Proxmox VE 5.0 and Open vSwitch

[blood]

I installed 5.0 a few days ago and upon trying to bring up Open vSwitch, I'm having real problems getting it to work after reboots, though similar configurations worked in 4.x. /etc/network/interfaces looks like this:

### begin paste ###
auto lo
iface lo inet loopback

allow-ovs vmbr0

allow-vmbr0 eno1
iface eno1 inet manual
ovs_type OVSPort
ovs_bridge vmbr0
mtu 9000

auto vmbr0
iface vmbr0 inet manual
ovs_type OVSBridge
ovs_ports vlan100 eno1
mtu 9000

auto vlan100
allow-vmbr0 vlan100
iface vlan100 inet static
ovs_type OVSIntPort
ovs_bridge vmbr0
ovs_options tag=100
ovs_extra set interface ${IFACE} external-ids:iface-id=$(hostname -s)-${IFACE}-vif
network 172.16.253.0
address 172.16.253.68
gateway 172.16.253.1
broadcast 172.16.253.255
netmask 255.255.255.0
mtu 9000
### end paste ###

The intent of this configuration is simple: I wish to create a single bridge (vmbr0) with two ports in it (vlan100 so I can access the host OS, and eno1 which is the physical interface). I have the switch port configured to send frames tagged with VLAN 100. Once I have this basic stuff working, I have other VLANs to add, and I really prefer using a real virtual switch rather than simple bridges.

What happens is that after a reboot, the bridge isn't created (or the config wasn't saved before the reboot, not sure which) and the attempts to add my VLAN and physical interface to the bridge fail. If I create it manually with "ovs-vsctl add-br vmbr0", I can then restart networking and it further comes up - only I still have to manually add the port eno1 to the bridge before it actually works. Rebooting then, leaves me right in the same spot where I was before until I repeat those manual steps. I don't think that I should have to recreate the bridge by hand on every reboot, nor add the interfaces to it.

Things that I'm considering:

• Maybe this just wasn't tested and is broken?
• Perhaps I'm doing something wrong / something changed since 4.0?
• Perhaps this is a Debian issue and not Proxmox's fault?

I'd love to see Proxmox VE move fully towards Open vSwitch by default and leave the old bridges behind.

 

[Richard]

Things that I'm considering:

• Maybe this just wasn't tested and is broken?
• Perhaps I'm doing something wrong / something changed since 4.0?
• Perhaps this is a Debian issue and not Proxmox's fault?

Making a test with the config you posted it works in 5.0 (only the expression "eno1" I had to adapt) - the bridge is there immediately after reboot containing both vlan100 and eno1

I guess something else is wrong in the configuration; if you post the result of

pvereport

we can see more and may have an idea what it can be.

I'd love to see Proxmox VE move fully towards Open vSwitch by default and leave the old bridges behind.

IMHO linux bridging is in most cases sufficient and since it is a part of standard OS it will remain the default.

 

[blood]

I'm sorry I didn't respond to this sooner; after I posted my message and didn't get a reply soon after (not a complaint) I tried some different actions. Ultimately, I came back to Proxmox 5.0 with a new install and applied my configuration and it worked.

So, aside from an entirely new install which definitely invalidates my previous findings and thus everything I'm writing here, the only change I know about was I added a 10gbe card and am using that rather than what was in the config initially. I can't see how the name of the interface should matter... but I'm just happy it's working.

For anybody else that might run into this in the future... I guess try again?

 

[blood]

I ran into this same problem again, and so decided to provide the diagnostic info (attached) that was requested before. I'm using a known-good config file that I had been using from a previous install, so why it isn't working now... I don't know. I manually configured another interface via IPMI to access the system for the purposes of running pvereport, and if I manually create the bridge, add the port, bring up the port, and then restart networking everything comes up then - but nothing after a reboot.

One notable thing is that this install and the previous one that didn't work were done by installing from the Proxmox VE 5.0 ISO written to a thumb drive. When I was successful I installed Debian 9 and then added Proxmox on top of it per the instructions in the wiki. I didn't do another install to see if it continues to reproduce via that pattern (yet).

I'm sorry to keep bringing this up, but I've hit it twice now so I figure it's inevitable that others will as well.

 

[Znuff]

I'm also having issues with Proxmox 5.1 and openvswitch.

I started with a simple configuration:

auto vmbr0
allow-ovs vmbr0
iface vmbr0 inet manual
  ovs_type OVSBridge

This should simply create just a bridge with no ports and it should technically work perfectly. Yet, after I reboot, there is no vmbr0 bridge, `ovs-vsctl show` comes up empty. There is no interface created, nothing.

I've also tried the examples on the wiki, which they don't work at all.

I have also copied a RUNNING configuration from a proxmox node running 4.4.x (so debian 8/jessie), and it still fails to bring up the interfaces (again, the configuration works perfectly on the machine I copied it from).

 

[Richard]

I'm also having issues with Proxmox 5.1 and openvswitch.

I started with a simple configuration:

auto vmbr0
allow-ovs vmbr0
iface vmbr0 inet manual
  ovs_type OVSBridge

This should simply create just a bridge with no ports and it should technically work perfectly. Yet, after I reboot, there is no vmbr0 bridge, `ovs-vsctl show` comes up empty. There is no interface created, nothing.

The line "allow-ovs vmbr0" is not necessary. But it should work - is openvswitch-switch properly installed? Actual version is 2.7.0-2.

 

[Znuff]

The problem starts from the fact that the initial proxmox install is lacking any access to the proxmox repositories by default. Thus `apt install openvswitch-switch` installs the Debian Stretch version which is severly broken. I had to dig trough the forum and stumble upon a mention of the no-subscription repository.

I realize that your whole business model is centered around buying a subscription/license, but this is off-puting when you consider that trialing the system is not completely possible due to broken versions of packages.

 

[fabian]

The problem starts from the fact that the initial proxmox install is lacking any access to the proxmox repositories by default. Thus `apt install openvswitch-switch` installs the Debian Stretch version which is severly broken. I had to dig trough the forum and stumble upon a mention of the no-subscription repository.

I realize that your whole business model is centered around buying a subscription/license, but this is off-puting when you consider that trialing the system is not completely possible due to broken versions of packages.

it's also prominently mentioned in the documentation, and apt tells you it cannot access the PVE enterprise repository if you haven't entered a subscription key yet.

 

[davidjohn7]

I found it helpful.

 

[joshin]

Aren't you a basket of joy?

It wasn't until about a month ago that I finally bought a minimal subscription as a "thank you" to the team after years of using Proxmox and getting plenty of 'free' support. It's ridiculous to think that the Proxmox folk are nerfing their product to make it more difficult to test it out for folk who might eventually send them $.

Not to mention that their Git repository is completely open for someone to clone and tweak to remove the nag and make that available to others.

Sheesh.

The problem starts from the fact that the initial proxmox install is lacking any access to the proxmox repositories by default. Thus `apt install openvswitch-switch` installs the Debian Stretch version which is severly broken. I had to dig trough the forum and stumble upon a mention of the no-subscription repository.

I realize that your whole business model is centered around buying a subscription/license, but this is off-puting when you consider that trialing the system is not completely possible due to broken versions of packages.