OVS (Open vSwitch) Commands

  • ovs-vsctl – utility to manage configuration state in ovsdb-server
    •             bridge management
    •             port management
    •             controller management
    •             failure mode management
  • ovs-appctl – send commands to ovs-vswitchd
  • ovs-dpctl – Tool to manage datapaths in the kernel directly.
    •             Direct management only reallu required when there is no ovs-vswitchd
    •             Mostly useful for inspecting kernel vs user flows
  • ovs-ofctl – for working with openflow

OVE-VSCTL

CommandDescription
ovs-vsctl showshow openvswitch switches and ports

OVS-APPCTL

CommandDescription
ovs-appctl bridge/dump-flowsDumps all flows, including hidden
ovs-appctl dpif/dump-flowsDumps datapath flows for a spefic bridge
ovs-appctl ofproto/trace <switch_name> in_port=1Trace packet process for traffic coming in on port_1 of given switch

OVS-DPCTL

CommandDescription
ovs-dpctl dump-flowsDumps kernel table entries

OVS-OFCTL

CommandDescription
ovs-ofctl dump-flowsDumps OF flows (excluding hidden flows)
Rick Donato

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