H3C MSR1000[2600][3600] Routers

Comware 9 OpenFlow Configuration Guide

New H3C Technologies Co., Ltd.

[Link]

Software version: R9141 and later

Document version: 6W100-20250312
Copyright © 2025, New H3C Technologies Co., Ltd. and its licensors

All rights reserved

No part of this manual may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior written
consent of New H3C Technologies Co., Ltd.
Trademarks
Except for the trademarks of New H3C Technologies Co., Ltd., any trademarks that may be mentioned in this
document are the property of their respective owners.
Notice
The information in this document is subject to change without notice. All contents in this document, including
statements, information, and recommendations, are believed to be accurate, but they are presented without
warranty of any kind, express or implied. H3C shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions
contained herein.
Preface
This configuration guide describes OpenFlow fundamentals and configuration. OpenFlow separates
the data forwarding and routing decision functions. An OpenFlow switch matches and forwards
packets by using the flow table entries obtained from a controller.
This preface includes the following topics about the documentation:
• Audience.
• Conventions.
• Documentation feedback.

Audience
This documentation is intended for:
• Network planners.
• Field technical support and servicing engineers.
• Network administrators.

Conventions
The following information describes the conventions used in the documentation.
Command conventions

Convention Description
Boldface Bold text represents commands and keywords that you enter literally as shown.

Italic Italic text represents arguments that you replace with actual values.

[] Square brackets enclose syntax choices (keywords or arguments) that are optional.
Braces enclose a set of required syntax choices separated by vertical bars, from which
{ x | y | ... }
you select one.
Square brackets enclose a set of optional syntax choices separated by vertical bars,
[ x | y | ... ]
from which you select one or none.
Asterisk marked braces enclose a set of required syntax choices separated by vertical
{ x | y | ... } *
bars, from which you select a minimum of one.
Asterisk marked square brackets enclose optional syntax choices separated by vertical
[ x | y | ... ] *
bars, from which you select one choice, multiple choices, or none.
The argument or keyword and argument combination before the ampersand (&) sign
&<1-n>
can be entered 1 to n times.
# A line that starts with a pound (#) sign is comments.

GUI conventions

Convention Description
Window names, button names, field names, and menu items are in Boldface. For
Boldface
example, the New User window opens; click OK.

> Multi-level menus are separated by angle brackets. For example, File > Create >
 Convention Description
Folder.

Symbols

Convention Description
An alert that calls attention to important information that if not understood or followed
WARNING! can result in personal injury.

An alert that calls attention to important information that if not understood or followed
CAUTION: can result in data loss, data corruption, or damage to hardware or software.

IMPORTANT: An alert that calls attention to essential information.

NOTE: An alert that contains additional or supplementary information.

TIP: An alert that provides helpful information.

Network topology icons

Convention Description

Represents a generic network device, such as a router, switch, or firewall.

Represents a routing-capable device, such as a router or Layer 3 switch.

Represents a generic switch, such as a Layer 2 or Layer 3 switch, or a router that

supports Layer 2 forwarding and other Layer 2 features.

Represents an access controller, a unified wired-WLAN module, or the access

controller engine on a unified wired-WLAN switch.

Represents an access point.

T Represents a wireless terminator unit.

T Represents a wireless terminator.

Represents a mesh access point.

Represents omnidirectional signals.

Represents directional signals.

Represents a security product, such as a firewall, UTM, multiservice security

gateway, or load balancing device.

Represents a security module, such as a firewall, load balancing, NetStream, SSL

VPN, IPS, or ACG module.
Examples provided in this document
Examples in this document might use devices that differ from your device in hardware model,
configuration, or software version. It is normal that the port numbers, sample output, screenshots,
and other information in the examples differ from what you have on your device.

Documentation feedback
You can e-mail your comments about product documentation to info@[Link].
We appreciate your comments.
Contents
Configuring OpenFlow ··················································································· 1
About OpenFlow ················································································································································ 1
OpenFlow network components················································································································· 1
OpenFlow switch ········································································································································ 1
OpenFlow port············································································································································ 1
OpenFlow instance ···································································································································· 2
OpenFlow flow table··································································································································· 3
Group table ················································································································································ 5
Meter table ················································································································································· 5
OpenFlow channel ····································································································································· 6
OpenFlow controller ··································································································································· 8
Protocols and standards ···························································································································· 9
OpenFlow tasks at a glance ······························································································································· 9
Configuring OpenFlow instances ······················································································································· 9
Creating an OpenFlow instance ················································································································· 9
Configuring the OpenFlow instance mode ······························································································· 10
Configuring inband management VLANs ································································································· 10
Configuring flow tables and flow entries for an OpenFlow instance························································· 11
Setting the controller connection mode ···································································································· 12
Preventing an OpenFlow instance from reporting the specified types of ports to controllers ·················· 12
Enabling the OpenFlow data plane forwarding feature ············································································ 13
Activating or reactivating an OpenFlow instance ····················································································· 13
Configuring OpenFlow instance attributes ······························································································· 13
Configuring controllers for an OpenFlow switch ······························································································ 14
Excluding the specified VLANs from the VLANs in which traffic is forwarded in the OpenFlow forwarding
process····························································································································································· 15
Configuring an OpenFlow instance to act as an SSL server to listen to controllers········································· 15
Refreshing all Layer 3 flow entries in the MAC-IP flow tables for an OpenFlow instance ······························· 16
Shutting down an interface by OpenFlow ········································································································ 16
Enabling SNMP notifications for OpenFlow ····································································································· 17
Configuring OpenFlow flow monitor parameters ······························································································ 17
Verifying and maintaining OpenFlow ··············································································································· 18
Displaying the configuration and operating status of OpenFlow ······························································ 18
Clearing statistics on packets that a controller sends and receives for an OpenFlow instance ··············· 19
OpenFlow configuration examples ··················································································································· 19
Example: Configuring OpenFlow in global mode ····················································································· 19
Example: Configuring OpenFlow in VLAN mode ····················································································· 20
Appendix A Application restrictions ·················································································································· 21
Flow entry restrictions ······························································································································ 21
Restrictions for merging the action list into the action set ········································································ 22
Packet-out messages restrictions ············································································································ 23
Packet-in messages restrictions ·············································································································· 23
LLDP frame matching ······························································································································ 24
Flow table modification messages restrictions ························································································· 24
Appendix B MAC-IP flow table ························································································································· 24
Capabilities supported by the MAC-IP flow table ····················································································· 24
MAC-IP flow table restrictions ·················································································································· 27
Table-miss flow entry of MAC-IP flow tables···························································································· 28
Dynamic aware ········································································································································ 28
MAC-IP flow table cooperating with extensibility flow table ····································································· 28
Appendix C VLAN tagging and untagging flow tables ····················································································· 29
Capabilities supported by the VLAN tagging flow table ··········································································· 29
Capabilities supported by the VLAN untagging flow table ······································································· 30

i
Configuring OpenFlow
About OpenFlow
OpenFlow is the communications interface defined between the control and forwarding layers of a
Software-Defined Networking architecture. With OpenFlow, you can perform centralized data
forwarding management for physical and virtual devices through controllers.

OpenFlow network components

OpenFlow separates the data forwarding and routing decision functions. It keeps the flow-based
forwarding function and employs a separate controller to make routing decisions. An OpenFlow
switch communicates with the controller through an OpenFlow channel. An OpenFlow channel can
be encrypted by using TLS or run directly over TCP. An OpenFlow switch exchanges control
messages with the controller through an OpenFlow channel to perform the following operations:
• Receive flow table entries or data from the controller.
• Report information to the controller.
Unless otherwise stated, a switch refers to an OpenFlow switch throughout this document.
Figure 1 OpenFlow network diagram

Switch

OpenFlow
OpenFlow channel protocol
SSL

Controller
Flow table

OpenFlow switch
OpenFlow switches include the following types:
• OpenFlow-only—Supports only OpenFlow operation.
• OpenFlow-hybrid—Supports both OpenFlow operation and traditional Ethernet switching
operation.

