ovn-sbctl(8) Open vSwitch Manual ovn-sbctl(8)
NAME
ovn-sbctl - utility for querying and configuring OVN_Southbound data‐
base
SYNOPSIS
ovn-sbctl [options] -- [options] command [args] [-- [options] command
[args]]...
DESCRIPTION
The command should only be used for advanced debugging and trou‐
bleshooting of the OVN_Southbound database; and should never be used in
normal operation.
The ovn-sbctl program configures the OVN_Southbound database by provid‐
ing a high-level interface to its configuration database. See
ovn-sb(5) for comprehensive documentation of the database schema.
ovn-sbctl connects to an ovsdb-server process that maintains an
OVN_Southbound configuration database. Using this connection, it
queries and possibly applies changes to the database, depending on the
supplied commands.
ovn-sbctl can perform any number of commands in a single run, imple‐
mented as a single atomic transaction against the database.
The ovn-sbctl command line begins with global options (see OPTIONS
below for details). The global options are followed by one or more
commands. Each command should begin with -- by itself as a command-
line argument, to separate it from the following commands. (The --
before the first command is optional.) The command itself starts with
command-specific options, if any, followed by the command name and any
arguments.
OPTIONS
The following options affect the behavior of ovn-sbctl as a whole.
Some individual commands also accept their own options, which are given
just before the command name. If the first command on the command line
has options, then those options must be separated from the global
options by --.
--db=server
The OVSDB database remote to contact. If the OVN_SB_DB environ‐
ment variable is set, its value is used as the default. Other‐
wise, the default is unix:/var/run/openvswitch/db.sock, but this
default is unlikely to be useful outside of single-machine OVN
test environments.
server must take 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 --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.
pssl:port[:ip]
Listen on the given SSL port for a connection. By
default, connections are not bound to a particular local
IP address and it listens only on IPv4 (but not IPv6)
addresses, but specifying ip limits connections to those
from the given ip, either IPv4 or IPv6 address. If ip is
an IPv6 address, then wrap ip with square brackets, e.g.:
pssl:6640:[::1]. The --private-key, --certificate, and
--ca-cert options are mandatory when this form is used.
ptcp:port[:ip]
Listen on the given TCP port for a connection. By
default, connections are not bound to a particular local
IP address and it listens only on IPv4 (but not IPv6)
addresses, but ip may be specified to listen only for
connections to the given ip, either IPv4 or IPv6 address.
If ip is an IPv6 address, then wrap ip with square brack‐
ets, e.g.: ptcp:6640:[::1].
punix:file
On POSIX, listen on the Unix domain server socket named
file for a connection.
On Windows, listen on a kernel chosen TCP port on the
localhost. The kernel chosen TCP port value is written in
file.
--no-syslog
By default, ovn-sbctl logs its arguments and the details of any
changes that it makes to the system log. This option disables
this logging.
This option is equivalent to --verbose=sbctl:syslog:warn.
--oneline
Modifies the output format so that the output for each command
is printed on a single line. New-line characters that would
otherwise separate lines are printed as \n, and any instances of
\ that would otherwise appear in the output are doubled. Prints
a blank line for each command that has no output. This option
does not affect the formatting of output from the list or find
commands; see Table Formatting Options below.
--dry-run
Prevents ovn-sbctl from actually modifying the database.
-t secs
--timeout=secs
By default, or with a secs of 0, ovn-sbctl waits forever for a
response from the database. This option limits runtime to
approximately secs seconds. If the timeout expires, ovn-sbctl
will exit with a SIGALRM signal. (A timeout would normally hap‐
pen only if the database cannot be contacted, or if the system
is overloaded.)
Table Formatting Options
These options control the format of output from the list and find com‐
mands.
-f format
--format=format
Sets the type of table formatting. The following types of for‐
mat are available:
table (default)
2-D text tables with aligned columns.
list A list with one column per line and rows separated by a
blank line.
html HTML tables.
csv Comma-separated values as defined in RFC 4180.
json JSON format as defined in RFC 4627. The output is a
sequence of JSON objects, each of which corresponds to
one table. Each JSON object has the following members
with the noted values:
caption
The table's caption. This member is omitted if
the table has no caption.
headings
An array with one element per table column. Each
array element is a string giving the corresponding
column's heading.
data An array with one element per table row. Each
element is also an array with one element per ta‐
ble column. The elements of this second-level
array are the cells that constitute the table.
