ovn-ctl(8) OVN Manual ovn-ctl(8)
NAME
ovn-ctl - controls Open Virtual Network daemons.
SYNOPSIS
ovn-ctl [options] command [-- extra_args]
DESCRIPTION
This program is intended to be invoked internally by Open Virtual Net‐
work startup scripts. System administrators should not normally invoke
it directly.
COMMANDS
start_northd
Starts ovn-northd.
start_controller
Starts ovn-controller.
start_controller_vtep
Starts ovn-controller-vtep.
start_ic
Starts ovn-ic.
start_ovsdb
Starts the OVN Northbound and Southbound database servers.
start_nb_ovsdb
Starts the OVN Northbound database server.
start_sb_ovsdb
Starts the OVN Southbound database server.
start_sb_relay_ovsdb
Starts the OVN Southbound database relay server.
start_ic_ovsdb
Starts the OVN interconnection Northbound and Southbound data‐
base servers.
start_ic_nb_ovsdb
Starts the OVN interconnection Northbound database server.
start_ic_sb_ovsdb
Starts the OVN interconnection Southbound database server.
start_ovnbr_ovsdb
Starts the OVN bridge controller database server.
start_ovnbr_controller
Starts the OVN bridge controller.
stop_northd
Stops ovn-northd.
stop_controller
Stops ovn-controller.
stop_controller_vtep
Stops ovn-controller-vtep.
stop_ic
Stops ovn-ic.
stop_ovsdb
Stops the OVN Northbound and Southbound database servers.
stop_nb_ovsdb
Stops the OVN Northbound database server.
stop_sb_ovsdb
Stops the OVN Southbound database server.
stop_sb_relay_ovsdb
Stops the OVN Southbound database relay server.
stop_ic_ovsdb
Stops the OVN interconnection Northbound and Southbound database
servers.
stop_ic_nb_ovsdb
Stops the OVN interconnection Northbound database server.
stop_ic_sb_ovsdb
Stops the OVN interconnection Southbound database server.
stop_ovnbr_ovsdb
Stops the OVN bridge controller database server.
stop_ovnbr_controller
Stops the OVN bridge controller.
restart_northd
Restarts ovn-northd.
restart_controller
Restarts ovn-controller.
restart_controller_vtep
Restarts ovn-controller-vtep.
restart_ic
Restarts ovn-ic.
restart_ovsdb
Restarts the OVN Northbound and Southbound database servers.
restart_nb_ovsdb
Restarts the OVN Northbound database server.
restart_sb_ovsdb
Restarts the OVN Southbound database server.
restart_sb_relay_ovsdb
Restarts the OVN Southbound database relay server.
restart_ic_ovsdb
Restarts the OVN interconnection Northbound and Southbound data‐
base servers.
restart_ic_nb_ovsdb
Restarts the OVN interconnection Northbound database server.
restart_ic_sb_ovsdb
Restarts the OVN interconnection Southbound database server.
restart_ovnbr_ovsdb
Restarts the OVN bridge controller database server.
restart_ovnbr_controller
Restarts the OVN bridge controller.
promote_ovnnb
Promotes the OVN Northbound database server.
promote_ovnsb
Promotes the OVN Southbound database server.
demote_ovnnb
Demotes the OVN Northbound database server.
demote_ovnsb
Demotes the OVN Southbound database server.
status_ovnnb
Reports the status of the OVN Northbound database server.
status_ovnsb
Reports the status of the OVN Southbound database server.
status_northd
Reports whether northd is running.
status_ovsdb
Reports whether the OVN Northbound and Southbound database
servers are running.
status_controller
Reports whether ovn-controller is running.
status_controller_vtep
Reports whether ovn-controller-vtep is running.
status_ic
Reports whether ovn-ic is running.
status_ic_ovsdb
Reports whether the OVN interconnection database servers are
running.
status_ovnbr_ovsdb
Reports the status of the OVN bridge controller database server.
status_ovnbr_controller
Reports whether the OVN bridge controller is running.
promote_ic_nb
Promotes the OVN IC-NB database server.
promote_ic_sb
Promotes the OVN IC-SB database server.
demote_ic_nb
Attempts to demote the OVN IC-NB database server. The current
implementation does not target the server, so the operation does
not complete.
demote_ic_sb
Attempts to demote the OVN IC-SB database server. The current
implementation does not target the server, so the operation does
not complete.
