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IETF RFC 7047
Last modified on Tuesday, December 17th, 2013
 Permanent link to RFC 7047
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Independent Submission B. Pfaff
Request for Comments: 7047 B. Davie, Ed.
Category: Informational VMware, Inc.
ISSN: 2070-1721 December 2013
The Open vSwitch Database Management Protocol
 Abstract
Open vSwitch is an open-source software switch designed to be used as
a vswitch (virtual switch) in virtualized server environments. A
vswitch forwards traffic between different virtual machines (VMs) on
the same physical host and also forwards traffic between VMs and the
physical network. Open vSwitch is open to programmatic extension and
control using OpenFlow and the OVSDB (Open vSwitch Database)
management protocol. This document defines the OVSDB management
protocol. The Open vSwitch project includes open-source OVSDB client
and server implementations.
Status of This Memo
This document is not an Internet Standards Track specification; it is
published for informational purposes.
This is a contribution to the RFC Series, independently of any other
RFC stream. The RFC Editor has chosen to publish this document at
its discretion and makes no statement about its value for
implementation or deployment. Documents approved for publication by
the RFC Editor are not a candidate for any level of Internet
Standard; see Section 2 of RFC 5741.
Information about the current status of this document, any errata,
and how to provide feedback on it may be obtained at
http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/RFC 7047.
Copyright Notice
Copyright (c) 2013 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
document authors. All rights reserved.
This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal
Provisions Relating to IETF Documents
(http://trustee.ietf.org/license-info) in effect on the date of
publication of this document. Please review these documents
carefully, as they describe your rights and restrictions with respect
to this document.
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RFC 7047 OVSDB Management Protocol December 2013
Table of Contents
1. Introduction ....................................................3
1.1. Requirements Language ......................................3
1.2. Terminology ................................................3
2. System Overview .................................................4
3. OVSDB Structure .................................................5
3.1. JSON Usage .................................................6
3.2. Schema Format ..............................................7
4. Wire Protocol ..................................................12
4.1. RPC Methods ...............................................12
4.1.1. List Databases .....................................12
4.1.2. Get Schema .........................................13
4.1.3. Transact ...........................................13
4.1.4. Cancel .............................................16
4.1.5. Monitor ............................................16
4.1.6. Update Notification ................................18
4.1.7. Monitor Cancellation ...............................19
4.1.8. Lock Operations ....................................19
4.1.9. Locked Notification ................................21
4.1.10. Stolen Notification ...............................21
4.1.11. Echo ..............................................22
5. Database Operations ............................................22
5.1. Notation ..................................................22
5.2. Operations ................................................27
5.2.1. Insert .............................................27
5.2.2. Select .............................................28
5.2.3. Update .............................................29
5.2.4. Mutate .............................................29
5.2.5. Delete .............................................30
5.2.6. Wait ...............................................31
5.2.7. Commit .............................................32
5.2.8. Abort ..............................................32
5.2.9. Comment ............................................32
5.2.10. Assert ............................................33
6. IANA Considerations ............................................33
7. Security Considerations ........................................33
8. Acknowledgements ...............................................34
9. References .....................................................34
9.1. Normative References ......................................34
9.2. Informative References ....................................34
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RFC 7047 OVSDB Management Protocol December 2013
1. Introduction
In virtualized server environments, it is typically required to use a
vswitch (virtual switch) to forward traffic between different virtual
machines (VMs) on the same physical host and between VMs and the
physical network. Open vSwitch [OVS] is an open-source software
switch designed to be used as a vswitch in such environments. Open
vSwitch (OVS) is open to programmatic extension and control using
OpenFlow [OF-SPEC] and the OVSDB (Open vSwitch Database) management
protocol. This document defines the OVSDB management protocol. The
Open vSwitch project includes open-source OVSDB client and server
implementations.
The OVSDB management protocol uses JSON [RFC 4627] for its wire format
and is based on JSON-RPC version 1.0 [JSON-RPC].
The schema of the Open vSwitch database is documented in [DB-SCHEMA].
This document specifies the protocol for interacting with that
database for the purposes of managing and configuring Open vSwitch
instances. The protocol specified in this document also provides
means for discovering the schema in use, as described in
Section 4.1.2.
The OVSDB management protocol is intended to allow programmatic
access to the Open vSwitch database as documented in [DB-SCHEMA].
This database holds the configuration for one Open vSwitch daemon.
As currently defined, this information describes the switching
behavior of a virtual switch and does not describe the behavior or
configuration of a routing system. In the event that the schema is
extended in a future release to cover elements of the routing system,
implementers and operators need to be aware of the work of the IETF's
I2RS working group that specifies protocols and data models for real-
time or event driven interaction with the routing system.
1.1. Requirements Language
The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT",
"SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this
document are to be interpreted as described in [RFC 2119].
1.2. Terminology
UUID: Universally Unique Identifier. A 128-bit identifier that
is unique in space and time [DCE].
OVS: Open vSwitch. An open-source virtual switch.
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OVSDB: The database that is used for the purpose of configuring
OVS instances.
JSON: Javascript Object Notation [RFC 4627].
JSON-RPC: JSON Remote Procedure Call [JSON-RPC].
Durable: Reliably written to non-volatile storage (e.g., disk).
OVSDB supports the option to specify whether or not
transactions are durable.
Note that the JSON specification [RFC 4627] provides precise
definitions of a number of important terms such as JSON values,
objects, arrays, numbers, and strings. In all cases, this document
uses the definitions from [RFC 4627].
2. System Overview
Figure 1 illustrates the main components of Open vSwitch and the
interfaces to a control and management cluster. An OVS instance
comprises a database server (ovsdb-server), a vswitch daemon
(ovs-vswitchd), and, optionally, a module that performs fast-path
forwarding. The "management and control cluster" consists of some
number of managers and controllers. Managers use the OVSDB
management protocol to manage OVS instances. An OVS instance is
managed by at least one manager. Controllers use OpenFlow to install
flow state in OpenFlow switches. An OVS instance can support
multiple logical datapaths, referred to as "bridges". There is at
least one controller for each OpenFlow bridge.
