Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) Communities Configuration on ESW2-350G Switches

Objective

SNMP is a network management protocol which is used to manage network devices. Access rights in SNMPv1 and SNMPv2 are managed by the definition of communities. The community name is a type of shared password between the SNMP management station and the device.

Timesaver: The SNMP Communities setup may need SNMP Views and SNMP Groups to be configured. SNMP views are needed if the you perform Step 10. SNMP Groups are needed if you choose Advanced in Step 9. Refer to the articles Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) Views on ESW2-350G Switches and Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) Group on ESW2-350G Switches respectively.

This article explains how to configure SNMP communities on the ESW2-350G Switches

Applicable Devices

• ESW2-350G
• ESW2-350G-DC

Software Version

• 1.3.0.62

Add SNMP Communities

Step 1. Log in to the web configuration utility and choose SNMP > Communities. The Communities page opens:

Step 2. Click Add to configure a new SNMP community.

Step 3. Click the All radio button to indicate that any IP device can access the SNMP community. If this is chosen, then you can skip to Step 9. Otherwise, click the User Defined radio button to enter the management station IP address that can access the SNMP community. 

Step 4. Click the desired IP Version radio button which is dependent on the IP address of the management station. If Version 4 is clicked then the IPv6 Address Type fields are disabled.

• IPv4 — If the Management Station IP address is of IPv4 address type.

• IPv6 — If the Management Station IP address is of IPv6 address type.

Timesaver: If IPv4 is clicked, Steps 5 and 6 can be skipped.

Step 5. If the IP version is IPv6, click the supported IPv6 address type radio button in the IPv6 Address Type field.

• Link Local — Address which starts with FE80, uniquely identified on a single network link, and used for local network communication.

• Global — Address which is reachable from other networks.

Step 6. If the IPv6 address type is Link Local, choose the interface through which the address is received from the Link Local Interface drop-down list.

• VLAN — VLANs help to create logical broadcast domains that can span across a single switch or multiple switches across the network.

• ISATAP — The Intra-Site Automatic Tunnel Addressing Protocol (ISATAP) is used to provide tunneling in three ways, the host-router, the router-host, and the host-host configuration. It helps to provide automatic tunnels of IPv6 over IPv4.

Step 7. With respect to the option chosen in Step 4, enter the appropriate IP address version in the IP Address field.

Step 8. Enter the community string in the Community String field that is used to authenticate the management station to other SNMP devices.

Step 9. Click one of the following radio buttons for the given community.

• Basic —  Basic mode helps to choose the community access levels

– Read Only — Users are only allowed to read.

– Read Write — Users can read/write and can change the device configuration but cannot modify the community.

– SNMP Admin — All users have access to all devices configuration and can modify the community.

• Advanced — To give access rights to the group members associated with group name. Choose the group name from the  Group Name drop-down list.

Note: Advanced mode is available only if IPv6 Link Local is chosen.

Step 10. (Optional) Check View Name and choose the name of the desired SNMP view from the View Name drop-down list that specifies the collection of MIB subtrees to which access is granted. This allows you to give appropriate permissions based on whichever option is chosen from the Basic mode.

Note: The View Name option is not available for SNMP Admin mode since an SNMP admin is granted access for all operations done on the device.

Step 11. Click Apply to save the configuration. The Community table shows the new community.

Manage Existing SNMP Communities

Step 1. Log in to the web configuration utility and choose SNMP > Communities. The Communities page opens:

Step 2. Check the check box for the desired community from the Community Table, and click Edit to edit the community. The Edit Community window appears:

Step 3. Edit the desired fields. For the description of the fields please refer to the Steps 9 and 10 of the previous section.

Step 4. Click Apply. The changes are applied in the Community Table.

Step 5. (Optional) In order to delete the communities from the Community Table, check the respective check box and click Delete.