H3C S12500-X User manual

H3C S12500-X Switch Series
OpenFlow Configuration Guide
Hangzhou H3C Technologies Co., Ltd.
http://www.h3c.com
Software version: R1003 and later
Document version: 6W101-20150515

Copyright © 2014-2015, Hangzhou 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 Hangzhou H3C Technologies Co., Ltd.
Trademarks
H3C, , H3CS, H3CIE, H3CNE, Aolynk, , H3Care, , IRF, NetPilot, Netflow,
SecEngine, SecPath, SecCenter, SecBlade, Comware, ITCMM and HUASAN are trademarks of
Hangzhou H3C Technologies Co., Ltd.
All other trademarks that may be mentioned in this manual are the property of their respective owners
Notice
The information in this document is subject to change without notice. Every effort has been made in the
preparation of this document to ensure accuracy of the contents, but all statements, information, and
recommendations in this document do not constitute the warranty of any kind, express or implied.

Preface
The H3C S12500-X documentation set includes 15 configuration guides. These guides describe the
software features for the H3C S12500-X Switch Series and guide you through the software configuration
procedures. These guides also provide configuration examples to help you apply software features to
different network scenarios.
The OpenFlow Configuration Guide describes OpenFlow fundamentals and configuration.
This preface includes:
•Audience
•Conventions
•Obtaining documentation
•Technical support
•Documentation feedback
Audience
This documentation is intended for:
•Network planners
•Field technical support and servicing engineers
•Network administrators working with the S12500-X series
Conventions
This section describes the conventions used in this documentation set.
Command conventions
Convention Descri
p
tion
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.
{ x | y | ... }
Braces enclose a set of required syntax choices separated by vertical bars, from which
you select one.
[ x | y | ... ]
Square brackets enclose a set of optional syntax choices separated by vertical bars, from
which you select one or none.
{ x | y | ... } *
Asterisk marked braces enclose a set of required syntax choices separated by vertical
bars, from which you select at least one.
[ x | y | ... ] *
Asterisk marked square brackets enclose optional syntax choices separated by vertical
bars, from which you select one choice, multiple choices, or none.
&<1-n> The argument or keyword and argument combination before the ampersand (&) sign can

Convention Descri
p
tion
be entered 1 to n times.
# A line that starts with a pound (#) sign is comments.
GUI conventions
Convention Descri
p
tion
Boldface Window names, button names, field names, and menu items are in Boldface. For
example, the New User window appears; click OK.
> Multi-level menus are separated by angle brackets. For example, File > Create > Folder.
Symbols
Convention Descri
p
tion
WARNING An alert that calls attention to important information that if not understood or followed can
result in personal injury.
CAUTION An alert that calls attention to important information that if not understood or followed 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
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.
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 card, such as a firewall, load-balancing, NetStream, SSL VPN, IPS,
or ACG card.
Port numbering in examples
The port numbers in this document are for illustration only and might be unavailable on your switch.
Obtaining documentation
Access the most up-to-date H3C product documentation on the World Wide Web
at http://www.h3c.com.
Click the following links to obtain different categories of product documentation:
[Technical Documents]—Provides hardware installation, software upgrading, and software feature
configuration and maintenance documentation.
[Products & Solutions]—Provides information about products and technologies, as well as
solutions. [Software Download]—Provides the documentation released with the software version.
Technical support
servic[email protected]
http://www.h3c.com
Documentation feedback
You can e-mail your comments about product documentation to [e-mail].
We appreciate your comments.

i
Contents
Configuring OpenFlow················································································································································ 1
Overview············································································································································································1
OpenFlow switch······················································································································································1
OpenFlow port··························································································································································1
OpenFlow flow table ···············································································································································2
Group table·······························································································································································4
Meter table································································································································································4
OpenFlow instance ··················································································································································5
Protocols and standards ··········································································································································5
OpenFlow configuration task list·····································································································································6
{(Optional.) Configuring OpenFlow to forbid MAC address learning ·······················································6
Configuring OpenFlow instances ····································································································································6
Creating an OpenFlow instance·····························································································································6
Associating an OpenFlow instance with VLANs···································································································6
Creating flow tables for an OpenFlow instance ···································································································7
Setting the controller mode······································································································································7
Configuring the maximum number of flow entries for an extensibility flow table ·············································8
Configuring inband management VLANs··············································································································8
Configuring OpenFlow to forbid MAC address learning····················································································9
Configuring the datapath ID ···································································································································9
Activating or reactivating an OpenFlow instance ································································································9
Configuring controllers for an OpenFlow switch········································································································ 10
Configuring controllers and main connections··································································································· 10
Setting the connection interruption mode ··········································································································· 10
Setting OpenFlow timers ··············································································································································· 10
Configuring OpenFlow to support dynamic MAC addresses··················································································· 11
Displaying and maintaining OpenFlow······················································································································· 11
OpenFlow configuration example································································································································ 12
Network requirements··········································································································································· 12
Configuration procedure ······································································································································ 12
Verifying the configuration··································································································································· 13
Index ···········································································································································································14