OpenFlow port
OpenFlow supports the following types of ports:
• Physical port—Corresponds to a hardware interface, such as an Ethernet interface. A physical
port can be either an ingress port or an output port.

1
 • Logical port—Does not correspond to a hardware interface and might be defined by
non-OpenFlow methods. For example, aggregate interfaces and tunnel interfaces are logical
ports. A logical port can be either an ingress port or an output port.
• Reserved port—Defined by OpenFlow to specify forwarding actions. Reserved ports include
the following types:
 All—All ports that can be used to forward a packet.
 Controller—OpenFlow controller.
 Table—Flow table.
 In port—Packet ingress port.
 Any—Generic port description.
 Local—Local CPU.
 Normal—Normal forwarding process.
 Flood—Flooding.
Except the Any type, all reserved ports can be used as output ports. Only the Controller and
Local types can be used as ingress ports.

OpenFlow instance
Unless otherwise stated, an OpenFlow switch refers to an OpenFlow instance throughout this
document.
You can configure one or more OpenFlow instances on the same device. A controller considers each
OpenFlow instance as a separate OpenFlow switch and deploys forwarding instructions to it.
OpenFlow instance mode
An OpenFlow instance operates in one of the following modes:
• Global mode—When the global mode is enabled for an OpenFlow instance, the flow entries
take effect on packets within the network. All service interfaces on the device belong to the
OpenFlow instance.
• VLAN mode—When the VLAN mode is enabled for an OpenFlow instance, the flow entries
take effect only on packets within VLANs associated with the OpenFlow instance. You must
associate the OpenFlow instance with VLANs. All interfaces in the associated VLANs belong to
the OpenFlow instance.
Activation and reactivation
The configurations for an OpenFlow instance take effect only after the OpenFlow instance is
activated.
The controller can deploy flow entries to an OpenFlow instance only after the OpenFlow instance
reports the following device information to the controller:
• Capabilities supported by OpenFlow.
• Information about ports that belong to the OpenFlow instance.
An activated OpenFlow instance must be reactivated when any of the OpenFlow instance
configurations are changed.
After reactivation, the OpenFlow instance is disconnected from all controllers and then reconnected
to them.
OpenFlow instance port
An OpenFlow switch sends information about the following ports to the controller:
• Physical ports.
• Logical ports.

2
 • Reserved ports of the Local type.
In loosen mode, a port belongs to the OpenFlow instance when VLANs associated with the
OpenFlow instance overlap with the port's allowed VLANs. Otherwise, a port belongs to an
OpenFlow instance only when VLANs associated with the OpenFlow instance are within the port's
allowed VLAN list.

OpenFlow flow table

An OpenFlow switch matches packets with one or more flow tables. A flow table contains flow entries,
and packets are matched based on the matching precedence of flow entries.
Flow table types
OpenFlow flow tables include the following types:
• MAC-IP—Combines the MAC address table and FIB table.
A MAC-IP flow table provides the following match fields:
 Destination MAC address.
 VLAN.
 Destination IP address.
A MAC-IP flow table provides the following actions:
 Modifying the destination MAC address.
 Modifying the source MAC address.
 Modifying the VLAN.
 Modifying the tunnel ID.
 Specifying the output port.
For more information, see "Appendix B MAC-IP flow table."
• Extensibility—Uses ACLs to match packets.
• VLAN tagging—Tags all incoming packets matching the table.
• VLAN untagging—Untags all outgoing packets matching the table.
Flow entry
A flow entry contains the following fields:
• Match fields—Matching rules of the flow entry. These contain the ingress port, packet headers,
and metadata specified by the previous table.
• Priority—Matching precedence of the flow entry. When a packet is matched with the flow table,
only the highest priority flow entry that matches the packet is selected.
• Counters—Counts of the packets and bytes that match the flow entry.
• Instructions—Used to modify the action set or pipeline processing. Instructions include the
following types:
 Meter—Directs the packets to the specified meter to rate limit the packets.
 Apply-Actions—Applies the specified actions in the action list immediately.
 Clear-Actions—Clears all actions in the action set immediately.
 Write-Actions—Modifies all actions in the action set immediately.
 Write-Metadata—Modifies packets between two flow tables if multiple flow tables exist.
 Goto-Table—Indicates the next flow table in the processing pipeline.
Actions are executed in one of the following ways:
 Action Set—When the instruction set of a flow entry does not contain a Goto-Table
instruction, pipeline processing stops. Then, the actions in the action set are executed in the

3
 order specified by the instruction list. An action set contains a maximum of one action of
each type.
 Action List—The actions in the action list are executed immediately in the order specified
by the action list. The effect of those actions is cumulative.
Actions include the following types:
 (Required.) Output—The Output action forwards a packet to the specified OpenFlow port.
OpenFlow switches must support forwarding packets to physical ports, logical ports, and
reserved ports.
 (Required.) Drop—No explicit action exists to represent drops. Packets whose action sets
have no output actions are dropped. Typically, packets are dropped due to empty instruction
sets, empty action sets, or the executing a Clear-Actions instruction.
 (Required.) Group—Process the packet through the specified group. The exact
interpretation depends on group type.
 (Optional.) Set-Queue—The Set-Queue action sets the queue ID for a packet. When the
packet is forwarded to a port by the output action, the packet is assigned to the queue
attached to this port for scheduling and forwarding. The forwarding behavior is dictated by
the configuration of the queue and provides basic QoS support.
 (Optional.) Push-Tag/Pop-Tag—Switches support the ability to push or pop tags, such as
VLAN tags, MPLS tags, and PBB tags.
 (Optional.) Set-Field—The Set-Field actions are identified by their field type and modify the
values of corresponding header fields in the packet. Set-Field actions are always applied to
the outermost header. For example, a Set VLAN ID action always sets the ID of the
outermost VLAN tag.
 (Optional.) Change-TTL—The Change-TTL actions modify the values of the IPv4 TTL,
IPv6 Hop Limit, or MPLS TTL in the packet. Change-TTL actions are always applied to the
outermost header. The Change-TTL actions include the following the actions: Set TTL,
Decrement TTL, and Copy TTL (outwards or inwards).
• Timeouts—Maximum amount of idle time or hard time for the flow entry.
 idle time—The flow entry is removed when it has matched no packets during the idle time.
 hard time—The flow entry is removed when the hard time timeout is exceeded, regardless
of whether or not it has matched packets.
• Cookie—Custom data specified by the controller. The data are not used for processing packets,
and might be used by the controller for matching flow entries.
• Flags—Flag for modifying the flow entry management method. For example, the
OFPFF_SEND_FLOW_REM flag triggers the switch to send Flow-Removed messages for the
flow entry to the controller.
Figure 2 Flow entry components

Match Fields Priority Counters Instructions Timeouts Cookie Flags

OpenFlow pipeline
The OpenFlow pipeline processing defines how packets interact with flow tables contained by a
switch.
The flow tables of an OpenFlow switch are sequentially numbered, starting at 0. The packet is first
matched with flow entries of the first flow table, which is flow table 0. A flow entry can only direct a
packet to a flow table number that is greater than its own flow table number.
When a packet matches a flow entry, the OpenFlow switch updates the action set for the packet and
passes the packet to the next flow table. In the last flow table, the OpenFlow switch executes all
actions to modify packet contents and specify the output port for packet forwarding. If the instruction
set of a flow table contains an action list, the OpenFlow switch immediately executes the actions for
a copy of the packet in this table.

4
 Figure 3 OpenFlow forwarding workflow

OpenFlow Switch

Packet+
Ingress Ingress port+
Packet port Execute Packet
Metadata Packet
In Table 0 Table 1 Table n Action Out
Action Action Action Set
Set = {} Set Set

Table-miss flow entry

Every flow table must support a table-miss flow entry to process table misses. The table-miss flow
entry specifies how to process packets that were not matched by other flow entries in the flow table.
The table-miss flow entry wildcards all match fields (all fields omitted) and has the lowest priority 0.
The table-miss flow entry behaves in most ways like any other flow entry.

