Abstract: A method is implemented by a switch in a Software Defined Networking (SDN) network to trace packets belonging to a flow. The method includes setting a value in a first field and a second field associated with the packet to indicate that tracing is enabled for the packet, where the second field is a field that is not used for packet matching, determining, at a second flow table, whether tracing is enabled for the packet based on the value in the first field, transmitting a trace message for the packet to a trace collector in response to a determination that tracing is enabled for the packet, setting a value in the first field to indicate that tracing is disabled for the packet, resubmitting the packet to the second flow table, and copying the value in the second field to the first field before directing the packet to another flow table.

Abstract: A method is implemented by a switch in a Software Defined Networking (SDN) network to trace packets belonging to a flow. The method includes setting a value in a first field and a second field associated with the packet to indicate that tracing is enabled for the packet, where the second field is a field that is not used for packet matching, determining, at a second flow table, whether tracing is enabled for the packet based on the value in the first field, transmitting a trace message for the packet to a trace collector in response to a determination that tracing is enabled for the packet, setting a value in the first field to indicate that tracing is disabled for the packet, resubmitting the packet to the second flow table, and copying the value in the second field to the first field before directing the packet to another flow table.