ovn-sbctl(8)                      OVN Manual                      ovn-sbctl(8)



NAME
       ovn-sbctl - Open Virtual Network southbound db management utility

SYNOPSIS
       ovn-sbctl [options] command [arg...]

DESCRIPTION
       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 com‐
       mands.  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  argu‐
       ments.

DAEMON MODE
       When  it  is invoked in the most ordinary way, ovn-sbctl connects to an
       OVSDB server that hosts the southbound database,  retrieves  a  partial
       copy  of  the  database that is complete enough to do its work, sends a
       transaction request to the  server,  and  receives  and  processes  the
       server’s  reply.  In  common  interactive use, this is fine, but if the
       database is large, the step in which ovn-sbctl retrieves a partial copy
       of  the  database  can  take a long time, which yields poor performance
       overall.

       To improve performance in such  a  case,  ovn-sbctl  offers  a  "daemon
       mode,"  in  which  the user first starts ovn-sbctl running in the back‐
       ground and afterward uses the daemon to execute operations.  Over  sev‐
       eral  ovn-sbctl  command  invocations,  this  performs  better  overall
       because it retrieves a copy of the database only once at the beginning,
       not once per program run.

       Use the --detach option to start an ovn-sbctl daemon. With this option,
       ovn-sbctl prints the name of a control socket  to  stdout.  The  client
       should  save this name in environment variable OVN_SB_DAEMON. Under the
       Bourne shell this might be done like this:

             export OVN_SB_DAEMON=$(ovn-sbctl --pidfile --detach)


       When OVN_SB_DAEMON is set, ovn-sbctl  automatically  and  transparently
       uses the daemon to execute its commands.

       When  the daemon is no longer needed, kill it and unset the environment
       variable, e.g.:

             kill $(cat $OVN_RUNDIR/ovn-sbctl.pid)
             unset OVN_SB_DAEMON


       When using daemon mode, an alternative to the OVN_SB_DAEMON environment
       variable  is  to  specify a path for the Unix socket. When starting the
       ovn-sbctl daemon, specify the -u option with a full path to  the  loca‐
       tion of the socket file. Here is an exmple:

             ovn-sbctl --detach -u /tmp/mysock.ctl


       Then  to connect to the running daemon, use the -u option with the full
       path to the socket created when the daemon was started:

             ovn-sbctl -u /tmp/mysock.ctl show


     Daemon Commands

       Daemon mode is internally implemented using the same mechanism used  by
       ovn-appctl.  One  may  also  use ovn-appctl directly with the following
       commands:

              run [options] command [arg...] [--  [options]  command  [arg...]
              ...]
                     Instructs the daemon process to run one or more ovn-sbctl
                     commands described above and reply with  the  results  of
                     running  these  commands.  Accepts the --no-wait, --wait,
                     --timeout,  --dry-run,   --oneline,   and   the   options
                     described  under  Table Formatting Options in addition to
                     the the command-specific options.

              exit   Causes ovn-sbctl to gracefully terminate.

OPTIONS
       The options listed below 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 --.

       ovn-sbctl also accepts options from the  OVN_SBCTL_OPTIONS  environment
       variable,  in  the same format as on the command line. Options from the
       command line override those in the environment.

              --db database
                     The OVSDB database remote to contact.  If  the  OVN_SB_DB
                     environment  variable  is  set,  its value is used as the
                     default. Otherwise, the default  is  unix:/ovnsb_db.sock,
                     but this default is unlikely to be useful outside of sin‐
                     gle-machine OVN test environments.

              --leader-only
              --no-leader-only
                   By default, or with --leader-only, when the database server
                   is a clustered database, ovn-sbctl will avoid servers other
                   than the cluster leader. This ensures that  any  data  that
                   ovn-sbctl   reads   and   reports   is   up-to-date.   With
                   --no-leader-only, ovn-sbctl will  use  any  server  in  the
                   cluster, which means that for read-only transactions it can
                   report and act on stale data (transactions that modify  the
                   database are always serialized even with --no-leader-only).
                   Refer to Understanding Cluster Consistency in ovsdb(7)  for
                   more information.

