ENUM OVS_VPORT_TYPE(9)

✨ enum ovs_vport_type(9) ✨

okay bestie come closer — this is a page from the Kernel API Manual and it's literally just a little enum that tells you what kind of vport you're dealing with, for %OVS_VPORT_ATTR_TYPE. that's it. that's the whole vibe. 🦋

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🌸 NAME 🌸

enum ovs_vport_type — OVS vport types for %OVS_VPORT_ATTR_TYPE. yeah. that's the assignment and she ate. 💅

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🎀 SYNOPSIS 🎀

enum ovs_vport_type {
    OVS_VPORT_TYPE_NETDEV ,
    OVS_VPORT_TYPE_INTERNAL ,
    OVS_VPORT_TYPE_GRE ,
    OVS_VPORT_TYPE_VXLAN ,
    OVS_VPORT_TYPE_GENEVE

};

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⭐ Constants ⭐

bestie there are five and i'm gonna walk you through each one, no skipping, we don't do that here 🫶

• OVS_VPORT_TYPE_NETDEV — a network device that already exists and got attached as a vport. it's giving "i was here first" main character energy. 👑
• OVS_VPORT_TYPE_INTERNAL — a network device that's implemented by the OVS datapath itself. homemade. artisanal. ✨
• OVS_VPORT_TYPE_GRE — legacy GRE tunnel. not supported, and yes we're getting into that below. 💀
• OVS_VPORT_TYPE_VXLAN — legacy VXLAN tunnel. also not supported. see below. 💀
• OVS_VPORT_TYPE_GENEVE — legacy Geneve tunnel. also not supported. yes, see below again. 💀

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💖 Description 💖

so here's the tea and it's kind of a big deal: the tunnel vport types are not supported. periodt. 🚫

instead, you create the tunnel device using RTM_NEWLINK with the appropriate IFLA_INFO_KIND (e.g. gre, gretap, vxlan, geneve, or other tunnel types) and then you add it as OVS_VPORT_TYPE_NETDEV. that's the whole move. lowkey elegant ngl. 🌈

and if you want to match and set tunnel parameters on a per-flow basis, the tunnel device should collect metadata. to do that, some tunnel types require an explicit flag — like IFLA_VXLAN_COLLECT_METADATA for vxlan — while others such as bareudp collect metadata unconditionally.

ngl the original page has a stray `` hanging around after bareudp there and i'm choosing to believe it's a little sparkle, not a typo. we move. 💫

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🔥 SEE ALSO 🔥

go read these next bestie, they're all in the kernel file ./include/uapi/linux/openvswitch.h and they're iconic in their own right:

• struct ovs_header(9)
• enum ovs_datapath_attr(9)
• enum ovs_packet_attr(9)
• enum ovs_vport_attr(9)
• enum ovs_vport_upcall_attr(9)
• enum ovs_frag_type(9)
• enum ovs_flow_attr(9)
• enum ovs_sample_attr(9)
• enum ovs_userspace_attr(9)
• struct ovs_action_push_mpls(9)
• struct ovs_action_add_mpls(9)
• struct ovs_action_push_vlan(9)
• enum ovs_ct_attr(9)
• enum ovs_nat_attr(9)
• struct ovs_action_push_eth(9)
• enum ovs_check_pkt_len_attr(9)
• enum ovs_psample_attr(9)
• enum ovs_action_attr(9)

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okay that's the whole page, mwah 💜 this little blessing lives in ./include/uapi/linux and it's dated October 2026 — a whole vibe from the future, we love her, bye bestie 🧚🌸