diff --git a/lib/vlog.man b/lib/vlog.man
index a8c82230e..001744927 100644
--- a/lib/vlog.man
+++ b/lib/vlog.man
@@ -45,10 +45,15 @@ a word but has no effect.
 Sets the maximum logging verbosity level, equivalent to
 \fB\-\-verbose=ANY:ANY:dbg\fR.
 .
+.\" Python vlog doesn't implement -vPATTERN so only document it if
+.\" \*(PY is empty:
+.ie dPY
+.el \{
 .IP "\fB\-vPATTERN:\fIfacility\fB:\fIpattern\fR"
 .IQ "\fB\-\-verbose=PATTERN:\fIfacility\fB:\fIpattern\fR"
 Sets the log pattern for \fIfacility\fR to \fIpattern\fR.  Refer to
 \fBovs\-appctl\fR(8) for a description of the valid syntax for \fIpattern\fR.
+\}
 .
 .TP
 \fB\-\-log\-file\fR[\fB=\fIfile\fR]
diff --git a/python/ovs/vlog.py b/python/ovs/vlog.py
index b3a8b813f..ed950123c 100644
--- a/python/ovs/vlog.py
+++ b/python/ovs/vlog.py
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
 import datetime
 import logging
 import logging.handlers
+import re
 import socket
 import sys
 
@@ -122,6 +123,10 @@ class Vlog:
 
         ovs.unixctl.command_register("vlog/reopen", "", 0, 0,
                                      Vlog._unixctl_vlog_reopen, None)
+        ovs.unixctl.command_register("vlog/set", "spec", 1, sys.maxint,
+                                     Vlog._unixctl_vlog_set, None)
+        ovs.unixctl.command_register("vlog/list", "", 0, 0,
+                                     Vlog._unixctl_vlog_list, None)
 
     @staticmethod
     def set_level(module, facility, level):
@@ -157,6 +162,43 @@ class Vlog:
             for f in facilities:
                 Vlog.__mfl[m][f] = level
 
+    @staticmethod
+    def set_levels_from_string(s):
+        module = None
+        level = None
+        facility = None
+
+        for word in [w.lower() for w in re.split('[ :]', s)]:
+            if word == "any":
+                pass
+            elif word in FACILITIES:
+                if facility:
+                    return "cannot specify multiple facilities"
+                facility = word
+            elif word in LEVELS:
+                if level:
+                    return "cannot specify multiple levels"
+                level = word
+            elif word in Vlog.__mfl:
+                if module:
+                    return "cannot specify multiple modules"
+                module = word
+            else:
+                return "no facility, level, or module \"%s\"" % word
+
+        Vlog.set_level(module or "any", facility or "any", level or "any")
+
+    @staticmethod
+    def get_levels():
+        lines = ["                 console    syslog    file\n",
+                 "                 -------    ------    ------\n"]
+        lines.extend(sorted(["%-16s  %4s       %4s       %4s\n"
+                             % (m,
+                                Vlog.__mfl[m]["console"],
+                                Vlog.__mfl[m]["syslog"],
+                                Vlog.__mfl[m]["file"]) for m in Vlog.__mfl]))
+        return ''.join(lines)
+
     @staticmethod
     def reopen_log_file():
         """Closes and then attempts to re-open the current log file.  (This is
@@ -177,6 +219,19 @@ class Vlog:
         else:
             conn.reply("Logging to file not configured")
 
+    @staticmethod
+    def _unixctl_vlog_set(conn, argv, unused_aux):
+        for arg in argv:
+            msg = Vlog.set_levels_from_string(arg)
+            if msg:
+                conn.reply(msg)
+                return
+        conn.reply(None)
+
+    @staticmethod
+    def _unixctl_vlog_list(conn, unused_argv, unused_aux):
+        conn.reply(Vlog.get_levels())
+
 def add_args(parser):
     """Adds vlog related options to 'parser', an ArgumentParser object.  The
     resulting arguments parsed by 'parser' should be passed to handle_args."""
@@ -187,7 +242,7 @@ def add_args(parser):
                        " is used if LOG_FILE is omitted.")
     group.add_argument("-v", "--verbose", nargs="*",
                        help="Sets logging levels, see ovs-vswitchd(8)."
-                       "  Defaults to ANY:ANY:dbg.")
+                       "  Defaults to dbg.")
 