              --shuffle-remotes
              --no-shuffle-remotes
                   By  default, or with --shuffle-remotes, when there are mul‐
                   tiple remotes specified  in  the  OVSDB  connection  string
                   specified  by  --db  or the OVN_SB_DB environment variable,
                   the order of the remotes will be shuffled before the client
                   tries to connect. The remotes will be shuffled only once to
                   a new order before the first connection attempt.  The  fol‐
                   lowing retries, if any, will follow the same new order. The
                   default behavior is to make sure  clients  of  a  clustered
                   database  can  distribute  evenly  to  all memembers of the
                   cluster. With --no-shuffle-remotes, ovn-sbctl will use  the
                   original  order  specified in the connection string to con‐
                   nect. This allows user  to  specify  the  preferred  order,
                   which is particularly useful for testing.

              --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 com‐
                   mand is printed on a single line. New-line characters  that
                   would  otherwise  separate  lines are printed as \fB\\n\fR,
                   and any instances of \fB\\\fR 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 run‐
                   time to approximately secs seconds. If the timeout expires,
                   ovn-sbctl will exit with a SIGALRM signal. (A timeout would
                   normally happen only if the database cannot  be  contacted,
                   or if the system is overloaded.)

   Daemon Options
       --pidfile[=pidfile]
              Causes a file (by default, program.pid) to be created indicating
              the PID of the running process. If the pidfile argument  is  not
              specified, or if it does not begin with /, then it is created in
              .

              If --pidfile is not specified, no pidfile is created.

       --overwrite-pidfile
              By default, when --pidfile is specified and the  specified  pid‐
              file already exists and is locked by a running process, the dae‐
              mon refuses to start. Specify --overwrite-pidfile to cause it to
              instead overwrite the pidfile.

              When --pidfile is not specified, this option has no effect.

       --detach
              Runs  this  program  as a background process. The process forks,
              and in the child it starts a new session,  closes  the  standard
              file descriptors (which has the side effect of disabling logging
              to the console), and changes its current directory to  the  root
              (unless  --no-chdir is specified). After the child completes its
              initialization, the parent exits.

       --monitor
              Creates an additional process to monitor  this  program.  If  it
              dies  due  to a signal that indicates a programming error (SIGA
              BRT, SIGALRM, SIGBUS, SIGFPE, SIGILL, SIGPIPE, SIGSEGV, SIGXCPU,
              or SIGXFSZ) then the monitor process starts a new copy of it. If
              the daemon dies or exits for another reason, the monitor process
              exits.

              This  option  is  normally used with --detach, but it also func‐
              tions without it.

       --no-chdir
              By default, when --detach is specified, the daemon  changes  its
              current  working  directory  to  the  root  directory  after  it
              detaches. Otherwise, invoking the daemon from a carelessly  cho‐
              sen  directory  would  prevent the administrator from unmounting
              the file system that holds that directory.

              Specifying --no-chdir suppresses this behavior,  preventing  the
              daemon  from changing its current working directory. This may be
              useful for collecting core files, since it is common behavior to
              write core dumps into the current working directory and the root
              directory is not a good directory to use.

              This option has no effect when --detach is not specified.

       --no-self-confinement
              By default this daemon will try to self-confine itself  to  work
              with  files  under  well-known  directories  determined at build
              time. It is better to stick with this default behavior  and  not
              to  use  this  flag  unless some other Access Control is used to
              confine daemon. Note that in contrast to  other  access  control
              implementations  that  are  typically enforced from kernel-space
              (e.g. DAC or MAC), self-confinement is imposed  from  the  user-
              space daemon itself and hence should not be considered as a full
              confinement strategy, but instead should be viewed as  an  addi‐
              tional layer of security.

       --user=user:group
              Causes  this  program  to  run  as a different user specified in
              user:group, thus dropping most of  the  root  privileges.  Short
              forms  user  and  :group  are also allowed, with current user or
              group assumed, respectively. Only daemons started  by  the  root
              user accepts this argument.

              On   Linux,   daemons   will   be   granted   CAP_IPC_LOCK   and
              CAP_NET_BIND_SERVICES before dropping root  privileges.  Daemons
              that  interact  with  a  datapath, such as ovs-vswitchd, will be
              granted three  additional  capabilities,  namely  CAP_NET_ADMIN,
              CAP_NET_BROADCAST  and  CAP_NET_RAW.  The capability change will
              apply even if the new user is root.

