Installation guide

Procedure
1 From the vSphere CLI, type
vicfg-snmp.pl --server <hostname> --username <username> --password <password> -t <target
address>
@ <port> / <community> .
Replace <target address>, <port>, and <community> with the address of the target system, the port number
to send the traps to, and the community name, respectively. Each time you specify a target with this
command, the settings you specify overwrite all previously specified settings. To specify multiple targets,
separate them with a comma.
For example, to send SNMP traps from the host host.example.com to port 162 on target.example.com using
the public community, type
vicfg-snmp.pl --server host.example.com --username user --password password -t
target.example.com@162/public.
2 (Optional) Enable the SNMP agent by typing
vicfg-snmp.pl --server <hostname> --username <username> --password <password> --enable.
3 (Optional) Send a test trap to verify that the agent is configured correctly by typing
vicfg-snmp.pl --server <hostname> --username <username> --password <password> --test.
The agent sends a warmStart trap to the configured target.
Configure the SNMP Agent for Polling
If you configure the ESX/ESXi embedded SNMP agent for polling, it can listen for and respond to requests
from SNMP management client systems, such as GET requests.
By default, the embedded SNMP agent listens on UDP port 161 for polling requests from management systems.
You can use the vicfg-snmp command to configure an alternative port. To avoid conflicting with other services,
use a UDP port that is not defined in /etc/services.
IMPORTANT Both the embedded SNMP agent and the Net-SNMP-based agent available in the ESX service
console listen on UDP port 161 by default. If you enable both of these agents for polling on an ESX host, you
must change the port used by at least one of them.
Prerequisites
SNMP configuration for ESX/ESXi requires the vSphere CLI. For information on installing and using the
vSphere CLI, see vSphere Command-Line Interface Installation and Reference Guide.
Procedure
1 From the vSphere CLI, type
vicfg-snmp.pl --server <hostname> --username <username> --password <password> -p <port> .
Replace <port> with the port for the embedded SNMP agent to use for listening for polling requests.
2 (Optional) If the SNMP agent is not enabled, enable it by typing
vicfg-snmp.pl --server <hostname> --username <username> --password <password> --enable.
Configure SNMP Management Client Software
After you have configured a vCenter Server system or an ESX/ESXi host to send traps, you must configure
your management client software to receive and interpret those traps.
To configure your management client software, you must specify the communities for the managed device,
configure the port settings, and load the VMware MIB files. Refer to the documentation for your management
system for specific instructions for these steps.
Chapter 5 Configuring Hosts and vCenter Server
VMware, Inc. 53