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Query > Flows

Select Query > Flows to perform rich and complex SQL-like queries on flows in the Contrail Controller. You can use the query results for such things as gaining insight into the operation of applications in a virtual network, performing historical analysis of flow issues, and pinpointing problem areas with flows.

Query > Flows > Flow Series

Select Query > Flows > Flow Series to create queries of the flow series table. The results are in the form of time series data for flow series. See Figure 1.

Figure 1: Query Flow Series WindowQuery Flow Series Window

The query fields available on the screen for the Flow Series tab are described in Table 1. Enter query data into the fields to create a SQL-like query to display and analyze flows.

Table 1: Query Flow Series Fields

Field

Description

Time Range

Select a range of time to display the flow series:

  • Last 10 Mins

  • Last 30 Mins

  • Last 1 Hr

  • Last 6 Hrs

  • Last 12 Hrs

  • Custom

Click Custom to enter a specific custom time range in two fields: From Time and To Time.

Select

Click the edit button (pencil icon) to open a Select window (Figure 2), where you can click one or more boxes to select the fields to display from the flow series, such as Source VN, Dest VN, Bytes, Packets, and more.

Where

Click the edit button (pencil icon) to open a query-writing window, where you can specify query values for variables such as sourcevn, sourceip, destvn, destip, protocol, sport, dport.

Direction

Select the desired flow direction: INGRESS or EGRESS.

Filter

Click the edit button (pencil icon) to open a Filter window (Figure 3), where you can select filter items to sort by, the sort order, and limits to the number of results returned.

Run Query

Click Run Query to retrieve the flows that match the query you created. The flows are listed on the lower portion of the screen in a box with columns identifying the selected fields for each flow.

(graph buttons)

When Time Granularity is selected, you have the option to view results in graph or flowchart form. Graph buttons appear on the screen above the Export button. Click a graph button to transform the tabular results into a graphical chart display.

Export

The Export button is displayed after you click Run Query. This allows you to export the list of flows to a text .csv file.

The Select window allows you to select one or more attributes of a flow series by clicking the check box for each attribute desired, see Figure 2. The upper section of the Select window includes field names, and the lower portion lets you select units. Select Time Granularity and then select SUM(Bytes) or SUM(Packets) to aggregate bytes and packets in intervals.

Figure 2: Flow Series Select Flow Series Select

Use the Filter window to refine the display of query results for flows, by defining an attribute by which to sort the results, the sort order of the results, and any limit needed to restrict the number of results. See Figure 3.

Figure 3: Flow Series Filter Flow Series Filter

Example: Query Flow Series

The following is an example flow series query that returns the time series of the summation traffic in bytes for all combinations of source VN and destination VN for the last 10 minutes, with the bytes aggregated in 10 second intervals. See Figure 4.

Figure 4: Example: Query Flow Series Example: Query Flow Series

The query returns tabular time series data, see Figure 5, for the following combinations of Source VN and Dest VN:

  1. Flow Class 1: Source VN = default-domain:demo:front-end, Dest VN=__UNKNOWN__

  2. Flow Class 2: Source VN = default-domain:demo:front-end, Dest VN=default-domain:demo:back-end

Figure 5: Query Flow Series Tabular ResultsQuery Flow Series Tabular Results

Because Time Granularity is selected, the results can also be displayed as graphical charts. Click the graph button on the right side of the tabular results. The results are displayed in a graphical flow chart. See Figure 6.

Figure 6: Query Flow Series Graphical ResultsQuery Flow Series Graphical Results

Query > Flow Records

Select Query > Flow Records to create queries of individual flow records for detailed debugging of connectivity issues between applications and virtual machines. Queries at this level return records of the active flows within a given time period.

Figure 7: Flow RecordsFlow Records

The query fields available on the screen for the Flow Records tab are described in Table 2. Enter query data into the fields to create an SQL-like query to display and analyze flows.

Table 2: Query Flow Records Fields

Field

Description

Time Range

Select a range of time for the flow records:

  • Last 10 Mins

  • Last 30 Mins

  • Last 1 Hr

  • Last 6 Hrs

  • Last 12 Hrs

  • Custom

Click Custom to enter a specified custom time range in two fields: From Time and To Time.

Select

Click the edit button (pencil icon) to open a Select window (Figure 8), where you can click one or more boxes to select attributes to display for the flow records, including Setup Time, Teardown Time, Aggregate Bytes, and Aggregate Packets.

Where

Click the edit button (pencil icon) to open a query-writing window where you can specify query values for sourcevn, sourceip, destvn, destip, protocol, sport, dport. .

Direction

Select the desired flow direction: INGRESS or EGRESS.

Run Query

Click Run Query to retrieve the flow records that match the query you created. The records are listed on the lower portion of the screen in a box with columns identifying the fields for each flow.

Export

The Export button is displayed after you click Run Query, allowing you to export the list of flows to a text .csv file.

The Select window allows you to select one or more attributes to display for the flow records selected, see Figure 8.

Figure 8: Flow Records Select WindowFlow Records Select Window

You can restrict the query to a particular source VN and destination VN combination using the Where section.

The Where Clause supports logical AND and logical OR operations, and is modeled as a logical OR of multiple AND terms. For example: ( (term1 AND term2 AND term3..) OR (term4 AND term5) OR…).

Each term is a single variable expression such as Source VN = VN1.

Figure 9: Where Clause WindowWhere Clause Window

Query > Flows > Query Queue

Select Query > Flows > Query Queue to display queries that are in the queue waiting to be performed on the data. See Figure 10.

Figure 10: Flows Query QueueFlows Query Queue

The query fields available on the screen for the Flow Records tab are described in Table 3. Enter query data into the fields to create an SQL-like query to display and analyze flows.

Table 3: Query Flow Records Fields

Field

Description

Date

The date and time the query was started.

Query

A display of the parameters set for the query.

Progress

The percentage completion of the query to date.

Records

The number of records matching the query to date.

Status

The status of the query, such as completed.

Time Taken

The amount of time in seconds it has taken the query to return the matching records.

(Action icon)

Click the Action icon and select View Results to view a list of the records that match the query, or click Delete to remove the query from the queue.

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