              On Windows, this option is not currently supported. For security
              reasons,  specifying  this  option will cause the daemon process
              not to start.

   Logging options
       -v[spec]
       --verbose=[spec]
            Sets logging levels. Without any spec,  sets  the  log  level  for
            every  module and destination to dbg. Otherwise, spec is a list of
            words separated by spaces or commas or colons, up to one from each
            category below:

            ·      A  valid module name, as displayed by the vlog/list command
                   on ovs-appctl(8), limits the log level change to the speci‐
                   fied module.

            ·      syslog,  console, or file, to limit the log level change to
                   only to the system log, to  the  console,  or  to  a  file,
                   respectively.  (If --detach is specified, the daemon closes
                   its standard file descriptors, so logging  to  the  console
                   will have no effect.)

                   On  Windows  platform,  syslog is accepted as a word and is
                   only useful along with the --syslog-target option (the word
                   has no effect otherwise).

            ·      off,  emer,  err,  warn,  info,  or dbg, to control the log
                   level. Messages of the given severity  or  higher  will  be
                   logged,  and  messages  of  lower severity will be filtered
                   out. off filters out all messages. See ovs-appctl(8) for  a
                   definition of each log level.

            Case is not significant within spec.

            Regardless  of the log levels set for file, logging to a file will
            not take place unless --log-file is also specified (see below).

            For compatibility with older versions of OVS, any is accepted as a
            word but has no effect.

       -v
       --verbose
            Sets  the  maximum  logging  verbosity level, equivalent to --ver
            bose=dbg.

       -vPATTERN:destination:pattern
       --verbose=PATTERN:destination:pattern
            Sets  the  log  pattern  for  destination  to  pattern.  Refer  to
            ovs-appctl(8) for a description of the valid syntax for pattern.

       -vFACILITY:facility
       --verbose=FACILITY:facility
            Sets  the RFC5424 facility of the log message. facility can be one
            of kern, user, mail, daemon, auth, syslog, lpr, news, uucp, clock,
            ftp,  ntp,  audit,  alert, clock2, local0, local1, local2, local3,
            local4, local5, local6 or local7. If this option is not specified,
            daemon  is  used  as  the  default for the local system syslog and
            local0 is used while sending a message to the target provided  via
            the --syslog-target option.

       --log-file[=file]
            Enables  logging  to a file. If file is specified, then it is used
            as the exact name for the log file. The default log file name used
            if file is omitted is /usr/local/var/log/ovn/program.log.

       --syslog-target=host:port
            Send  syslog messages to UDP port on host, in addition to the sys‐
            tem syslog. The host must be a numerical IP address, not  a  host‐
            name.

       --syslog-method=method
            Specify  method  as  how  syslog messages should be sent to syslog
            daemon. The following forms are supported:

            ·      libc, to use the libc syslog() function. Downside of  using
                   this  options  is that libc adds fixed prefix to every mes‐
                   sage before it is actually sent to the syslog  daemon  over
                   /dev/log UNIX domain socket.

            ·      unix:file, to use a UNIX domain socket directly. It is pos‐
                   sible to specify arbitrary message format with this option.
                   However,  rsyslogd  8.9  and  older versions use hard coded
                   parser function anyway that limits UNIX domain socket  use.
                   If  you  want  to  use  arbitrary message format with older
                   rsyslogd versions, then use  UDP  socket  to  localhost  IP
                   address instead.

            ·      udp:ip:port,  to  use  a UDP socket. With this method it is
                   possible to use arbitrary message format  also  with  older
                   rsyslogd.  When  sending  syslog  messages  over UDP socket
                   extra precaution needs to be taken into account, for  exam‐
                   ple,  syslog daemon needs to be configured to listen on the
                   specified UDP port,  accidental  iptables  rules  could  be
                   interfering  with  local  syslog traffic and there are some
                   security considerations that apply to UDP sockets,  but  do
                   not apply to UNIX domain sockets.

            ·      null, to discard all messages logged to syslog.

            The  default is taken from the OVS_SYSLOG_METHOD environment vari‐
            able; if it is unset, the default is libc.