status_ic_nb
Reports the status of the OVN IC-NB database server.
status_ic_sb
Reports the status of the OVN IC-SB database server.
run_ic_nb_ovsdb
Runs the OVN IC-NB database server in the foreground.
run_ic_sb_ovsdb
Runs the OVN IC-SB database server in the foreground.
run_nb_ovsdb
Runs the OVN Northbound database server in the foreground.
run_sb_ovsdb
Runs the OVN Southbound database server in the foreground.
run_sb_relay_ovsdb
Runs the OVN Southbound database relay server in the foreground
and blocks until it exits.
run_ovnbr_ovsdb
Runs the OVN bridge controller database server in the foreground
and blocks until it exits.
help Displays usage information.
OPTIONS
--ovn-northd-priority=NICE sets the ovn-northd process niceness. The
default is -10.
--ovn-northd-wrapper=WRAPPER runs ovn-northd under the specified wrap‐
per.
--ovn-controller-priority=NICE sets the ovn-controller process nice‐
ness. The default is -10.
--ovn-controller-wrapper=WRAPPER runs ovn-controller under the speci‐
fied wrapper.
--ovn-ic-priority=NICE sets the ovn-ic process niceness. The default is
-10.
--ovn-ic-wrapper=WRAPPER runs ovn-ic under the specified wrapper.
--ovnbr-controller-priority=NICE sets the ovn-br-controller process
niceness. The default is -10.
--ovnbr-controller-wrapper=WRAPPER runs ovn-br-controller under the
specified wrapper.
--ovsdb-nb-wrapper=WRAPPER runs the Northbound database server under
the specified wrapper.
--ovsdb-sb-wrapper=WRAPPER runs the Southbound database server under
the specified wrapper.
--ovsdb-ovnbr-wrapper=WRAPPER runs the OVN bridge controller database
server under the specified wrapper.
--ovn-user=USER[:GROUP] runs OVN daemons as the specified user and op‐
tional group.
--ovn-manage-ovsdb=yes|no controls whether start_northd and stop_northd
also manage the NB and SB database servers. The default is yes.
--ovn-controller-system-id=SYSTEM_ID sets the chassis name passed to
ovn-controller. The default is empty.
--ovsdb-disable-file-column-diff=yes|no controls whether database
servers are started with --disable-file-column-diff. The default is no.
-h | --help displays usage information.
FILE LOCATION OPTIONS
--db-sock=SOCKET sets the local Open vSwitch database socket.
--db-nb-file=FILE sets the Northbound database file.
--db-sb-file=FILE sets the Southbound database file.
--db-nb-sock=SOCKET and --db-sb-sock=SOCKET set the NB and SB database
sockets. Their defaults are OVN_RUNDIR/ovnnb_db.sock and
OVN_RUNDIR/ovnsb_db.sock, respectively.
--db-nb-schema=FILE sets the Northbound database schema file.
--db-sb-schema=FILE sets the Southbound database schema file.
--db-ic-nb-sock=SOCKET and --db-ic-sb-sock=SOCKET set the IC-NB and IC-
SB database sockets. Their defaults are OVN_RUNDIR/ovn_ic_nb_db.sock
and OVN_RUNDIR/ovn_ic_sb_db.sock, respectively.
The --db-nb-create-insecure-remote=yes|no, --db-sb-create-insecure-re‐‐
mote=yes|no, --db-ic-nb-create-insecure-remote=yes|no, --db-ic-sb-cre‐‐
ate-insecure-remote=yes|no, and --db-ovnbr-create-insecure-re‐‐
mote=yes|no options accept yes or no. The default is no. When set to
yes, the database server creates an insecure ptcp remote; no does not
create that remote.
--db-ic-nb-file=FILE sets the IC-NB database file.
--db-ic-sb-file=FILE sets the IC-SB database file.
--db-ic-nb-schema=FILE sets the IC-NB database schema file.
--db-ic-sb-schema=FILE sets the IC-SB database schema file.
--db-nb-pidfile=FILE and --db-sb-pidfile=FILE set the NB and SB data‐
base pidfiles. Their defaults are OVN_RUNDIR/ovnnb_db.pid and
OVN_RUNDIR/ovnsb_db.pid, respectively.
--db-nb-ctrl-sock=SOCKET and --db-sb-ctrl-sock=SOCKET set the NB and SB
database control sockets. Their defaults are OVN_RUNDIR/ovnnb_db.ctl
and OVN_RUNDIR/ovnsb_db.ctl, respectively.