Cells that represent OVSDB data or data types are
expressed in the format described in the OVSDB
specification; other cells are simply expressed as
text strings.
-d format
--data=format
Sets the formatting for cells within output tables. The follow‐
ing types of format are available:
string (default)
The simple format described in the Database Values sec‐
tion of ovs-vsctl(8).
bare The simple format with punctuation stripped off: [] and
{} are omitted around sets, maps, and empty columns,
items within sets and maps are space-separated, and
strings are never quoted. This format may be easier for
scripts to parse.
json JSON.
The json output format always outputs cells in JSON format,
ignoring this option.
--no-heading
This option suppresses the heading row that otherwise appears in
the first row of table output.
--pretty
By default, JSON in output is printed as compactly as possible.
This option causes JSON in output to be printed in a more read‐
able fashion. Members of objects and elements of arrays are
printed one per line, with indentation.
This option does not affect JSON in tables, which is always
printed compactly.
--bare Equivalent to --format=list --data=bare --no-headings.
COMMANDS
The commands implemented by ovn-sbctl are described in the sections
below.
OVN_Southbound Commands
These commands work with an OVN_Southbound database as a whole.
show Prints a brief overview of the database contents.
Chassis Commands
These commands manipulate OVN_Southbound chassis.
[--may-exist] chassis-add chassis encap-type encap-ip
Creates a new chassis named chassis. The chassis will have one
encap entry with encap-type as tunnel type and encap-ip as des‐
tination ip.
Without --may-exist, attempting to create a chassis that exists
is an error. With --may-exist, this command does nothing if
chassis already exists as a real bridge.
[--if-exists] chassis-del chassis
Deletes chassis and its encaps and gateway_ports.
Without --if-exists, attempting to delete a chassis that does
not exist is an error. With --if-exists, attempting to delete a
chassis that does not exist has no effect.
Port binding Commands
These commands manipulate OVN_Southbound port bindings.
[--may-exist] lport-bind logical-port chassis
Binds the logical port named logical-port to chassis.
Without --may-exist, attempting to bind a logical port that has
already been bound is an error. With --may-exist, this command
does nothing if logical-port has already been bound to a chas‐
sis.
[--if-exists] lport-unbind logical-port
Resets the binding of logical-port to NULL.
Without --if-exists, attempting to unbind a logical port that is
not bound is an error. With --if-exists, attempting to unbind
logical port that is not bound has no effect.
Logical Flow Commands
lflow-list [logical-datapath]
List logical flows. If logical-datapath is specified, only list
flows for that logical datapath.
dump-flows [logical-datapath]
Alias for lflow-list.
Database Values
Each column in the database accepts a fixed type of data. The cur‐
rently defined basic types, and their representations, are:
integer
A decimal integer in the range -2**63 to 2**63-1, inclusive.
real A floating-point number.
Boolean
True or false, written true or false, respectively.
string An arbitrary Unicode string, except that null bytes are not
allowed. Quotes are optional for most strings that begin with
an English letter or underscore and consist only of letters,
underscores, hyphens, and periods. However, true and false and
strings that match the syntax of UUIDs (see below) must be
enclosed in double quotes to distinguish them from other basic
types. When double quotes are used, the syntax is that of
strings in JSON, e.g. backslashes may be used to escape special
characters. The empty string must be represented as a pair of
double quotes ("").
UUID Either a universally unique identifier in the style of RFC 4122,
e.g. f81d4fae-7dec-11d0-a765-00a0c91e6bf6, or an @name defined
by a get or create command within the same ovn-sbctl invocation.
Multiple values in a single column may be separated by spaces or a sin‐
gle comma. When multiple values are present, duplicates are not
allowed, and order is not important. Conversely, some database columns
can have an empty set of values, represented as [], and square brackets
may optionally enclose other non-empty sets or single values as well.
