How to monitor SNMP devices with the MIB Monitor plugin?

This can be a simple task or a complex project, depending on the scope and requirements. The user will need knowledge of TCP/IP networking and the SNMP protocol. Here we are providing some basic information for users to get started. In this article we will cover usage of SNMP “GET” requests to obtain information from an SNMP device.

Verification of Network Connection and Permission The SNMP protocol is commonly available for a wide range of equipment like servers, storage, printers, network devices, etc. Users should check the documentation from the vendor of the SNMP device on the supported protocol versions (e.g. v1, v2c, v3) and security mechanisms (e.g. community string, authentication and privacy options). While each SNMP device may have some unique features, they should include certain attributes under object identifiers (OID: .1.3.6.1.2.1) following industry standards. We can make use of the “snmpwalk” command, which is often installed on Linux systems. Please see below command line examples for SNMP v2c and v3, which should output a list of OIDs if it is successful. Example 1: SNMP v2c with community string ``` $ snmpwalk -v 2c -c public -O n 10.20.34.56 .1.3.6.1.2.1

head

Example 2: SNMP v3 with authentication and privacy enabled

$ snmpwalk -v 3 -l authPriv -u geneosuser -a sha -A authPass -x aes -X privPass 10.20.34.56 .1.3.6.1.2.1

head ```

MIB Monitor Plugin Configuration Once the SNMP security has been tested with the “snmpwalk” command, the configurations in Geneos become much more straightforward. Users can locate the respective options under the Advanced tab in the MIB-Mon plugin. As OIDs usually start with a long common string (e.g. .1.3.6.1.2.1.1.), there is a “Mib Base” option so users can save some typing.

Further Reading - MIB-Mon plugin documentation - Simple Network Management Protocol in Wikipedia