--db-nb-config-file=FILE sets the Northbound database server configura‐
tion file.
--db-sb-config-file=FILE sets the Southbound database server configura‐
tion file.
--db-ic-nb-config-file=FILE sets the IC-NB database server configura‐
tion file.
--db-ic-sb-config-file=FILE sets the IC-SB database server configura‐
tion file.
--db-sb-relay-config-file=FILE sets the Southbound relay server config‐
uration file.
--db-nb-use-remote-in-db, --db-sb-use-remote-in-db, --db-ic-nb-use-re‐‐
mote-in-db, and --db-ic-sb-use-remote-in-db accept yes or no and de‐
fault to yes. A bare option is equivalent to specifying yes. The value
yes makes ovsdb-server listen on remotes configured in the database
connections column, while no does not. If a corresponding configuration
file is specified, it takes precedence and this setting is ignored.
--db-ovnbr-use-remote-in-db=yes|no controls whether ovsdb-server lis‐
tens on the remotes configured in the database connections column. The
default is yes.
--ovn-controller-ssl-key=KEY sets the ovn-controller SSL/TLS private
key file.
--ovn-controller-ssl-cert=CERT sets the ovn-controller SSL/TLS certifi‐
cate file.
--ovn-controller-ssl-ca-cert=CERT sets the ovn-controller SSL/TLS CA
certificate file.
--ovn-controller-ssl-bootstrap-ca-cert=CERT bootstraps the ovn-con‐
troller SSL/TLS CA certificate file.
--ovnbr-controller-ssl-key=KEY sets the ovn-br-controller SSL/TLS pri‐
vate key file.
--ovnbr-controller-ssl-cert=CERT sets the ovn-br-controller SSL/TLS
certificate file.
--ovnbr-controller-ssl-ca-cert=CERT sets the ovn-br-controller SSL/TLS
CA certificate file.
--ovnbr-controller-ssl-bootstrap-ca-cert=CERT bootstraps the ovn-br-
controller SSL/TLS CA certificate file.
--ovn-ovnbr-db-ssl-key=KEY sets the ovn-br-controller database SSL/TLS
private key file.
--ovn-ovnbr-db-ssl-cert=CERT sets the ovn-br-controller database
SSL/TLS certificate file.
--ovn-ovnbr-db-ssl-ca-cert=CERT sets the ovn-br-controller database
SSL/TLS CA certificate file.
--db-ovnbr-sock=SOCKET sets the OVN bridge controller database socket.
--db-ovnbr-file=FILE sets the OVN bridge controller database file.
--db-ic-nb-pidfile=FILE, --db-ic-sb-pidfile=FILE, and --db-ovnbr-pid‐‐
file=FILE set the IC-NB, IC-SB, and OVN bridge controller database pid‐
files. Their defaults are OVN_RUNDIR/ovn_ic_nb_db.pid,
OVN_RUNDIR/ovn_ic_sb_db.pid, and OVN_RUNDIR/ovnbr_db.pid, respectively.
--db-ic-nb-ctrl-sock=SOCKET, --db-ic-sb-ctrl-sock=SOCKET, and
--db-ovnbr-ctrl-sock=SOCKET set database control sockets. Their de‐
faults are OVN_RUNDIR/ovn_ic_nb_db.ctl, OVN_RUNDIR/ovn_ic_sb_db.ctl,
and OVN_RUNDIR/ovnbr_db.ctl, respectively.
--db-ovnbr-schema=FILE sets the OVN bridge controller database schema
file.
LOGGING OPTIONS
--ovn-controller-log=STRING, --ovn-northd-log=STRING, and
--ovn-ic-log=STRING set daemon logging parameters. The default is
-vconsole:emer -vsyslog:err -vfile:info.
--ovnbr-controller-log=STRING sets ovn-br-controller logging parame‐
ters. The default is -vconsole:emer -vsyslog:err -vfile:info.
--ovn-nb-log=STRING, --ovn-sb-log=STRING, --ovn-ic-nb-log=STRING,
--ovn-ic-sb-log=STRING, --ovn-sb-relay-log=STRING, and
--ovn-ovnbr-log=STRING set database-server logging parameters. The de‐
faults for the NB, SB, IC-NB, IC-SB, and OVN bridge controller database
servers are -vconsole:off -vfile:info. The default for the SB relay
database server is -vconsole:emer -vsyslog:err -vfile:info.