The OVSDB management interface is used to perform management and
configuration operations on the OVS instance. Compared to OpenFlow,
OVSDB management operations occur on a relatively long timescale.
Examples of operations that are supported by OVSDB include:
o Creation, modification, and deletion of OpenFlow datapaths
(bridges), of which there may be many in a single OVS instance;
o Configuration of the set of controllers to which an OpenFlow
datapath should connect;
o Configuration of the set of managers to which the OVSDB server
should connect;
o Creation, modification, and deletion of ports on OpenFlow
datapaths;
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o Creation, modification, and deletion of tunnel interfaces on
OpenFlow datapaths;
o Creation, modification, and deletion of queues;
o Configuration of QoS (quality of service) policies and attachment
of those policies to queues; and
o Collection of statistics.
OVSDB does not perform per-flow operations, leaving those instead to
OpenFlow.
+----------------------+
| Control & |
| Management |
| Cluster |
+----------------------+
| \
| OVSDB \ OpenFlow
| Mgmt \
| \
+============================================+
| +--------------+ +--------------+ |
| | | | | |
| | ovsdb-server |-------| ovs-vswitchd | |
| | | | | |
| +--------------+ +--------------+ |
| | |
| +----------------+ |
| | Forwarding Path| |
| +----------------+ |
+============================================+
Figure 1: Open vSwitch Interfaces
Further information about the usage of the OVSDB management protocol
is provided in [DB-SCHEMA].
3. OVSDB Structure
This section outlines the overall structure of databases in OVSDB.
As described here, the database is reasonably generic. For the
complete and current description of the database schema as used in
OVS, refer to [DB-SCHEMA]. See also Section 4.1.2 for information on
how the OVSDB management protocol may be used to discover the schema
currently in use.
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3.1. JSON Usage
OVSDB uses JSON [RFC 4627] for both its schema format and its wire
protocol format. The JSON implementation in Open vSwitch has the
following limitations:
o Null bytes (\u0000) SHOULD NOT be used in strings.
o Only UTF-8 encoding is supported.
The descriptions below use the following shorthand notations for JSON
values. Terminology follows [RFC 4627].
<string>
A JSON string. Any Unicode string is allowed. Implementations
SHOULD disallow null bytes.
<id>
A JSON string matching [a-zA-Z_][a-zA-Z0-9_]*. <id>s that begin
with _ are reserved to the implementation and MUST NOT be used by
the user.
<version>
A JSON string that contains a version number that matches [0-9]+
\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+
<boolean>
A JSON true or false value.
<number>
A JSON number.
<integer>
A JSON number with an integer value, within the range -(2**63)...+
(2**63)-1.
<json-value>
Any JSON value.
<nonnull-json-value>
Any JSON value except null.
<error>
A JSON object with the following members:
"error": <string> required
"details": <string> optional
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The value of the "error" member is a short string, specified in
this document, that broadly indicates the class of the error.
Most "error" strings are specific to contexts described elsewhere
in this document, but the following "error" strings may appear in
any context where an <error> is permitted:
"error": "resources exhausted"
The operation requires more resources (memory, disk, CPU, etc.)
than are currently available to the database server.
"error": "I/O error"
Problems accessing the disk, network, or other required
resources prevented the operation from completing.
Database implementations MAY use "error" strings not specified in
this document to indicate errors that do not fit into any of the
specified categories. Optionally, an <error> MAY include a
"details" member, whose value is a string that describes the error
in more detail for the benefit of a human user or administrator.
This document does not specify the format or content of the
"details" string. An <error> MAY also have other members that
describe the error in more detail. This document does not specify
the names or values of these members.
3.2. Schema Format
An Open vSwitch configuration database consists of a set of tables,
each of which has a number of columns and zero or more rows. A
schema for the database is represented by <database-schema>, as
described below.
<database-schema>
A JSON object with the following members:
"name": <id> required
"version": <version> required
"cksum": <string> optional
"tables": {<id>: <table-schema>, ...} required
The "name" identifies the database as a whole. It must be
provided to most JSON-RPC requests to identify the database being
operated on.
The "version" reports the version of the database schema. It is
REQUIRED to be present. Open vSwitch semantics for "version" are
described in [DB-SCHEMA]. Other schemas may use it differently.
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The "cksum" optionally reports an implementation-defined checksum
for the database schema. Its use is primarily as a tool for
schema developers, and clients SHOULD ignore it.
The value of "tables" is a JSON object whose names are table names
and whose values are <table-schema>s.
<table-schema>
A JSON object with the following members:
"columns": {<id>: <column-schema>, ...} required
"maxRows": <integer> optional
"isRoot": <boolean> optional
"indexes": [<column-set>*] optional
The value of "columns" is a JSON object whose names are column
names and whose values are <column-schema>s.
Every table has the following columns whose definitions are not
included in the schema:
"_uuid": This column, which contains exactly one UUID value, is
initialized to a random value by the database engine when it
creates a row. It is read-only, and its value never changes
during the lifetime of a row.
"_version": Like "_uuid", this column contains exactly one UUID
value, initialized to a random value by the database engine
when it creates a row, and it is read-only. However, its value
changes to a new random value whenever any other field in the
row changes. Furthermore, its value is ephemeral: when the
database is closed and reopened, or when the database process
is stopped and then started again, each "_version" also changes
to a new random value.
If "maxRows" is specified, as a positive integer, it limits the
maximum number of rows that may be present in the table. This is
a "deferred" constraint, enforced only at transaction commit time
(see the "transact" request in Section 4.1.3). If "maxRows" is
not specified, the size of the table is limited only by the
resources available to the database server. "maxRows" constraints
are enforced after unreferenced rows are deleted from tables with
a false "isRoot".