Group table
The ability for a flow entry to point to a group enables OpenFlow to represent additional methods of
forwarding. A group table contains group entries.
A group entry contains the following fields:
• Group Identifier—A 32 bit unsigned integer uniquely identifying the group.
• Group Type—Type of the group:
 All—Execute all buckets in the group. This group is used for multicast or broadcast
forwarding.
 Select—Execute one bucket in the group.
 Indirect—Execute the one defined bucket in the group.
 Fast failover—Execute the first live bucket.
• Counters—Updated when packets are processed by a group.
• Action Buckets—An ordered list of action buckets, where each action bucket contains a set of
actions to execute and associated parameters.
Figure 4 Group entry components

Group Identifier Group Type Counters Action Buckets

Meter table
Meters enable OpenFlow to implement various simple QoS operations, such as rate-limiting. A
meter table contains meter entries.
A meter entry contains the following fields:
• Meter Identifier—A 32 bit unsigned integer uniquely identifying the meter.
• Meter Bands—Each meter can have one or more meter bands. Each band specifies the rate at
which the band applies and the way packets should be processed. If the current rate of packets
exceeds the rate of multiple bands, the band with the highest configured rate is used.
• Counters—Updated when packets are processed by a meter.

5
 Figure 5 Meter entry components

Meter Identifier Meter Bands Counters

A meter band contains the following fields:

• Band Type—(Optional.) Packet processing methods. Options are:
 Drop—Discards the packet when the rate of the packet exceeds the band rate.
 DSCP Remark—Remarks the DSCP field in the IP header of the packet.
• Rate—Defines the lowest rate at which the band can apply.
• Counters—Updated when packets are processed by a band.
• Type Specific Arguments—Some band types have specific arguments.
Figure 6 Band components

Band Type Rate Counters Type Specific arguments

OpenFlow channel
The OpenFlow channel is the interface that connects each OpenFlow switch to a controller. The
controller uses the OpenFlow channel to exchange control messages with the switch to perform the
following operations:
• Configure and manage the switch.
• Receive events from the switch.
• Send packets out the switch.
The OpenFlow channel is usually encrypted by using TLS. Also, an OpenFlow channel can be run
directly over TCP.
The OpenFlow protocol supports the following message types: controller-to-switch, asynchronous,
and symmetric. Each message type has its own subtypes.
Controller-to-switch messages
Controller-to-switch messages are initiated by the controller and used to directly manage or inspect
the state of the switch. Controller-to-switch messages might or might not require a response from the
switch.
The controller-to-switch messages include the following subtypes:
• Features—The controller requests the basic capabilities of a switch by sending a features
request. The switch must respond with a features reply that specifies the basic capabilities of
the switch.
• Configuration—The controller sets and queries configuration parameters in the switch. The
switch only responds to a query from the controller.
• Modify-State—The controller sends Modify-State messages to manage state on the switches.
Their primary purpose is to add, delete, and modify flow or group entries in the OpenFlow tables
and to set switch port properties.
• Read-State—The controller sends Read-State messages to collect various information from
the switch, such as current configuration and statistics.
• Packet-out—These are used by the controller to send packets out of the specified port on the
switch, or to forward packets received through packet-in messages. Packet-out messages must
contain a full packet or a buffer ID representing a packet stored in the switch. The message
must also contain a list of actions to be applied in the order they are specified. An empty action
list drops the packet.

6
 • Barrier—Barrier messages are used to confirm the completion of the previous operations. The
controller send s Barrier request. The switch must send a Barrier reply when all the previous
operations are complete.
• Role-Request—Role-Request messages are used by the controller to set the role of its
OpenFlow channel, or query that role. It is typically used when the switch connects to multiple
controllers.
• Asynchronous-Configuration—These are used by the controller to set an additional filter on
the asynchronous messages that it wants to receive, or to query that filter. It is typically used
when the switch connects to multiple controllers.
Asynchronous messages
Switches send asynchronous messages to controllers to inform a packet arrival or switch state
change. For example, when a flow entry is removed due to timeout, the switch sends a flow-removed
message to inform the controller.
The asynchronous messages include the following subtypes:
• Packet-In—Transfer the control of a packet to the controller. For all packets forwarded to the
Controller reserved port using a flow entry or the table-miss flow entry, a packet-in event is
always sent to controllers. Other processing, such as TTL checking, can also generate
packet-in events to send packets to the controller. The packet-in events can include the full
packet or can be configured to buffer packets in the switch. If the packet-in event is configured
to buffer packets, the packet-in events contain only some fraction of the packet header and a
buffer ID. The controller processes the full packet or the combination of the packet header and
the buffer ID. Then, the controller sends a packet-out message to direct the switch to process
the packet.
• Flow-Removed—Inform the controller about the removal of a flow entry from a flow table.
These are generated due to a controller flow delete request or the switch flow expiry process
when one of the flow timeouts is exceeded.
• Port-status—Inform the controller of a state or setting change on a port.
• Error—Inform the controller of a problem or error.
Symmetric messages
Symmetric messages are sent without solicitation, in either direction.
The symmetric messages contain the following subtypes:
• Hello—Hello messages are exchanged between the switch and controller upon connection
startup.
• Echo—Echo request or reply messages can be sent from either the switch or the controller, and
must return an echo reply. They are mainly used to verify the liveness of a controller-switch
connection, and might also be used to measure its latency or bandwidth.
• Experimenter—This is a staging area for features meant for future OpenFlow revisions.
OpenFlow timers
An OpenFlow switch supports the following timers:
• Connection detection interval—Interval at which the OpenFlow switch sends an Echo
Request message to a controller. When the OpenFlow switch receives no Echo Reply message
within three intervals, the OpenFlow switch is disconnected from the controller.
• Reconnection interval—Interval for the OpenFlow switch to wait before it attempts to
reconnect to a controller.

7
OpenFlow controller
Controller roles
A switch can establish connections with multiple controllers. When OpenFlow operation is initiated, a
switch is simultaneously connected to multiple controllers in Equal state. A controller can request its
role to be changed at any time. The controller role contains the following types:
• Equal—In this role, the controller has full access to the switch and is equal to other controllers
in the same role. By default, the controller receives all switch asynchronous messages such as
packet-in and flow-removed messages. The controller can send controller-to-switch messages
to modify the state of the switch.
• Master—This role is similar to the Equal role and has full access to the switch. The difference is
that up to one controller in this role is allowed for a switch.
• Slave—In this role, the controller has read-only access to the switch.
The controller cannot send controller-to-switch messages to perform the following operations:
 Deploy flow entries, group entries, and meter entries.
 Modify the port and switch configurations.
 Send packet-out messages.
By default, the controller does not receive switch asynchronous messages except Port-status
messages. The controller can send Asynchronous-Configuration messages to set the
asynchronous message types it wants to receive.
Controller connection modes
An OpenFlow instance can connect to one or more controllers, depending on the controller
connection mode the OpenFlow instance uses:
• Single—The OpenFlow instance connects to only one controller at a time. When
communication with the current controller fails, the OpenFlow instance uses another controller.
• Multiple—The OpenFlow instance can simultaneously connect to multiple controllers. When
communication with any controller fails, the OpenFlow instance attempts to reconnect to the
controller after a reconnection interval.
Main and auxiliary connections
The OpenFlow channel can have one main connection and multiple auxiliary connections.
• Main connection—Processes control messages to complete operations such as deploying
entries, obtaining data, and sending information. The main connection must be a reliable TCP
or SSL connection.
• Auxiliary connection—Improves the communication performance between the controller and
OpenFlow switches. An auxiliary connection can have the different destination IP address and
port number than the main connection.
Connection interruption mode
When an OpenFlow switch is disconnected from all controllers, the OpenFlow switch is set to either
of the following modes:
• Secure—The OpenFlow switch forwards traffic based on flow tables and does not remove
unexpired flow entries. If the output action in a matching flow entry is to forward traffic to a
controller, the traffic is discarded. This is the default forwarding mode.
• Standalone—The OpenFlow switch uses the normal forwarding process.
The OpenFlow switch forwards traffic based on flow tables when it reconnects to a controller
successfully.

