Configuring SNMP

Table Of Contents

Configuring SNMP

SNMP

Configuring SNMP

Overview

Supported User Role

Field Definitions

Configuring SNMP

Configuring SNMP Traps

Overview

Supported User Role

Field Definitions

SNMP Traps Configuration Panel

Add and Edit SNMP Trap Destination Dialog Boxes

Configuring SNMP Traps


Configuring SNMP


This chapter describes how to configure the sensor to use SNMP and SNMP traps. It contains the following sections:

SNMP

Configuring SNMP

Configuring SNMP Traps

SNMP

SNMP is an application layer protocol that facilitates the exchange of management information between network devices. SNMP enables network administrators to manage network performance, find and solve network problems, and plan for network growth.

SNMP is a simple request/response protocol. The network-management system issues a request, and managed devices return responses. This behavior is implemented by using one of four protocol operations: Get, GetNext, Set, and Trap.

You can configure the sensor for monitoring by SNMP. SNMP defines a standard way for network management stations to monitor the health and status of many types of devices, including switches, routers, and sensors.

You can configure the sensor to send SNMP traps. SNMP traps enable an agent to notify the management station of significant events by way of an unsolicited SNMP message.

Trap-directed notification has the following advantage—if a manager is responsible for a large number of devices, and each device has a large number of objects, it is impractical to poll or request information from every object on every device. The solution is for each agent on the managed device to notify the manager without solicitation. It does this by sending a message known as a trap of the event.

After receiving the event, the manager displays it and can take an action based on the event. For instance, the manager can poll the agent directly, or poll other associated device agents to get a better understanding of the event.


Note Trap-directed notification results in substantial savings of network and agent resources by eliminating frivolous SNMP requests. However, it is not possible to totally eliminate SNMP polling. SNMP requests are required for discovery and topology changes. In addition, a managed device agent cannot send a trap if the device has had a catastrophic outage.


Configuring SNMP

This section describes how to configure SNMP, and contains the following topics:

Overview

Supported User Role

Field Definitions

Configuring SNMP

Overview

Use the SNMP General Configuration panel to configure the sensor to use SNMP.

Supported User Role

The following user roles are supported:

Administrator

Operator

Viewer

You must be Administrator to configure the sensor to use SNMP.

Field Definitions

The following fields and buttons are found on the SNMP General Configuration panel.

Field Descriptions:

Enable SNMP Gets/Sets—If selected, allows SNMP gets and sets.

SNMP Agent Parameters—Configures the parameters for SNMP agent.

Read-Only Community String—Identifies the community string for read-only access.

Read-Write Community String—Identifies the community string for read and write access.

Sensor Contact—Identifies the contact person/point for the sensor.

Sensor Location—Identifies the location of the sensor.

Sensor Agent Port—Identifies the IP port of the sensor.

The default is 161.

Sensor Agent Protocol—Identifies the IP protocol of the sensor.

The default is UDP.

Button Functions:

Apply—Applies your changes and saves the revised configuration.

Reset—Refreshes the panel by replacing any edits you made with the previously configured value.

Configuring SNMP

To set the general SNMP parameters, follow these steps:


Step 1 Click Configuration > SNMP > SNMP General Configuration.

The SNMP General Configuration panel appears.

Step 2 Select Enable SNMP Gets/Sets to enable SNMP so that the SNMP management workstation can issue requests to the sensor SNMP agent.

Step 3 Configure the SNMP agent parameters:

These are the values that the SNMP management workstation can request from the sensor SNMP agent.

a. Assign the read-only community string in the Read-Only Community String field.

The read-only community string helps to identify the sensor SNMP agent.

b. Assign the read-write community string in the Read-Write Community String field.

The read-write community string helps to identify the sensor SNMP agent.


Note The management workstation sends SNMP requests to the sensor SNMP agent, which resides on the sensor. If the management workstation issues a request and the community string does not match what is on the senor, the sensor will reject it.


c. Type the sensor contact user ID in the Sensor Contact field.

d. Type the location of the sensor in the Sensor Location field.

e. Type the port of the sensor SNMP agent in the Sensor Agent Port field.

The default SNMP port number is 161.

f. Select the protocol the sensor SNMP agent will use from the Sensor Agent Protocol list.

g. The default protocol is UDP.


Tip To discard your changes, click Reset.


Step 4 Click Apply to apply your changes and save the revised configuration.