The "isRoot" boolean is used to determine whether rows in the
table require strong references from other rows to avoid garbage
collection. (See the discussion of "strong" and "weak" references
below in the description of <base-type>.) If "isRoot" is
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specified as true, then rows in the table exist independent of any
references (they can be thought of as part of the "root set" in a
garbage collector). If "isRoot" is omitted or specified as false,
then any given row in the table may exist only when there is at
least one reference to it, with refType "strong", from a different
row (in the same table or a different table). This is a
"deferred" action: unreferenced rows in the table are deleted just
before transaction commit.
For compatibility with schemas created before "isRoot" was
introduced, if "isRoot" is omitted or false in every
<table-schema> in a given <database-schema>, then every table is
part of the root set.
If "indexes" is specified, it must be an array of zero or more
<column-set>s. A <column-set> is an array of one or more strings,
each of which names a column. Each <column-set> is a set of
columns whose values, taken together within any given row, must be
unique within the table. This is a "deferred" constraint,
enforced only at transaction commit time, after unreferenced rows
are deleted and dangling weak references are removed. Ephemeral
columns may not be part of indexes.
<column-schema>
A JSON object with the following members:
"type": <type> required
"ephemeral": <boolean> optional
"mutable": <boolean> optional
The "type" specifies the type of data stored in this column.
If "ephemeral" is specified as true, then this column's values are
not guaranteed to be durable; they may be lost when the database
restarts. A column whose type (either key or value) is a strong
reference to a table that is not part of the root set is always
durable, regardless of this value. (Otherwise, restarting the
database could lose entire rows.)
If "mutable" is specified as false, then this column's values may
not be modified after they are initially set with the "insert"
operation.
<type>
The type of a database column. Either an <atomic-type> or a JSON
object that describes the type of a database column, with the
following members:
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"key": <base-type> required
"value": <base-type> optional
"min": <integer> optional
"max": <integer> or "unlimited" optional
If "min" or "max" is not specified, each defaults to 1. If "max"
is specified as "unlimited", then there is no specified maximum
number of elements, although the implementation will enforce some
limit. After considering defaults, "min" must be exactly 0 or
exactly 1, "max" must be at least 1, and "max" must be greater
than or equal to "min".
If "min" and "max" are both 1 and "value" is not specified, the
type is the scalar type specified by "key".
If "min" is not 1 or "max" is not 1, or both, and "value" is not
specified, the type is a set of scalar type "key".
If "value" is specified, the type is a map from type "key" to type
"value".
<base-type>
The type of a key or value in a database column. Either an
<atomic-type> or a JSON object with the following members:
"type": <atomic-type> required
"enum": <value> optional
"minInteger": <integer> optional, integers only
"maxInteger": <integer> optional, integers only
"minReal": <real> optional, reals only
"maxReal": <real> optional, reals only
"minLength": <integer> optional, strings only
"maxLength": <integer> optional, strings only
"refTable": <id> optional, UUIDs only
"refType": "strong" or "weak" optional, only with "refTable"
An <atomic-type> by itself is equivalent to a JSON object with a
single member "type" whose value is the <atomic-type>.
"enum" may be specified as a <value> whose type is a set of one or
more values specified for the member "type". If "enum" is
specified, then the valid values of the <base-type> are limited to
those in the <value>.
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"enum" is mutually exclusive with the following constraints:
If "type" is "integer", then "minInteger" or "maxInteger" or
both may also be specified, restricting the valid integer
range. If both are specified, then "maxInteger" must be
greater than or equal to "minInteger".
If "type" is "real", then "minReal" or "maxReal" or both may
also be specified, restricting the valid real range. If both
are specified, then "maxReal" must be greater than or equal to
"minReal".
If "type" is "string", then "minLength" and "maxLength" or both
may be specified, restricting the valid length of value
strings. If both are specified, then "maxLength" must be
greater than or equal to "minLength". String length is
measured in characters.
If "type" is "uuid", then "refTable", if present, must be the
name of a table within this database. If "refTable" is
specified, then "refType" may also be specified. If "refTable"
is set, the effect depends on "refType":
+ If "refType" is "strong" or if "refType" is omitted, the
allowed UUIDs are limited to UUIDs for rows in the named
table.
+ If "refType" is "weak", then any UUIDs are allowed, but
UUIDs that do not correspond to rows in the named table will
be automatically deleted. When this situation arises in a
map, both the key and the value will be deleted from the
map.
"refTable" constraints are "deferred" constraints: they are
enforced only at transaction commit time (see the "transact"
request in Section 4.1.3). The other constraints on <base-type>
are "immediate", enforced immediately by each operation.
<atomic-type>
One of the strings "integer", "real", "boolean", "string", or
"uuid", representing the specified scalar type.
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4. Wire Protocol
The database wire protocol is implemented in JSON-RPC 1.0 [JSON-RPC].
While the JSON-RPC specification allows a range of transports,
implementations of this specification SHOULD operate directly over
TCP. See Section 6 for discussion of the TCP port.
4.1. RPC Methods
The following subsections describe the RPC methods that are
supported. As described in the JSON-RPC 1.0 specification, each
request comprises a string containing the name of the method, a
(possibly null) array of parameters to pass to the method, and a
request ID, which can be used to match the response to the request.
Each response comprises a result object (non-null in the event of a
successful invocation), an error object (non-null in the event of an
error), and the ID of the matching request. More details on each
method, its parameters, and its results are described below.
An OVSDB server MUST implement all of the following methods. An
OVSDB client MUST implement the "Echo" method and is otherwise free
to implement whichever methods suit the implementation's needs.
The operations that may be performed on the OVS database using these
methods (e.g., the "transact" method) are described in Section 5.
