Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) is a common protocol used on modern networks for monitoring hardware and software. SNMP typically requires a management station and an agent. MSIB acts as the management station and each device containing data points to be monitored is the agent.

MSIB only reads the point data from the agent and never writes any data.

Prerequisites

  • A good working knowledge of SNMP, including object IDs, types and network ports.
  • The SNMP Poller for this version of MSIB supports SNMP versions 1, 2, and 3.
  • Determine which devices and object IDs are to be monitored. Third-party SNMP browsers may assist in determining this information. Management Information Base (MIB) files for each device can also be useful.
  • SNMP uses the UDP protocol for communication; allowing UDP port 161 (the default agent port) through firewalls or routers may be required.

The SNMP Poller, which is similar in function to the BACnet Poller, will periodically poll for customer defined SNMP objects.

SNMP Versions 1 and 2

To create a node to poll an SNMP device, begin by logging into MSIB and selecting Create single node.

  1. Fill in the Node name.
  1. Select SNMP Poller from the Service menu.
  1. Fill in the SNMP Agent IP Address, which is the IP address of the device.
  1. Fill in the Agent Port (the SNMP default Agent Port is 161).
  1. Fill in an unused Host Port (leave this 0 to have MSIB manage the host port; otherwise, this must be unique for each MSIB node that has an SNMP Poller defined).
  1. Select the SNMP Version (1 or 2).
  1. Fill in the SNMP community string.
  1. While working with the X300, there is no direct access to the file system. Choose the desired SNMP polling XML File Path.
  1. Define the Polling Interval, which is how often MSIB will request new values from the device.
  1. Enter the desired Separation for the number of milliseconds between point requests within a polling cycle or leave at the default of 600 milliseconds.
  1. Select Create and start or Create when complete.

SNMP Version 3

To create a node to poll an SNMP device, begin by logging into MSIB and selecting Create single node.

  1. Complete Steps 1 – 5 as detailed in the previous example.
  1. Select the SNMP Version (3).
  1. Fill in the USM User Name.
  1. Fill in the SNMP v3 Authorization Algorithm (SHA is the only algorithm supported for now).
  1. Fill in the SNMP v3 Authorization Password.
  1. Fill in the SNMP v3 Privacy Algorithm (AES or None).
  1. Fill in the SNMP v3 Privacy Password.
  1. Choose the desired SNMP polling XML File Path.
  1. Define the Polling Interval, which is how often MSIB will request new values from the device.
  1. Enter the desired Separation for the number of milliseconds between point requests within a polling cycle or leave at the default of 600 milliseconds.
  1. Select Create and start or Create when complete.

Next, for each SNMP device, define which SNMP Object IDs to request in an SNMP polling file. For this example, here is the polling file. Use this example as a template if desired.

SNMP Object IDs

Follow the steps below to fill out the polling file.

1. Under the SNMPPollingPoints section, enter the following information for each SNMP Object ID to be read as an SNMPPollingPoint in XML.

a. Enter the oid (SNMP Object ID) for each point.

b. Enter the object_type for each point. Valid object_types are:

  • “OCTET_STRING” – a text string
  • “OBJECT IDENTIFIER” – the object ID
  • “INTEGER” – a 32-bit integer
  • “COUNTER” – a 32-bit integer that rolls back to 0
  • “GAUGE” – a 32-bit integer that stays at its maximum value until reset
  • “TIMETICKS” – a 32-bit value that counts time in 1/100ths of a second
  • “TABLE” – the object is in a table and MSIB will treat it as such

c. Enter the object_name as a text string.

d. Enter the object_description as a text string.

2. Repeat for all the desired SNMP objects for the device.

3. Once the polling file has been completed, copy it to the following directory (assuming MSIB was installed on the C: drive):

C:\Program Files\MSIB\msib\msib-3.3.0\priv\__SNMP_EXAMPLE\ (for this example, msib version is 3.3.0, the node name is SNMP_EXAMPLE, and the polling file is named __SNMP_EXAMPLE_snmp_polling.xml – the polling file name begins with two underscores)

4. Select Nodes within MSIB and select the node that was created above and click Start.

5. The Current State should be started, and you should see the Quality go to 100% (depending on the number of points, you may need to click Refresh a few times). If not, double check the XML SNMPPollingPoint entries for correctness.

6. Selecting the Node Name displays the SNMP objects and values. If the value is -1, then the object ID returned is a text string that populates the Description field in the display. This is standard for MSIB when displaying text strings.

SNMP Objects and Values

7. Repeat the steps above for each SNMP device. After all devices have been configured, other services can be added to the node; for example, the Data Center Hub Service can be configured to send data to AWS which will display on Data Center Hub customer dashboards.