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Configuring OpenFlow
Software-Defined Networking (SDN) was developed to meet the growing requirements of virtualization
technologies and data networks. SDN uses software to separate controlling functions from data
forwarding, and provides simple, flexible device operations and high extensibility.
OpenFlow is the communication interface between a controller and network devices to implement SDN.
With OpenFlow, you can perform centralized data forwarding management for physical and virtual
devices.
This feature is available in Release 1005P04 and later versions.
Overview
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. A switch
communicates with the controller through a secure channel.
Figure 1 OpenFlow network diagram
OpenFlow switch
OpenFlow switches are classified into the following types:
•OpenFlow-only—Supports only OpenFlow operation.
•OpenFlow-hybrid—Supports both OpenFlow operation and traditional Ethernet switching
operations. Switches of this series are OpenFlow-hybrid switches.
OpenFlow port
OpenFlow supports the following types of ports:

2
•Physical port—Corresponds to a hardware interface of a switch, such as an Ethernet interface. A
physical port can be either an ingress port or an output port.
•Logical port—Does not correspond to a hardware interface of a switch and might be defined by
non-OpenFlow methods. For example, aggregate interfaces are logical ports. A logical port can be
either an ingress port or an output port.
IMPORTANT:
The switch does not support tunnel interfaces and loopback interfaces.
•Reserved port—Defined by OpenFlow to specify forwarding actions. Reserved ports include the
following types:
{All—All OpenFlow ports that can be used to forward a packet.
{Controller—OpenFlow controller.
{Local—Local CPU.
{Normal—Normal forwarding process.
{Flood—Flooding.
Except the Any type, all reserved ports can be used only as output ports.
OpenFlow flow table
An OpenFlow switch matches packets against one or more user-defined flow tables. A flow table consists
of flow entries, and packets are matched based on the matching precedence of flow entries.
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.
{Specifying the output port.
•Extensibility—Provides more matching fields and actions than a MAC-IP flow table.
Flow entry
Figure 2 Flow entry components
A flow entry contains the following fields:
•Match fields—Matching rules of the flow entry. These consist of the ingress port, packet headers,
and metadata specified by the previous table.

3
•Priority—Matching precedence of the flow entry. A packet is matched against the table and only
the highest priority flow entry that matches the packet is selected.
•Counters—Counts of the packets that match the flow entry.
•Instructions—To modify the action set or pipeline processing. These include the following types:
{Meter—Directs the packets to the specified meter to limit the rate of the packets.
{Apply-Actions—Applies the specified actions in the action list immediately.
{Clear-Actions—Clears all the actions in the action set immediately.
{Write-Actions—Modifies all the actions in the action set immediately.
{Goto-Table—Indicates the next MAC-IP flow table in the processing line.
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 and the actions in the action set are executed. 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.
•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.
•Cookies—Flow entry identifier specified by the controller.
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 against 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 one
of the flow tables contains an action list, the OpenFlow switch executes the actions to modify a copy of
the packet immediately in this table.
Figure 3 OpenFlow forwarding workflow
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.

4
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 consists of group entries.
Figure 4 Group entry components
A group entry contains the following fields:
•Group Identifier—A 32 bit unsigned integer uniquely identifying the group.
•Group Type—Type of the group.
•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.
Meter table
Meters enable OpenFlow to implement various simple QoS operations, such as rate-limiting. A group
table consists of meter entries.
Figure 5 Meter entry components
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.
Figure 6 Band components
A meter band contains:
•Band Type—Packet processing methods. Packets that exceed the band rate are dropped.
•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 optional arguments.