8
Protocols and standards
OpenFlow Switch Specification Version 1.3.3

OpenFlow tasks at a glance

To configure OpenFlow, perform the following tasks:
1. Configuring OpenFlow instances
a. Creating an OpenFlow instance
b. Configuring the OpenFlow instance mode
c. (Optional.) Configuring inband management VLANs
d. (Optional.) Configuring flow tables and flow entries for an OpenFlow instance
e. (Optional.) Setting the controller connection mode
f. (Optional.) Preventing an OpenFlow instance from reporting the specified types of ports to
controllers
g. Enabling the OpenFlow data plane forwarding feature
This task is required in a forwarding-control separated network.
h. Activating or reactivating an OpenFlow instance
i. (Optional.) Configuring OpenFlow instance attributes
2. Configuring controllers for an OpenFlow switch
3. (Optional.) Excluding the specified VLANs from the VLANs in which traffic is forwarded in the
OpenFlow forwarding process
4. (Optional.) Configuring an OpenFlow instance to act as an SSL server to listen to controllers
5. (Optional.) Refreshing all Layer 3 flow entries in the MAC-IP flow tables for an OpenFlow
instance
6. (Optional.) Shutting down an interface by OpenFlow
7. (Optional.) Enabling SNMP notifications for OpenFlow
8. (Optional.) Configuring OpenFlow flow monitor parameters

Configuring OpenFlow instances

Creating an OpenFlow instance
1. Enter system view.
system-view
2. Create an OpenFlow instance and enter its view.
openflow instance instance-id
3. (Optional.) Set the datapath ID.
datapath-id id
By default, the datapath ID of an OpenFlow instance contains the instance ID and the bridge
MAC address of the device. The upper 16 bits are the instance ID and the lower 48 bits are the
bridge MAC address of the device.
The datapath ID uniquely identifies an OpenFlow switch (OpenFlow instance). Do not set the
same datapath ID for different OpenFlow switches.
4. Set a DSCP value for OpenFlow packets.

9
 tcp dscp dscp-value
By default, no DSCP value is set for OpenFlow packets.

Configuring the OpenFlow instance mode

Restrictions and guidelines
When you associate an OpenFlow instance with VLANs, follow these guidelines:
• For VLAN traffic to be processed correctly, associate different OpenFlow instances with
different VLANs.
• When you activate an OpenFlow instance that is associated with nonexistent VLANs, the
system automatically creates the VLANs.
• Do not associate VLANs permitted on a port with different OpenFlow instances. Otherwise, port
modification messages of different OpenFlow instances deployed from different controllers
overwrite each other.
Enabling the global mode for an OpenFlow instance
1. Enter system view.
system-view
2. Enter OpenFlow instance view.
openflow instance instance-id
3. Enable the global mode for the OpenFlow instance.
Classification global
By default, the OpenFlow instance mode is not configured.
Enabling the VLAN mode for an OpenFlow instance
1. Enter system view.
system-view
2. Enter OpenFlow instance view.
openflow instance instance-id
3. Configure the OpenFlow instance mode.
classification vlan vlan-id [ mask vlan-mask ] [ loosen ]
By default, the OpenFlow instance mode is not configured.

Configuring inband management VLANs

About this task
Traffic in the inband management VLANs are forwarded in the normal forwarding process instead of
the OpenFlow forwarding process. Inband management VLANs are used by an OpenFlow instance
to establish OpenFlow channels to controllers.
Restrictions and guidelines
The ports that are assigned only to inband management VLANs are not OpenFlow ports.
Inband management VLANs configured for an OpenFlow instance in VLAN mode must be within the
list of the VLANs associated with the OpenFlow instance.
If an OpenFlow instance in global or VLAN mode connects to a controller through a
non-management Ethernet interface, configure the VLAN to which the interface belongs as an
inband management VLAN.
You do not need to configure inband management VLANs for OpenFlow instances in port mode.

10
Procedure
1. Enter system view.
system-view
2. Enter OpenFlow instance view.
openflow instance instance-id
3. Configure inband management VLANs for the OpenFlow instance.
in-band management vlan vlan-id-list
By default, no inband management VLANs are configured for an OpenFlow instance.

Configuring flow tables and flow entries for an OpenFlow

instance
Restrictions and guidelines
You can configure one MAC-IP flow table and one or more extensibility flow tables for an OpenFlow
instance.
If you specify the ingress-vlan ingress-table-id option, make sure the VLAN tagging flow
table has the smallest ID among all flow tables. If you specify the egress-vlan
egress-table-id option, make sure the VLAN untagging flow table has the largest ID among all
flow tables.
The VLAN tagging and untagging flow tables take effect when the device meets the following
requirements:
• The device operates in standalone mode.
• The device is enabled to perform QinQ tagging for double-tagged packets passing an
extensibility flow table.
Specify the mac-ip table-id option before the extensibility table-id option when you
configure flow tables of both types at the same time.
The extensibility flow table ID must be greater than the MAC-IP flow table ID.
Procedure
1. Enter system view.
system-view
2. Enter OpenFlow instance view.
openflow instance instance-id
3. Configure flow tables for the OpenFlow instance.
flow-table { mac-ip mac-ip-table-id | extensibility
extensibility-table-id }*
By default, an OpenFlow instance contains one extensibility flow table with an ID of 0.
4. Set the maximum number of flow entries that each extensibility flow table supports.
flow-entry max-limit limit-value
By default, the device supports a maximum of 65535 flow entries in each extensibility flow table.
When the maximum number is reached, the OpenFlow instance does not accept new flow
entries for that table and sends a deployment failure notification to the controller.
When multiple extensibility flow tables exist, the limit applies to each extensibility flow table
separately.
5. Configure the OpenFlow instance to allow dynamic ARP entries to overwrite OpenFlow ARP
entries.

11
 precedence dynamic arp
By default, an OpenFlow instance does not allow dynamic ARP entries to overwrite OpenFlow
ARP entries.
Only MAC-IP flow tables support this feature.
6. Allow the deployed flow tables to include link aggregation member ports.
permit-port-type member-port
By default, the deployed flow tables cannot include link aggregation member ports.
7. Configure the default action of table-miss flow entries to forward packets to the normal pipeline.
default table-miss permit
By default, the default action of table-miss flow entries is to drop packets.

Setting the controller connection mode

Procedure
1. Enter system view.
system-view
2. Enter OpenFlow instance view.
openflow instance instance-id
3. Set the controller connection mode.
controller mode { multiple | single }
By default, the multiple mode is used.

Preventing an OpenFlow instance from reporting the

specified types of ports to controllers
About this task
Perform this task to prevent an OpenFlow instance from reporting controllers information about the
following types of interfaces that belong to the OpenFlow instance:
• Layer 3 Ethernet interface.
• Layer 3 aggregate interface.
• VLAN interface.
• Virtual switch instance (VSI) interface.
Procedure
1. Enter system view.
system-view
2. Enter OpenFlow instance view
openflow instance instance-id
3. Prevent an OpenFlow instance from reporting the specified types of ports to controllers.
forbidden port { l3-physical-interface | vlan-interface |
vsi-interface } *
By default, no port types are prevented from being reported to the controllers. All ports that
belong to an OpenFlow instance are reported to the controllers.

12
Enabling the OpenFlow data plane forwarding feature
About this task
In a forwarding-control separated network, you must enable this feature to deliver the following
mappings to the controller:
• Site-facing interface (where an AC is created) to VXLAN mappings.
Based on these mappings, the controller generates flow entries and then deploys the flow entries to
the switch.
Procedure
1. Enter system view.
system-view
2. Enter OpenFlow instance view.
openflow instance instance-id
3. Enable the OpenFlow data plane forwarding feature.
data-plane enable
By default, the OpenFlow data plane forwarding feature is disabled.