 
 def handle_args(args):
@@ -205,23 +260,8 @@ def handle_args(args):
         args.verbose = ["any:any:dbg"]
 
     for verbose in args.verbose:
-        args = verbose.split(':')
-
-        if len(args) >= 3:
-            level = args[2]
-        else:
-            level = "dbg"
-
-        if len(args) >= 2:
-            facility = args[1]
-        else:
-            facility = "any"
-
-        if len(args) >= 1:
-            module = args[0]
-        else:
-            module = "any"
-
-        Vlog.set_level(module, facility, level)
+        msg = Vlog.set_levels_from_string(verbose)
+        if msg:
+            ovs.util.ovs_fatal(0, "processing \"%s\": %s" % (verbose, msg))
 
     Vlog.init(log_file)
diff --git a/tests/unixctl-py.at b/tests/unixctl-py.at
index 37070c918..037460265 100644
--- a/tests/unixctl-py.at
+++ b/tests/unixctl-py.at
@@ -106,7 +106,9 @@ The available commands are:
   help
   log                     [[arg ...]]
   version
+  vlog/list
   vlog/reopen
+  vlog/set                spec
 ])
 mv stdout expout
 AT_CHECK([PYAPPCTL -t test-unixctl.py help], [0], [expout])
diff --git a/tests/vlog.at b/tests/vlog.at
index a1afb10f0..61cef2ad0 100644
--- a/tests/vlog.at
+++ b/tests/vlog.at
@@ -180,3 +180,47 @@ AT_CHECK([sed 's/.*|//' log], [0], [dnl
 message3
 ])
 AT_CLEANUP
+
+AT_SETUP([vlog - vlog/set and vlog/list - Python])
+AT_SKIP_IF([test $HAVE_PYTHON = no])
+OVS_RUNDIR=`pwd`; export OVS_RUNDIR
+OVS_LOGDIR=`pwd`; export OVS_LOGDIR
+OVS_SYSCONFDIR=`pwd`; export OVS_SYSCONFDIR
+trap 'kill `cat test-unixctl.py.pid`' 0
+
+AT_CAPTURE_FILE([log])
+AT_CHECK([$PYTHON $srcdir/test-unixctl.py --log-file=`pwd`/log --pidfile --detach])
+
+AT_CHECK([APPCTL -t test-unixctl.py vlog/list], [0], [dnl
+                 console    syslog    file
+                 -------    ------    ------
+daemon            info       info       info
+fatal-signal      info       info       info
+jsonrpc           info       info       info
+poller            info       info       info
+reconnect         info       info       info
+socket_util       info       info       info
+stream            info       info       info
+test-unixctl      info       info       info
+unixctl_server    info       info       info
+])
+
+AT_CHECK([APPCTL -t test-unixctl.py vlog/set daemon:syslog:err])
+AT_CHECK([APPCTL -t test-unixctl.py vlog/set file:dbg])
+AT_CHECK([APPCTL -t test-unixctl.py vlog/set nonexistent], [0],
+  [no facility, level, or module "nonexistent"
+])
+AT_CHECK([APPCTL -t test-unixctl.py vlog/list], [0], [dnl
+                 console    syslog    file
+                 -------    ------    ------
+daemon            info        err        dbg
+fatal-signal      info       info        dbg
+jsonrpc           info       info        dbg
+poller            info       info        dbg
+reconnect         info       info        dbg
+socket_util       info       info        dbg
+stream            info       info        dbg
+test-unixctl      info       info        dbg
+unixctl_server    info       info        dbg
+])
+AT_CLEANUP
diff --git a/utilities/ovs-appctl.8.in b/utilities/ovs-appctl.8.in
index 4606f57fe..c2ed26b5d 100644
--- a/utilities/ovs-appctl.8.in
+++ b/utilities/ovs-appctl.8.in
@@ -214,6 +214,10 @@ width.  (A field wider than \fIwidth\fR is not truncated to fit.)
 The default pattern for console and file output is \fB%D{%Y-%m-%dT
 %H:%M:%SZ}|%05N|%c|%p|%m\fR; for syslog output, \fB%05N|%c|%p|%m\fR.
 .
+.IP
+Daemons written in Python (e.g. \fBovs\-xapi\-sync\fR,
+\fBovs\-monitor\-ipsec) do not allow control over the log pattern.
+.
 .IP "\fBvlog/reopen\fR"
 Causes the daemon to close and reopen its log file.  (This
 is useful after rotating log files, to cause a new log file to be
@@ -228,7 +232,7 @@ This has no effect if the target application was not invoked with the
 .
 .SH "SEE ALSO"
 .
-\fBovs\-appctl\fR can control the following daemons:
+\fBovs\-appctl\fR can control all Open vSwitch daemons, including:
 .BR ovs\-vswitchd (8),
-.BR ovs\-controller (8),
-.BR ovs\-brcompatd (8).
+and
+.BR ovsdb\-server (8).