Contents
 SNMP Agent

Use the SNMP Agent to supply management information to a network management station.

Introduction

What is the SNMP Agent?

How To...

View SNMP Agent Version Number

Configure the SNMP Agent

Define/Edit the SNMP Community

Define/Edit the SNMP Trap Community


What is the SNMP Agent?

The SNMP Agent runs on a PC and sends operating data to a workstation serving as a network management station. SNMP agents are organized in communities. The community incorporating all network devices is usually known as the Public community. Public is the most common community affiliation used by SNMP agents.

The SNMP agent reports the status of several variables to the network management program. Using SNMP, an administrator can monitor (get) and control (set) the value of these variables.  In addition, the SNMP Agent can alert administrators to problems by issuing traps. A trap is a message sent by the agent to the management station, notifying it that an extraordinary event has occurred. Such an event might be the failure of the PC's network interface card (NIC).


Operating Data Available from the SNMP Agent

The SNMP Agent supports all MIB II data elements defined in RFC-1213 for the following groups:

System Group	IP Group

ICMP Group	Address Translation Group

The SNMP Agent also supports all Host Resource MIB data elements defined in RFC-1514 for the following groups:

System Group	Running Software

Storage Group	Running Software Performance

Installed Software

Tip: Send the following e-mail message, exactly as it appears below, to the address indicated to receive detailed instructions about how to acquire a copy of either RFC.

       To: rfc-info@ISI.EDU

Subject: getting rfcs

-----------------------------------

help: ways_to_get_rfcs


Read/Write Variables You Can Modify

The SNMP Agent allows you to modify the following MIB II read/write variables:

System Group

sysname	PC's host name.
syslocation	PC's physical location.
syscontact	Support person responsible for this PC.
Address Translation Group

atPhysAddress / ipNetToMediaPhysAddress	Media-dependent physical address.
atNetAddress /  ipNetToMediaNetAddress	IP address corresponding to media-dependent physical address.
ipNetToMediaType	The type of mapping (dynamic, static, invalid). If set to invalid, this entry is deleted from the address translation table.
IP Group

ipRouteNextHop	IP address of next hop of this route.
ipRouteType	Type of route. When set to invalid, SNMP Agent deletes this route entry.
ipRouteDest	Destination IP address of this route. If set to the default (0.0.0.0), SNMP Agent does not allow this value to be changed.


SNMP

The Simple Network Management Protocol defines a method of managing TCP/IP network devices, including: PCs, workstations, gateways, hubs and bridges. The information (variables) available for each device being managed is defined in a device's Management Information Base (MIB).


Viewing the SNMP Agent Version Number

To view the version number of the SNMP Agent:

1.	Start the Agent by double-clicking its icon in the PC-NFSpro Group.

The SNMP icon appears on your desktop.

2.	Click on the icon to open its system menu.

3.	Choose About.

The About SNMP Agent dialog box opens displaying the SNMP Agent version number.


Configuring the SNMP Agent

1.	From the Configuration main window, press the SNMP button.

Alternately, choose Configure from the SNMP Agent system menu. The SNMP configuration dialog box appears.

2.	Choose the check box labeled Start SNMP Agent Automatically.

This selection will start the SNMP agent each time Windows is started.

3.	Choose the Add button to enter SNMP community names in the edit box labeled Communities.

The default SNMP community is named "public."

4.	Choose the Add button to enter SNMP Trap Community names in the edit box provided.

The default SNMP trap community is named "public."

5.	Choose the box labeled Issue TRAPs to activate this feature.

By default, this features is off.

6.	Supply any of the following to configure variables in the Management Information Base (MIB):

System Description - Information about the PCs hardware and software configuration

System Location - The physical location of the machine on which the agent is running.

System Contact - The name, phone number, and e-mail address of the support person assigned to the PC.

7.	Choose OK.

See Also:

Define/Edit SNMP Community

Define/Edit SNMP Trap Community


Define/Edit SNMP Community Dialog

1.	Start the configuration program and select SNMP.

Alternately, choose Configure from the SNMP Agent system menu.

2.	Choose the Add button to provide information about Communities.

The SNMP Community dialog box is displayed.

3.	Provide the requested information, including the Community name, the IP address of the system where the network manager program is running, and the type of access.

A given manager may be in many communities.

Note: The manager address 0.0.0.0 is shorthand for "all IP addresses" and the default access type is read.

Note: Since SNMP uses the "trivial" authentication in which simply using a community name authenticates a message in that community, you should be extremely careful granting write access to anyone. It is relatively easy to "fake" an IP address.

4.	Choose OK to save your entries or Cancel to close the SNMP Community dialog box without saving your changes.


Define/Edit SNMP Trap Community Dialog

This configuration procedure is optional. The default is to send no traps.

1.	Start the configuration program and select SNMP.

Alternately, choose Configure from the SNMP Agent system menu.

2.	Choose the Add button to provide information about Trap Communities.

The SNMP Trap Community dialog box is displayed.

3.	Provide the requested information, including the Community name, the IP address or host name of the system where the network manager program is running, and the UDP port number.

The port should typically be 162.