   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
                   format are available:

                   table  2-D text tables with aligned columns.

                   list (default)
                          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
                                 table  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  unless
                   the table format is set to json, in which case json format‐
                   ting is always used when formatting  cells.  The  following
                   types of format are available:

                   string (default)
                          The  simple  format described in the Database Values
                          section of ovs-vsctl(8).

                   bare   The simple format with punctuation stripped off:  []
                          and {} are omitted around sets, maps, and empty col‐
                          umns, items within sets  and  maps  are  space-sepa‐
                          rated, and strings are never quoted. This format may
                          be easier for scripts to parse.

                   json   The RFC 4627 JSON format as described above.

              --no-headings
                   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 pos‐
                   sible. This option causes JSON in output to be printed in a
                   more  readable  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.

   PKI Options
       PKI  configuration  is  required  to  use SSL for the connection to the
       database.

              -p privkey.pem
              --private-key=privkey.pem
                   Specifies a PEM file containing the  private  key  used  as
                   identity for outgoing SSL connections.

              -c cert.pem
              --certificate=cert.pem
                   Specifies  a  PEM file containing a certificate that certi‐
                   fies the private key specified on -p or --private-key to be
                   trustworthy. The certificate must be signed by the certifi‐
                   cate authority (CA) that the peer in SSL  connections  will
                   use to verify it.

              -C cacert.pem
              --ca-cert=cacert.pem
                   Specifies a PEM file containing the CA certificate for ver‐
                   ifying certificates presented to this program by SSL peers.
                   (This  may  be  the  same certificate that SSL peers use to
                   verify the certificate specified on -c or --certificate, or
                   it  may  be a different one, depending on the PKI design in
                   use.)

              -C none
              --ca-cert=none
                   Disables verification  of  certificates  presented  by  SSL
                   peers.  This  introduces  a security risk, because it means
                   that certificates cannot be verified to be those  of  known
                   trusted hosts.

              --bootstrap-ca-cert=cacert.pem
                     When  cacert.pem  exists, this option has the same effect
                     as -C or --ca-cert. If it does not exist, then  the  exe‐
                     cutable  will  attempt  to obtain the CA certificate from
                     the SSL peer on its first SSL connection and save  it  to
                     the  named PEM file. If it is successful, it will immedi‐
                     ately drop the connection and reconnect, and from then on
                     all  SSL  connections must be authenticated by a certifi‐
                     cate signed by the CA certificate thus obtained.

                     This option exposes the SSL connection to  a  man-in-the-
                     middle  attack  obtaining the initial CA certificate, but
                     it may be useful for bootstrapping.

                     This option is only useful if the SSL peer sends  its  CA
                     certificate as part of the SSL certificate chain. The SSL
                     protocol does not require the server to send the CA  cer‐
                     tificate.

                     This option is mutually exclusive with -C and --ca-cert.

   Other Options
       -h
       --help
            Prints a brief help message to the console.

       -V
       --version
            Prints version information to the console.

COMMANDS
       The following sections describe the commands that ovn-sbctl supports.

   OVN_Southbound Commands
       These commands work with an OVN_Southbound database as a whole.

              init   Initializes the database, if it is empty. If the database
                     has already been initialized, this command has no effect.

              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.  encap-type  is  a
                     comma-separated  list  of  tunnel types. The chassis will
                     have one encap entry for each specified tunnel type  with
                     encap-ip as the destination IP for each.

                     Without  --may-exist, attempting to create a chassis that
                     exists is an error. With --may-exist, this  command  does
                     nothing if chassis already exists.

              [--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] lsp-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 chassis.

              [--if-exists] lsp-unbind logical-port
                     Removes the binding of logical-port.

                     Without --if-exists, attempting to unbind a logical  port
                     that is not bound is an error. With --if-exists, attempt‐
                     ing to unbind logical port  that  is  not  bound  has  no
                     effect.

   Logical Flow Commands
       [--uuid]  [--ovs[=remote]]  [--stats]  [--vflows]  lflow-list [logical-
       datapath] [lflow...]
              List logical flows. If logical-datapath is specified, only  list
              flows  for  that  logical  datapath. The logical-datapath may be
              given as a UUID or as a datapath name  (reporting  an  error  if
              multiple datapaths have the same name).