Activating or reactivating an OpenFlow instance

1. Enter system view.
system-view
2. Enter OpenFlow instance view.
openflow instance instance-id
3. Activate or reactivate the OpenFlow instance.
active instance
By default, an OpenFlow instance is not activated.

Configuring OpenFlow instance attributes

Restrictions and guidelines
The OpenFlow instance attribute configurations of an OpenFlow instance can take effect without
activation for the OpenFlow instance.
Procedure
1. Enter system view.
system-view
2. Enter OpenFlow instance view.
openflow instance instance-id
3. Configure a description for the OpenFlow instance.
description text
By default, an OpenFlow instance does not have a description.
4. Set OpenFlow timers.
 Set the connection detection interval.
controller echo-request interval interval
The default setting is 5 seconds.

13
  Set the reconnection interval.
controller connect interval interval
The default setting is 60 seconds.
5. Configure MAC address-related features.
 Forbid MAC address learning for VLANs associated with the OpenFlow instance.
mac-learning forbidden
By default, MAC address learning is allowed for VLANs associated with an OpenFlow
instance.
The configuration does not take effect on inband management VLANs.
 Configure the OpenFlow instance to support matching the dynamic MAC addresses in the
query and deletion flow entry instructions sent from controllers.
mac-ip dynamic-mac aware
By default, an OpenFlow instance ignores dynamic MAC addresses in the query and
deletion flow entry instructions sent from controllers.
Only MAC-IP flow tables support this feature.
6. Prevent the OpenFlow instance from reporting ARP packets to the specified controllers.
forbidden packet-in arp controller controller-id-list
By default, no controllers to which ARP packets are forbidden to be reported are configured.
This feature forbids an OpenFlow instance to report ARP packets to the specified controllers to
prevent the controllers from being affected by a large number of packets.
7. Disable logging for successful flow table modifications.
flow-log disable
By default, logging for successful flow table modifications is enabled.

Configuring controllers for an OpenFlow switch

Restrictions and guidelines
Make sure the configuration of an auxiliary connection does not conflict with the configuration of the
main connection. Otherwise, the auxiliary connection cannot be established.
Procedure
1. Enter system view.
system-view
2. Enter OpenFlow instance view.
openflow instance instance-id
3. Specify a controller and configure the main connection to the controller.
controller controller-id address { ip ipv4-address | ipv6 ipv6-address }
[ port port-number ] [ local address { ip local-ipv4-address | ipv6
local-ipv6-address } [ port local-port- number ] ] [ ssl
ssl-policy-name ] [ vrf vrf-name ]
By default, an OpenFlow instance does not have a main connection to a controller.
The source IP address must be the IP address of a port belonging to an OpenFlow instance.
Otherwise, the OpenFlow switch might fail to establish a connection with the controller.
4. (Optional.) Specify a controller and configure an auxiliary connection to the controller.
controller controller-id auxiliary auxiliary-id transport { tcp | udp |
ssl ssl-policy-name } [ address { ip ipv4-address | ipv6 ipv6-address } ]
[ port port-number ]

14
 By default, an OpenFlow instance does not have auxiliary connections to a controller.
If no destination IP address and port number are specified, the auxiliary connection uses the
destination IP address and port number configured for the main connection.
5. (Optional.) Set the connection interruption mode.
fail-open mode { secure standalone }
By default, the secure mode is used.
6. (Optional.) Enable OpenFlow connection backup.
tcp-connection backup
By default, OpenFlow connection backup is enabled.
This feature is available only on a system with two MPUs.
This feature prevents connection interruption when an active/standby switchover occurs.
This feature is available for only OpenFlow connections established over TCP.

Excluding the specified VLANs from the VLANs in

which traffic is forwarded in the OpenFlow
forwarding process
About this task
The VLANs to be associated with an OpenFlow instance are calculated by a bitwise AND operation
on the VLAN ID and mask. Use this feature to exclude the VLANs in which traffic is required to be
forwarded in the normal forwarding process from the calculated VLANs. Traffic in the excluded
VLANs is forwarded in the normal forwarding process instead of the OpenFlow forwarding process.
Procedure
1. Enter system view.
system-view
2. Exclude the specified VLANs from the VLANs in which traffic is forwarded in the OpenFlow
forwarding process.
openflow normal-forward vlan { vlan-id [ to vlan-id ] } &<1-10>
By default, no VLANs are excluded from the VLANs in which traffic is forwarded in the
OpenFlow forwarding process.

Configuring an OpenFlow instance to act as an

SSL server to listen to controllers
About this task
Typically, an OpenFlow instance actively connects to the controller acting as a TCP/SSL client. After
the SSL server is enabled for an OpenFlow instance, the controller acts as the SSL client and
actively connects to the OpenFlow instance. For more information about SSL, see Security
Configuration Guide.
Restrictions and guidelines
This feature can take effect without activation for an OpenFlow instance.
To re-configure the SSL server, first execute the undo form of the command to delete the existing
SSL server configuration.

15
Procedure
1. Enter system view.
system-view
2. Enter OpenFlow instance view.
openflow instance instance-id
3. Configure an OpenFlow instance to act as an SSL server to listen to controllers.
listening port port-number ssl ssl-policy-name
By default, an OpenFlow instance is not configured to acts as an SSL server listen to
controllers.

Refreshing all Layer 3 flow entries in the MAC-IP

flow tables for an OpenFlow instance
About this task
Perform this task to obtain all Layer 3 flow entries in the MAC-IP flow tables from the controller again
if the Layer 3 flow entries have been overwritten.
Restrictions and guidelines
1. Enter system view.
system-view
2. Enter OpenFlow instance view.
openflow instance instance-id
3. Refresh all Layer 3 flow entries in the MAC-IP flow tables.
refresh ip-flow

Shutting down an interface by OpenFlow

About this task
After an interface is shut down by OpenFlow, the Current state field displays OFP DOWN in the
display interface command output.
You can use the undo openflow shutdown command to bring up an interface shut down by
OpenFlow. The interface can also be brought up by port modification messages from controllers.
Procedure
1. Enter system view.
system-view
2. Enter interface view.
interface interface-type interface-number
3. Shut down an interface by OpenFlow.
openflow shutdown
By default, an interface is not shut down by OpenFlow.

16
Enabling SNMP notifications for OpenFlow
About this task
This feature enables OpenFlow to generate SNMP notifications for important OpenFlow events. For
the notifications to be sent correctly, you must also configure SNMP on the device. For more
information about SNMP configuration, see SNMP configuration in Network Management and
Monitoring Configuration Guide.
Procedure
1. Enter system view.
system-view
2. Enable SNMP notifications for OpenFlow.
snmp-agent trap enable openflow [ connect-state ]
By default, SNMP notifications are enabled for OpenFlow.

Configuring OpenFlow flow monitor parameters

About this task
The controller can use NETCONF to enable the flow monitor feature for flow entries on the device.
On the device, you can configure flow monitor parameters at the CLI.
For an OpenFlow flow entry with flow monitor enabled, the device monitors the changes in the
numbers of bytes and packets matching the flow entry at the flow monitor interval. If these counters
do not change consecutively for the specified times, the device uses NETCONF to report to the
controller the event that the traffic matching the flow entry does not increase. If these counters
increase later, the device uses NETCONF to report to the controller the event that the traffic
matching the flow entry increases.

NOTE:
Use the display openflow flow-table command to view flow entries. In the command
output, the byte count and packet count fields for a flow entry represent the number of bytes
matching the flow entry and the number of packets matching the flow entry.

