6.7

Table Of Contents
Monitoring Networked Devices
with SNMP and vSphere 10
Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) is commonly used by management programs to monitor a
variety of networked devices.
vSphere systems run SNMP agents, which can provide information to a management program in at least
one of the following ways:
n
In response to a GET, GETBULK, or GETNEXT operation, which is a specific request for information from
the management system.
n
By sending a notification which is an alert sent by the SNMP agent to notify the management system
of a particular event or condition.
Management Information Base (MIB) files define the information that can be provided by managed
devices. The MIB files define managed objects, described by object identifiers (OIDs) and variables
arranged in a hierarchy.
vCenter Server and ESXi have SNMP agents. The agent provided with each product has different
capabilities.
This chapter includes the following topics:
n
Using SNMP Traps with vCenter Server
n
Configure SNMP for ESXi
n
SNMP Diagnostics
n
Monitor Guest Operating Systems with SNMP
n
VMware MIB Files
n
SNMPv2 Diagnostic Counters
Using SNMP Traps with vCenter Server
The SNMP agent included with vCenter Server can be used to send traps when vCenter Server starts
and when an alarm is triggered on vCenter Server. The vCenter Server SNMP agent functions only as a
trap emitter and does not support other SNMP operations, such as receiving GET, GETBULK, and GETNEXT
requests.
vCenter Server can send SNMPv1 traps to other management applications. You must configure your
management server to interpret the SNMP traps sent by vCenter Server.
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