Inspect a MicroOVN deployment

The microovn inspect command checks the health of a MicroOVN deployment. It compares the configured services with their runtime state, checks the OVN databases, and looks for differences in the generated OVN environment across cluster members.

The command is read-only. It does not change services, files, OVN database records, or cluster membership. Remediation shown in the output is guidance for the operator and is never run automatically.

Run an inspection

Run the command with elevated privileges on any MicroOVN cluster member:

sudo microovn inspect

The default output identifies the node and inspection scope, describes the Northbound and Southbound databases, and lists findings which need attention. Passing checks are omitted. This is equivalent to --format=text (or -f text).

Use --verbose (or -v) to include passing checks, node-level details, collection errors, and remediation guidance:

sudo microovn inspect --verbose

Use JSON output when the report will be consumed by another program:

sudo microovn inspect --format=json

JSON reports always contain the complete result set, so --verbose cannot be combined with --format=json. The schema_version field identifies the report format. Consumers should allow additional optional fields within a schema version.

An inspection has an overall 30-second time limit. Collection from an individual remote member is limited to five seconds. Database probing has its own bounded convergence window within the overall limit.

Understand the result

Each check has one of four statuses:

PASS

The available evidence satisfies the check.

WARNING

MicroOVN is operating, but a known condition is degraded or carries risk.

FAIL

The available evidence proves that a condition is unhealthy.

UNKNOWN

MicroOVN could not collect enough evidence to determine health.

The summary counts every status. Its overall status uses this precedence: FAIL, UNKNOWN, WARNING, then PASS. This keeps an incomplete inspection visible even when other checks have passed.

The command uses these exit codes:

0

Every check passed.

1

At least one check returned WARNING, FAIL, or UNKNOWN.

2 The arguments were invalid, or inspection failed before it could produce a report. This includes running the command on a member which has not joined or set up a MicroOVN cluster.

An unavailable cluster member is reported as UNKNOWN. Results collected from other members are still included in the report.

Choose a cluster member

Run the command on a voting member for an authoritative cluster-wide report. A standby or spare member can provide local evidence, but it cannot establish the state of the whole cluster. Its report contains an authority warning and UNKNOWN results for checks which require cluster-wide state, so it exits with code 1.

The central topology check also reports a warning when the deployment has one or two central members, or an even non-zero number of central members. A deployment with no managed central service is not warned because its central databases may be managed externally.

Checks performed

The inspection covers these areas:

  • Central topology - checks the number of members configured with the central service.

  • Service runtime - compares configured services with the snap daemons running on each member. A configured service which is inactive or disabled is a failure. An active or enabled daemon without a corresponding configured service is a warning.

  • OVN databases - checks Northbound and Southbound schema agreement, connectivity, and nb_cfg convergence.

  • DHCP metadata routes - checks that logical switch ports with DHCP options

    have a classless static route to the instance metadata service.

  • Environment convergence - compares the generated ovn.env entries across reachable members.

Environment values are hashed on the member where they are collected. Raw values are not returned or printed. The hashes prevent accidental disclosure, but they are not a substitute for secret storage: a guessed low-entropy value can be confirmed offline by hashing it and comparing the result.