The controller deploys the <action> operation to enable flow monitor for a flow entry on the device.
The following NETCONF message enables flow monitor for all flow entries with CookieID 1 in flow
table 0 for the OpenFlow instance corresponding to the specified datapath ID.
<rpc message-id="100" xmlns="urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:netconf:base:1.0">
<action>
<error-option>stop-on-error</error-option>
<top xmlns="[Link]
<OFP>
<FlowMonitor>
<Application>
<DatapathID>410026760491999</DatapathID>
<TableID>0</TableID>
<CookieID>1</CookieID>
<Enable>1</Enable>
</Application>
</FlowMonitor>
</OFP>

17
 </top>
</action>
</rpc>

Restrictions and guidelines

With OpenFlow flow monitor enabled for a large number of flow entries, the CPU load of the device
might be too heavy if the configured flow monitor interval is small.
The OpenFlow flow monitor feature monitors only the traffic matching the flow entries deployed by
the controller to an OpenFlow instance, and does not monitor flow entries with the default and local
attributes.
After the OpenFlow flow monitor feature is enabled for a flow entry, the idle time attribute (the flow
entry is removed if the flow entry does not match any data stream during the idle time) that the
controller deploys to the flow entry does not take effect.
Procedure
1. Enter system view.
system-view
2. Enter OpenFlow instance view.
openflow instance instance-id
3. Configure the flow monitor interval.
flow-monitor interval interval
By default, the flow monitor interval is not configured.
If you do not configure the flow monitor interval, the OpenFlow flow monitor feature does not
take effect.
4. (Optional.) Set the monitor threshold for consecutive traffic interruptions.
flow-monitor threshold threshold
By default, the monitor threshold for consecutive traffic interruptions is 2.

Verifying and maintaining OpenFlow

Displaying the configuration and operating status of
OpenFlow
Perform the display tasks in any view.
• Display summary OpenFlow instance information.
display openflow summary
• Display the detailed information for an OpenFlow instance.
display openflow instance [ instance-id ]
• Display controller information for an OpenFlow instance.
display openflow instance instance-id { controller [ controller-id ] |
listened }
• Display auxiliary connection information.
display openflow instance instance-id auxiliary [ controller-id
[ auxiliary auxiliary-id ] ]
• Display flow table entries for an OpenFlow instance.
display openflow instance instance-id flow-table [ table-id ]

18
 • Display group table information for an OpenFlow instance.
display openflow instance instance-id group [ group-id ]
• Display meter table information for an OpenFlow instance.
display openflow instance instance-id meter [ meter-id ]

Clearing statistics on packets that a controller sends and

receives for an OpenFlow instance
Perform the clear tasks in user view to clear statistics on packets that a controller sends and receives
for an OpenFlow instance.
reset openflow instance instance-id { controller [ controller-id ] |
listened } statistics

OpenFlow configuration examples

Example: Configuring OpenFlow in global mode
Network configuration
As shown in Figure 7, perform the following tasks on the device:
• Create OpenFlow instance 1, assign all service interfaces on the device to the OpenFlow
instance, and activate the OpenFlow instance.
• Specify the controller for OpenFlow instance 1 to manage the device.
Figure 7 Network diagram

Controller Device Host A

Host B
[Link]

Procedure
# Create OpenFlow instance 1 and configure it to operate in global mode.
[Device] openflow instance 1
[Device-of-inst-1] classification global

# Specify controller 1 for OpenFlow instance 1 and activate the instance.

[Device-of-inst-1] controller 1 address ip [Link]
[Device-of-inst-1] active instance

Verifying the configuration

# View detailed information about the OpenFlow instance.
[Device-of-inst-1] display openflow instance 1
Instance 1 information:

19
 Configuration information:
Description : --
Active status : Active
Inactive configuration:
None
Active configuration:
Classification: Global(Standard)
...
Port information:
Route-Aggregation1
Active channel information:
Controller 1 IP address: [Link] port: 6633

Example: Configuring OpenFlow in VLAN mode

Network configuration
As shown in Figure 8, an OpenFlow switch communicates with the controller. Perform the following
tasks on the OpenFlow switch:
• Create OpenFlow instance 1, associate VLANs 4092 and 4094 with the OpenFlow instance,
and activate the OpenFlow instance.
• Configure the IP address for controller 1 to have the controller manage the OpenFlow switch.
Figure 8 Network diagram

Controller Switch Host A

Host B
[Link]

Procedure
# Create VLANs 4092 and 4094.
<Switch> system-view
[Switch] vlan 4092
[Switch-vlan4092] quit
[Switch] vlan 4094
[Switch-vlan4094] quit

# Create OpenFlow instance 1 and associate VLANs with it.

[Switch] openflow instance 1
[Switch-of-inst-1] classification vlan 4092 mask 4093

# Specify controller 1 for OpenFlow instance 1 and activate the instance.

[Switch-of-inst-1] controller 1 address ip [Link]
[Switch-of-inst-1] active instance
[Switch-of-inst-1] quit

20
Verifying the configuration
# View detailed information about the OpenFlow instance.
[Switch] display openflow instance 1
Instance 1 information:

Configuration information:
Description : --
Active status : Active
Inactive configuration:
None
Active configuration:
Classification: VLAN, total VLANs(2)
4092, 4094
...
Port information:
GigabitEthernet0/0/3
Active channel information:
Controller 1 IP address: [Link] port: 6633

Appendix A Application restrictions

Flow entry restrictions
Matching restrictions
VLAN matching
Table 1 describes the VLAN matching restrictions when an OpenFlow instance is associated with
VLANs.
Table 1 VLAN matching

VLAN Mask Matching packets

All packets in the VLANs that are associated with the
- -
OpenFlow instance.
Packets without a VLAN tag. The PVID of the ingress
0 -
port must be associated with the OpenFlow instance.
0 Value Unsupported.
Valid VLAN -/value Unsupported.
0x1000 -/value(except 0x1000) Unsupported.
Packets with a VLAN tag. The VLAN ID of the VLAN
0x1000 0x1000
tag must be associated with the OpenFlow instance.
Matching packets by the combination of the VLAN ID
Valid VLAN | and VLAN mask. The VLANs obtained through the
-/value
0x1000 combination of the VLAN ID and VLAN mask must be
associated with the OpenFlow instance.
Other Other Unsupported.

Protocol packet matching

21
 If protocols are enabled, protocol packets (except LLDP frames) are processed by the corresponding
protocols instead of the OpenFlow protocol.
For more information about LLDP frame matching, see "LLDP frame matching."
Metadata matching
Metadata passes matching information between flow tables. The controller deploys metadata
matching entries only to non-first flow tables. If the controller deploys a metadata matching entry to
the first flow table, the switch returns an unsupported flow error.
Instruction restrictions
Table 2 Instruction restrictions

Instruction type Restrictions

The Clear-Actions instruction has the following restrictions:
• For the single flow table, the flow entries of the table cannot include this
instruction and other instructions at the same time.
Clear-Actions
• For multiple flow tables of the pipeline, only the flow entries of the first
flow table can include this instruction and other instructions at the same
time.
The action list of the Apply-Actions instruction cannot include multiple Output
actions.
Apply-Actions When the action list includes only one Output action, the switch processes
the action list as described in "Restrictions for merging the action list into the
action set."

Write-Metadata/mask The flow entries of the last table of the pipeline cannot include this
Goto-Table instruction. Otherwise, the switch returns an unsupported flow error.

Restrictions for merging the action list into the action set
The switch follows the following restrictions to merge the action list into the action set.
Non-output actions
When the action set and the action list do not contain the Output or Group action, the following rules
apply:
• If actions in the action set do not conflict with actions in the action list, the switch merges the
action list into the action set.
• If actions in the action set conflict with actions in the action list, actions in the action list are
replaced with actions in the action set.
Output actions
When the action set and the action list contain the Output action or the Group action, the following
rules apply:
• If both the action list and the action set contain an Output action, the Output action in the action
list takes precedence. The Output action in the action list does not modify the packet. The
Output action in the action set is executed at the last step of the pipeline processing to modify
the packet.
• If either the action list or the action set contains an Output action, the port specified by the
Output action is treated as the output port. The actions are executed in the order defined by the
action set rules.
• If the action list contains an Output action and the action set contains a Group action, the
following rules apply:
 The Output action does not modify the packet.

