Installation guide

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VMware ESX Server Administration Guide
Configuring SNMP
Configuring SNMP Trap Destinations
Currently, you cannot configure trap destinations through the VMware Management
Interface. To configure traps, log into the service console as the root user and modify
the /etc/snmp/snmpd.conf file as follows:
1. Using a text editor, add the following line, replacing mercury.solar.com
with the name of the host on your network that will receive traps. You may
repeat this line to specify more than one destination.
trapsink mercury.solar.com
2. Add the following line, replacing public with a community name of your
choice. There can only be one instance of this line.
trapcommunity public
3. Save your changes.
Configuring SNMP Management Client Software
To use your SNMP management software with the ESX Server agent, take the normal
steps needed to accomplish the following:
• In your management software, specify the ESX Server machine as an SNMP-
based managed device.
• Set up appropriate community names in the management software. These must
correspond to the values set in the master SNMP agent’s configuration file, for
example, rocommunity, trapcommunity and trapsink.
• Load the ESX Server MIBs into the management software so you can view the
symbolic names for the ESX Server variables. You can find the MIB files on
VMware ESX Server, in the /usr/lib/vmware/snmp/mibs directory.
Configuring SNMP Security
The ESX Server SNMP package takes the simplest approach to SNMP security in the
default configuration. It sets up a single community with read-only access. This is
denoted by the rocommunity configuration parameter in the configuration file for
the master snmpd daemon, snmpd.conf which is set up for you by running
snmpsetup.sh default.
By design, SNMP is not a very secure protocol, and the community-based security
model is a retrofit to the protocol. There are other enhancements to the SNMP