Configure OpenFlow controller ports

An OpenFlow controller is configured globally under OpenFlow context and associated with an instance under instance context (see Entering OpenFlow instance context for more information). OpenFlow controller traffic cannot be “in-band” or transit on a VLAN managed by OpenFlow. It must transit on a VLAN not managed by OpenFlow.

OpenFlow controller traffic and OpenFlow traffic can transit on the same port, as long as they use different VLANs.

The VLAN chosen for OpenFlow controller traffic depends entirely on the IP address of the controller, and no specific configuration is needed. Thus the switch must have a proper IP configuration, and the controller address must be part of a subnet that is not on an OpenFlow VLAN.

For information on how to either manually assign an IP address to the switch or set it up to perform DHCP queries, see the ‘Configuring IP Addressing’ chapter in the Basic Operation Guide for your switch.

Up to three OpenFlow controllers control each OpenFlow instance and each generates OpenFlow commands and data flows between an OpenFlow switch and the controller.