On Thu, Oct 30, 2025 at 3:49 PM Numan Siddique <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> On Thu, Oct 23, 2025 at 1:38 PM Numan Siddique <[email protected]> wrote:
> >
> > On Thu, Oct 23, 2025 at 11:57 AM Mark Michelson <[email protected]> wrote:
> > >
> > > Hi Numan,
> > >
> > > I had a second look through this, and only found some minor nits. On a
> > > higher level, I want to double check about some potential unsafe
> > > behavior this allows.
> > >
> > > For instance, the entire library of logical flow actions is available
> > > for users when using ovn bridge controller. Actions that translate to
> > > controller() actions in OVS, such as dns_lookup(), can be programmed.
> > > Since there is no controller to handle packet-ins, these actions won't
> > > work properly. Also, actions like lookup_arp() or lookup_fdb() that
> > > resubmit to a particular table can also be used, but they are unlikely
> > > to be useful since those tables are now open to having custom flows
> > > programmed on them, and there is not necessarily anything guaranteed
> > > to be calling put_arp() or put_fdb() to populate those pre-determined
> > > tables. Actions like lookup_arp() and lookup_fdb() also are programmed
> > > to set specific register bits, which could cause conflict if an admin
> > > is using those register bits for some other purpose.
> > >
> > > There are a couple of attitudes we can have about this. One is that
> > > this is an experimental feature and so users are at their own risk
> > > when they use it. If they try something that is guaranteed to fail,
> > > then it's up to them to also come up with an alternative when that
> > > inevitably fails. The other attitude we can have is that only logical
> > > flow actions that are guaranteed to be useful should be available to
> > > users of ovn-br-controller. So in that case, we probably should have a
> > > way of disabling certain actions in ovn-br-controller.
> > >
> > > What do you think about this?
> >
> > Hi Mark,
> >
> > Thanks for the comments.  In the proposal discussion, there were
> > suggestions  to have this service
> > as a separate repo to address the exact same concerns you had.  But
> > then it was decided to have
> > it part of OVN to make it more manageable.
> >
> > I do agree with your comments.  I think to start with we can have the
> > first attitude you mentioned.
> > I'll work on restricting the actions which are not relevant to bridge
> > controller or strip them off
> > from the symbol table.  I haven't thought of how it can be done,  but
> > I think it should be possible.
> >
> > My proposal would be to add the responsibility of using the actions to
> > the user and move towards
> > making it more restricted.
> >
> > Does it sound good to you ?
>
> Hi Mark,
>
> Just checking if you're ok with the reply ?  If you've any concerns or
> comments, please let me know.
>
>
> Thanks
> Numan
>

Yes I'm fine with that. Since this is an experimental feature and it
exists completely separately from "core" OVN bridge logic, I think
it's OK to give the user some loaded foot-guns. We should just make it
clear that the feature is experimental and users are at their own risk
when using it.

