OVS-TCPDUMP(8)                   Open vSwitch                   OVS-TCPDUMP(8)

NAME
       ovs-tcpdump - Dump traffic from an Open vSwitch port using tcpdump

SYNOPSIS
       ovs-tcpdump -i <port> <tcpdump options>...

DESCRIPTION
       ovs-tcpdump  creates switch mirror ports in the ovs-vswitchd daemon and
       executes tcpdump to listen against those ports. When  the  tcpdump  in‐
       stance exits, it then cleans up the mirror port it created.

       ovs-tcpdump  will  not allow multiple mirrors for the same port. It has
       some logic to parse the current  configuration  and  prevent  duplicate
       mirrors.

       The -i option may not appear multiple times.

       It  is important to note that under Linux-based kernels, tap devices do
       not receive packets unless the specific tuntap device has  been  opened
       by  an  application.   This  requires  CAP_NET_ADMIN privileges, so the
       ovs-tcpdump command must be run as a user with such  permissions  (this
       is usually a super-user).

OPTIONS
       • -h or --help

         Prints a brief help message to the console.

       • -V or --version

         Prints version information to the console.

       • --db-sock <socket>

         The  Open  vSwitch  database socket connection string. The default is
         unix:<rundir>/db.sock.

       • --dump-cmd <command>

         The command to run instead of tcpdump.

       • -i or --interface

         The interface for which a mirror port should be created, and  packets
         should be dumped.

       • --mirror-to

         The name of the interface which should be the destination of the mir‐
         rored packets. The default is mi<port>.

       • --span

         If specified, mirror all ports (optional).

       • --filter <flow>

         If  specified,  only  mirror packets that match the provided OpenFlow
         filter.  The available fields are documented in ovs-fields(7).

SEE ALSO
       ovs-appctl(8), ovs-vswitchd(8), ovs-pcap(1), ovs-fields(7),  ovs-tcpun‐
       dump(1), tcpdump(8), wireshark(8).

AUTHOR
       The Open vSwitch Development Community

COPYRIGHT
       2016-2024, The Open vSwitch Development Community


3.4                              Nov 16, 2024                   OVS-TCPDUMP(8)