIGURATION
       ovn-controller retrieves most of its configuration information from the
       local  Open  vSwitch’s  ovsdb-server instance.  The default location is
       db.sock in the local Open vSwitch’s "run" directory.  It may  be  over‐
       ridden  by specifying the ovs-database argument in one of the following
       forms:

              ·      ssl:ip:port

                     The specified SSL port on the host at the given ip, which
                     must  be  expressed  as an IP address (not a DNS name) in
                     IPv4 or IPv6 address format.  If ip is an  IPv6  address,
                     then  wrap ip with square brackets, e.g.: ssl:[::1]:6640.
                     The --private-key, --certificate and either of  --ca-cert
                     or  --bootstrap-ca-cert  options  are mandatory when this
                     form is used.

              ·      tcp:ip:port

                     Connect to the given TCP port on ip, where ip can be IPv4
                     or  IPv6  address. If ip is an IPv6 address, then wrap ip
                     with square brackets, e.g.: tcp:[::1]:6640.

              ·      unix:file

                     On POSIX, connect to the Unix domain server socket  named
                     file.

                     On  Windows,  connect to a localhost TCP port whose value
                     is written in file.

       ovn-controller assumes it gets configuration information from the  fol‐
       lowing keys in the Open_vSwitch table of the local OVS instance:

              external_ids:system-id
                     The chassis name to use in the Chassis table.

              external_ids:ovn-bridge
                     The   integration  bridge  to  which  logical  ports  are
                     attached.  The default is br-int.  If  this  bridge  does
                     not  exist when ovn-controller starts, it will be created
                     automatically with the default configuration suggested in
                     ovn-architecture(7).

              external_ids:ovn-remote
                     The  OVN  database that this system should connect to for
                     its configuration.

                     Currently, ovn-controller does not support changing  this
                     setting  mid-run.  If the value needs to change, the dae‐
                     mon  must  be  restarted.   (This  behavior   should   be
                     improved.)

              external_ids:ovn-encap-type
                     The  encapsulation type that a chassis should use to con‐
                     nect to this node.  Supported tunnel types for connecting
                     hypervisors are geneve and stt.  Gateways may use geneve,
                     vxlan, or stt.

              external_ids:ovn-encap-ip
                     The IP address that a chassis should use  to  connect  to
                     this  node  using  encapsulation type specified by exter‐
                     nal_ids:ovn-encap-ip.

              external_ids:ovn-bridge-mappings
                     A list of key-value pairs that  map  a  physical  network
                     name  to a local ovs bridge that provides connectivity to
                     that network.  An example value mapping two physical net‐
                     work   names   to   two   ovs  bridges  would  be:  phys‐
                     net1:br-eth0,physnet2:br-eth1.

OPEN VSWITCH DATABASE USAGE
       ovn-controller uses a number of external-ids keys in the  Open  vSwitch
       database  to keep track of ports and interfaces.  For proper operation,
       users should not change or clear these keys:

              external_ids:ovn-chassis-id in the Port table
                     The presence of this key identifies a tunnel port  within
                     the  integration  bridge as one created by ovn-controller
                     to reach a remote chassis.  Its value is the  chassis  ID
                     of the remote chassis.

              external-ids:ovn-localnet-port in the Port
                     table The presence of this key identifies a patch port as
                     one created by ovn-controller to connect the  integration
                     bridge and another bridge to implement a localnet logical
                     port.  Its value is the name of the physical network that
                     the  port  implements.   See external_ids:ovn-bridge-map‐
                     pings, above, for more information.

                     Each localnet logical port is implemented as  a  pair  of
                     patch ports, one in the integration bridge, one in a dif‐
                     ferent  bridge,  with  the  same  external-ids:ovn-local‐
                     net-port value.

RUNTIME MANAGEMENT COMMANDS
       ovs-appctl  can send commands to a running ovn-controller process.  The
       currently supported commands are described below.

              exit   Causes ovn-controller to gracefully terminate.



Open vSwitch 2.4.90             ovn-controller               ovn-controller(8)