--ovn-northd-logfile=FILE, --ovn-ic-logfile=FILE, --ovn-nb-log‐‐
file=FILE, --ovn-sb-logfile=FILE, --ovn-ic-nb-logfile=FILE,
--ovn-ic-sb-logfile=FILE, --ovn-sb-relay-logfile=FILE, and
--ovn-ovnbr-logfile=FILE select log files. Database-server log files
default to files under OVN_LOGDIR; daemon log files default to empty.
--ovn-northd-n-threads=N_THREADS sets the number of ovn-northd threads.
The default is 1.
PROTOCOL, CIPHER AND CIPHERSUITE OPTIONS
The daemon and database prefixes also accept their SSL/TLS key, cer‐
tificate, and CA certificate options. The prefixes are ovn-controller,
ovn-northd, ovn-ic, ovn-nb-db, ovn-sb-db, ovn-ic-nb-db, ovn-ic-sb-db,
ovn-sb-relay-db, and ovn-ovnbr-db; append -ssl-key, -ssl-cert, or
-ssl-ca-cert. Controller prefixes also accept -ssl-bootstrap-ca-cert.
Empty values leave the normal database or daemon TLS settings in ef‐
fect.
--ovn-controller-ssl-protocols=PROTOCOLS.
--ovn-ic-ssl-protocols=PROTOCOLS.
--ovn-northd-ssl-protocols=PROTOCOLS.
--ovn-nb-db-ssl-protocols=PROTOCOLS.
--ovn-sb-db-ssl-protocols=PROTOCOLS.
--ovn-ic-nb-db-ssl-protocols=PROTOCOLS.
--ovn-ic-sb-db-ssl-protocols=PROTOCOLS.
--ovn-controller-ssl-ciphers=CIPHERS.
--ovn-ic-ssl-ciphers=CIPHERS.
--ovn-northd-ssl-ciphers=CIPHERS.
--ovn-nb-db-ssl-ciphers=CIPHERS.
--ovn-sb-db-ssl-ciphers=CIPHERS.
--ovn-ic-nb-db-ssl-ciphers=CIPHERS.
--ovn-ic-sb-db-ssl-ciphers=CIPHERS.
--ovn-controller-ssl-ciphersuites=CIPHERSUITES.
--ovn-ic-ssl-ciphersuites=CIPHERSUITES.
--ovn-northd-ssl-ciphersuites=CIPHERSUITES.
--ovn-nb-db-ssl-ciphersuites=CIPHERSUITES.
--ovn-sb-db-ssl-ciphersuites=CIPHERSUITES.
--ovn-ic-nb-db-ssl-ciphersuites=CIPHERSUITES.
--ovn-ic-sb-db-ssl-ciphersuites=CIPHERSUITES.
--ovn-controller-ssl-server-name=NAME.
--ovn-ic-ssl-server-name=NAME.
--ovn-northd-ssl-server-name=NAME.
--ovn-nb-db-ssl-server-name=NAME.
--ovn-sb-db-ssl-server-name=NAME.
--ovn-ic-nb-db-ssl-server-name=NAME.
--ovn-ic-sb-db-ssl-server-name=NAME.
--ovn-sb-relay-db-ssl-server-name=NAME.
--ovn-ovnbr-db-ssl-server-name=NAME.
--ovnbr-controller-ssl-protocols=PROTOCOLS sets the ovn-br-controller
SSL/TLS protocols.
--ovnbr-controller-ssl-ciphers=CIPHERS sets the ovn-br-controller
SSL/TLS cipher list.
--ovnbr-controller-ssl-ciphersuites=CIPHERSUITES sets the ovn-br-con‐
troller TLS 1.3 and later ciphersuite list.
--ovn-ovnbr-db-ssl-protocols=PROTOCOLS sets the ovn-br-controller data‐
base SSL/TLS protocols.
--ovn-ovnbr-db-ssl-ciphers=CIPHERS sets the ovn-br-controller database
SSL/TLS cipher list.
--ovn-ovnbr-db-ssl-ciphersuites=CIPHERSUITES sets the ovn-br-controller
database TLS 1.3 and later ciphersuite list.
ADDRESS AND PORT OPTIONS
--db-nb-sync-from-addr=IP ADDRESS.
--db-nb-sync-from-port=PORT NUMBER.
--db-nb-sync-from-proto=PROTO.