22
  The Group action is executed.

Packet-out messages restrictions

Ingress port
The ingress port must be a physical or logical port when one of the following reserved ports is the
output port in a packet-out message:
• Normal.
• Local.
• In Port.
• Controller.
Buffer ID co-existing with packet
If a packet-out message contains both the packet and the buffer ID representing the packet stored in
the switch, the switch processes only the buffered packet. The switch ignores the packet in the
message.
Packets without a VLAN tag
If the packet contained in a packet-out message has no VLAN tag, the switch performs the following
operations:
• Tags the packet with the PVID of the ingress port.
• Forwards the packet within the VLAN.
The switch processes the packet as follows when the ingress port is a reserved port:
• If the output port is a physical or logical port, the switch tags the packet with the PVID of the
output port and forwards the packet within the VLAN.
• If the output port is the Flood or All reserved port, the switch processes the packet as described
in "Output port."
Output port
If the output port in a packet-out message is the Flood or All reserved port, the switch processes the
packet contained in the packet-out message as follows:
• When the output port is the Flood reserved port:
 If the packet has a VLAN tag, the switch broadcasts the packet within the VLAN.
 If the packet has no VLAN tag and the ingress port is a physical or logical port, the switch
tags the packet with the PVID of the ingress port. The switch then forwards the packet within
the VLAN.
 If the packet has no VLAN tag and the ingress port is the Controller reserved port, the switch
forwards the packet out all OpenFlow ports.
• When the output port is the All reserved port:
 If the packet has a VLAN tag, the switch broadcasts the packet within the VLAN.
 If the packet has no VLAN tag, the switch forwards the packet out of all OpenFlow ports
regardless of the ingress port type.

Packet-in messages restrictions

Processing VLAN tags
When sending a packet-in message to the controller, the switch processes the VLAN tag of the
packet contained in the packet-out message as follows:

23
 • If the VLAN tag of the packet is the same as the PVID of the ingress port, the switch removes
the VLAN tag.
• If the VLAN tag of the packet is different from the PVID of the ingress port, the switch does not
remove the VLAN tag.
Packet buffer
If a packet-in message is sent to controller due to no matching flow entry, the switch supports
buffering the packet contained in the packet-in message. The buffer size is 1K packets.
If a packet-in message is sent to controller for other reasons, the switch does not support buffering
the packet contained in the packet-in message. The switch must send the full packet to the controller,
and the cookie field of the packet is set to 0xFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF.

LLDP frame matching

LLDP is used to perform topology discovery in an OpenFlow network. LLDP must be enabled
globally on a device. A switch sends a LLDP frame to the controller through the packet-in message
when the following conditions exist:
• The port that receives the LLDP frame from the controller belongs to OpenFlow instances.
• The flow tables in the OpenFlow instance have a flow entry that matches the LLDP frame (the
output port is the Controller reserved port).

Flow table modification messages restrictions

The flow table modification messages have the following restrictions for the table-miss flow entry and
common flow entries.
Table-miss flow entry
The controller deploys the table-miss flow entry (the action is Drop) to an OpenFlow instance after
the OpenFlow instance is activated.
The controller cannot query the table-miss flow entry through Multipart messages.
The controller cannot modify the table-miss flow entry through the Modify request. The controller can
only modify the table-miss flow entry through the Add request.
The controller can modify or delete the table-miss flow entry only through the strict version of the
Modify or Delete request. The controller cannot modify or remove the table-miss flow entry through
the non-strict version of the Modify or Delete request despite that the match fields are wildcarded.
The controller deploys a table-miss flow entry (the action is Drop) to an OpenFlow instance after the
current table-miss flow entry is deleted.
Common flow entries
The controller cannot modify or remove all common flow entries through the non-strict version of the
Modify or Delete request despite that the match fields are wildcarded.

Appendix B MAC-IP flow table

Capabilities supported by the MAC-IP flow table
The controller must include the required match fields and actions and can include the optional match
fields and actions in the flow entries deployed to the MAC-IP flow table. If the controller does not
include the optional match fields and actions in the flow entries, the switch adds them to the flow
entries by default.

24
The Layer 2 flow entries are implemented by using MAC address entries. Table 3 describes the
capabilities supported by Layer 2 flow entries.
Table 3 Capabilities supported by Layer 2 flow entries

Item Capabilities
The MAC-IP flow table must support the following match fields:
Required match fields • VLAN ID.
• Unicast destination MAC address.
Optional match fields N/A
Required actions Specifying the output port.
The MAC-IP flow table can optionally support the following instructions:
• Goto-Table—When the switch has multiple tables, the switch adds this
Optional actions instruction by default if the controller does not deploy it.
• Write-Metadata—When the switch has multiple tables, the switch adds this
instruction by default if the controller does not deploy it.

The Layer 3 flow entries are implemented by using routing entries. Table 4 describes the capabilities
supported by Layer 3 flow entries.
Table 4 Capabilities supported by Layer 3 flow entries

Item Capabilities
The MAC-IP flow table must support the following match fields:
• VLAN ID.
• Ethernet type.
Required match fields
• Unicast destination IP address.
• Unicast destination MAC address, which must be the MAC address of the
VLAN interface for the VLAN that is matched.

Optional match fields N/A

Required actions Specifying the output port.
The MAC-IP flow table can optionally support the following actions:
• Modify source MAC address—The switch modifies the source MAC
address to the MAC address of the VLAN interface for the VLAN to which the
output port belongs.
Optional actions • Decrement TTL by one.
• Goto-Table—When the switch has multiple tables, the switch adds this
instruction by default if the controller does not deploy it.
• Write-Metadata—When the switch has multiple tables, the switch adds this
instruction by default if the controller does not deploy it.

The VXLAN Layer 2 flow entries are implemented by using MAC address entries. Table 5 describes
the capabilities supported by VXLAN Layer 2 flow entries.
Table 5 Capabilities supported by VXLAN Layer 2 flow entries

Item Capabilities
Required match fields Unicast destination MAC address.
Optional match fields N/A
The MAC-IP flow table must support the following actions:
Required actions • Specifying a tunnel interface as the output port.
• Specifying the tunnel ID.

25
 Item Capabilities
The MAC-IP flow table can optionally support the following instructions:
• Goto-Table—When the switch has multiple tables, the switch adds this
Optional actions instruction by default if the controller does not deploy it.
• Write-Metadata—When the switch has multiple tables, the switch adds this
instruction by default if the controller does not deploy it.

The VXLAN Layer 3 flow entries are implemented by using routing entries. Table 6 describes the
capabilities supported by VXLAN Layer 3 flow entries.
Table 6 Capabilities supported by VXLAN Layer 3 flow entries

Item Capabilities
The MAC-IP flow table must support the following match fields:
Required match fields • Ethernet type.
• Unicast destination IP address.
Optional match fields N/A
The MAC-IP flow table must support the following actions:
• Specifying a tunnel interface as the output port.
Required actions
• Specifying the tunnel ID.
• Modifying the destination MAC address.
The MAC-IP flow table can optionally support the following actions:
• Goto-Table—When the switch has multiple tables, the switch adds this
Optional actions instruction by default if the controller does not deploy it.
• Write-Metadata—When the switch has multiple tables, the switch adds this
instruction by default if the controller does not deploy it.

The VXLAN QinQ flow entries are implemented by using ARP entries. Table 7 describes the
capabilities supported by VXLAN QinQ flow entries.
Table 7 Capabilities supported by VXLAN QinQ entries

Item Capabilities
The MAC-IP flow table must support the following match fields:
• Ethernet type.
Required match fields
• Unicast destination IP address.
• Tunnel ID.
Optional match fields N/A
The MAC-IP flow table must support the following actions:
• Specifying a tunnel interface or interface where an AC resides as the output
Required actions port.
• Modifying the destination MAC address.
• Adding a VLAN tag.
Optional actions Adding an inner VLAN tag.

The routing flow entries are implemented by using routing entries. Table 8 describes the capabilities
supported by routing flow entries.
Table 8 Capabilities supported by routing entries

Item Capabilities
Required match fields The MAC-IP flow table must support the following match fields:

26
 Item Capabilities
• Ethernet type.
• Unicast destination IP address and subnet mask.

Required actions Specifying Null 0 as the output port.

