OpenFlow 1.3 Software Switch

This is an OpenFlow 1.3 compatible user-space software switch implementation. The code is based on the Ericsson TrafficLab 1.1 softswitch implementation, with changes in the forwarding plane to support OpenFlow 1.3.

The following components are available in this package:

• ofdatapath: the switch implementation
• ofprotocol: secure channel for connecting the switch to the controller
• oflib: a library for converting to/from 1.3 wire format
• dpctl: a tool for configuring the switch from the console

Getting Started

These instructions have been tested on Ubuntu 12.04. Other distributions or versions may need different steps.

Before building

The switch makes use of the NetBee library to parse packets, so we need to install it first.

1. Install the following packages:

   $ sudo apt-get install cmake libpcap-dev libxerces-c2-dev libpcre3-dev flex bison
   

2. Download and unpack the source code from: http://www.nbee.org/download/nbeesrc-12-05-16.php

3. Create the build system

   $ cd nbeesrc/src
   $ cmake .
   

4. Compile

   $ make
   

5. Add the shared libraries built in /nbeesrc/bin/ to your /usr/local/lib directory

   $ sudo cp ../bin/libn*.so /usr/local/lib
   

6. Run ldconfig

   $ sudo ldconfig
   

7. Put the folder nbeesrc/include in the /usr/include

   $ sudo cp -R ../include /usr/include
   

Building

Run the following commands in the of13softswitch directory to build and install everything:

$ ./boot.sh
$ ./configure
$ make
$ sudo make install

Running

1. Start the datapath:

   $ sudo udatapath/ofdatapath --datapath-id=<dpid> --interfaces=<if-list> ptcp:<port>
   

   This will start the datapath, with the given datapath ID, using the interaces listed. It will open a passive TCP connection on the given port. For a complete list of options, use the --help argument.

2. Start the secure channel, which will connect the datapath to the controller:

   $ secchan/ofprotocol tcp:<switch-host>:<switch-port> tcp:<ctrl-host>:<ctrl-port>
   

   This will open TCP connections to both the switch and the controller, relaying OpenFlow protocol messages between them. For a complete list of options, use the --help argument.

Configuring

You can send requests to the switch using the dpctl utility.

• Check the flow statistics for table 0.

  $ utilities/dpctl tcp:<switch-host>:<switch-port> stats-flow table=0
  

• Install a flow to match IPv6 packets with extension headers hop by hop and destination and coming from port 1.

  $ utilities/dpctl tcp:<switch-host>:<switch-port> flow-mod table=0,cmd=add in_port=1,eth_type=0x86dd,ext_hdr=hop+dest apply:output=2
  

• Add a meter:

  $ utilities/dpctl tcp:<switch-host>:<switch-port> meter-mod cmd=add,meter=1 drop:rate=50
  

• Send flow to meter table

  $ utilities/dpctl tcp:<switch-host>:<switch-port> flow-mod table=0,cmd=add in_port=1 meter:1
  

For a complete list of commands and arguments, use the --help argument.

The dpctl utility has some limitations at the moment:

• No support for OXM masks
• No support for multipart messages
• Some set_field action fields are not present

Contribute

Please submit your bug reports, fixes and suggestions as pull requests on GitHub, or by contacting us directly.

License

OpenFlow 1.3 Software Switch is released under the BSD license (BSD-like for code from the original Stanford switch).

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank: Zoltán Lajos Kis from Ericsson Traffic Lab, for his really helpful contribution on solving questions about the spec.

Khai Nguyen Dinh and Thanh Le Dinh from Applistar, for contributions on meter features.

Contact

E-mail: Eder Leao Fernandes ([email protected])