              If  at least one lflow is given, only matching logical flows, if
              any, are listed. Each lflow may be specified as a  UUID  or  the
              first  few  characters  of  a  UUID,  optionally prefixed by 0x.
              (Because ovn-controller sets OpenFlow flow cookies to the  first
              32  bits of the corresponding logical flow’s UUID, this makes it
              easy to look up the logical flow  that  generated  a  particular
              OpenFlow flow.)

              If --uuid is specified, the output includes the first 32 bits of
              each logical flow’s UUID. This makes it easier to find the Open‐
              Flow flows that correspond to a given logical flow.

              If  --ovs  is included, ovn-sbctl attempts to obtain and display
              the OpenFlow flows that correspond to each OVN logical flow.  To
              do    so,    ovn-sbctl   connects   to   remote   (by   default,
              unix:/br-int.mgmt) over OpenFlow and  retrieves  the  flows.  If
              remote  is  specified,  it must be an active OpenFlow connection
              method described in ovsdb(7). Please see the discussion  of  the
              similar  --ovs option in ovn-trace(8) for more information about
              the OpenFlow flow output.

              By  default,  OpenFlow  flow  output  includes  only  match  and
              actions.  Add  --stats to include all OpenFlow information, such
              as packet and byte counters, duration, and timeouts.

              If --vflows  is  included,  other  southbound  database  records
              directly  used  for  generating  OpenFlow flows are also listed.
              This includes:  port-bindings,  mac-bindings,  multicast-groups,
              chassis.  The  --ovs and --stats can also be used in conjunction
              with --vflows.

       [--uuid] dump-flows [logical-datapath]
              Alias for lflow-list.

       count-flows [logical-datapath]
              prints numbers of logical flows per table and per datapath.

   Remote Connectivity Commands
       These commands manipulate the connections column in the SB_Global table
       and  rows  in  the Connection table. When ovsdb-server is configured to
       use the connections column  for  OVSDB  connections,  this  allows  the
       administrator  to  use  \fBovn\-sbctl\fR  to configure database connec‐
       tions.

              get-connection
                     Prints the configured connection(s).

              del-connection
                     Deletes the configured connection(s).

              [--inactivity-probe=msecs] set-connection target...
                     Sets  the  configured  manager  target  or  targets.  Use
                     --inactivity-probe=msecs  to  override  the  default idle
                     connection inactivity probe time. Use 0 to disable  inac‐
                     tivity probes.

   SSL Configuration Commands
       When  ovsdb-server  is  configured  to connect using SSL, the following
       parameters are required:

              private-key
                     Specifies a PEM file containing the private key used  for
                     SSL connections.

              certificate
                     Specifies  a PEM file containing a certificate, signed by
                     the certificate authority (CA)  used  by  the  connection
                     peers,  that  certifies  the  private  key, identifying a
                     trustworthy peer.

              ca-cert
                     Specifies a PEM file containing the CA  certificate  used
                     to verify that the connection peers are trustworthy.

       These  SSL settings apply to all SSL connections made by the southbound
       database server.

              get-ssl
                     Prints the SSL configuration.

              del-ssl
                     Deletes the current SSL configuration.

              [--bootstrap] set-ssl private-key certificate ca-cert  [ssl-pro
              tocol-list [ssl-cipher-list]]
                     Sets the SSL configuration.

   Database Commands
       These  commands query and modify the contents of ovsdb tables. They are
       a slight abstraction of the ovsdb interface and as such they operate at
       a lower level than other ovn-sbctl commands.

       Identifying Tables, Records, and Columns

       Each of these commands has a table parameter to identify a table within
       the database. Many of them also take a record parameter that identifies
       a  particular  record  within  a table. The record parameter may be the
       UUID for a record, which may be abbreviated to its first  4  (or  more)
       hex  digits,  as  long  as that is unique. Many tables offer additional
       ways to identify records. Some commands  also  take  column  parameters
       that identify a particular field within the records in a table.

       For  a list of tables and their columns, see ovn-sb(5) or see the table
       listing from the --help option.

       Record names must be specified in full and with correct capitalization,
       except  that  UUIDs  may  be abbreviated to their first 4 (or more) hex
       digits, as long as that is unique within the table. Names of tables and
       columns  are  not  case-sensitive, and - and _ are treated interchange‐
       ably. Unique abbreviations of table and column  names  are  acceptable,
       e.g. d or dhcp is sufficient to identify the DHCP_Options table.

