Technical data

5.5 Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP)
The Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) is network management
technology that facilitates the management of a TCP/IP network or internet in a
vendor-independent manner. SNMP enables a network administrator to manage
the various network components using a set of well-known procedures understood
by all components, regardless of the original manufacturers.
Configuring SNMP on your OpenVMS system allows a remote SNMP management
client to obtain information about your host and to set system and network
parameters.
5.5.1 Configuring SNMP
Systems using SNMP fall into two categories:
• Management consoles (sometimes called clients, network management stations,
or directors)
• Agents (sometimes called servers)
The management console is the system that issues a query; the agents run on
the system being queried. Queries are sent and received in the form of protocol
data units (PDUs) inside SNMP messages, which are carried in user data protocol
(UDP) datagrams. You can configure your host so that an SNMP client can obtain
information about your host and perform updates on your host’s management
information base (MIB) data items. For example, you can configure your host to:
• Respond to a client’s read requests (Gets) for network information.
• Process client write requests (Sets) on your host’s MIB data items.
• Send alert messages (Traps) to a client as a result of events that might need to
be monitored (for example, an authentication failure).
Table 5–3 describes the SNMP components and the sample code supplied for
custom subagent development.
Table 5–3: SNMP Components
Component
Description
Master agent SNMP Version 2
Process name: TCPIP$SNMP_n.Keeps
track of managed objects and allows objects
to register themselves. Sends information
about these objects to remote SNMP
management consoles. Also maintains
a small set of variables for the MIB II
component.
MIB II
Process name: TCPIP$OS_MIBS. Provides
information about the TCP/IP protocol
stack and other network activity.
Host Resources MIB
Process name: TCPIP$HR_MIB. Provides
information about the host system.
MIB converter Extracts a MIB definition in ASN.1 notation
into a MIB definition (.MY) file.
MIB compiler Compiles a MIB-definition files (for
example, CHESS_MIB.MY) into source
code templates for use in building
subagents.
5–12 Network Server Services