OpenFlow - How are ICMP messages handled - icmp

Question

I am running a Ryu controller and a Mininet instance with 2 hosts and 1 switch like below.
H1---S---H2
Code in Ryu controller
from ryu.base import app_manager
from ryu.controller import ofp_event
from ryu.controller.handler import CONFIG_DISPATCHER, MAIN_DISPATCHER
from ryu.controller.handler import set_ev_cls
from ryu.ofproto import ofproto_v1_3
from ryu.lib.packet import packet
from ryu.lib.packet import ethernet
from ryu.lib.packet import ether_types
class SimpleSwitch13(app_manager.RyuApp):
OFP_VERSIONS = [ofproto_v1_3.OFP_VERSION]
def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
super(SimpleSwitch13, self).__init__(*args, **kwargs)
self.mac_to_port = {}
#set_ev_cls(ofp_event.EventOFPSwitchFeatures, CONFIG_DISPATCHER)
def switch_features_handler(self, ev):
datapath = ev.msg.datapath
ofproto = datapath.ofproto
parser = datapath.ofproto_parser
Basically the switch flow table is empty. In this case, when I run h1 ping h2 from my mininet console and record the packet exchanges, this is what I get in wireshark from host h1.
There is no router in the mininet instance. How am I receiving an ICMP Host Destination Unreachable Message from the same host that initiated the ping?

Answer 1

The app code you posted is not complete.
For complete simple_switch_13.py, you can get it from the osrg github.
Take a look, it is like this:
class SimpleSwitch13(app_manager.RyuApp):
OFP_VERSIONS = [ofproto_v1_3.OFP_VERSION]
def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
super(SimpleSwitch13, self).__init__(*args, **kwargs)
self.mac_to_port = {}
#set_ev_cls(ofp_event.EventOFPSwitchFeatures, CONFIG_DISPATCHER)
def switch_features_handler(self, ev):
datapath = ev.msg.datapath
ofproto = datapath.ofproto
parser = datapath.ofproto_parser
match = parser.OFPMatch()
actions = [parser.OFPActionOutput(ofproto.OFPP_CONTROLLER,
ofproto.OFPCML_NO_BUFFER)]
self.add_flow(datapath, 0, match, actions)
def add_flow(self, datapath, priority, match, actions, buffer_id=None):
ofproto = datapath.ofproto
parser = datapath.ofproto_parser
inst = [parser.OFPInstructionActions(ofproto.OFPIT_APPLY_ACTIONS,
actions)]
if buffer_id:
mod = parser.OFPFlowMod(datapath=datapath, buffer_id=buffer_id,
priority=priority, match=match,
instructions=inst)
else:
mod = parser.OFPFlowMod(datapath=datapath, priority=priority,
match=match, instructions=inst)
datapath.send_msg(mod)
#set_ev_cls(ofp_event.EventOFPPacketIn, MAIN_DISPATCHER)
def _packet_in_handler(self, ev):
# If you hit this you might want to increase
# the "miss_send_length" of your switch
if ev.msg.msg_len < ev.msg.total_len:
self.logger.debug("packet truncated: only %s of %s bytes",
ev.msg.msg_len, ev.msg.total_len)
msg = ev.msg
datapath = msg.datapath
ofproto = datapath.ofproto
parser = datapath.ofproto_parser
in_port = msg.match['in_port']
pkt = packet.Packet(msg.data)
eth = pkt.get_protocols(ethernet.ethernet)[0]
if eth.ethertype == ether_types.ETH_TYPE_LLDP:
# ignore lldp packet
return
dst = eth.dst
src = eth.src
dpid = datapath.id
self.mac_to_port.setdefault(dpid, {})
self.logger.info("packet in %s %s %s %s", dpid, src, dst, in_port)
# learn a mac address to avoid FLOOD next time.
self.mac_to_port[dpid][src] = in_port
if dst in self.mac_to_port[dpid]:
out_port = self.mac_to_port[dpid][dst]
else:
out_port = ofproto.OFPP_FLOOD
actions = [parser.OFPActionOutput(out_port)]
# install a flow to avoid packet_in next time
if out_port != ofproto.OFPP_FLOOD:
match = parser.OFPMatch(in_port=in_port, eth_dst=dst)
# verify if we have a valid buffer_id, if yes avoid to send both
# flow_mod & packet_out
if msg.buffer_id != ofproto.OFP_NO_BUFFER:
self.add_flow(datapath, 1, match, actions, msg.buffer_id)
return
else:
self.add_flow(datapath, 1, match, actions)
data = None
if msg.buffer_id == ofproto.OFP_NO_BUFFER:
data = msg.data
out = parser.OFPPacketOut(datapath=datapath, buffer_id=msg.buffer_id,
in_port=in_port, actions=actions, data=data)
datapath.send_msg(out)
This simple_switch_13.py app only handles layer 2 forwarding, which is your case.
As you can see, after the connection established, the switch_features_handler will listen on this event and add a send all flow to controller flow on the switch.(table-miss flow)
And for the normal states, when the controller receives PACKET_IN, it will check if the dst_MAC is in the mac_to_port. If yes, then output to the port, and at the same time insert a flow(whose match field is inport and dst_MAC); else(not in the array), the action is set to be FLOOD by assigning the outport=FLOOD.
That's the case in Layer 2 switching.
For ICMP messages handling in layer 3 switching, you need to read the rest_router.py code, which is a lot more complicated.

Answer 2

You get ICMP Host Destination Unreachable because the ARP request is never answered by h2.
Since h1 gets no ARP reply, ICMP error message comes from its own IP stack.