Output Port Normal Action

Output port Normal is a reserved action. Normal action represents the traditional non-OpenFlow pipeline of the device. Normal is a special type of output port included in the actions associated with a flow. When a flow is received from the controller with an output port as Normal, the switch processes the matched incoming packet using the local switching or routing.

Output Port Normal Action Capabilities

Output ports with Normal action flows support the following capabilities:

  • Output port Normal action is supported on both hybrid ports and non-hybrid ports on the RUCKUS ICX 7150, ICX 7650, ICX 7250, and ICX 7450.
  • Generic flows with Normal action are supported.
  • Meter action is supported for Normal action flows.
  • Normal action is supported for both OpenFlow v1.0.0 and OpenFlow v1.3.0.
  • Normal action supports both tagged and untagged traffic.
  • Flows with Normal action can have additional actions as sent to the OpenFlow Controller.

Output Port Normal Action Limitations

The following limitations apply to Normal action flows:

  • The IP DSCP remark and Set Queue packet modifications are supported when Normal is used as an output port in the flow.
  • Group action is not supported for Normal action flows.
  • Normal action is not supported if the OpenFlow port is an untagged port of a VLAN other than the default VLAN on the RUCKUS ICX 7150, ICX 7650, ICX 7250, and ICX 7450.

Outport Port Normal and Mirroring to a Port

Port mirroring is applicable for monitoring real-time traffic. With OpenFlow, this application can monitor traffic on selective flows for selective periods of time, inspect the packets in real time, and take action.

Note: This feature is supported only on the device.
  • A flow with output port Normal action is accepted and the packets are mirrored to the output port together with normal Layer 2 or Layer 3 processing.
  • None of the packet modifications are applied on the traffic that is sent to the mirrored port.
  • All other capabilities and limitations of the output port Normal action are also applicable for port mirroring.

Output Port All

A flow can have a reserved port All as the output port instead of containing a list of the OpenFlow-enabled ports. A flow set to output port All action should be sent to all the OpenFlow ports.

  • PACKET-OUT with the All action is sent to all OpenFlow ports.
  • The output port All action supports both port-based and generic flows.
  • Packet modification is not supported with the output port All action.
  • If a flow with the output port All action is present, disabling OpenFlow on an interface is not allowed.

Output Port Flood

The output port Flood action indicates the packet to be flooded in the VLAN domain. This is similar to the Normal action in cases of the flow forwarding through hardware. For PACKET-OUT with the Flood action, VLAN information from the packet is extracted from PACKET-OUT and the packet is flooded on the ports that are part of that VLAN. In addition to the VLAN, the PACKET-OUT message contains IN-PORT. If a valid IN-PORT is present and OpenFlow is enabled on that port, then that port is excluded from the VLAN flood.

  • When a VLAN is created, ports should be part of the VLAN.
  • The hybrid and non-hybrid ports support the output port Flood action.
  • If a VLAN is not created, then the PACKET-OUT message with output port Flood is dropped.
  • The output port Flood action supports both port-based and generic flows.
Parent topic: Overview of OpenFlow v1.3.0