[ovs-discuss] When a controller is plugged in vlans stop working: normal?

[Ben Pfaff]

On Wed, Apr 30, 2014 at 09:35:58PM +0200, Pasquale Dir wrote:
> as long as no controller is associated to my openvswitch vlan tags assure
> me vlan isolation.
> 
> After setting the controller (floodlight in my case, but I also tried
> opendaylight) vlan tags are just ignored.

The FAQ says:

Q: My OpenFlow controller doesn't see the VLANs that I expect.

A: The configuration for VLANs in the Open vSwitch database (e.g. via
   ovs-vsctl) only affects traffic that goes through Open vSwitch's
   implementation of the OpenFlow "normal switching" action.  By
   default, when Open vSwitch isn't connected to a controller and
   nothing has been manually configured in the flow table, all traffic
   goes through the "normal switching" action.  But, if you set up
   OpenFlow flows on your own, through a controller or using ovs-ofctl
   or through other means, then you have to implement VLAN handling
   yourself.

   You can use "normal switching" as a component of your OpenFlow
   actions, e.g. by putting "normal" into the lists of actions on
   ovs-ofctl or by outputting to OFPP_NORMAL from an OpenFlow
   controller.  In situations where this is not suitable, you can
   implement VLAN handling yourself, e.g.:

       - If a packet comes in on an access port, and the flow table
         needs to send it out on a trunk port, then the flow can add
         the appropriate VLAN tag with the "mod_vlan_vid" action.

       - If a packet comes in on a trunk port, and the flow table
         needs to send it out on an access port, then the flow can
         strip the VLAN tag with the "strip_vlan" action.