4.1.1. List Databases
This operation retrieves an array whose elements are the names of the
databases that can be accessed over this management protocol
connection.
The request object contains the following members:
o "method": "list_dbs"
o "params": []
o "id": <nonnull-json-value>
The response object contains the following members:
o "result": [<db-name>,...]
o "error": null
o "id": same "id" as request
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4.1.2. Get Schema
This operation retrieves a <database-schema> that describes hosted
database <db-name>.
The request object contains the following members:
o "method": "get_schema"
o "params": [<db-name>]
o "id": <nonnull-json-value>
The response object contains the following members:
o "result": <database-schema>
o "error": null
o "id": same "id" as request
In the event that the database named in the request does not exist,
the server sends a JSON-RPC error response of the following form:
o "result": null
o "error": "unknown database"
o "id": same "id" as request
4.1.3. Transact
This RPC method causes the database server to execute a series of
operations in the specified order on a given database.
The request object contains the following members:
o "method": "transact"
o "params": [<db-name>, <operation>*]
o "id": <nonnull-json-value>
The value of "id" MUST be unique among all in-flight transactions
within the current JSON-RPC session. Otherwise, the server may
return a JSON-RPC error.
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The "params" array for this method consists of a <db-name> that
identifies the database to which the transaction applies, followed by
zero or more JSON objects, each of which represents a single database
operation. Section 5 describes the valid operations. The database
server executes each of the specified operations in the specified
order, except if an operation fails, then the remaining operations
are not executed. The set of operations is executed as a single
atomic, consistent, isolated transaction. The transaction is
committed if and only if every operation succeeds. Durability of the
commit is not guaranteed unless the "commit" operation, with
"durable" set to true, is included in the operation set. See
Section 5 for more discussion of the database operations.
The response object contains the following members:
o "result": [<object>*]
o "error": null
o "id": same "id" as request
Regardless of whether errors occur in the database operations, the
response is always a JSON-RPC response with null "error" and a
"result" member that is an array with the same number of elements as
"params". Each element of the "result" array corresponds to the same
element of the "params" array. The "result" array elements may be
interpreted as follows:
o A JSON object that does not contain an "error" member indicates
that the operation completed successfully. The specific members
of the object are specified below in the descriptions of
individual operations. Some operations do not produce any
results, in which case the object will have no members.
o An <error> indicates that the matching operation completed with an
error.
o A JSON null value indicates that the operation was not attempted
because a prior operation failed.
In general, "result" contains some number of successful results,
possibly followed by an error, in turn followed by enough JSON null
values to match the number of elements in "params". There is one
exception: if all of the operations succeed, but the results cannot
be committed, then "result" will have one more element than "params",
with the additional element being an <error>. In this case, the
possible "error" strings include the following:
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"error": "referential integrity violation"
When the commit was attempted, a column's value referenced the
UUID for a row that did not exist in the table named by the
column's <base-type> key or value "refTable" that has a "refType"
of "strong". (This can be caused by inserting a row that
references a nonexistent row, by deleting a row that is still
referenced by another row, by specifying the UUID for a row in the
wrong table, and other ways.)
"error": "constraint violation"
A number of situations can arise in which the attempted commit
would lead to a constraint on the database being violated. (See
Section 3.2 for more discussion of constraints.) These situations
include:
* The number of rows in a table exceeds the maximum number
permitted by the table's "maxRows" value.
* Two or more rows in a table had the same values in the columns
that comprise an index.
* A column with a <base-type> key or value "refTable" whose
"refType" is "weak" became empty due to deletion(s), and this
column is not allowed to be empty because its <type> has a
"min" of 1. Such deletions may be the result of rows that it
referenced being deleted (or never having existed, if the
column's row was inserted within the transaction).
"error": "resources exhausted"
The operation requires more resources (memory, disk, CPU, etc.)
than are currently available to the database server.
"error": "I/O error"
Problems accessing the disk, network, or other required resources
prevented the operation from completing.
If "params" contains one or more "wait" operations, then the
transaction may take an arbitrary amount of time to complete. The
database implementation MUST be capable of accepting, executing, and
replying to other transactions and other JSON-RPC requests while a
transaction or transactions containing "wait" operations are
outstanding on the same or different JSON-RPC sessions.
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4.1.4. Cancel
The "cancel" method is a JSON-RPC notification, i.e., no matching
response is provided. It instructs the database server to
immediately complete or cancel the "transact" request whose "id" is
the same as the notification's "params" value. The notification
object has the following members:
o "method": "cancel"
o "params": [the "id" for an outstanding request]
o "id": null
If the "transact" request can be completed immediately, then the
server sends a response in the form described for "transact"
(Section 4.1.3). Otherwise, the server sends a JSON-RPC error
response of the following form:
o "result": null
o "error": "canceled"
o "id": the "id" member of the canceled request.
The "cancel" notification itself has no reply.
4.1.5. Monitor
The "monitor" request enables a client to replicate tables or subsets
of tables within an OVSDB database by requesting notifications of
changes to those tables and by receiving the complete initial state
of a table or a subset of a table. The request object has the
following members:
o "method": "monitor"
o "params": [<db-name>, <json-value>, <monitor-requests>]
o "id": <nonnull-json-value>
The <json-value> parameter is used to match subsequent update
notifications (see below) to this request. The <monitor-requests>
object maps the name of the table to be monitored to an array of
<monitor-request> objects.
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Each <monitor-request> is an object with the following members:
"columns": [<column>*] optional
"select": <monitor-select> optional
The columns, if present, define the columns within the table to be
monitored. <monitor-select> is an object with the following members:
"initial": <boolean> optional
"insert": <boolean> optional
"delete": <boolean> optional
"modify": <boolean> optional
The contents of this object specify how the columns or table are to
be monitored, as explained in more detail below.
The response object has the following members:
o "result": <table-updates>
o "error": null
o "id": same "id" as request
The <table-updates> object is described in detail in Section 4.1.6.
