openvswitch rstp sets physical switch port in error state

[Joachim Wickman]

1. Release

$ lsb_release -rd
Description: Ubuntu 16.04.3 LTS
Release: 16.04

2. Package version, 2.5.2 was the culprit

$ apt-cache policy openvswitch-common
openvswitch-common:
  Installed: 2.8.0-1
  Candidate: 2.8.0-1
  Version table:
 *** 2.8.0-1 100
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
     2.5.2-0ubuntu0.16.04.1 500
        500 http://fi.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-updates/main amd64 Packages
     2.5.0-0ubuntu1 500
        500 http://fi.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial/main amd64 Packages

3. Expected

To have a network without broadcast storms / loops so it becomes stable.

4. What happened.

The network crashed, probably the TP-Link switch which could not understand a buggy RSTP implementation.

5. Detailed description.

In version 2.5.2 when enabling rstp then it crashes the network when connected to rstp port in a TP-Link SG3424 switch. The port in TP-Link gets status error.

Upgraded ovs to 2.8.0 by compiling myself and it started to work as expected.

6. Suggestions.

So perhaps dont allow rstp in 2.5.x or upgrade the package?

[James Page (james-page)]

2.5.3 looks to contain some fixes for rstp; we will be updating to this version soon in Ubuntu 16.04.

[James Page (james-page)]

I've uploaded 2.5.4 to:

  https://launchpad.net/~ci-train-ppa-service/+archive/ubuntu/3006

if possible could you confirm whether this point release update resolves your particular issue.

Thanks!

[James Page (james-page)]

Marking 'Incomplete' for now - please test the proposed package updates and set back to 'New' with some feedback once tested.