--db-sb-sync-from-addr=IP ADDRESS.
--db-sb-sync-from-port=PORT NUMBER.
--db-sb-sync-from-proto=PROTO.
--db-ic-nb-sync-from-addr=IP ADDRESS.
--db-ic-nb-sync-from-port=PORT NUMBER.
--db-ic-nb-sync-from-proto=PROTO.
--db-ic-sb-sync-from-addr=IP ADDRESS.
--db-ic-sb-sync-from-port=PORT NUMBER.
--db-ic-sb-sync-from-proto=PROTO.
The options --db-nb-addr, --db-nb-port, --db-sb-addr, --db-sb-port,
--db-ic-nb-addr, --db-ic-nb-port, --db-ic-sb-addr, --db-ic-sb-port,
--db-ovnbr-addr, and --db-ovnbr-port select the addresses and ports
used when the corresponding --db-*-create-insecure-remote option is
yes. When that option is no, these settings have no effect. The de‐
faults for --db-nb-addr and --db-nb-port are 0.0.0.0 and 6641, respec‐
tively. The defaults for --db-sb-addr and --db-sb-port are 0.0.0.0 and
6642, respectively. The defaults for --db-ic-nb-addr and
--db-ic-nb-port are 0.0.0.0 and 6645, respectively. The defaults for
--db-ic-sb-addr and --db-ic-sb-port are 0.0.0.0 and 6646, respectively.
The defaults for --db-ovnbr-addr and --db-ovnbr-port are 0.0.0.0 and
6651, respectively.
--ovn-northd-nb-db and --ovn-northd-sb-db select the NB and SB remotes
used by ovn-northd. Similarly, --ovn-ic-nb-db and --ovn-ic-sb-db select
the IC database remotes. Their defaults are the corresponding local
unix database sockets.
--ovn-northd-nb-db=PROTO:IP ADDRESS: PORT..
--ovn-northd-sb-db=PROTO:IP ADDRESS: PORT..
--ovn-ic-nb-db=PROTO:IP ADDRESS: PORT..
--ovn-ic-sb-db=PROTO:IP ADDRESS: PORT..
CLUSTERING OPTIONS
--db-nb-cluster-local-addr=IP ADDRESS.
--db-nb-cluster-local-port=PORT NUMBER.
--db-nb-cluster-local-proto=PROTO (tcp/ssl).
--db-nb-cluster-remote-addr=IP ADDRESS.
--db-nb-cluster-remote-port=PORT NUMBER.
--db-nb-cluster-remote-proto=PROTO (tcp/ssl).
--db-nb-election-timer=Timeout in milliseconds.
--db-sb-cluster-local-addr=IP ADDRESS.
--db-sb-cluster-local-port=PORT NUMBER.
--db-sb-cluster-local-proto=PROTO (tcp/ssl).
--db-sb-cluster-remote-addr=IP ADDRESS.
--db-sb-cluster-remote-port=PORT NUMBER.
--db-sb-cluster-remote-proto=PROTO (tcp/ssl).
--db-sb-election-timer=Timeout in milliseconds.
--db-ic-nb-cluster-local-addr=IP ADDRESS.
--db-ic-nb-cluster-local-port=PORT NUMBER.
--db-ic-nb-cluster-local-proto=PROTO (tcp/ssl).
--db-ic-nb-cluster-remote-addr=IP ADDRESS.
--db-ic-nb-cluster-remote-port=PORT NUMBER.
--db-ic-nb-cluster-remote-proto=PROTO (tcp/ssl).
--db-ic-sb-cluster-local-addr=IP ADDRESS.
--db-ic-sb-cluster-local-port=PORT NUMBER.
--db-ic-sb-cluster-local-proto=PROTO (tcp/ssl).
--db-ic-sb-cluster-remote-addr=IP ADDRESS.
--db-ic-sb-cluster-remote-port=PORT NUMBER.
--db-ic-sb-cluster-remote-proto=PROTO (tcp/ssl).
--db-cluster-schema-upgrade=yes|no controls whether clustered database
servers automatically upgrade their schemas when they start. The de‐
fault is yes; specify no to disable the automatic upgrade.
--no-db-cluster-schema-upgrade is equivalent to --db-cluster-schema-up‐‐
grade=no. The default is yes.
PROBE INTERVAL OPTIONS
--db-nb-probe-interval-to-active=Time in milliseconds .
--db-sb-probe-interval-to-active=Time in milliseconds .
