User`s guide

Administration Software 73
Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP)
SNMP is a set of protocols used to manage and monitor multi-platform computer network
devices. SNMP support is included in the basic Mac OS X Server installation, but is turned off
by default.
SNMP uses agents to contact devices such as routers and network servers and interacts with
these devices through virtual information databases known as management information
bases (MIBs). Mac OS X Server provides a variety of useful system and network usage
statistics via its default public MIB, which you can display with a suitable SNMP browser.
To use SNMP, you can use a graphical administration tool (not supplied with Mac OS X
Server) to retrieve SNMP data, or you can use the SNMP command-line tools available in
/usr/sbin. You can find SNMP information and tools on the Net-SNMP Home Page located at
www.net-snmp.com
To turn SNMP on, use TextEdit or another application to edit the /etc/hostconfig file. If you
turn SNMP on, you should run the snmpconf command to enter site-specific information
such as system location and admin email address.
You can find more information about SNMP and how to use it in the SNMP man pages.
LL2133.book Page 73 Friday, May 24, 2002 11:17 AM