Optional actions N/A

MAC-IP flow table restrictions

Controller must follow the restrictions in the following tables to deploy flow entries for MAC-IP flow
table. Otherwise, forwarding failure might occur.
Table 9 Restrictions for deploying Layer 2 flow entries for the MAC-IP flow table

Item Restrictions
The destination MAC address cannot be the MAC address of the switch to which
Match fields
the flow entry is deployed.

Actions The output port must belong to the VLAN that is matched.

Table 10 Restrictions for deploying Layer 3 flow entries for the MAC-IP flow table

Item Restrictions
The VLAN interface of the VLAN that is matched is in up state.
The destination MAC address is the MAC address of the VLAN interface for the
Match fields VLAN that is matched.
The destination IP address cannot be the IP address of the switch to which the
flow entry is deployed.
The specified output port must belong to the destination VLAN.
The destination MAC address cannot be the MAC address of the switch to which
the flow entry is deployed.
Actions
If the switch modifies the source MAC address, the source MAC address must be
the MAC address of the VLAN interface for the VLAN to which the output port
belongs.

To deploy a Layer 3 flow entry, make sure the following requirements are met:
• The VLAN interface of the matched VLAN is in up state.
• The switch sends the controller a packet that indicates the VLAN interface acts as an OpenFlow
port. The link state and the MAC address of the VLAN interface are also included in the packet.
The switch reports the VLAN interface deletion to the controller and the controller removes the
corresponding Layer 3 flow entry.
The controller ensures the correctness of Layer 3 flow entries. The switch does not check for the
restrictions for Lay 3 flow entries.
Table 11 Restrictions for deploying VXLAN Layer 2 flow entries for the MAC-IP flow table

Item Restrictions
The destination MAC address cannot be MAC address of the switch to which the
Match fields
flow entry is deployed.
The output port must be an existing tunnel interface.
Actions
The VXLAN that corresponds to the specified tunnel ID (VNI) must exist.

27
 Table 12 Restrictions for deploying VXLAN Layer 3 flow entries for the MAC-IP flow table

Item Restrictions
The destination IP address cannot be the IP address of the switch to which the
Match fields
flow entry is deployed.
The output port must be an existing tunnel interface.
The VXLAN and the VSI interface that correspond to the specified tunnel ID (VNI)
Actions must exist.
The destination MAC address cannot be MAC address of the switch to which the
flow entry is deployed.

Table 13 Restrictions for deploying VXLAN QinQ entries for the MAC-IP flow table

Item Restrictions
Match fields The tunnel ID must be the VXLAN ID of the VSI mapped to the AC.
The VXLAN ID of the VSI mapped to the output port must be the same as the
tunnel ID.
A gateway interface (VSI interface) must be specified for the VSI.
Actions
On a forwarding-control separated network, the inner VLAN tag and outer VLAN
tag must match the frame match criteria of the AC and the interface where the AC
resides must be configured with the vtep access port command.

Table-miss flow entry of MAC-IP flow tables

The table-miss flow entry of a MAC-IP flow table supports the following output actions:
• Goto-Table—Direct the packet to the next table.
• Drop—Drop the packet.
• Controller—Send the packet to the controller.
• Normal—Forward the packet to the normal pipeline.

Dynamic aware
On an OpenFlow switch that supports MAC-IP flow tables, you can configure OpenFlow to support
querying and deleting dynamic MAC address flow entries.
The controller can query and delete dynamic MAC address flow entries by specifying a VLAN, a
MAC address, or the combination of a MAC address and a VLAN.

MAC-IP flow table cooperating with extensibility flow table

Metadata/mask
The MAC-IP flow table supports the Write Metadata/mask instruction and the extensibility flow table
supports metadata/mask matching. The MAC-IP flow table can cooperate with an extensibility flow
table to perform the pipeline process of multiple tables by using metadata/mask.
Each metadata mask bit has a different meaning. The corresponding metadata bit being set
indicates that the metadata mask bit is matched. When the corresponding metadata bit is not set, the
metadata mask bit is wildcarded.

28
 Table 14 Metadata mask meanings

Metadata mask bit Meaning Metadata

• 1—Set. Matches the destination MAC address.
Destination MAC
Bit 0 • 0—Not set. Does not match the destination MAC
address
address.
• 1—Set. Matches the source MAC address.
Bit 1 Source MAC address • 0—Not set. Does not match the source MAC
address.
• 1—Set. Matches the destination IP address.
Destination IP
Bit 2 • 0—Not set. Does not match the destination IP
address
address.
Others Reserved Reserved.

Matching restrictions
When the output action in an extensibility flow table is not Normal, the following rules apply:
• The MAC-IP flow table does not take effect.
• All actions are executed according to the extensibility flow table.
When the output action in an extensibility flow table is Normal, the following rules apply:
• The output action is executed according to the MAC-IP flow table.
• The other actions are executed according to the extensibility flow table.

Appendix C VLAN tagging and untagging flow

tables
Capabilities supported by the VLAN tagging flow table
The controller must include the required match fields and actions and can include the optional match
fields and actions in the flow entries deployed to the VLAN tagging flow table. If the controller does
not include the optional match fields and actions in the flow entries, the switch adds them to the flow
entries by default.
Table 15 describes the capabilities supported by the flow entries in the VLAN tagging flow table.
Table 15 Capabilities supported by flow entries in the VLAN tagging flow table

Item Capabilities
The VLAN tagging flow table must support the following match fields:
Required match fields • input-port.
• vlan.

Optional match fields N/A

The following actions in the action list of the Apply-Actions instruction must be
applied immediately:
Required actions
• Push-Tag.
• Set-Field (VLAN).

The VLAN tagging flow table can optionally support the following actions:
Optional actions • Output (normal).
• Goto-Table.

29
 The Push-Tag and Set-Field (VLAN) actions must be in the action list of the Apply-Actions instruction.
The Push-Tag and Set-Field (VLAN) actions can be used as follows:
• Push-Tag + Set-Field (value1)—Adds a VLAN tag value1.
• Set-Field (value1) + Push-Tag + Set-Field (value2)—Modifies the VLAN tag of the packet to
value1 and adds a VLAN tag value2.
• Push-Tag + Set-Field (value1) + Push-Tag + Set-Field (value2)—Adds inner VLAN tag
value2 and outer VLAN tag value1.
The Goto-Table instruction is optional and does not take effect. The flow table specified by this
instruction can only be the next of the VLAN tagging flow table.

Capabilities supported by the VLAN untagging flow table

Table 16 Capabilities supported by flow entries in the VLAN untagging flow table

Item Capabilities
The VLAN untagging flow table must support the following match fields:
Required match fields • egress port—Matches the egress port of packets.
• vlan—Matches the outer VLAN tag of packets.

The VLAN untagging flow table can optionally support the inner vlan match field
Optional match fields
that matches the inner VLAN tag of double-tagged packets.
The following actions in the action list of the Apply-Actions instruction must be
applied immediately:
Required actions
• Pop-Tag.
• Set-Field (VLAN).

Optional actions The VLAN untagging flow table can optionally support the Output (normal) action.

The VLAN untagging flow table applies only to double-tagged packets.

The egress port and inner vlan are extended match fields that use the Experimenter ID H3C
(0xFE2) and take the private match field values 47 and 48, respectively. To deploy flow entries that
contain the extended match fields, make sure the controllers are developed to be compatible with the
Experimenter ID and the extended match fields.
The Pop-Tag and Set-Field (VLAN) actions must be in the action list of the Apply-Actions instruction.
The Pop-Tag and Set-Field (VLAN) actions can be used as follows:
• Pop-Tag—Removes the outer VLAN tag.
• Pop-Tag + Pop-Tag—Removes the inner and outer VLAN tags.
• Pop-Tag + Set-Field (value)—Removes the outer VLAN tag and modifies the inner VLAN tag
to value.

30