RELAY OPTIONS
--db-sb-relay-sock=SOCKET, --db-sb-relay-pidfile=FILE, and --db-sb-re‐‐
lay-ctrl-sock=SOCKET set the relay socket, pidfile, and control socket.
The defaults are ovnsb_relay_db.sock, ovnsb_relay_db.pid, and ovnsb_re‐‐
lay_db.ctl in OVN_RUNDIR.
--db-sb-relay-remote=REMOTE selects the upstream relay remote. The de‐
fault is empty.
--db-sb-relay-use-remote-in-db=yes|no controls whether ovsdb-server
listens on the Southbound remotes configured in the database connec‐‐
tions column. The default is yes. A bare option is equivalent to speci‐
fying yes.
EXTRA OPTIONS
Any options after ’-’ will be passed on to the binary run by command
with the exception of start_northd, which can have options specified in
ovn-northd-db-params.conf. Any extra_args passed to start_northd will
be passed to the ovsdb-servers if --ovn-manage-ovsdb=yes
CONFIGURATION FILES
Following are the optional configuration files. If present, it should
be located in the etc dir
ovnnb-active.conf
If present, this file should hold the url to connect to the active
Northbound DB server
tcp:x.x.x.x:6641
ovnsb-active.conf
If present, this file should hold the url to connect to the active
Southbound DB server
tcp:x.x.x.x:6642
ovn-northd-db-params.conf
If present, start_northd will not start the DB server even if
--ovn-manage-ovsdb=yes. This file should hold the database url parame‐
ters to be passed to ovn-northd.
--ovnnb-db=tcp:x.x.x.x:6641 --ovnsb-db=tcp:x.x.x.x:6642
ic-nb-active.conf
If present, this file should hold the url to connect to the active In‐
terconnection Northbound DB server
tcp:x.x.x.x:6645
ic-sb-active.conf
If present, this file should hold the url to connect to the active In‐
terconnection Southbound DB server
tcp:x.x.x.x:6646
ovn-ic-db-params.conf
If present, this file should hold the database url parameters to be
passed to ovn-ic.
--ic-nb-db=tcp:x.x.x.x:6645 --ic-sb-db=tcp:x.x.x.x:6646
RUNNING OVN DB SERVERS WITHOUT DETACHING
# ovn-ctl run_nb_ovsdb
This command runs the OVN nb ovsdb-server without passing the detach
option, making it to block until ovsdb-server exits. This command will
be useful for starting the OVN nb ovsdb-server in a container.
# ovn-ctl run_sb_ovsdb
This command runs the OVN sb ovsdb-server without passing the detach
option, making it to block until ovsdb-server exits. This command will
be useful for starting the OVN sb ovsdb-server in a container.
# ovn-ctl run_ic_nb_ovsdb
This command runs the OVN IC-NB ovsdb-server without passing the detach
option, making it to block until ovsdb-server exits. This command will
be useful for starting the OVN IC-NB ovsdb-server in a container.
# ovn-ctl run_ic_sb_ovsdb
This command runs the OVN IC-SB ovsdb-server without passing the detach
option, making it to block until ovsdb-server exits. This command will
be useful for starting the OVN IC-SB ovsdb-server in a container.
# ovn-ctl run_ovnbr_ovsdb
This command runs the OVN bridge db ovsdb-server without passing the
detach option, making it to block until ovsdb-server exits. This com‐
mand will be useful for starting the OVN br db ovsdb-server in a con‐
tainer.