It contains the contents of the tables for which "initial" rows are
selected. If no tables' initial contents are requested, then
"result" is an empty object.
Subsequently, when changes to the specified tables are committed, the
changes are automatically sent to the client using the "update"
monitor notification (see Section 4.1.6). This monitoring persists
until the JSON-RPC session terminates or until the client sends a
"monitor_cancel" JSON-RPC request.
Each <monitor-request> specifies one or more columns and the manner
in which the columns (or the entire table) are to be monitored. The
"columns" member specifies the columns whose values are monitored.
It MUST NOT contain duplicates. If "columns" is omitted, all columns
in the table, except for "_uuid", are monitored. The circumstances
in which an "update" notification is sent for a row within the table
are determined by <monitor-select>:
o If "initial" is omitted or true, every row in the table is sent as
part of the response to the "monitor" request.
o If "insert" is omitted or true, "update" notifications are sent
for rows newly inserted into the table.
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o If "delete" is omitted or true, "update" notifications are sent
for rows deleted from the table.
o If "modify" is omitted or true, "update" notifications are sent
whenever a row in the table is modified.
If there is more than one <monitor-request> in an array, then each
<monitor-request> in the array should specify both "columns" and
"select", and the "columns" MUST be non-overlapping sets.
4.1.6. Update Notification
The "update" notification is sent by the server to the client to
report changes in tables that are being monitored following a
"monitor" request as described above. The notification has the
following members:
o "method": "update"
o "params": [<json-value>, <table-updates>]
o "id": null
The <json-value> in "params" is the same as the value passed as the
<json-value> in "params" for the corresponding "monitor" request.
<table-updates> is an object that maps from a table name to a
<table-update>. A <table-update> is an object that maps from the
row's UUID to a <row-update> object. A <row-update> is an object
with the following members:
"old": <row> present for "delete" and "modify" updates
"new": <row> present for "initial", "insert", and "modify" updates
The format of <row> is described in Section 5.1.
Each table in which one or more rows has changed (or whose initial
view is being presented) is represented in <table-updates>. Each row
that has changed (or whose initial view is being presented) is
represented in its <table-update> as a member with its name taken
from the row's "_uuid" member. The corresponding value is a
<row-update>:
o The "old" member is present for "delete" and "modify" updates.
For "delete" updates, each monitored column is included. For
"modify" updates, the prior value of each monitored column whose
value has changed is included (monitored columns that have not
changed are represented in "new").
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o The "new" member is present for "initial", "insert", and "modify"
updates. For "initial" and "insert" updates, each monitored
column is included. For "modify" updates, the new value of each
monitored column is included.
Note that initial views of rows are not presented in update
notifications, but in the response object to the monitor request.
The formatting of the <table-updates> object, however, is the same in
either case.
4.1.7. Monitor Cancellation
The "monitor_cancel" request cancels a previously issued monitor
request. The request object members are:
o "method": "monitor_cancel"
o "params": [<json-value>]
o "id": <nonnull-json-value>
The <json-value> in "params" matches the <json-value> in "params" for
the ongoing "monitor" request that is to be canceled. No more
"update" messages will be sent for this table monitor. The response
to this request has the following members:
o "result": {}
o "error": null
o "id": the request "id" member
In the event that a monitor cancellation request refers to an unknown
monitor request, an error response with the following members is
returned:
o "result": null
o "error": "unknown monitor"
o "id": the request "id" member
4.1.8. Lock Operations
Three RPC methods, "lock", "steal", and "unlock", provide support to
clients to perform locking operations on the database. The database
server supports an arbitrary number of locks, each of which is
identified by a client-defined ID. At any given time, each lock may
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have at most one owner. The precise usage of a lock is determined by
the client. For example, a set of clients may agree that a certain
table can only be written by the owner of a certain lock. OVSDB
itself does not enforce any restrictions on how locks are used -- it
simply ensures that a lock has at most one owner.
The RPC request objects have the following members:
o "method": "lock", "steal", or "unlock"
o "params": [<id>]
o "id": <nonnull-json-value>
The response depends on the request and has the following members:
o "result": {"locked": boolean} for "lock"
o "result": {"locked": true} for "steal"
o "result": {} for "unlock"
o "error": null
o "id": same "id" as request
The three methods operate as follows:
o "lock": The database will assign this client ownership of the lock
as soon as it becomes available. When multiple clients request
the same lock, they will receive it in first-come, first-served
order.
o "steal": The database immediately assigns this client ownership of
the lock. If there is an existing owner, it loses ownership.
o "unlock": If the client owns the lock, this operation releases it.
If the client has requested ownership of the lock, this cancels
the request.
(Closing or otherwise disconnecting a database client connection
unlocks all of its locks.)
For any given lock, the client MUST alternate "lock" or "steal"
operations with "unlock" operations. That is, if the previous
operation on a lock was "lock" or "steal", it MUST be followed by an
"unlock" operation, and vice versa.
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For a "lock" operation, the "locked" member in the response object is
true if the lock has already been acquired and false if another
client holds the lock and the client's request for it was queued. In
the latter case, the client will be notified later with a "locked"
message (Section 4.1.9) when acquisition succeeds.
These requests complete and send a response quickly, without waiting.
The "locked" and "stolen" notifications (see below) report
asynchronous changes to ownership.
Note that the scope of a lock is a database server, not a database
hosted by that server. A client may choose to implement a naming
convention, such as "<db-name>__<lock-name>", which can effectively
limit the scope of a lock to a particular database.
4.1.9. Locked Notification
The "locked" notification is provided to notify a client that it has
been granted a lock that it had previously requested with the "lock"
method described above. The notification has the following members:
o "method": "locked"
o "params": [<id>]
o "id": null
"Params" contains the name of the lock that was given in the "lock"
request. The notified client now owns the lock named in "params".