> >
> > Also I've missed out on adding a NEWS entry.  I'll add it in the next
> > version (if required) or while
> > merging.
> >
> > Numan
> >
> >
> >
> > >
> > > On Thu, Oct 9, 2025 at 12:54 PM <[email protected]> wrote:
> > > >
> > > > From: Numan Siddique <[email protected]>
> > > >
> > > > This patch series adds a new service OVN Bridge Controller
> > > > (ovn-br-controller) which can be used to program OpenFlow rules to
> > > > OVS bridges using OVN logical flows.
> > > >
> > > > The syntax and symantics of the logical flows is similar to the logical
> > > > flows generated by ovn-northd.
> > > >
> > > > Rational for adding this service:
> > > >     There's a need to configure the provider bridges with specific 
> > > > OpenFlow
> > > >     rules after packets leave the OVN pipeline and enters these provider
> > > >     bridges  via the patch ports.  Since OVN has a very good abstraction
> > > >     of the OpenFlow rules using OVN logical flows, we can leverage the 
> > > > same
> > > >     here so that CMS doesn't have to deal with the specifics of OpenFlow
> > > >     protocol.  Also if the CMS is written in golang or other languages,
> > > >     CMS has to mostly rely on ovs-vsctl/ovs-ofctl to program the flows.
> > > >     Adding this support in OVN avoids the CMS to exec these utils to
> > > >     add/delete and dump the existing OpenFlow rules.
> > > >
> > > >     A user can also use this new service to program and manage any OVS
> > > >     bridge without using OVN and hence this service is named as
> > > >     "ovn-br-controller."
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > v1 -> v2
> > > > -------
> > > >    * Dropped P12 of v1 and merged it with P1 of v2 to address the CI
> > > >      failures.
> > > >    * Addressed review comments from Mark and added his Acked-by tag
> > > >      for the patches acked in v1.
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > Numan Siddique (11):
> > > >   Add initial schema and skeleton for OVN bridge controller.
> > > >   ovn-br-controller: Connect to OVS database and define engine nodes.
> > > >   ovn-br-controller: Build en_bridge_data engine node.
> > > >   ovn-br-controller: Add bridge flow table manager.
> > > >   Move lflow-conj-ids module to lib.
> > > >   ovn-br-controller: Process logical flows.
> > > >   ovn-br-controller: Add en_pflow_output engine.
> > > >   Move ofctrl-seqno module to lib.
> > > >   ovn-br-controller: Program the openflows to the bridges.
> > > >   ovn-br-controller: Extend the symbol table to add new fields.
> > > >   ovn-ctl: Add commands to start OVN bridge controller services.
> > > >
> > > >  Makefile.am                                   |    5 +-
> > > >  automake.mk                                   |   36 +
> > > >  br-controller/automake.mk                     |   18 +
> > > >  br-controller/br-flow-mgr.c                   | 1263 +++++++++++++++++
> > > >  br-controller/br-flow-mgr.h                   |   65 +
> > > >  br-controller/br-ofctrl.c                     |  730 ++++++++++
> > > >  br-controller/br-ofctrl.h                     |   33 +
> > > >  br-controller/en-bridge-data.c                |  199 +++
> > > >  br-controller/en-bridge-data.h                |   43 +
> > > >  br-controller/en-lflow.c                      |  364 +++++
> > > >  br-controller/en-lflow.h                      |   22 +
> > > >  br-controller/en-pflow.c                      |  192 +++
> > > >  br-controller/en-pflow.h                      |   16 +
> > > >  br-controller/ovn-br-controller.8.xml         |   79 ++
> > > >  br-controller/ovn-br-controller.c             |  560 ++++++++
> > > >  controller/automake.mk                        |    4 -
> > > >  controller/if-status.c                        |    2 +-
> > > >  controller/lflow.h                            |    2 +-
> > > >  controller/ovn-controller.c                   |    4 +-
> > > >  lib/automake.mk                               |   21 +-
> > > >  lib/inc-proc-eng.h                            |   11 +
> > > >  {controller => lib}/lflow-conj-ids.c          |    0
> > > >  {controller => lib}/lflow-conj-ids.h          |    2 +-
> > > >  {controller => lib}/ofctrl-seqno.c            |    0
> > > >  {controller => lib}/ofctrl-seqno.h            |    0
> > > >  lib/ovn-br-idl.ann                            |    9 +
> > > >  lib/ovn-util.c                                |   31 +
> > > >  lib/ovn-util.h                                |   16 +
> > > >  {controller => lib}/test-lflow-conj-ids.c     |    0
> > > >  {controller => lib}/test-ofctrl-seqno.c       |    0
> > > >  ovn-br.ovsschema                              |   94 ++
> > > >  ovn-br.xml                                    |  452 ++++++
> > > >  rhel/automake.mk                              |    4 +-
> > > >  rhel/ovn-fedora.spec.in                       |   22 +-
> > > >  ...b_systemd_system_ovn-br-controller.service |   35 +
> > > >  rhel/usr_lib_systemd_system_ovn-br-db.service |   32 +
> > > >  tests/automake.mk                             |   11 +-
> > > >  tests/ovn-br-controller.at                    |  358 +++++
> > > >  tests/testsuite.at                            |    1 +
> > > >  tutorial/ovn-sandbox                          |   24 +-
> > > >  utilities/automake.mk                         |    8 +
> > > >  utilities/ovn-brctl.c                         |  524 +++++++
> > > >  utilities/ovn-ctl                             |  163 +++
> > > >  utilities/ovn-ctl.8.xml                       |   36 +
> > > >  utilities/ovn-sbctl.c                         |   30 -
> > > >  45 files changed, 5471 insertions(+), 50 deletions(-)
> > > >  create mode 100644 br-controller/automake.mk
> > > >  create mode 100644 br-controller/br-flow-mgr.c
> > > >  create mode 100644 br-controller/br-flow-mgr.h
> > > >  create mode 100644 br-controller/br-ofctrl.c
> > > >  create mode 100644 br-controller/br-ofctrl.h
> > > >  create mode 100644 br-controller/en-bridge-data.c
> > > >  create mode 100644 br-controller/en-bridge-data.h
> > > >  create mode 100644 br-controller/en-lflow.c
> > > >  create mode 100644 br-controller/en-lflow.h
> > > >  create mode 100644 br-controller/en-pflow.c
> > > >  create mode 100644 br-controller/en-pflow.h
> > > >  create mode 100644 br-controller/ovn-br-controller.8.xml
> > > >  create mode 100644 br-controller/ovn-br-controller.c
> > > >  rename {controller => lib}/lflow-conj-ids.c (100%)
> > > >  rename {controller => lib}/lflow-conj-ids.h (98%)
> > > >  rename {controller => lib}/ofctrl-seqno.c (100%)
> > > >  rename {controller => lib}/ofctrl-seqno.h (100%)
> > > >  create mode 100644 lib/ovn-br-idl.ann
> > > >  rename {controller => lib}/test-lflow-conj-ids.c (100%)
> > > >  rename {controller => lib}/test-ofctrl-seqno.c (100%)
> > > >  create mode 100644 ovn-br.ovsschema
> > > >  create mode 100644 ovn-br.xml
> > > >  create mode 100644 
> > > > rhel/usr_lib_systemd_system_ovn-br-controller.service
> > > >  create mode 100644 rhel/usr_lib_systemd_system_ovn-br-db.service
> > > >  create mode 100644 tests/ovn-br-controller.at
> > > >  create mode 100644 utilities/ovn-brctl.c
> > > >
> > > > --
> > > > 2.51.0
> > > >
> > > > _______________________________________________
> > > > dev mailing list
> > > > [email protected]
> > > > https://mail.openvswitch.org/mailman/listinfo/ovs-dev
> > > >
> > >
>

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