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Overview

Provider drivers determine the underlying implementation used to create and manage load balancing appliances. The default provider is configured during XDeploy deployment. You can view available providers, inspect their capabilities, and allow users to select a specific provider at provisioning time.
Administrator Access Required — This operation requires the admin role. Contact your Xloud administrator if you do not have sufficient permissions.

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View Available Providers

List available load balancing providers
openstack loadbalancer provider list
Example output: 
+----------+---------------------+
| name     | description         |
+----------+---------------------+
| amphora  | Amphora provider    |
| ovn      | OVN provider        |
+----------+---------------------+
List provider capabilities
openstack loadbalancer provider capability list <provider-name>
The capabilities output lists supported protocols, algorithms, session persistence types, and feature flags (ACTIVE_STANDBY topology, L7 policies, TLS termination, etc.).

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Provider Comparison

FeatureAmphoraOVN
Data planeVM-based applianceOVN logical flows (no appliance VM)
HA topologyACTIVE_STANDBY supportedBuilt-in via OVN HA
L7 routingFull L7 policy supportLimited L7 support
TLS terminationSupportedSupported
ThroughputLimited by appliance VM sizeNear line-rate (kernel-based)
Appliance overhead1 VM per load balancerNo appliance VMs
Best forFull-featured production LBsHigh-throughput, simpler LBs

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Configure Default Provider

The default provider is set during XDeploy deployment via globals:
XDeploy globals: set default load balancer provider
octavia_provider: "amphora"  # or "ovn"
Apply after changing:
Deploy load balancer configuration
xavs-ansible deploy --tags octavia
Changing the default provider affects all new load balancers. Existing load balancers retain their original provider — they are not automatically migrated.

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Specify Provider at Provisioning Time

You can override the default provider when creating a load balancer:
Create load balancer with specific provider
openstack loadbalancer create \
  --name my-lb \
  --vip-subnet-id <subnet-id> \
  --provider ovn
Not all providers are available in all deployments. The available providers depend on which drivers are deployed and configured by the platform administrator.

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Next Steps

Flavor Profiles

Create capacity tiers that wrap provider-specific configuration for users.

Architecture

Understand the controller-appliance model for the Amphora provider.

Monitoring

Monitor provider-specific appliance health and statistics.

Admin Troubleshooting

Resolve provider driver configuration and appliance provisioning issues.