The database server sends this notification after the reply to the
corresponding "lock" request (but only if the "locked" member of the
response was false) and before the reply to the client's subsequent
"unlock" request.
4.1.10. Stolen Notification
The "stolen" notification is provided to notify a client, which had
previously obtained a lock, that another client has stolen ownership
of that lock. The notification has the following members:
o "method": "stolen"
o "params": [<id>]
o "id": null
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The notified client no longer owns the lock named in "params". The
client MUST still issue an "unlock" request before performing any
subsequent "lock" or "steal" operation on the lock.
If the client originally obtained the lock through a "lock" request,
then it will automatically regain the lock later after the client
that stole it releases it. (The database server will send the client
a "locked" notification at that point to let it know.)
If the client originally obtained the lock through a "steal" request,
the database server won't automatically reassign it ownership of the
lock when it later becomes available. To regain ownership, the
client must "unlock" and then "lock" or "steal" the lock again.
4.1.11. Echo
The "echo" method can be used by both clients and servers to verify
the liveness of a database connection. It MUST be implemented by
both clients and servers. The members of the request are:
o "method": "echo"
o "params": JSON array with any contents
o "id": <json-value>
The response object has the following members:
o "result": same as "params"
o "error": null
o "id": the request "id" member
5. Database Operations
This section describes the operations that may be specified in the
"transact" method described in Section 4.1.3.
5.1. Notation
We introduce the following notation for the discussion of operations.
<db-name>
An <id> that names a database. The valid <db-name>s can be
obtained using a "list_dbs" request. The <db-name> is taken from
the "name" member of <database-schema>.
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<table>
An <id> that names a table.
<column>
An <id> that names a table column.
<row>
A JSON object that describes a table row or a subset of a table
row. Each member is the name of a table column paired with the
<value> of that column.
<value>
A JSON value that represents the value of a column in a table row,
one of <atom>, <set>, or <map>.
<atom>
A JSON value that represents a scalar value for a column, one of
<string>, <number>, <boolean>, <uuid>, or <named-uuid>.
<set>
Either an <atom>, representing a set with exactly one element, or
a 2-element JSON array that represents a database set value. The
first element of the array must be the string "set", and the
second element must be an array of zero or more <atom>s giving the
values in the set. All of the <atom>s must have the same type.
<map>
A 2-element JSON array that represents a database map value. The
first element of the array must be the string "map", and the
second element must be an array of zero or more <pair>s giving the
values in the map. All of the <pair>s must have the same key and
value types.
(JSON objects are not used to represent <map> because JSON only
allows string names in an object.)
<pair>
A 2-element JSON array that represents a pair within a database
map. The first element is an <atom> that represents the key, and
the second element is an <atom> that represents the value.
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<uuid>
A 2-element JSON array that represents a UUID. The first element
of the array must be the string "uuid", and the second element
must be a 36-character string giving the UUID in the format
described by RFC 4122 [RFC 4122]. For example, the following
<uuid> represents the UUID 550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000:
["uuid", "550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000"]
<named-uuid>
A 2-element JSON array that represents the UUID of a row inserted
in an "insert" operation within the same transaction. The first
element of the array must be the string "named-uuid", and the
second element should be the <id> specified as the "uuid-name" for
an "insert" operation within the same transaction. For example,
if an "insert" operation within this transaction specifies a
"uuid-name" of "myrow", the following <named-uuid> represents the
UUID created by that operation:
["named-uuid", "myrow"]
A <named-uuid> may be used anywhere a <uuid> is valid. This
enables a single transaction to both insert a new row and then
refer to that row using the "uuid-name" that was associated with
that row when it was inserted. Note that the "uuid-name" is only
meaningful within the scope of a single transaction.
<condition>
A 3-element JSON array of the form [<column>, <function>, <value>]
that represents a test on a column value. Except as otherwise
specified below, <value> MUST have the same type as <column>. The
meaning depends on the type of <column>:
integer or real
<function> must be "<", "<=", "==", "!=", ">=", ">",
"includes", or "excludes".
The test is true if the column's value satisfies the relation
<function> <value>, e.g., if the column has value 1 and <value>
is 2, the test is true if <function> is "<", "<=", or "!=", but
not otherwise.
"includes" is equivalent to "=="; "excludes" is equivalent to
"!=".
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boolean or string or uuid
<function> must be "!=", "==", "includes", or "excludes".
If <function> is "==" or "includes", the test is true if the
column's value equals <value>. If <function> is "!=" or
"excludes", the test is inverted.
set or map
<function> must be "!=", "==", "includes", or "excludes".
If <function> is "==", the test is true if the column's value
contains exactly the same values (for sets) or pairs (for
maps). If <function> is "!=", the test is inverted.
If <function> is "includes", the test is true if the column's
value contains all of the values (for sets) or pairs (for maps)
in <value>. The column's value may also contain other values
or pairs.
If <function> is "excludes", the test is true if the column's
value does not contain any of the values (for sets) or pairs
(for maps) in <value>. The column's value may contain other
values or pairs not in <value>.
If <function> is "includes" or "excludes", then the required
type of <value> is slightly relaxed, in that it may have fewer
than the minimum number of elements specified by the column's
type. If <function> is "excludes", then the required type is
additionally relaxed in that <value> may have more than the
maximum number of elements specified by the column's type.
<function>
One of "<", "<=", "==", "!=", ">=", ">", "includes", or
"excludes".
<mutation>
A 3-element JSON array of the form [<column>, <mutator>, <value>]
that represents a change to a column value. Except as otherwise
specified below, <value> must have the same type as <column>. The
meaning depends on the type of <column>:
integer or real
<mutator> must be "+=", "-=", "*=", "/=", or (integer only)
"%=". The value of <column> is changed to the sum, difference,
product, quotient, or remainder, respectively, of <column> and
<value>.