EXAMPLE USAGE
Run ovn-controller on a host already running OVS
# ovn-ctl start_controller
Run ovn-northd on a host already running OVS
# ovn-ctl start_northd
All-in-one OVS+OVN for testing
# ovs-ctl start --system-id="random"
# ovn-ctl start_northd
# ovn-ctl start_controller
Promote and demote ovsdb servers
# ovn-ctl promote_ovnnb
# ovn-ctl promote_ovnsb
# ovn-ctl --db-nb-sync-from-addr=x.x.x.x --db-nb-sync-from-port=6641
--db-nb-probe-interval-to-active=60000 demote_ovnnb
# ovn-ctl --db-sb-sync-from-addr=x.x.x.x --db-sb-sync-from-port=6642
--db-sb-probe-interval-to-active=60000 demote_ovnsb
Creating a clustered db on 3 nodes with IPs x.x.x.x, y.y.y.y and z.z.z.z
Starting OVN ovsdb servers and ovn-northd on the node with IP x.x.x.x
# ovn-ctl --db-nb-addr=x.x.x.x --db-nb-create-insecure-remote=yes
--db-sb-addr=x.x.x.x --db-sb-create-insecure-remote=yes --db-nb-clus‐‐
ter-local-addr=x.x.x.x --db-sb-cluster-local-addr=x.x.x.x
--ovn-northd-nb-db=tcp:x.x.x.x:6641,tcp:y.y.y.y:6641,tcp:z.z.z.z:6641
--ovn-northd-sb-db=tcp:x.x.x.x:6642,tcp:y.y.y.y:6642,tcp:z.z.z.z:6642
start_northd
Starting OVN ovsdb-servers and ovn-northd on the node with IP y.y.y.y and
joining the cluster started at x.x.x.x
# ovn-ctl --db-nb-addr=y.y.y.y --db-nb-create-insecure-remote=yes
--db-sb-addr=y.y.y.y --db-sb-create-insecure-remote=yes --db-nb-clus‐‐
ter-local-addr=y.y.y.y --db-sb-cluster-local-addr=y.y.y.y --db-nb-clus‐‐
ter-remote-addr=x.x.x.x --db-sb-cluster-remote-addr=x.x.x.x
--ovn-northd-nb-db=tcp:x.x.x.x:6641,tcp:y.y.y.y:6641,tcp:z.z.z.z:6641
--ovn-northd-sb-db=tcp:x.x.x.x:6642,tcp:y.y.y.y:6642,tcp:z.z.z.z:6642
start_northd
Starting OVN ovsdb-servers and ovn-northd on the node with IP z.z.z.z and
joining the cluster started at x.x.x.x
# ovn-ctl --db-nb-addr=z.z.z.z --db-nb-create-insecure-remote=yes
--db-nb-cluster-local-addr=z.z.z.z --db-sb-addr=z.z.z.z --db-sb-cre‐‐
ate-insecure-remote=yes --db-sb-cluster-local-addr=z.z.z.z
--db-nb-cluster-remote-addr=x.x.x.x --db-sb-cluster-remote-addr=x.x.x.x
--ovn-northd-nb-db=tcp:x.x.x.x:6641,tcp:y.y.y.y:6641,tcp:z.z.z.z:6641
--ovn-northd-sb-db=tcp:x.x.x.x:6642,tcp:y.y.y.y:6642,tcp:z.z.z.z:6642
start_northd
Passing ssl keys when starting OVN dbs will supersede the default ssl val‐‐
ues in db
Starting standalone ovn db server passing SSL/TLS certificates
# ovn-ctl --ovn-nb-db-ssl-key=/etc/ovn/ovnnb-privkey.pem
--ovn-nb-db-ssl-cert=/etc/ovn/ovnnb-cert.pem
--ovn-nb-db-ssl-ca-cert=/etc/ovn/cacert.pem
--ovn-sb-db-ssl-key=/etc/ovn/ovnsb-privkey.pem
--ovn-sb-db-ssl-cert=/etc/ovn/ovnsb-cert.pem
--ovn-sb-db-ssl-ca-cert=/etc/ovn/cacert.pem start_northd
Avoiding automatic clustered OVN database schema upgrade
If you desire more control over clustered DB schema upgrade, you can
opt-out of automatic on-start upgrade attempts with --no-db-clus‐‐
ter-schema-upgrade.
Start OVN NB and SB clustered databases on host with IP x.x.x.x without
schema upgrade
# ovn-ctl start_nb_ovsdb --db-nb-cluster-local-addr=x.x.x.x
--no-db-cluster-schema-upgrade # ovn-ctl start_sb_ovsdb --db-sb-clus‐‐
ter-local-addr=x.x.x.x --no-db-cluster-schema-upgrade
Trigger clustered DB schema upgrade manually
# ovsdb-client convert unix:/var/run/ovn/ovnnb_db.sock /usr/lo‐‐
cal/share/ovn/ovn-nb.ovsschema # ovsdb-client convert
unix:/var/run/ovn/ovnsb_db.sock /usr/local/share/ovn/ovn-sb.ovsschema
Run OVN bridge controller services on a host already running OVS
# ovn-ctl start_ovnbr_ovsdb
# ovn-ctl start_ovnbr_controller
OVN 26.09.90 ovn-ctl ovn-ctl(8)