Configuring SNMP Traps

This section describes how to configure SNMP traps, and contains the following topics:

Overview

Supported User Role

Field Definitions

Configuring SNMP Traps

Overview

Use the SNMP Traps Configuration panel to set up SNMP traps and trap destinations on the sensor.

An SNMP trap is a notification. You configure the sensor to send traps based on whether the event is fatal, an error, or a warning.

Supported User Role

The following user roles are supported:

Administrator

Operator

Viewer

You must be Administrator to configure SNMP traps on the sensor.

Field Definitions

This section lists the field definitions for SNMP traps, and contains the following topics:

SNMP Traps Configuration Panel

Add and Edit SNMP Trap Destination Dialog Boxes

SNMP Traps Configuration Panel

The following fields and buttons are found on the SNMP Traps Configuration panel.

Field Descriptions:

Enable SNMP Traps—If selected, indicates the remote server will use a pull update.

Select the error events to notify through SNMP:

Fatal—Generates traps for all fatal error events.

Error—Generates traps for all error error events.

Warning—Generates traps for all warning error events.

Enable detailed traps for alerts—If selected, includes the full text of the alert in the trap. Otherwise, sparse mode is used. Sparse mode includes less than 484 bytes of text for the alert.

Default Trap Community String—The community string used for the traps if no specific string has been set for the trap.

Specify SNMP trap destinations—Identifies the destination for the trap.

You must specify the following information about the destination:

IP Address—The IP address of the trap destination.

UDP Port—The UDP port of the trap destination.

Trap Community String—The trap community string.

Button Functions:

Add—Opens the Add SNMP Trap Destination dialog box.

From this dialog box you can add a new destination for SNMP traps.

Edit—Opens the Edit SNMP Trap Destination dialog box.

From this dialog box you can change the parameters that define the selected destination.

Delete—Deletes the selected destination.

Apply—Applies your changes and saves the revised configuration.

Reset—Refreshes the panel by replacing any edits you made with the previously configured value.

Add and Edit SNMP Trap Destination Dialog Boxes

The following fields and buttons are found on the Add and Edit SNMP Trap Destination dialog boxes.

Field Descriptions:

IP Address—The IP address of the trap destination.

UDP Port—The UDP port of the trap destination.

The default is port 162.

Trap Community String—The trap community string.

Button Functions:

OK—Accepts your changes and closes the dialog box.

Cancel—Discards your changes and closes the dialog box.

Help—Displays the help topic for this feature.

Configuring SNMP Traps

To configure SNMP traps, follow these steps:


Step 1 Click Configuration > SNMP > SNMP Traps Configuration.

The SNMP Traps Configuration panel appears.

Step 2 Select Enable SNMP Traps to enable SNMP traps.

Step 3 Set the parameters for the SNMP trap:

a. Select the error events you want to be notified about through SNMP traps.

You can choose to have the sensor send an SNMP trap based on one or all of the following events: fatal, error, warning.

b. Choose whether you want detailed SNMP traps by selecting the Enable detailed traps for alerts check box.

c. Type the community string to be included in the detailed traps in the Default Trap Community String field.

Step 4 Set the parameters for the SNMP trap destinations so the sensor knows which management workstations to send them to:

a. Click Add.

The Add SNMP Trap Destination dialog box appears.

b. Type the IP address of the SNMP management station in the IP Address field.

c. Type the UDP port of the SNMP management station in the UDP Port field.

d. Type the trap Community string in the Trap Community String field.


Note The community string appears in the trap and is useful if you are receiving multiple types of traps from multiple agents. For example, a router or sensor could be sending the traps, and if you put something that identifies the router or sensor specifically in your community string, you can filter the traps based on the community string.



Tip To discard your changes and close the Add SNMP Trap Destination dialog box, click Cancel.


Step 5 Click OK.

The new SNMP trap destination appears in the list on the SNMP Traps Configuration panel.

Step 6 To edit an SNMP trap destination, select it, and click Edit.

The Edit SNMP Trap Destination dialog box appears.

Step 7 Edit the UDP Port and Trap Community String fields.


Tip To discard your changes and close the Edit SNMP Trap Destination dialog box, click Cancel.


Step 8 Click OK.

The edited SNMP trap destination appears in the list on the SNMP Traps Configuration panel.

Step 9 To delete an SNMP trap destination, select it, and click Delete.

The SNMP trap destination no longer appears in the list on the SNMP Traps Configuration panel.


Tip To discard your changes, click Reset.


Step 10 Click Apply to apply your changes and save the revised configuration.