Constraints on <column> are ignored when parsing <value>.
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boolean, string, or uuid
No valid <mutator>s are currently defined for these types.
set
Any <mutator> valid for the set's element type may be applied
to the set, in which case the mutation is applied to each
member of the set individually. <value> must be a scalar value
of the same type as the set's element type, except that
constraints are ignored when parsing <value>.
If <mutator> is "insert", then each of the values in the set in
<value> is added to <column> if it is not already present. The
required type of <value> is slightly relaxed, in that it may
have fewer than the minimum number of elements specified by the
column's type.
If <mutator> is "delete", then each of the values in the set in
<value> is removed from <column> if it is present there. The
required type is slightly relaxed in that <value> may have more
or less than the maximum number of elements specified by the
column's type.
map
<mutator> must be "insert" or "delete".
If <mutator> is "insert", then each of the key-value pairs in
the map in <value> is added to <column> only if its key is not
already present. The required type of <value> is slightly
relaxed, in that it may have fewer than the minimum number of
elements specified by the column's type.
If <mutator> is "delete", then <value> may have the same type
as <column> (a map type), or it may be a set whose element type
is the same as <column>'s key type:
+ If <value> is a map, the mutation deletes each key-value
pair in <column> whose key and value equal one of the key-
value pairs in <value>.
+ If <value> is a set, the mutation deletes each key-value
pair in <column> whose key equals one of the values in
<value>.
For "delete", <value> may have any number of elements,
regardless of restrictions on the number of elements in
<column>.
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<mutator>
One of "+=", "-=", "*=", "/=", "%=", "insert", or "delete".
5.2. Operations
The operations that may be performed as part of a "transact" RPC
request (see Section 4.1.3) are described in the following
subsections. Each of these operations is a JSON object that may be
included as one of the elements of the "params" array that is one of
the elements of the "transact" request. The details of each object,
its semantics, results, and possible errors are described below.
5.2.1. Insert
The "insert" object contains the following members:
"op": "insert" required
"table": <table> required
"row": <row> required
"uuid-name": <id> optional
The corresponding result object contains the following member:
"uuid": <uuid>
The operation inserts "row" into "table". If "row" does not specify
values for all the columns in "table", those columns receive default
values. The default value for a column depends on its type. The
default for a column whose <type> specifies a "min" of 0 is an empty
set or empty map. Otherwise, the default is a single value or a
single key-value pair, whose value(s) depend on its <atomic-type>:
o "integer" or "real": 0
o "boolean": false
o "string": "" (the empty string)
o "uuid": 00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000
The new row receives a new, randomly generated UUID. If "uuid-name"
is supplied, then it is an error if <id> is not unique among the
"uuid-name"s supplied on all the "insert" operations within this
transaction. The UUID for the new row is returned as the "uuid"
member of the result.
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The errors that may be returned are as follows:
"error": "duplicate uuid-name"
The same "uuid-name" appears on another "insert" operation within
this transaction.
"error": "constraint violation"
One of the values in "row" does not satisfy the immediate
constraints for its column's <base-type>. This error will occur
for columns that are not explicitly set by "row" if the default
value does not satisfy the column's constraints.
5.2.2. Select
The "select" object contains the following members:
"op": "select" required
"table": <table> required
"where": [<condition>*] required
"columns": [<column>*] optional
The corresponding result object contains the following member:
"rows": [<row>*]
The operation searches "table" for rows that match all the conditions
specified in "where". If "where" is an empty array, every row in
"table" is selected.
The "rows" member of the result is an array of objects. Each object
corresponds to a matching row, with each column specified in
"columns" as a member, the column's name as the member name, and its
value as the member value. If "columns" is not specified, all the
table's columns are included (including the internally generated
"_uuid" and "_version" columns). If two rows of the result have the
same values for all included columns, only one copy of that row is
included in "rows". Specifying "_uuid" within "columns" will avoid
dropping duplicates, since every row has a unique UUID.
The ordering of rows within "rows" is unspecified.
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5.2.3. Update
The "update" object contains the following members:
"op": "update" required
"table": <table> required
"where": [<condition>*] required
"row": <row> required
The corresponding result object contains the following member:
"count": <integer>
The operation updates rows in a table. It searches "table" for rows
that match all the conditions specified in "where". For each
matching row, it changes the value of each column specified in "row"
to the value for that column specified in "row". The "_uuid" and
"_version" columns of a table may not be directly updated with this
operation. Columns designated read-only in the schema also may not
be updated.
The "count" member of the result specifies the number of rows that
matched.
The error that may be returned is:
"error": "constraint violation"
One of the values in "row" does not satisfy the immediate
constraints for its column's <base-type>.
5.2.4. Mutate
The "mutate" object contains the following members:
"op": "mutate" required
"table": <table> required
"where": [<condition>*] required
"mutations": [<mutation>*] required
The corresponding result object contains the following member:
"count": <integer>
The operation mutates rows in a table. It searches "table" for rows
that match all the conditions specified in "where". For each
matching row, it mutates its columns as specified by each <mutation>
in "mutations", in the order specified.
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The "_uuid" and "_version" columns of a table may not be directly
modified with this operation. Columns designated read-only in the
schema also may not be updated.
The "count" member of the result specifies the number of rows that
matched.
The errors that may be returned are:
"error": "domain error"
The result of the mutation is not mathematically defined, e.g.,
division by zero.
"error": "range error"
The result of the mutation is not representable within the
database's format, e.g., an integer result outside the range
INT64_MIN...INT64_MAX or a real result outside the range
-DBL_MAX...DBL_MAX.
"error": "constraint violation"
The mutation caused the column's value to violate a constraint,
e.g., it caused a column to have more or fewer values than are
allowed, an arithmetic operation caused a set or map to have
duplicate elements, or it violated a constraint specified by a
column's <base-type>.