A few database columns are ``maps'' of key-value pairs, where the key
and the value are each some fixed database type. These are specified
in the form key=value, where key and value follow the syntax for the
column's key type and value type, respectively. When multiple pairs
are present (separated by spaces or a comma), duplicate keys are not
allowed, and again the order is not important. Duplicate values are
allowed. An empty map is represented as {}. Curly braces may option‐
ally enclose non-empty maps as well (but use quotes to prevent the
shell from expanding other-config={0=x,1=y} into other-config=0=x
other-config=1=y, which may not have the desired effect).
Database Command Syntax
[--if-exists] [--columns=column[,column]...] list table [record]...
Lists the data in each specified record. If no records are
specified, lists all the records in table.
If --columns is specified, only the requested columns are
listed, in the specified order. Otherwise, all columns are
listed, in alphabetical order by column name.
Without --if-exists, it is an error if any specified record does
not exist. With --if-exists, the command ignores any record
that does not exist, without producing any output.
[--columns=column[,column]...] find table [column[:key]=value]...
Lists the data in each record in table whose column equals value
or, if key is specified, whose column contains a key with the
specified value. The following operators may be used where = is
written in the syntax summary:
= != gt;>gt; = >gt;>gt;=
Selects records in which column[:key] equals, does not
equal, is less than, is greater than, is less than or
equal to, or is greater than or equal to value, respec‐
tively.
Consider column[:key] and value as sets of elements.
Identical sets are considered equal. Otherwise, if the
sets have different numbers of elements, then the set
with more elements is considered to be larger. Other‐
wise, consider a element from each set pairwise, in
increasing order within each set. The first pair that
differs determines the result. (For a column that con‐
tains key-value pairs, first all the keys are compared,
and values are considered only if the two sets contain
identical keys.)
{=} {!=}
Test for set equality or inequality, respectively.
{=} Selects records in which column[:key] is a subset of
value. For example, flood-vlans{=}1,2 selects records
in which the flood-vlans column is the empty set or con‐
tains 1 or 2 or both.
{} Selects records in which column[:key] is a proper subset
of value. For example, flood-vlans{}1,2 selects records
in which the flood-vlans column is the empty set or con‐
tains 1 or 2 but not both.
{>gt;>gt;=} {>gt;>gt;}
Same as {=} and {}, respectively, except that the rela‐
tionship is reversed. For example, flood-vlans{>gt;>gt;=}1,2
selects records in which the flood-vlans column contains
both 1 and 2.
For arithmetic operators (= != gt;>gt; = >gt;>gt;=), when key is specified
but a particular record's column does not contain key, the
record is always omitted from the results. Thus, the condition
other-config:mtu!=1500 matches records that have a mtu key whose
value is not 1500, but not those that lack an mtu key.
For the set operators, when key is specified but a particular
record's column does not contain key, the comparison is done
against an empty set. Thus, the condition other-con‐
fig:mtu{!=}1500 matches records that have a mtu key whose value
is not 1500 and those that lack an mtu key.
Don't forget to escape gt;>gt; from interpretation by the shell.
If --columns is specified, only the requested columns are
listed, in the specified order. Otherwise all columns are
listed, in alphabetical order by column name.
The UUIDs shown for rows created in the same ovn-sbctl invoca‐
tion will be wrong.
[--if-exists] [--id=@name] get table record [column[:key]]...
Prints the value of each specified column in the given record in
table. For map columns, a key may optionally be specified, in
which case the value associated with key in the column is
printed, instead of the entire map.
Without --if-exists, it is an error if record does not exist or
key is specified, if key does not exist in record. With
--if-exists, a missing record yields no output and a missing key
prints a blank line.
If @name is specified, then the UUID for record may be referred
to by that name later in the same ovn-sbctl invocation in con‐
texts where a UUID is expected.
Both --id and the column arguments are optional, but usually at
least one or the other should be specified. If both are omit‐
ted, then get has no effect except to verify that record exists
in table.
--id and --if-exists cannot be used together.
[--if-exists] set table record column[:key]=value...
Sets the value of each specified column in the given record in
table to value. For map columns, a key may optionally be speci‐
fied, in which case the value associated with key in that column
is changed (or added, if none exists), instead of the entire
map.
Without --if-exists, it is an error if record does not exist.
With --if-exists, this command does nothing if record does not
exist.
