The Open vSwitch Database Management Protocol
RFC 7047

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/rfc7047.

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
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   to this document.

Pfaff & Davie                 Informational                     [Page 1]
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