5.2.5. Delete
The "delete" object contains the following members:
"op": "delete" required
"table": <table> required
"where": [<condition>*] required
The corresponding result object contains the following member:
"count": <integer>
The operation deletes all the rows from "table" that match all the
conditions specified in "where". The "count" member of the result
specifies the number of deleted rows.
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5.2.6. Wait
The "wait" object contains the following members:
"op": "wait" required
"timeout": <integer> optional
"table": <table> required
"where": [<condition>*] required
"columns": [<column>*] required
"until": "==" or "!=" required
"rows": [<row>*] required
There is no corresponding result object.
The operation waits until a condition becomes true.
If "until" is "==", it checks whether the query on "table" specified
by "where" and "columns", which is evaluated in the same way as
specified for "select", returns the result set specified by "rows".
If it does, then the operation completes successfully. Otherwise,
the entire transaction rolls back. It is automatically restarted
later, after a change in the database makes it possible for the
operation to succeed. The client will not receive a response until
the operation permanently succeeds or fails.
If "until" is "!=", the sense of the test is negated. That is, as
long as the query on "table" specified by "where" and "columns"
returns "rows", the transaction will be rolled back and restarted
later.
If "timeout" is specified, then the transaction aborts after the
specified number of milliseconds. The transaction is guaranteed to
be attempted at least once before it aborts. A "timeout" of 0 will
abort the transaction on the first mismatch.
The error that may be returned is:
"error": "timed out"
The "timeout" was reached before the transaction was able to
complete.
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5.2.7. Commit
The "commit" object contains the following members:
"op": "commit" required
"durable": <boolean> required
There is no corresponding result object.
If "durable" is specified as true, then the transaction, if it
commits, will be stored durably (to disk) before the reply is sent to
the client. This operation with "durable" set to false is
effectively a no-op.
The error that may be returned is:
"error": "not supported"
When "durable" is true, this database implementation does not
support durable commits.
5.2.8. Abort
The "abort" object contains the following member:
"op": "abort" required
There is no corresponding result object (the operation never
succeeds).
The operation aborts the entire transaction with an error. This may
be useful for testing.
The error that will be returned is:
"error": "aborted"
This operation always fails with this error.
5.2.9. Comment
The "comment" object contains the following members:
"op": "comment" required
"comment": <string> required
There is no corresponding result object.
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The operation provides information to a database administrator on the
purpose of a transaction. The ovsdb-server implementation, for
example, adds comments in transactions that modify the database to
the database journal. This can be helpful in debugging, e.g., when
there are multiple clients writing to a database. An example of this
can be seen in the ovs-vsctl tool, a command line tool that interacts
with ovsdb-server. When performing operations on the database, it
includes the command that was invoked (e.g., "ovs-vsctl add-br br0")
as a comment in the transaction, which can then be seen in the
journal alongside the changes that were made to the tables in the
database.
5.2.10. Assert
The assert object contains the following members:
"op": "assert" required
"lock": <id> required
Result object has no members.
The assert operation causes the transaction to be aborted if the
client does not own the lock named <id>.
The error that may be returned is:
"error": "not owner"
The client does not own the named lock.
6. IANA Considerations
IANA has assigned TCP port 6640 for this protocol. Earlier
implementations of OVSDB used another port number, but compliant
implementations should use the IANA-assigned number.
IANA has updated the reference for port 6640 to point to this
document.
7. Security Considerations
The main security issue that needs to be addressed for the OVSDB
protocol is the authentication, integrity, and privacy of
communications between a client and server implementing this
protocol. To provide such protection, an OVSDB connection SHOULD be
secured using Transport Layer Security (TLS) [RFC 5246]. The precise
details of how clients and servers authenticate each other is highly
dependent on the operating environment. It is often the case that
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OVSDB clients and servers operate in a tightly controlled
environment, e.g., on machines in a single data center where they
communicate on an isolated management network.
8. Acknowledgements
Thanks to Jeremy Stribling and Justin Pettit for their helpful input
to this document.
9. References
9.1. Normative References
[DCE] "DCE: Remote Procedure Call", Open Group CAE
Specification C309, ISBN 1-85912-041-5, August 1994.
[JSON-RPC] "JSON-RPC Specification, Version 1.0",
<http://json-rpc.org/wiki/specification>.
[RFC 2119] Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate
Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119, March 1997.
[RFC 4122] Leach, P., Mealling, M., and R. Salz, "A Universally
Unique IDentifier (UUID) URN Namespace", RFC 4122,
July 2005.
[RFC 4627] Crockford, D., "The application/json Media Type for
JavaScript Object Notation (JSON)", RFC 4627, July 2006.
[RFC 5246] Dierks, T. and E. Rescorla, "The Transport Layer
Security (TLS) Protocol Version 1.2", RFC 5246,
August 2008.
9.2. Informative References
[DB-SCHEMA] "Open vSwitch Database Schema",
<http://openvswitch.org/ovs-vswitchd.conf.db.5.pdf>.
[OF-SPEC] Open Networking Foundation, "OpenFlow Switch
Specification, version 1.3.3", October 2013,
<https://www.opennetworking.org>.
[OVS] "Open vSwitch", <http://openvswitch.org/>.
Pfaff & Davie Informational PAGE 34
RFC 7047 OVSDB Management Protocol December 2013
Authors' Addresses
Ben Pfaff
VMware, Inc.
3401 Hillview Ave.
Palo Alto, CA 94304
USA
EMail: blp@nicira.com
Bruce Davie (editor)
VMware, Inc.
3401 Hillview Ave.
Palo Alto, CA 94304
USA
EMail: bsd@nicira.com
Pfaff & Davie Informational PAGE 35
RFC TOTAL SIZE: 69446 bytes
PUBLICATION DATE: Tuesday, December 17th, 2013
LEGAL RIGHTS: The IETF Trust (see BCP 78)
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