[ovs-discuss] in-kernel flow table in the datapath

[Sridhar Samudrala]

I am trying out openvswitch 1.4.0 with the upstream 3.3.0-rc2 kernel.

I removed the default table flow table entry and added the following 2
flow table entries matching the br0 mac address as dl_src or dl_dst

# ovs-ofctl del-flows br0
# ovs-ofctl add-flow br0 idle_timeout=0,dl_src=00:1b:21:84:4e:48,action=normal
# ovs-ofctl add-flow br0 idle_timeout=0,dl_dst=00:1b:21:84:4e:48,action=normal

# ovs-ofctl dump-flows br0
NXST_FLOW reply (xid=0x4):
 cookie=0x0, duration=329.501s, table=0, n_packets=177, n_bytes=10658,
dl_dst=00:1b:21:84:4e:48 actions=NORMAL
 cookie=0x0, duration=337.386s, table=0, n_packets=3, n_bytes=182,
dl_src=00:1b:21:84:4e:48 actions=NORMAL

After i do a ping, i can see the in-kernel flow table entries that get added

# ovs-dpctl dump-flows br0
in_port(1),eth(src=00:1b:21:84:4e:30,dst=00:1b:21:84:4e:48),eth_type(0x0800),ipv4(src=10.1.1.41,dst=10.1.1.38,proto=1,tos=0,ttl=64,frag=no),icmp(type=0,code=0),
packets:0, bytes:0, used:never, actions:0
in_port(0),eth(src=00:1b:21:84:4e:48,dst=ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff),eth_type(0x0806),arp(sip=10.1.1.38,tip=10.1.1.41,op=1,sha=00:1b:21:84:4e:48,tha=00:00:00:00:00:00),
packets:0, bytes:0, used:never, actions:1
in_port(0),eth(src=00:1b:21:84:4e:48,dst=00:1b:21:84:4e:30),eth_type(0x0800),ipv4(src=10.1.1.38,dst=10.1.1.41,proto=1,tos=0,ttl=64,frag=no),icmp(type=8,code=0),
packets:0, bytes:0, used:never, actions:1
in_port(1),eth(src=00:1b:21:84:4e:30,dst=00:1b:21:84:4e:48),eth_type(0x0806),arp(sip=10.1.1.41,tip=10.1.1.38,op=2,sha=00:1b:21:84:4e:30,tha=00:1b:21:84:4e:48),
packets:0, bytes:0, used:never, actions:0

But they get expired within a few secs. What is the timeout period?
I was expecting that with idle_timeout=0, the in-kernel flow table
entries stay until they are deleted.
Is it possible to make the in-kernel flow table entries permanent
until they are deleted with any other options?

Thanks
Sridhar