       Database Values

       Each column in the database accepts a fixed type of data. The currently
       defined basic types, and their representations, are:

              integer
                     A decimal integer in the range -2**63 to 2**63-1,  inclu‐
                     sive.

              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.  How‐
                     ever, 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 charac‐
                     ters. 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 ovs-vsctl 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  col‐
       umn’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 optionally
       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-con
       fig=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       [col
              umn[:key]=value]...
                     Lists  the  data  in  each  record  in table whose column
                     equals value or, if key is specified, whose  column  con‐
                     tains a key with the specified value. The following oper‐
                     ators may be used where = is written in the  syntax  sum‐
                     mary:

                     = != 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, respectively.

                            Consider column[:key] and value as  sets  of  ele‐
                            ments. Identical sets are considered equal. Other‐
                            wise, if the sets have different numbers  of  ele‐
                            ments,  then the set with more elements is consid‐
                            ered to be larger. Otherwise, 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 contains key-value
                            pairs, first all the keys are compared, and values
                            are  considered only if the two sets contain iden‐
                            tical 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 contains 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 contains 1 or 2 but not both.

                     {>gt;>gt;=} {>gt;>gt;}
                            Same as {=} and {},  respectively,  except  that
                            the   relationship   is   reversed.  For  example,
                            flood-vlans{>gt;>gt;=}1,2 selects records  in  which  the
                            flood-vlans column contains both 1 and 2.

                     The  following  operators  are  available  only  in  Open
                     vSwitch 2.16 and later:

                     {in}   Selects records in which  every  element  in  col
                            umn[:key]  is  also in value. (This is the same as
                            {=}.)

                     {not-in}
                            Selects records in which  every  element  in  col
                            umn[:key] is not in value.

                     For  arithmetic  operators  (= != gt;>gt; = >gt;>gt;=), when key is
                     specified but a particular record’s column does not  con‐
                     tain  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  par‐
                     ticular record’s column does not contain key, the compar‐
                     ison is done against an empty set.  Thus,  the  condition
                     other-config: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  ovs-vsctl
                     invocation 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 out‐
                     put 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  ovs-vsctl
                     invocation in contexts where a UUID is expected.

                     Both --id and the column arguments are optional, but usu‐
                     ally at least one or the other should  be  specified.  If
                     both are omitted, 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 specified, in which case the value  associ‐
                     ated  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 col
                     umn in record in table. The first form applies to columns
                     that are not maps: each specified value is  removed  from
                     the  column. The second and third forms apply to map col‐
                     umns: if only a key is specified, 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 \*(PN
                     invocation in contexts where a  UUID  is  expected.  Such
                     references may precede or follow the create command.

                     Caution (ovs-vsctl as example)
                            Records  in the Open vSwitch database are signifi‐
                            cant 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  database
                            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 example)
                            The  destroy command is only useful for records in
                            the QoS or Queue tables. Records in  other  tables
                            are  automatically  deleted from the database when
                            they become unreachable from the Open_vSwitch  ta‐
                            ble.  This  means that deleting 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. This command
                     supports the same operators and semantics  described  for
                     the find command above.

                     If  no  column[:key]=value arguments are given, this com‐
                     mand 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 example)
                            Usually wait-until should be placed at the  begin‐
                            ning  of a set of ovs-vsctl commands. For example,
                            wait-until bridge br0  --  get  bridge  br0  data
                            path_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 prevent ovs-vsctl 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  com‐
                     mand and its arguments.

ENVIRONMENT
       OVN_SB_DAEMON
              If set, this should name the Unix domain socket for an ovn-sbctl
              server process. See Daemon Mode, above, for more information.

       OVN_SBCTL_OPTIONS
              If set, a set of options for ovn-sbctl to  apply  automatically,
              in the same form as on the command line.

       OVN_SB_DB
              If  set, the default database to contact when the --db option is
              not used.

EXIT STATUS
       0      Successful program execution.

       1      Usage, syntax, or network error.

SEE ALSO
       ovn-sb(5), ovn-appctl(8).



OVN 22.06.2                        ovn-sbctl                      ovn-sbctl(8)