[--if-exists] add table record column [key=]value...
Adds the specified value or key-value pair to column in record
in table. If column is a map, then key is required, otherwise
it is prohibited. If key already exists in a map column, then
the current value is not replaced (use the set command to
replace an existing value).
Without --if-exists, it is an error if record does not exist.
With --if-exists, this command does nothing if record does not
exist.
[--if-exists] remove table record column value...
[--if-exists] remove table record column key...
[--if-exists] remove table record column key=value...
Removes the specified values or key-value pairs from column in
record in table. The first form applies to columns that are not
maps: each specified value is removed from the column. The sec‐
ond and third forms apply to map columns: if only a key is spec‐
ified, then any key-value pair with the given key is removed,
regardless of its value; if a value is given then a pair is
removed only if both key and value match.
It is not an error if the column does not contain the specified
key or value or pair.
Without --if-exists, it is an error if record does not exist.
With --if-exists, this command does nothing if record does not
exist.
[--if-exists] clear table record column...
Sets each column in record in table to the empty set or empty
map, as appropriate. This command applies only to columns that
are allowed to be empty.
Without --if-exists, it is an error if record does not exist.
With --if-exists, this command does nothing if record does not
exist.
[--id=@name] create table column[:key]=value...
Creates a new record in table and sets the initial values of
each column. Columns not explicitly set will receive their
default values. Outputs the UUID of the new row.
If @name is specified, then the UUID for the new row may be
referred to by that name elsewhere in the same ovn-sbctl invoca‐
tion in contexts where a UUID is expected. Such references may
precede or follow the create command.
Caution (ovs-vsctl as exmaple)
Records in the Open vSwitch database are significant only
when they can be reached directly or indirectly from the
Open_vSwitch table. Except for records in the QoS or
Queue tables, records that are not reachable from the
Open_vSwitch table are automatically deleted from the
database. This deletion happens immediately, without
waiting for additional ovs-vsctl commands or other data‐
base activity. Thus, a create command must generally be
accompanied by additional commands within the same
ovs-vsctl invocation to add a chain of references to the
newly created record from the top-level Open_vSwitch
record. The EXAMPLES section gives some examples that
show how to do this.
[--if-exists] destroy table record...
Deletes each specified record from table. Unless --if-exists is
specified, each records must exist.
--all destroy table
Deletes all records from the table.
Caution (ovs-vsctl as exmaple)
The destroy command is only useful for records in the QoS
or Queue tables. Records in other tables are automati‐
cally deleted from the database when they become unreach‐
able from the Open_vSwitch table. This means that delet‐
ing the last reference to a record is sufficient for
deleting the record itself. For records in these tables,
destroy is silently ignored. See the EXAMPLES section
below for more information.
wait-until table record [column[:key]=value]...
Waits until table contains a record named record whose column
equals value or, if key is specified, whose column contains a
key with the specified value. Any of the operators !=, gt;>gt;,
=, or >gt;>gt;= may be substituted for = to test for inequality, less
than, greater than, less than or equal to, or greater than or
equal to, respectively. (Don't forget to escape gt;>gt; from
interpretation by the shell.)
If no column[:key]=value arguments are given, this command waits
only until record exists. If more than one such argument is
given, the command waits until all of them are satisfied.
Caution (ovs-vsctl as exmaple)
Usually wait-until should be placed at the beginning of a
set of ovs-vsctl commands. For example, wait-until
bridge br0 -- get bridge br0 datapath_id waits until a
bridge named br0 is created, then prints its datapath_id
column, whereas get bridge br0 datapath_id -- wait-until
bridge br0 will abort if no bridge named br0 exists when
ovs-vsctl initially connects to the database.
Consider specifying --timeout=0 along with --wait-until, to pre‐
vent ovn-sbctl from terminating after waiting only at most 5
seconds.
comment [arg]...
This command has no effect on behavior, but any database log
record created by the command will include the command and its
arguments.
EXIT STATUS
0 Successful program execution.
1 Usage, syntax, or configuration file error.
2 The bridge argument to br-exists specified the name of a bridge
that does not exist.
SEE ALSO
ovn-sb(5).
Open vSwitch 2.4.90 ovn-sbctl(8)